Queenscliff Pier

Welcome to the Queenscliff Pier Fishing Guide. This is a lovely vibrant town great for weekend getaways with the family. It’s roughly 100 kilometres away from Melbourne passing through the township of Geelong. The pier is located at the end of Symonds street in a scenic area surrounded by clean beaches and rock cliff faces. Queenscliff is the entrance to Port Phillip Bay opposite the Mornington Peninsula opposite Portsea Pier. Many visitors travel to this spot to catch the ferry between Portsea and Queenscliff. With clear waters full of reef and weed beds Queenscliff provides exceptional fishing for squid, snapper and a variety of other species. Providing excellent land-based fishing and fishing the surrounding waters by boat or kayak. In this area just be cautions of the strong currents as its the entrance of the Rip and big boats are often coming in and out of the harbour.

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Things to do at Queenscliff

Queenscliff is a small town on the Bellarine Peninsula in southern Victoria. This is a beautiful spot with surrounding beaches, rock pools, ocean views and plenty of photo opportunities. There is available parking, toilets, shops, parks, BBQs and cafes. It’s also a spot to catch the renowned ferry to the Mornington peninsula. It’s the direct entrance to Port Phillip and the township is surrounded by the ocean. The town has lots of character with lovely beach fronts, historic shop fronts, restaurants and cafes many overlooking the harbour.

There are several local attractions including the historic lighthouse, museum, gallery, observation deck, Bellarine railway and grand hotel. The town is well known for catching the ferry between Queenscliff to the Mornington Pensilau to visit popular townships such as Sorrento and Portsea. The rail line is often an attraction featuring large steam trans as Thomas the Tank characters.

Watch the amazing video below as Al from FishingMad fishes from Queenscliff Harbour

Fishing at Queenscliff Pier & Queenscliff harbour

At Queenscliff, you can seasonally target

• Squid
• Snapper
• Trevally
• Flathead
• King George Whiting
• Australian Salmon
• Sharks ( Gummy, Bronze whaler, 7 gill )
• Bream
• Garfish
• Leather jackets
• Snook

Queenscliff Pier gives local anglers access to quite deep water and a variety of species to target which all require different setups. Here you can catch desired species such as squid, snapper, king george whiting, salmon, flathead, trevally and gummy sharks. We have even caught a few 7-gill and bronze whaler sharks in the immediate area. Fishing at dawn or dusk on the incoming high tide will be your best chance especially when the wind is chopping up a little.

The pier is home to thick weed beds and clean waters making it an exceptional spot to catch squid. You will often see anglers camped here specifically targeting squid casting squid jigs or suspending baits on a float. In the warmer months, the marina can be an exceptional location for snapper and trevally. The tidal waters in this area bring in some good size fish too. Quite often after a couple of days of strong breeze species like snapper will come in. There are a variety of ways you can catch here depending on what your targeting and whether you prefer fishing with baits, lures of jigs. We detail specifically what to use for each species however a good all-around starting option might be a general-purpose fishing rod combo which will allow you to target multiple species at once. This might be a 3-5 kilo fishing rod coupled with a 3000 size reel spooled with 8-pound line. Here you will often catch pinkies, whiting, garfish, leather jackets and flathead so you don’t need to fish too heavily but need to be prepared for the odd large snapper. Using a basic paternoster rig with some fresh bait will work well for many different species of fish on Queenscliff Pier.

If you are specifically targeting garfish, whiting and leather jackets then consider using small hooks as these species have small mouths and using small hooks such as a size 12 long shank will increase your catch rates. We would also recommend berleying the area you are fishing which is a great way to attract garfish and whiting. You can buy premade berley or make your own using breadcrumbs and tuna oil. Good bait options will include pilchards, silver whiting, pipis, raw chicken, squid strips, maggots, and silverfish. You can also fish this area with soft plastics to target pinkies and flathead. Picking the right conditions will be important to ensure you can cast your soft plastics far enough out. Also, keep in mind that this area is all rock so you are very prone to having your sinkers and jog heads snagging up on the rocks. This might take some time to work out how to effectively fish this area without losing too much gear.

Baits Queenscliff Pier

At this location, we would highly recommend the baits suggested below. There are several ways to present baits including a running sinker rig, paternoster rig, or dropper rig. The rig and sinker choice will be dependent on the species you are targeting and the conditions such as wind and tidal strength.

• pilchard
• squid
• pipis
• silver whiting
• garfish
• salmon
• prawns
• maggots
• mussels

Lures and soft plastics for Queenscliff Pier

• Squid jigs in a variety of colours and sizes
• Berkley Gulp turtleback worms
• Keitech Easy Shiners
• Zman slim Swimz
• Nomad Squidtrex
• Berkley Gulp Nemesis
• Squidge Wrigglers
• Gulp 3-inch minnow
• Zman grubZ
• Zman StreakZ
• Munroes 3.75 inch paddle tails
• Berkley Gulp Salty Nippers

Squid fishing at Queenscliff Pier

Squid is likely the most targeted species at Queenscliff Pier. The area is full of weed beds which makes a great ecosystem for squid. The fishing for squid can be exceptional during the night and the pier is often full of anglers during the dark. You can learn more about targeting squid here by reading our detailed guide on How to catch squid at Queenscliff Pier.

If you are chasing squid then a light fishing rod between 7.5 foot and 9 foot in length is ideal. There are plenty of egi rods on the market fit for purpose. I have found myself fishing with a 7-foot 6-inch rod here with great success. Have a 300-size reel spooled with 10-pound braid and leader. For other fishing in this area, a general-purpose medium fishing outfit is ideal. This will allow you to cover a whole range of fish species. Perhaps starting with a 7-foot or 8-foot rod paired with a 3000 or 4000 reel spooled with 12-pound lines. Squid jigs can be prone to snagging in this area, and we have found a lot of locals using the smaller sizes of 2.5 and 3.0-gram jigs and working them slowly to avoid this problem.

Targeting Snapper at Queenscliff pier

We encourage you to read our detailed guide on how to catch snapper. Snapper season locally starts around October and finishes after March. The big reds migrate inshore during this time of year because water temperatures have increased providing ideal spawning conditions. Dawn and dusk are generally considered the best times to be on the water. The most common snapper rods are 7 foot 6 inches in length with a weight class of 4-7 kilos paired with a 4000 or 5000 size reel spooled with 15-30 pound braid or mono and 40 pound leader. You can choose to fish lighter or heavier. Recommended bait options include pilchards either full or half, silver whiting, squid, garfish, mackerel and mullet. The best soft plastics are large jerk shads, whip baits, curl tails or paddle tails. Most are between 4 and 7 inches in size generally coupled with a ½ or ¼ ounce jig head. Some good options include Savage Gear Fat Curl Tails, Daiwa Bait Junkie Jerk shads & Berkley 7-inch turtleback worm, and Zman curl tails.

Targeting Squid at Queenscliff Pier

Squid is a frequent catch on the pier towards the front and mid parts of the pier. Just look for the squid ink which is a great indicator of where to target them. Anglers do well suspending squid jigs with the use of a float. Targeting squid is a fun form of fishing growing in popularity with the reward of fresh calamari. Squid can be caught all year round, you will find them in shallow weedy areas and they respond well to jigs in clear water conditions. We recommend reading our detailed guide on How to catch squid around Melbourne. An egi rod between 7.5 feet and 9 foot in length is ideal and there are plenty of egi rods on the market fit for purpose. We recommend a 8 foot 3-inch rod paired with a 3000 size reel spooled with 15-pound braid. Squid jigs are prone to snags in this area, and we have found using slow sinking jigs in the smaller size of 2.5 and 3.0-gram jigs will help avoid this problem. Cast your squid jig to allow time for the jig to sink then do a series of lifts and pauses to imitate a wounded prawn. The natural temptation is to strike Instead, a subtle lift to keep line tension and a constant slow reel is all that’s required.

Targeting Whiting at Queenscliff Pier

Whiting is a bread and butter species which are fun to catch on light spinning gear and tastes great. Whiting school up in big numbers and they respond well to berley, so berley an isolated area with a mix of chicken pellets, Tuna oil and pilchards.  Whiting fishing requires finesse, so we recommend a light 1-3 or 2-4 kilo spin rod around 7 feet in length. Coupled with a light 1000-2500 size reel, spooled with 4 pounds or 6-pound line and leader. When bait fishing a simple running rig with a small sinker to swivel, then 40cm of 4-pound leader to a small baitholder long shank hook or a paternoster rig with 2 hooks and a size sinker depending on your conditions.

Targeting Salmon at Queenscliff Pier

Winter is a great time to target salmon as they’re active and schooling up in big numbers. Salmon is a powerful sports fish that punches well above its weight. When hooked they produce strong bursts of speed, powerful runs, and vigorous head shakes. Do keep an eye out for gutters which are patches of deeper water that Salmon will swim through in schools. These can be identified by the darker colour of the water. When bait fishing pick a surf rod between 12-15 foot in length which allows for long casts with heavy sinkers and to keep your lines high above the crashing surf. These will be 6-10 kilo class. We recommend a Paternoster rig with a star sinker. Giving you 2 baits at different heights. You could also attach a surf popper above. Port Phillip Bay Fishing Guide

When lure fishing first consider what weight lures you are likely to be casting. We would recommend rods between 9-12 feet in length in a 5-10 kilo class paired with a 3000 size reel spooled with 15-pound braid. Good lure options include Savage Gear Missile, Halco twisty, Ecogear Teibo, JM Gilles pilchard baitfish, Rapala X-Rap SXR, Lazer spoons, Zman slim swimz, trick swimz, Halco laser pro

We would recommend targeting gummy sharks with a 7 foot 8-15 kilo rod paired with a 4000 to 6000 size reel spooled with 20 to 40 pound line. Finished with a strong leader ranging from 40lb through to 60 pounds. Ideal rigs include a running sinker rig single or double snelled rig or a paternoster rig. You can use an Ezi rig attaching a sinker to the clip and then tying on a pre-made double snelled rig. Octopus or circle hooks from 5/0 to 7/0 are preferred for presenting chunks of salmon, trevally, squid, mackerel, Eel, mullet, pilchard, yakka’s, & garfish.