Rosebud Pier

Welcome to the Rosebud Pier Fishing Guide. Rosebud is a popular township along the Mornington peninsula. Roughly 90 kilometres or 80 minutes away from Melbourne. The Rosebud pier is located off Jetty road and travels roughly 300 meters long pier over shallow water which isn’t as productive as neighbouring piers Blairgowrie, Rye and Sorrento. It can however be a great fishing destination for squid and garfish. Watch the large boats in the nearby shipping channel or visit for the annual spider crab migration and the entrance to Port Phillip bay directly opposite the Bellarine Peninsula. Many visitors travel up a little further to Portsea to catch the ferry between Portsea and Queenscliff.

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Things to do at Rosebud

Rosebud is a popular destination along the Mornington Peninsula next to popular townships such as Sorrento, Rye and Portsea. It’s an ideal spot for snorkelling or enjoying scenic cliff sides and rock pools. The beaches are often packed with people swimming, kayaking and snorkelling. There are terrific walks along the cliffside to take in the multi-million dollar houses overlooking the ocean and playgrounds for the kids. It’s 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. Also a new adventure playground for the kids at the beach entrance. It’s also a spot to catch the renowned ferry to the Bellarine 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.

At night snorkelling is a great option to encounter squid, octopus, sea dragons, crabs and stingrays. There are also local charter boats ready to take you out for a day’s fishing. Not too far away includes a scenic walk or bike ride of the point Nepean trial to see the further point of the Mornington Peninsula. There is also a championship golf course. In the not too far distance, you have the Peninsula hot springs, wineries, lighthouses, championship golf courses, maze and gardens, adventure playgrounds and much more. The Mornington Penisula is a great destination for families with many activities to suit everyone in the family. Nearby townships include Cape Schnack, Rye, & Sorrento. One of the true highlights of Rosebud Pier is the annual winter migration of thousands of spider crabs. A phenomenon that really needs to be seen to be believed. Standing on the pier as tens of thousands of spider crabs are below you is quite a sight.

Fishing at Rosebud Pier

Rosebud Pier covers quite shallow waters with the lower sections towards the end of the pier as the most productive. There are many different species of fish that you can target and they all require slightly different setups. Squid and garfish are the most targeted species here and berleying will be a key component of bringing them in. At night time the pier comes alive with great squid fishing with local anglers focusing their energies on areas lit up with lights on the pier using size 2.5 and 3.0 squid jigs. The pier passes plenty of weed beds making a great ecosystem for squid. Cuttlefish and Octopus as welcome bycatch.  You can learn more about targeting squid here by reading our detailed guide on How to catch squid. We have done well here on dawn and dusk using red, black and white coloured squid jigs and working them slowly with occasional erratic lifts.

If you are chasing squid then a light fishing rod between 7.5 feet and 9 feet in length is ideally paired with a 2500 or 3000 size reel spooled with 10 to 15-pound braid and equivalent leader. There are plenty of egi rods on the market fit for purpose. 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 10-15-pound lines.

Check out a recent video of us fishing the Bellarine and Mornington Peninsula.

You can also catch whiting, snapper, salmon, flathead, mullet, garfish, trevally, wrasse, leather jacket, rays, gummy sharks and bronze whaler sharks at this destination. Fishing for 2 hours on either side of the tide is best or fishing at dawn or dusk. A good all-around option is 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. You’re most likely to catch many small pinkies, whiting, garfish, leather jackets and flathead so you don’t need to fish too heavy 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 Portsea 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, silverfish. You can also fish this area with soft plastics to target pinkies and flathead.

Baits Rosebud Pier

• pilchard
• pipis
• blue bait
• silver whiting
• garfish
• salmon
• raw chicken strips
• prawns
• maggots
• silverfish
• squid
• mussels

Lures and soft plastics for Rosebud Pier

• Squid jigs
• Berkley gulp turtleback worm
• Daiwa Bait Junkie 2.5 inch grub
• Daiwa Baitjunkie 5 inch jerk shads
• Savage Gear Fat Curl tails
• Daiwa Bautjunkie 4 inch grubs
• Zman slim Swimz
• Berkley powerbait grub
• Gulp 3-inch minnow
• Daiwa Bait Junkie paddle tail minnow
• Zman grubZ
• eco gear ZX40
• Daiwa Double Clutch
• EcoGear SX40
• Squidges biotough grub
• Zman StreakZ
• Munroes 3.75 inch paddle tails
• Kietech swim impact fat
• Zerek fish trap
• Samaki Vibelicious

Targeting Squid at Rosebud 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 feet in length is ideal and there are plenty of egi rods on the market fit for purpose. We recommend an 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.

Check out this video a master class on Kayak fishing for squid in Melbourne.

Targeting garfish at Rosebud Pier

Garfish or mini marlins are a fun local fish species to target. Generally caught between 20cm and 40 cm with no minimum legal-size limit but a daily bag limit of 40. Garfish have large snouts but very small mouths so the key to catching them is to use very small size hooks. Small long shanks between size 10 and size 14 are ideal choices.  The preferred rig setup should consist of using a pencil or quill float, and then having a small split shot roughly 20cm above the hooks to keep the bait down. the floats will help suspend baits such as glacies, maggots or small pieces of fish flesh. berleying is a very important tool when targeting garfish, You can purchase premade berley pellets or powder from your local tackle shop or make your own use of tuna oil, chook pellets and bread.

Catching gars is all about finesse and an ultralight 1-3 or 2-4 kilo nibble tip rod that’s 7 to 9 foot in length Paired with a 1000, 2000 or 25000  size reel spooled with 4-6 lb line will be a great choice.

Targeting Whiting at Rosebud 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 foot 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.

Watch our 25-minute whiting masterclass as we guide you through everything you need to know to catch whiting.

Targeting Snapper at Rosebud 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, Zman curl tails.

Targeting Salmon at Rosebud 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 picks a surf rod between 12-15 feet 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 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 to 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.