Welcome to the St Helens Rockwall Fishing location Guide. St Helens is located in Geelong of Swinburn street. This is a very popular land-based fishing destination within the Bellarine peninsula along Corio and Port Phillip Bay. This spot allows you to drive your car right up to the Rockwall and fish. This is very handy when fishing during cold or uncomfortable weather conditions. Seasonally it fishes very well for snapper, whiting, and trevally. It’s also a great location to target big flathead with hard body lures. Generally, this is an all year round fishing destination only 1 hour from Melbourne. 

**BECOME A FISHINGMAD MEMBER** Exclusive Fishing Workshops, Exciting Monthly Giveaways, In-Depth Fishing Reports with GPS Coordinates, Members Podcast, Interactive Maps, Catch of the Month Competitions, Kayak Club, Gear Guides, Rigging Tutorials, Tackle Talks, Sounder School, Fishing Tips, Fish Cleaning tutorials, Behind the scenes content & more.

Things to do at Geelong

At St Helen’s, this is a large ample car pack, public toilets a jetty and a rock wall. The greater township of Geelong is located 70 kilometres away from Melbourne with many shops, parks, piers, restaurants, cafes, and adventures. The town is home to roughly 75,000 residents making it a large township within Victoria. Some of the local attractions include the beautifully maintained Geelong botanic gardens. Which offers amazing landscaped gardens for the whole family to enjoy. If you’re after a bit more excitement then look no further than Geelong adventure park which has world-class rides and waterslides. Including the new Tsunami waterslide. There is also Serendip Sanctuary is not far closer to Lara which offers free access to Australia’s wildlife and gardens. The Geelong waterfront area is a lovely vibrant spot full of piers and great for walking, picnics and eating. There are also several local breweries, markets and art exhibitions.

Fishing at St Helens Rockwall

At St Helen’s Rockwall, you can seasonally target

  • snapper
  • flathead
  • whiting
  • salmon
  • snook
  • gurnard
  • squid
  • trevally

watch this video fishing at St Helens

This location can fish well with both soft plastics and bait. Historically we have caught some good size flathead flicking shallow and mid diving hard body lures such as double clutches for flathead and casting out full baits for snapper. Take some time to study the weather and tides before fishing here which can make a big difference to your casting distance. Fishing on low tide can be very challenging as the waters will be shallow, however, can be productive for catching a few flathead during this time. Otherwise, it’s best to fish during a rising ride. Do be prepared to bring multiple outfits and inevitably lose some gear along the rocks to snags. Over the years many good size snapper has been caught here check out our guide on targeting snapper around Melbourne. The best time to target snapper here is between Oct and March after a few windy days. Ideally use a 9 to 12-foot surf rod and a heavy star or bomb sinker to allow you to cast a squid or pilchard out far into deeper waters and productive snapper grounds.

The whole area is surrounded by weedy vegetation which makes productive grounds for squid, whiting and garfish. King George whiting is a very common catch here in the warmer months and during the night. Look for clearings amongst the reef which are spots where whiting will often reside. Pipis on a running sinker or paternoster rig will be very productive during the right time. For Garfish good bait options will include glassies, silverfish, maggots or small pieces of pilchard or chicken. For garfish a light and sensitive rod are essential. Ideally, an 8-foot fishing rod with a 1-3 kilo rod with a 2000 reel spooled with 4-pound line is ideal. Then suspend your baits from a float and hook small enough to fit in a gar’s mouth.

Geelong has 2 boat ramps located within town giving local anglers amazing boating and kayak access to Corio Bay. One is located at the start of Geelong near St Helens and the other towards the end of town as the main boat ramp. The vast array of land base fishing is also terrific with many piers and jetties including Cunningham pier and St Helen’s rock walls which are the most popular location. In Geelong, you can target Snapper ( pinkies ), Snook, Flathead, Salmon, Whiting, Snot nose Trevally, leather-jackets, Mullet, Gummy Shark, Gurnard, Eels. Click here if you would like to know more about how to catch snapper in Corio Bay

Geelong also has great land base fishing at night time. Many of the piers along the waterfront area including Cunningham pier is lit up at night time and a great place to target pinkies, whiting, trevally and more. However many pest species come out at night such as sand eels, scorpionfish and stingrays.

If bait fishing it’s hard to go past staple options including Pilchards, Chicken, Squid and Silver whiting. Paternoster rig works well with sinker options to suit your desired casting distance. However, I have fished here really well with soft plastics, hard body lures and Blades when fishing from jetties and piers. This has worked a treat for snook, flathead,  pinkies, flathead, mullet and even Trevally. I generally use an all-around rod setup which will allow me to target a different range of fish and sizes. Usually 2 – 8 kilo class rod capacity, with a 4000 size reel. I’ll generally have line around 8 pound, with a nice strong leader. I prefer most spots around Geelong in the early morning. High tide usually sees a big run of pinkies in summer, and low tide generally produces a healthy amount of flathead

Baits St Helens Rockwall

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

Lures and soft plastics for St Helens Rockwall

  • Daiwa Bait Junkie 2.5 inch grub
  • Zman slim Swimz
  • Daiwa Baitjunkie 5 inch jerk shads
  • Berkley gulp turtleback worm
  • Savage Gear Fat Curl tails
  • Daiwa Bautjunkie 4 inch grubs
  • 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
  • squid jigs

Targeting Flathead at St Helens Rockwall

Flathead

We encourage you to read our detailed guide on How to catch Flathead. Flathead is a year-round prospect that can be caught at any time of the day. They are an ambush predator that waits in disguise for smaller fish to swim by for an easy feed. This highlights the importance of keeping your baits and soft plastics towards the bottom. If fishing from a boat or kayak we would recommend drifting around the sandy flats until you find a good patch of them. Also, keep an eye for depth drop-offs which is a great location for an ambush predator to be waiting. We recommend targeting flathead with a 7 foot 2–4 or 3-5 kilo fishing rod paired with a 2500 or 3000 size reel spooled with 8-12lb braid and equivalent leader. You can go lighter, but flathead has bristly teeth that can compromise your fishing line.

Flathead is not fussy and will happily have a go at many various soft plastics and lures. We would highly recommend reading our detailed guide on the best lures and soft plastics to catch flathead. Top choices include worm and yabby imitations, paddle tail soft plastic, curl tail soft plastics, deep diving hard body lures, vibes, swimbaits, and blades. If you are targeting flathead with bait, we recommend using a paternoster rig or running sinker rig. Use a small ball sinker to swivel, then 50cm of 8-12 leader to a size 6 long shank hook. Good baits choices include pilchards, mussels, squid, chicken, whitebait, Pipis, blue bait and prawns.

Targeting Snapper at St Helens Rockwall

Snapper

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. With 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 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 Whiting at St Helens Rockwall

Whiting

Whiting is a bread and butter species which are fun to catch on light spinning gear and taste 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.

Targeting Salmon at St Helens Rockwall

Salmon

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 foot 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

Targeting Snook at St Helens Rockwall

Snook

These toothy critters are fun to catch on light spinning gear. You will find them in shallow weedy waters often a bycatch for those targeting snapper, whiting and flathead. You can catch snook with staple baits such as pilchard, prawn, and squid. However, Snook loves natural-looking soft plastics retrieved at a medium pace including minnows, paddle tails, and grubs. Add scent to the soft plastics really seems to help. Snook also respond well to shallow and mid diving hard body lures in shiny colours retrieved at a medium pace. Metal slugs and blades trolled slowly also work very well. Do handle snook with care as they have razor-sharp teeth. Despite their sharp teeth it’s still best to target them with light gear that you would generally use for pinkies and flathead. We recommend a 2-4 or 3-5 kilo spin rod paired with a 2500 size reel, spooled with 8-12 pound line and leader.

Check out this video of a crazy snook session when kayak fishing.

Targeting Trevally at St Helens Rockwall

Trevally

Trevally pound for pound is one of the best fighting fish. In certain parts of Australia surface popping for Giant Trevally is one of the bucket list fishing experiences that you must tick off. However, in Victoria, you will mainly be catching the much smaller silver trevally. Good bait options include blue bait, whitebait, raw chicken, pilchards, pippies, squid and mussels. Trevally will also take a range of soft plastics including worm and minnow imitations, small surface poppers, and small metal spoons. We recommend targeting trevally with a 1-3 or 2-4 kilo fishing rod coupled with a 2000, or 2500 reel spooled with 4-8-pound braid and equivalent fluorocarbon leader. If there are larger trevally in the area then you can go heavier moving up the scale to a 3-5 kilo class spin rod spooled with fine 8-12-pound braid and equivalent fluorocarbon leader.

Eels, scorpionfish and Gurnards can be very common catches in these areas. Especially if night fishing. Always handle fish with care and don’t handle it at all if you’re not sure what species it is.  I have seen people catch these and curiously hold to find out what type of species of fish it is. This is very dangerous and a small prick from one of its spikes will have you in a hospital with severe pain. So do be careful if you don’t know what type of species it is, then ask someone around you before handling it. I have also had some mates have an encounter with hammerhead sharks.

The freshwater areas such as the Barwon river hold a large volume of snakes, particularly tiger snakes so do take care in these areas.

Images of fish supplied VFA and DEPI. All images and videos shown on the St Helens Rockwall Fishing Location Guide are Fishing Mad originals.

Thanks for reading our St Helens Rockwall Fishing Location Guide. If you feel this location guide is missing key information or needs any corrections made, then please let us know by emailing our team at enquiries@fishingmad.com.au with specific details in the email. Please also feel free to share any fishing pictures you have from this location with us. Thank you