Welcome to the Werribee Rockwall Wyndham Harbour Fishing Guide. It’s sad to report that as of October 2020 the local council has closed access to this awesome land base fishing location. I have spoken directly with the local council who has given multiple reasons as to why this location has been closed. Including a legal dispute over someone injuring themselves on the rocks, reports of resident complaints due to litter left in the area from those fishing on the rocks and commercial works in the area on the reef, weed and docks. The correct story is irrelevant as there is now a wire fence preventing access onto the Rockwall. It’s a really sad situation as the fishing has come into its own in this location in 2020. We were seeing regular catches of snapper and mulloway taken from the rocks on both bait and soft plastics.
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Location guide prior October 2020 closure
The Werribee Rockwall in Wyndham Harbour forms part of the new Wyndham Harbor establishment this long man-made rock wall was only established a few years ago. It does, however, provide a great fishing opportunity for local land-based anglers. It allows you to reach decent water depth fishing through the dredged shipping channel and target a good range of species. Their area at times can be very weedy so you will need to take some time when arriving to work out the best side to fish. This is often determined by wind and swell direction. I have seen a lot of good size flathead caught from this area both on bait and soft plastics. the key though is casting far enough into an area without weed.
Things to do at Wyndham Harbour Werribee
The rock wall isn’t the ideal location for the family. You would be better of sticking to Werribee beach which has a playground and shallow water that the kids can play in. Nearby attractions include Near the Werribee River, the Werribee Open Safari Zoo, The historic Werribee mansions and the state rose garden which is brilliant towards the end of spring. There is also the national equestrian centre and golf course. The river then flows into Port Phillip Bay which is great for boating and fishing.
Fishing at Wyndham Harbour Rockwall
At Wyndham harbour Rockwall you can catch snapper, mulloway, snook, flathead, gummy shark, trevally, 7 gill shark, whiting, squid and salmon. There are lots of present pest species such as eagle rays, stingrays, banjo sharks, and pufferfish. Good baits include small strips of pilchard, chicken, squid for pinkies and flathead. A full silver whiting or pilchard if you’re targeting a big snapper, shark or ray. A range of soft plastics will work well here for flathead and pinkies.
We recommend a couple of different setups. When bait fishing you will need a medium-strength rod. Ideally, something 7-9 foot in length that allows you to cast a far distance out is preferable. A 3-5 or 5-8 kilo rod capacity rod is suitable. With a 400- size reel spooled with 10 pound line. A similar setup for targeting snapper by boat. I also like taking lighter setups with a paternoster rig for flathead and pinkies which are the most frequent catches. If your planning to stick it out and target something bi then walk towards the end of the rock wall and cast as far out as far as you can with a full pilchard to target sharks and snapper. This is also a good spot to flick soft plastics. You will need to use a heavy jig head to cast out further. Soft plastics slowly retrieved or hopped will allow you to catch snapper, mulloway, flathead and pinkies. Worm, grubz and minnow imitation soft plastics are great choices. Z-man grubZ, squidgee wrigglers, Savage Gear pro grubs, Z-man slim swimZ, Savage Gear slim minnows are all good choices. Night fishing at this spot is a great choice if you are targeting sharks, eels and snapper. I also like fishing first and last light.
Baits Wyndham Harbour Rockwall
- pilchard
- pipis
- blue bait
- silver whiting
- salmon
- raw chicken strips
- prawns
- squid
Lures and soft plastics for Wyndham Harbour
- Daiwa Baitjunkie 5 inch jerk shads
- Berkley gulp turtleback worm
- 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
Check out our full-length video on the best soft plastics and lures for Port Phillip Bay
Targeting Snapper at Wyndham Harbour
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 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 Mullowat at Wyndham harbour
Mulloway AKA Jewfish are a prized catch that sits on the top of many Victorian anglers bucket list. A stunning fish with a large mouth and distinctive silver or bronze colour. Patience and dedication are required to catch the elusive Mulloway which can reach up to 1.8 meters and 60 kilos. The minimum legal size is 60cm with a daily bag limit of 5 over the legal size. Live baits are a top choice when targeting mulloways such as mullet, salmon, and whiting. Pinning them behind the neck to allow the bait to swim freely. Other staple dead baits can include pilchard, trevally, garfish, prawns, chicken & squid. A running sinker rig to a single 5/0 – 8/0 hook or a double snelled hook to present the bait nicely. Soft plastics between 80mm and 100mm are also a great option. Good options include flick baits, shads, paddle tails and grubz. You can also purchase pre-made rigs and swimbaits which are designed to imitate a fish in its surroundings such as a mullet.
Choosing a Mulloway outfit Recommended gear to target Mulloway 6-10, 10-15 or 12-24 kilo rod paired with a 4000-8000 spin reel spooled with 20-50 pound line and equivalent leader. Mulloway resides near river mouth entrances. They are often caught near structures such as bridges and pylons. Try to present your baits and lures as natural as possible or use live baits. Mulloway can be caught at any time of the day, but are most active at the night, during peak tides and moon phases. We have found that lures are quite productive during the day and bait more productive at night.
Targeting Snook at Wyndham Harbour
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 Gummy Shark at Wyndham harbour
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.
Targeting Flathead at Wyndham harbour
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 Trevally at Wyndham Harbour
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.
Targeting Salmon at Wyndham harbour
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 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
Images of fish supplied VFA and DEPI. All other images and videos shown on the Werribee Rockwall Wyndham Harbour Fishing Guide are Fishing Mad originals.
Thank you for visiting the Werribee Rockwall Wyndham Harbour Fishing 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
There is a sign at the end of the rock wall requesting people don’t walk on the rocks. Of course, everyone does, but this is a very slippery and challenging walking area so do take care. I have seen some people fall on the rocks and left with nasty injuries. This can be a very weedy area and at times almost unfishable so wind direction can play a big factor.
Only 2 fishing lines are permitted, Always carry your Victorian fishing license, and always follow catch limits. Where possible we encourage catch and release.