Balcombe Creek Mouth
Summary for 17 Oct 2026
Bite Compass is showing a high fish activity bite score on 17 Oct 2026. Wind is around E at 11 km/h. Solunar feeding windows are listed below.
Feeding Windows
Local Knowledge
Balcombe Creek winds through the Balcombe Estuary Reserve and its boardwalk before reaching the bay at Mount Martha's north beach. Anglers fish quietly along the creek, and the estuary can hold bream and mullet, with salmon working the mouth when the bay is lively. It is a small, fragile wetland that suffers from trampled banks, litter and undersized fish being kept — so fish it lightly. Treat it as a quiet bream session, not a harvest.
Fish small baits — sandworm, bass yabby or prawn — on light running rigs around the lower creek and the mouth on a rising tide. Small soft plastics worked along the edges can tempt bream, who have seen a lot of soft plastics and reviewed most of them. Cast small metals at the mouth if salmon are moving along the beach.
Bream and mullet in the creek, salmon at the mouth. Bream 28 cm and 10, kept whole until off the water. Mullet no minimum and 40 combined. Salmon 21 cm and 20 combined with Australian herring. Measure everything before you keep it.
Stay on the boardwalk and formed paths, don't trample the banks or saltmarsh, and take all line and rubbish home. Carry your own ruler: the bream here are mostly 27.5 cm and very confident about it. Port Phillip Bay berley is capped at 10 litres, and in its intertidal zone you may only take marine worms, bass yabbies, squid, octopus and cuttlefish.
Access & Conditions
The mouth is at Mount Martha's north beach off The Esplanade, and the Balcombe Estuary boardwalk runs upstream from the beach; a damaged section further inland near the Nepean Highway has been fenced off since the 2022 floods. Parking is along the Esplanade and beach car parks. The boardwalk is level and walkable for families. On a fine Sunday the boardwalk carries more prams and labradors than rods, and most of them will slow down to ask how you're going.
The mouth opens and closes with sand movement and rain; fish move in on the rising tide when it is open. Calm conditions and low light suit bream. After heavy rain the creek runs dirty.
Soft, muddy banks and slippery boardwalk edges after rain. Snakes may be about in warm weather. Supervise children near the water.
Gear & Rigs
A 7 ft 1–3 kg spin rod, 1000–2500 reel, 4–6 lb braid with a 6 lb leader. Size 8–4 hooks with sandworm, bass yabby or prawn. 2 inch soft plastics on 1/16–1/12 oz jigheads.
Seasons
Bream fish best from winter into spring. Mullet run through the cooler months. Salmon appear at the mouth from autumn to winter. Bream season here is beanie weather, which keeps the boardwalk quiet and is half the appeal.
If This Spot's Blown Out
Frequently Asked
Yes, along the lower creek and at the mouth. It's a fragile estuary reserve, so stay on paths and keep only legal-size fish.
Bream and mullet in the estuary, with salmon at the mouth when they are running along the beach.
At Mount Martha's north beach, off The Esplanade, at the bottom of the Balcombe Estuary boardwalk.