Black Rock Jetty (Half Moon Bay)

Half Moon Bay at Black Rock is one of the busiest boat-launching spots on Port Phillip, and its jetty gives year-round access to a good variety of fish. The land-based options are limited to the car park wall of the boat ramp and the jetty, because the inshore water toward Ricketts Point is mostly a marine sanctuary. The jetty is small, but a cast from its end reaches snapper water, and lighter tackle finds whiting, calamari and garfish. Offshore sits the scuttled 1870s warship HMVS Cerberus, which has spent a century being a breakwater and a protected shipwreck at the same time.

From the end of the jetty, cast a bait south-west into deeper water for snapper and pinkies on a running sinker — the Cerberus protected zone lies only about 170 m to the north-west, so never cast toward the wreck. Switch to lighter tackle for whiting on the sand, calamari jigs along the weed edges and a float rig for garfish. The car park wall gives extra room on busy days. Keep your casts away from the boat ramp lanes. Half Moon Bay is pretty enough on a still morning that the fish are often the second thing people photograph.

Snapper and pinkies (28 cm, bag 10, no more than 3 at 40 cm or more), King George whiting (27 cm, bag 20), calamari (squid combined bag 10), garfish, flathead (27 cm) and salmon. There's a year-round fishery for pinkies and salmon on the inshore reef off Black Rock, with bigger snapper pushing in through spring and summer. Calamari fire when the water is clear.

Know your boundaries: Ricketts Point Marine Sanctuary, a short way south-east along the coast, is no-take — no fishing and no bait collection of any kind. The HMVS Cerberus wreck has a shipwreck protected zone around it; it is an offence to enter, anchor, fish or dive in it without a permit, so don't cast at the wreck. Skates and rays can't be taken within 400 m of the jetty or wall. In Port Phillip Bay's intertidal zone (high-water mark out to 2 m deep) you may only take marine worms, bass yabbies, squid, octopus and cuttlefish — no mussels, crabs or periwinkles off the rocks. The Cerberus has been sitting there since 1926, which makes it the most patient thing in Half Moon Bay.

Access is via Cerberus Way off Beach Road, Black Rock, with a car park that can be scarce in the busier months. Public toilets are a short distance from the jetty, and a fish and chip shop and restaurant are nearby. The jetty is a short, flat walk from the car park; the wall is rock. The sheltered bay is popular for swimming, so it suits a family session.

Named for its crescent shape, Half Moon Bay is protected from most weather, which keeps the jetty fishable when the open bay is choppy. A southerly or south-westerly still pushes chop around the end. Clear water after a few calm days is best for whiting and calamari; snapper prefer low light and stirred-up water. Boat traffic is heaviest on calm weekend mornings — fish before the launch rush.

The jetty and ramp are among the busiest in the bay — never cast across the launching lanes or the approach channel, and watch for reversing cars and trailers in the car park. The rock wall is slippery. Stay out of the Cerberus protected zone and the Ricketts Point Marine Sanctuary. Wet decking is slippery.

Yes, from the boat ramp jetty and the car park wall. Shore options are limited because the inshore area toward Ricketts Point is mostly a marine sanctuary, where all fishing and bait collection is banned.

No — HMVS Cerberus sits in a shipwreck protected zone, and it is an offence to enter, anchor, fish or dive in the zone without a permit.

Snapper from the end of the jetty, plus King George whiting, calamari and garfish on lighter tackle, with flathead and salmon also around. Pinkies and salmon are a year-round fishery on the inshore reef.