Maribyrnong River (Raleigh Road)

Below Solomons Ford the Maribyrnong widens into a sluggish, deep estuary that winds through Melbourne's inner west, and the stretch around the Raleigh Road bridge near the Anglers Tavern is a very popular fishing area. Black bream are the main event — bream to 1.5 kg are caught, though undersized ones are the most common — with silver trevally, mullet, flathead, pinkies and mulloway also possible. The Maribyrnong Road jetty and the parkland banks give plenty of room to spread out. It is a suburban river with suburban scenery, and the bream have clearly made their peace with the tram bells.

The incoming tide fishes best. Berley and floating rigs with unweighted baits work for mullet and black bream; a running sinker on the bottom is the other standard approach. Baits used here include bass yabbies, sandworms, prawns, pipis, worms, dough and even chicken fillet. Soft plastics and small hard-bodied lures are increasingly popular for bream — work them along the rock edges, jetty pylons and snags. Mullet will eat everything in your bait bucket if you let them, which at least keeps the kids busy.

Black bream are the target year-round and must be 28 cm (bag 10) — undersized bream are common, so measure every fish. Mullet are a reliable fallback with no size limit and a combined bag of 40. Silver trevally (20 cm) and flathead (27 cm) move up the estuary in the warmer months, pinkies wander in, and the odd mulloway is the river's long shot. Mulloway are 60 cm minimum, bag of 5 (changes have been proposed — check the VFA guide).

Better Health and EPA Victoria publish eating advice for the lower Yarra and Maribyrnong because of PCBs: women of childbearing age and children under 16 should eat no more than one 150 g serve of fish a month and no eels, and everyone else no more than four serves of fish and one of eel a month. Black bream carry more PCBs than mullet, so if you keep a feed, keep the smaller legal fish and the mullet. Don't eat anything from the river upstream of Solomons Ford at all — EPA advises against it because of PFAS. Rowers and cruise boats share this water, so keep lines short when they pass. Ruler first, photo second: the river's bream are generous with 27 cm fish.

The Raleigh Road bridge area sits beside the Anglers Tavern in Maribyrnong, with riverside parks (Maribyrnong Park and others) and the Maribyrnong Road jetty a short walk away. Access is very good at many parks and road crossings, including Canning Street Reserve, the Flemington Racecourse stretch and the Footscray Road bridge. Paths through the riverside parks are mostly flat and family-friendly.

The river is sheltered from the bay winds that close down the piers, so it fishes in most weather. After heavy rain the river runs brown and fresh; give it a few days to settle unless you are chasing the bream that push downstream ahead of a fresh. Tide is the big driver even this far up — fish the run-in.

Riverbanks and jetty edges drop into deep, murky water with a muddy bottom — keep children back from the edge and don't wade. Banks get slippery after rain. Watch out for rowers and cruise boats; check the posted waterway rules and speed zones on the lower Yarra and Maribyrnong. Shared paths carry fast cyclists, so keep rods out of the path.

The area around the Raleigh Road bridge near the Anglers Tavern is the popular one, with other access at Canning Street Reserve, the Flemington Racecourse stretch and the Footscray Road bridge. A rebuilt fishing jetty also sits at Avondale Heights.

Better Health and EPA Victoria publish eating advice for the lower Yarra and Maribyrnong because of PCBs: women of childbearing age and children under 16 should eat no more than one 150 g serve of fish a month and no eels, and everyone else no more than four serves of fish and one of eel a month. Do not eat fish from upstream of Solomons Ford (PFAS advice).

Bass yabbies, sandworms, prawns, pipis, worms, dough and chicken fillet all work, with berley and unweighted floating rigs working well for bream and mullet. Small soft plastics and hard-bodied lures are popular too. Fish the incoming tide.