Mordialloc Creek

Mordialloc Creek winds out of the suburbs past moored boats and boat-hire jetties to meet the bay beside Mordialloc Pier, and bream and mullet can be caught in the creek year round. Anglers share it with boaters, kayakers and walkers. The banks through the George Woods and Mordialloc Creek reserves give room to fish away from the pier crowd. It is the place to go when the bay is a washing machine and the pier regulars are hiding in their cars.

Fish lightly weighted baits close to the banks, moorings and jetty pylons for bream — bass yabbies, sandworms, prawns and bought mussels are the bream baits. Mullet respond to a float rig and a little berley. Small soft plastics and hard-bodied lures worked along the edges and around the boats pick up bream for lure anglers. Fish the incoming tide when salt water pushes up the creek. The hire-boat customers will drift into your line at least once; smile, they're paying by the hour.

Black bream (28 cm, bag 10) and yelloweye mullet (no minimum, combined bag 40) are the creek's mainstays. Silver trevally (20 cm) and flathead (27 cm) wander in from the bay in the warmer months. Measure bream carefully — small fish are common in metropolitan creeks.

Bream peak in the bay from June to November, which makes the creek a winter project. Keep lines clear of the boat-hire operators and moored vessels, and don't cast from private pontoons or marina berths. Pump bass yabbies legally (one bait pump, 0.5 litre limit) or buy them; bait nets are banned in Port Phillip Bay waters. Small bream are the creek's speciality, and they pick at a bait with the confidence of much bigger fish. On a sunny weekend the creek mouth jams with kayaks, hire boats and trailer boats all trying to use the same bit of water at once, so fish further upstream.

The creek runs inland from the Nepean Highway (Main Street) bridge near the mouth, with George Woods Reserve, Mordialloc Creek Reserve and Attenborough Park giving bank access. Parking is in the surrounding streets and the foreshore car parks near the pier. The reserves have sealed paths, and toilets are near the pier and foreshore.

The creek is sheltered from bay winds, which is its whole appeal on a blown-out day. Heavy rain colours the water and can push fish toward the mouth. The run-in tide is the window for bream moving up from the bay.

Creek banks drop into deep water with soft mud — keep children back from the edge and don't wade. Boats and hire boats move constantly; stay off marina pontoons. Shared paths have cyclists. Banks are slippery after rain. The creek carries suburban stormwater — after heavy rain especially, think twice about eating what you catch, and wash your hands and gear.

Yes — bream and mullet can be caught in Mordialloc Creek year round, from the public banks and reserves. Avoid private pontoons and marina berths.

Mainly black bream and yelloweye mullet, with silver trevally and flathead coming in from the bay in the warmer months.

George Woods Reserve, Mordialloc Creek Reserve and Attenborough Park all give bank access inland from the Main Street bridge, away from the hire-boat jetties.