Point Roadknight (Anglesea)

Point Roadknight is the low rocky point at the western end of Anglesea, with a sheltered beach and boat ramp tucked inside it and a reef ledge at the tip. Mullet, flounder, garfish, salmon, snapper, sharks and sweep all turn up, which makes it one of the more varied spots on the coast for a single walk, and there are excellent yabby beds between the boat ramp and the headland. It is the sort of place where a family can fish the beach while one optimist heads for the ledge. Under Victorian law, anyone fishing the ledge has to wear a lifejacket.

On the sheltered beach, light rigs with small hooks and a float or a light running sinker pick up garfish, mullet and salmon; pipi, squid strip or peeled prawn all work. The ledge at the tip is a low-tide, calm-day proposition only — from there a heavier rig with pilchard or squid reaches deeper water for salmon, snapper and sweep. The south side of the point is reefy and usually rough when the south-westerly is blowing, and squid is the bait there. Pump a few yabbies on the low tide (bass yabbies are limited to 0.5 litres per person) and you have the best bait on the beach.

Salmon, garfish and mullet are the common catches, sweep and small snapper come off the reef edges, and flounder turn up on the sand. Victorian limits: Australian salmon 21 cm with 20 combined with Australian herring, garfish no minimum and 40 combined, mullet no minimum and 40 combined, sweep 23 cm and 10 combined, flounder 23 cm and 20 combined, snapper 28 cm and 10 (no more than 3 of 40 cm or over). Snapper must be kept whole until you leave the water's edge. Rays cannot be taken within 400 m of a jetty or breakwater, and any shark other than gummy or school shark is limited to one of each species.

Point Roadknight is one of Victoria's 11 mandatory lifejacket zones for rock fishing — anyone fishing the rock platform must wear one, fines apply, and it must be AS 4758 Level 50S or greater (Level 100 or greater for children). Use the boat ramp with discretion; keep clear of launching boats and anchor rings. The Anglesea River, around the corner, has had repeated acid-water fish kills, so do not count on it as a back-up.

Point Roadknight is reached from the Great Ocean Road at the western end of Anglesea, with parking near the beach and the boat ramp. The walk onto the sheltered beach is short and flat, making it one of the most family-friendly spots between Torquay and Lorne. The ledge at the tip is a rock walk over uneven, slippery reef. The Surf Coast Walk passes along the top of the point. Walkers will stop to ask what you have caught, so have an answer ready that sounds better than mullet.

The point shelters the beach from the south-west, so it fishes on days when the open beaches are a mess. A southerly makes the south side rough and unfishable. The tip ledge only works at low tide on calm days — no exceptions. Low light and a moving tide lift the bite on the beach.

The rock platform at the tip is a mandatory lifejacket zone — wear one, plus cleated or non-slip shoes, and never fish it alone. Check the swell, tide and wind for a few days beforehand, face the water and retreat well before the tide turns. If someone is washed in, do not jump in after them — throw something that floats and call 000. On the beach, keep an eye on boats coming in and out of the ramp.

Yes, on the rock platform. Point Roadknight is one of Victoria's 11 mandatory lifejacket zones for rock fishing; the lifejacket must be AS 4758 Level 50S or greater (Level 100 or greater for children), and fines apply.

Mullet, flounder, garfish, salmon, small snapper, sharks and sweep.

Yes. There is a public boat ramp inside the point; use it with discretion and keep clear of anglers on the beach.

It is legal, but the river has suffered repeated acid-water fish kills and stays acidic for long stretches, so fish numbers are low.