Port Campbell Jetty
Summary for 16 Oct 2026
Bite Compass is showing a medium fish activity bite score on 16 Oct 2026. Wind is around NE at 18 km/h. Solunar feeding windows are listed below.
Feeding Windows
Local Knowledge
Port Campbell Jetty is a 50 m boating and fishing structure in the small, cliff-lined bay at Port Campbell, and it is a popular fishing spot for locals and visitors. Australian salmon, squid and trevally are the usual catches off the jetty. It is one of very few places on the Shipwreck Coast where a land-based angler can drop a bait into sheltered ocean water. Down the road the Twelve Apostles have been quietly losing members to the sea for years; the salmon here are a more dependable crowd.
Fish a paternoster or running sinker rig with pilchard, bluebait or squid for salmon and trevally, and cast metal lures when salmon are moving through the bay. Work squid jigs slowly around the weed and rocky edges at dawn and dusk. Berley helps hold fish under the jetty. Keep rigs simple and light enough to feel bites in the surge.
Salmon, squid and silver trevally are the regular catches. Victorian limits: Australian salmon 21 cm with 20 combined with Australian herring, squid (including calamari), octopus and cuttlefish a combined bag of 10, silver trevally 20 cm and 20 combined. Rays cannot be taken within 400 m of the jetty.
Two no-take marine parks are on Port Campbell's doorstep: The Arches Marine Sanctuary lies about a kilometre offshore to the south-east, just outside the bay, and Twelve Apostles Marine National Park runs east along the coast towards Princetown. All fishing and bait collection is prohibited inside both, so keep your fishing to the jetty and bay. Boats are launched by the jetty crane, so give crane operations room.
Access & Conditions
The jetty is on Lord Street in the centre of Port Campbell, with parking in town and the surf club beach right beside it. It is a short, flat walk to the jetty. The lower landing was closed for repairs after a 2023 safety inspection and later reopened, so check the Great Ocean Road Coast and Parks Authority's port updates for any new closures. Town amenities are a block away.
The bay is sheltered by the headlands, but large south-westerly swells still surge into it and can make the lower landing wet and dangerous. Calm, light-wind days are best. Dawn and dusk on a moving tide give the best chance of salmon and squid. After big seas, the water is often stirred up and the fishing slows.
Swell can surge over the lower landing without warning — stay off it in big seas. Supervise children; the deck is high above the water. Watch for boat-launching crane operations. Cliff edges around the bay are unstable, so stay behind fences on the walking tracks.
Gear & Rigs
A 7–8 ft spin rod, 2500–4000 reel, 8–12 lb line, a paternoster with size 2–1/0 hooks and pilchard or squid, or 20–40 g metal lures for salmon. Squid: 2.5–3.0 jigs. A berley bucket and a rope-lowered landing net (bridge net) are useful because the deck is high above the water. Hauling a good salmon up from that height by hand is how lines discover their breaking strain.
Seasons
Salmon, squid and trevally are caught through the year. Summer brings calmer days and more visitors. Winter swells can surge into the bay and close the lower landing. Squid are often best in the early morning. The early squid crowd is small, keen and usually finished before the town's coffee is.
If This Spot's Blown Out
Frequently Asked
Yes. The 50 m jetty is a popular fishing spot and the only sheltered land-based platform on this stretch of coast.
Salmon, squid and silver trevally — salmon on metals when they push into the bay, squid on the weed edges at dawn and dusk.
No. Twelve Apostles Marine National Park is a no-take area, and so is The Arches Marine Sanctuary near Port Campbell.
No. Boats are launched by crane under a permit from the Great Ocean Road Coast and Parks Authority.