Port Fairy Wharf (Moyne River)

Port Fairy is built around the Moyne River, and the wharf on its west bank — lined with the fishing boats you can see from the footbridge — is the town's prime land-based spot. The estuary runs 4.8 km inland from the mouth and holds mainly estuary perch, mullet and salmon, with black bream, barracouta, flounder, snapper, whiting, silver trevally and occasionally mulloway also caught. The whole area is open for bank fishing, and jetties and walkways line both sides of the river from the footbridge down to the mouth. It is the sort of spot where a kid with a handline and a professional unloading a catch can share the same few metres, and only one of them is having a bad day.

Fish light baits down the face of the wharf and around the jetty pylons for bream, perch and mullet; sandworm, shelled prawn, squid, crab and clickers are the best baits. Small soft plastics worked along the walls catch perch and bream, especially early and late. Berley of bread and pellets brings the mullet up fast. Bring more bread than seems sensible; these mullet have clearly been fed by holidaymakers before.

Estuary perch, mullet and salmon are the mainstay, with black bream to around 800 g and silver trevally in the mix. Flounder turn up on the sand edges. Victorian limits: estuary perch 27 cm with a combined bag of 5 (no more than 2 Australian bass), bream 28 cm and 10, salmon 21 cm and 20 combined with Australian herring, silver trevally 20 cm and 20, mullet no minimum and 40 combined.

This is a working wharf — give the commercial boats room, stay off moored vessels and do not cast across the channel when boats are moving. Bream and estuary perch must be kept whole until you are off the water. Tackle and local bait are sold in town.

The wharf runs along the west bank of the Moyne River in town, with parking along the foreshore and the Port Fairy slipway nearby. It is flat, sealed and a short walk from the car, which makes it one of the more family-friendly spots on this coast. The town centre is a few minutes' walk away.

Sheltered from the ocean swell, so it fishes when the beaches and the mouth do not. Fresh water after heavy rain pushes fish toward the mouth; a run-in tide brings clean water and fish up past the wharf. Dawn, dusk and night are best for perch.

Deep water right off the wharf edge, with no rails along much of it — supervise children closely. Boat traffic and mooring lines around the berths. Slippery timber and concrete when wet.

Yes. The Moyne River wharf is the town's main land-based fishing spot, and the whole estuary is open for bank fishing. Keep clear of working boats.

Mainly estuary perch, mullet and Australian salmon, plus black bream, barracouta, flounder, snapper, whiting, silver trevally and occasional mulloway.

Sandworm, shelled prawn, squid, crab and clickers.