South Road Groynes (Brighton–Hampton)

Near the intersection of South Road and Beach Road, a set of rock groynes runs out from the beach at the Brighton–Hampton border, and they are a great snapper spot in low light or in bad weather, with good calamari when conditions are favourable. Behind them the bay bottom from Sandringham to St Kilda is heavy reef and patchy weed, which is why the snapper come so close. These are short rock walls, not a pier, so they fish best for those who travel light. Every metre of them is shared with the sunrise walkers of Brighton, who will ask what you've caught before you've cast.

Snapper here are a dawn, dusk or rough-weather proposition: cast baits off the end of a groyne onto the reef and sand edge and wait. Calamari come to jigs cast along the weed edges when the water is clear. On calm days, light paternoster rigs fished into the sand gaps between groynes pick up whiting and flathead, and salmon schools can be intercepted with small metals. Bring one rod and one bag: the groynes are short, and so is anyone's patience with a tackle trolley on rocks.

Snapper and pinkies (28 cm, bag 10, no more than 3 at 40 cm or more) are the reason to come, with spring the big-fish season. Calamari (combined squid bag 10) in clear water from autumn into spring. Whiting (27 cm) and flathead (27 cm) in the warmer months; salmon (21 cm) in the cooler ones. Rays can't be taken within 400 m of the rock walls.

In Port Phillip Bay's intertidal zone (high-water mark out to 2 m deep) you may only take marine worms, bass yabbies, squid, octopus and cuttlefish — no mussels, crabs or periwinkles off the rocks. Low light and rough water are the recipe — the calm sunny middle of the day is the time for a swim instead. Pick a groyne with clean water on both sides and don't block the walkers.

The groynes are off Beach Road at Brighton Beach near South Road, on the Bay Trail. Street parking along Beach Road and side streets is limited and busy in summer. The groynes are rough rock — no wheelchair access, and small children need close supervision. Pack light — there is no deck to spread out on. The Brighton bathing boxes are a kilometre or so up the beach; none of them has ground this good out the front.

These groynes face west into the bay and take the full westerly and south-westerly chop, which is when the snapper bite — but waves washing over the rocks are a signal to stand on the beach, not the groyne. Calm northerly or easterly days give clear water for calamari and whiting. Dawn and dusk tide changes are the prime windows.

Wet rock groynes are slippery with weed, and waves can wash over them in a westerly — stay off when water is breaking across the rocks, and wear grippy shoes. The bay is cold for much of the year; a lifejacket is sensible if fishing the end of a groyne alone. Swimmers use the beach between the groynes in summer, so cast away from them.

Off Beach Road near South Road, on the Brighton–Hampton border, a short drive north of Sandringham.

Low light or bad weather — dawn, dusk and after a blow. Stay off the rocks if waves are washing over them.

No. In Port Phillip Bay's intertidal zone you may only take marine worms, burrowing shrimp, squid, octopus and cuttlefish. Buy mussels or pipis from a tackle shop.