Station Pier

Station Pier is Melbourne's cruise-ship terminal — home to visiting cruise liners and naval vessels — and it is open to anglers. Ports Victoria lets the public onto the southern end of the pier to fish and sightsee, along marked walkways and under the eye of maritime security guards. It fishes well in both shallow and deep water, with snapper, flathead, silver trevally, salmon and garfish the main targets. It is the only place in Melbourne where you can catch a pinkie while a cruise ship the size of a shopping centre sits at the next berth.

Cast baits into the deeper water off the end for snapper and pinkies, using a running sinker or paternoster rig and letting it sit. Flathead respond to soft plastics or pilchard pieces worked across the sandy bottom. A float and light berley trail brings garfish, salmon and trevally within range. The small jetty on the right-hand side of the main pier can be productive, particularly in the warmer months — access to any part of the pier depends on the day's security arrangements. When a cruise ship is in, the security guard is the only person on the pier who isn't checking the bite times.

Snapper and pinkies (28 cm, bag 10, no more than 3 at 40 cm or more) are the main prize, with flathead (27 cm) and silver trevally (20 cm) through the warmer months. Salmon (21 cm) push through in autumn and winter, and garfish under berley much of the year. Skates and rays can't be taken within 400 m of any pier, jetty or rock wall, so banjos and stingrays go back.

Check the Ports Victoria Station Pier page before you go: public access runs to set hours (longer in the warmer half of the year, roughly 6 am–8 pm, and shorter in winter), and the pier closes to the public on listed ship and maintenance days. Stay on the marked walkways and follow the security guards' directions — cordoned areas are strictly off limits. The pier shuts on the listed days, not on every day a ship is in, so a cruise ship at the berth doesn't by itself end the session. Bring a watch: the gate keeps better time than the fish.

Station Pier sits at the end of Beach Street and Waterfront Place in Port Melbourne. There is limited accessible parking at the southern end on a first-come basis; otherwise use the paid and street parking around Beach Street. Access is on foot along marked pathways. Cafes are around the terminal and along Bay Street. Children are fine but must stay on the walkways.

The pier juts north–south into the top of the bay, so a northerly is offshore and leaves the water calm, while southerlies and south-westerlies push chop at the end. Snapper often bite best after a blow or when the Yarra has flushed fresh water into Hobsons Bay after rain. Dawn and dusk sessions are limited by the access hours, so plan around the tide within the open window, going by the BoM tide tables.

This is a working, security-regulated port: entering cordoned areas is prohibited and the pier closes at short notice. Large vessels create wash and propeller turbulence close to the pier — keep well back from berths during movements. The deck is high above deep, cold water with no easy way out; a lifejacket is worth wearing on the end in rough weather. Watch for flying sinkers on crowded days.

Yes — the public may fish the southern end of Station Pier along marked walkways during set hours (longer in summer, shorter in winter), except on listed ship and maintenance days. Check the Ports Victoria Station Pier page and follow the security guards' directions.

Snapper, flathead, silver trevally, Australian salmon and garfish are the main targets, with the small jetty on the right-hand side of the main pier productive in the warmer months.

On listed ship and maintenance days — check the Ports Victoria Station Pier page on the day before you travel.