Warrnambool Breakwater (Lady Bay)

The Warrnambool Breakwater is the 19th-century wall that shelters Lady Bay and the boats moored behind it, and it is the city's one real platform into deep, moving ocean water without a boat. Kingfish, snapper, snook, barracouta, trevally, salmon, whiting and sharks all work Lady Bay, and the wall gives a land-based angler a fair shot at most of them. It is also a walk that half of Warrnambool does anyway, so expect company that is more interested in the view than your float. The structure has had a rough decade — closed for more than eight months after the April 2021 storm surge, cracked at the eastern end in 2023 — but it remains open and in daily use.

Fish the sheltered Lady Bay side of the wall when the swell is up and the outer face only on genuinely calm days. Unweighted or lightly weighted pilchards and squid on a two-hook snelled rig are the standard bait approach for the bigger fish; a paternoster with small hooks and squid or pilchard pieces covers whiting, trevally and salmon. Metal slugs cast and wound back fast pick up salmon, barracouta and snook when they push into the bay. Berley helps, as it does everywhere the fish have options.

Australian salmon and silver trevally are the dependable catches, with barracouta and snook turning up when bait schools move through the bay. Snapper, King George whiting and gummy sharks are the better-quality fish, and a kingfish off the wall is the story locals retell for years. Victorian limits apply: snapper 28 cm with a bag of 10 (no more than 3 of 40 cm or over), King George whiting 27 cm and 20, Australian salmon 21 cm with 20 combined with Australian herring, silver trevally 20 cm and 20, yellowtail kingfish 60 cm and 2, gummy shark 45 cm partial length with 2 combined with school shark, and barracouta no minimum and 20.

The Merri Marine Sanctuary starts at the western root of the breakwater — the sanctuary runs from Thunder Point east to Breakwater Rock and is no-take for everything, squid included. Fish from the wall itself and cast into Lady Bay or straight out to sea, never back west into the sanctuary waters around the river mouth. Snapper, King George whiting and gummy sharks cannot be filleted on or in Victorian waters — keep them whole until you are off the wall.

The breakwater sits at the western end of Lady Bay, with parking by the aquarium end of the foreshore and a short, flat walk out along the parapet walkway. There are picnic tables and amenities at the breakwater. The walkway suits families on a calm day, but the outer edges are unfenced in places and not a spot for unsupervised kids. The Lady Bay boat ramp, upgraded in 2022, is on the same stretch of foreshore.

This is open Southern Ocean, and the wall is famous for waves breaking over it — which is lovely to photograph from somewhere dry. A big south-westerly swell makes the outer face unfishable and dangerous; the bay side holds up better but still gets wash. Light northerly winds flatten things and are the pick, and the change of tide at dawn or dusk is the productive window.

Waves regularly break over the breakwater in a decent swell; stay off it, or at least off the outer face, when the sea is up. The structure has documented cracking at the eastern end and was closed after the 2021 storm, so obey any fencing or closure signs. Rock and concrete are slippery when wet. Wear a lifejacket whenever you fish a wall or rocks that the sea can reach — a properly fitted AS 4758 lifejacket, Level 50S or greater. Never fish into the Merri Marine Sanctuary at the root of the wall.

Yes. It remains open and in daily use, though it was closed for more than eight months after the April 2021 storm, so obey any closure signs after big seas.

Only outside it. The Merri Marine Sanctuary runs from Thunder Point to Breakwater Rock at the root of the breakwater and is no-take. Fish from the breakwater into Lady Bay or the open sea, not back toward the Merri River mouth.

Australian salmon, silver trevally, barracouta and snook are the regular catches, with snapper, King George whiting, gummy sharks and the occasional kingfish for patient anglers.

No. Waves break over it in a decent swell. Fish the sheltered bay side, stay off the outer face when the sea is up, and wear a lifejacket.