Werribee River Mouth

The Werribee River meets Port Phillip at Werribee South, and the last stretch of it is the one place on the western shore where you can fish an estuary, a set of small jetties and an open bay beach inside a ten-minute stroll. It's one of the bay's go-to land-based spots for plain reasons: bream off the jetties, big mullet in winter and good flathead on the sand in the warmer months. The river behind the mouth is a productive estuary that also turns up trevally, salmon, estuary perch and the odd mulloway. It is a working boat harbour too, so the fish share the water with a steady procession of trailer boats heading out to chase snapper.

Bream are the jetty fish — a light running-sinker rig or an unweighted bait drifted along the pylons, or a small soft plastic worked tight to the structure. Bass yabbies and sandworms are the bream baits here, and a fish bait such as whitebait or blue-bait does better on the flathead that push into the lower reaches in spring. Mullet respond to a quill float and small long-shank hooks with a pinch of berley. On the beach side, wade and cast lightly weighted baits or plastics into the sand holes between the weed for flathead. Watch the boat traffic before every cast from the jetties — the channel is the only way in and out. Fresh bait beats fancy here; the tackle-shop specials can stay on the shelf.

Black bream are the bread-and-butter fish, available all year and at their peak from winter into spring, with undersize fish common, so a 28 cm ruler matters. Yelloweye mullet run big through the cooler months, and winter is the time for the large ones. Flathead move onto the beach and into the estuary as the water warms from October, and silver trevally fill in from spring through autumn. Australian salmon wander in from the bay through autumn and winter, estuary perch live in the river, and a mulloway is a genuine but occasional bonus. Bream are 28 cm minimum with a bag of 10; flathead 27 cm with a combined bag of 20; silver trevally 20 cm.

The Werribee South boat ramp is closed to the public while it is rebuilt, and its jetties, pontoons and car park sit inside the works zone — check Wyndham City's updates before you go, and until it reopens fish the open river banks clear of the fencing or the beach to the east. Fish the run-in tide around dawn or dusk; the river carries more water and the bream move up onto the structure. Bait nets are banned in Port Phillip Bay and cast nets are illegal everywhere in Victoria, so gather bait with a pump or buy it. In the bay's intertidal zone you may only take marine worms, bass yabbies, squid, octopus and cuttlefish — no mussels or crabs off the rocks. Shore access to the western bank upriver crosses the Melbourne Water farm, which needs a permit to enter. Ramp works mean fences in odd places; the bream have not been consulted and are carrying on as usual.

Access is off the end of the Werribee South foreshore roads. The boat-ramp car park is normally ample, but it is fenced while the ramp is rebuilt, so park on the foreshore roads and walk in. There are toilets, seats and grassed reserves at the mouth; the ramp's fish-cleaning tables sit inside the works fencing for now. The beach is a short, flat walk, which suits kids, but the river edge sits beside a live boat channel so small children need a hand on the collar.

The mouth opens to the south-east across the bay, so a north-westerly or westerly blows off the land and leaves the water flat and clear for the beach side. A fresh southerly or south-easterly pushes chop into the mouth and stirs the weed beds, which shuts down the clear-water whiting and flathead fishing on the sand. Heavy rain upriver colours the estuary and can switch the bream on for a day or two as the fresh pushes them down toward the mouth. The incoming tide is the one most locals target in the river. A north-westerly also carries the odd reminder of the Melbourne Water farm next door, which the birdwatchers adore and the brochures tend not to mention.

The jetties and river edge sit on a working boat channel — keep lines clear of launching and retrieving boats and never cast across the fairway. Timber and concrete edges get slippery with weed and dew, and there is a drop into deep, cold water off the river walls. Ramp construction means machinery and barriers while it lasts; stay out of fenced areas. Wading the beach side is shallow and weedy but stingrays and sharp shell are underfoot, so wear footwear and shuffle your feet. A lifejacket is cheap insurance for anyone fishing the jetties alone after dark.

Not from the ramp jetties — the Werribee South boat ramp, including its jetties and car park, is closed to the public while it is rebuilt. Fish the open river banks clear of the fencing or the beach to the east, and check Wyndham City's updates for the reopening.

The river mouth jetties are best known for black bream, with yelloweye mullet (big ones in winter), flathead in the warmer months, Australian salmon and silver trevally. The estuary also holds estuary perch and the occasional mulloway. Bream must be at least 28 cm (bag 10) and flathead 27 cm (combined bag 20).

Bass yabbies and sandworms are the black bream baits in the lower Werribee River, fished on light running-sinker rigs or under a float along the jetty pylons. Small soft plastics work too. Pump bass yabbies legally (a hand-held bait pump within the size limit) — digging implements are banned in the intertidal zone and bait nets are banned in Port Phillip Bay.