Merricks Beach
Beach · Salt water
A long sandy beach at the end of Merricks Beach Road on the western shore of Western Port, with room for many anglers. The agency names it as the bay's place for gummy shark, fished at night, and lists King George whiting, Australian salmon, yellow-eye mullet and flathead.
FishingHQ describes what this place is, not whether you may fish it. Access, permits and who to ask.
What you can catch here
Documented at this place, grouped by how you would be fishing, with how strongly the sources support each one. This is what has been written down, not a forecast, and being listed is never permission to fish.
From the shore · 3
What these strengths mean
- Regular local target
- Fishing sources describe this as a normal local target here, not merely as caught.
- How breadth is counted
- A fish documented at six marks is shown as six marks: breadth never raises the strength on its own. A fishery account describes the fishing; a recorded catch reports one specific catch. How evidence is weighed.
Fish documented nearby, not here
Nothing below has been documented at Merricks Beach itself. Each one has been documented at a named place on the same ground, and the places are listed with it. Treat this as what the water around here holds rather than as a catch list for this mark.
Widely documented on this ground
Documented at three or more neighbouring places, fished a way this place is also fished. That is a pattern about the ground rather than about any one mark, and it is the closest this site comes to saying you will probably meet a fish somewhere nothing has been written about.
From the shore
- Silver trevally — documented at Flinders Jetty; Stony Point Pier; Hastings Jetty (+4 more)
- Australasian snapper — documented at Stony Point Pier; San Remo Jetty; Cowes Jetty
- Barracouta — documented at Flinders Jetty; San Remo Jetty; Cowes Jetty
Also documented at neighbouring places
One or two accounts each, on the ground around here. Enough to know the fish is caught in these waters; not enough to say anything about this place.
From the shore
- Elephant fish — documented at Corinella Pier; Cowes Jetty
- Dusky kob — documented at Corinella Pier
- Estuary perch — documented at Tooradin Inlet
Named only as a group
The guide for Merricks Beach also names these fish by a name that covers more than one species here. It does not say which, so none is attached to this place.
- flathead — could be Dusky flathead, Sand flathead or Tiger flathead. Several flathead are fished in these states, and the state guides name dusky, sand and tiger flathead separately when they mean one; a guide that says only "flathead" has not said which.
- Australian salmon — could be Eastern Australian salmon (kahawai) or Western Australian salmon. Both Australian salmon species occur in Victorian waters, by FishBase's ranges; in New South Wales only the eastern species does, which is why the name is resolved there and not here.
How people fish it
Practised here: Sea fishing.
Methods the sources name for this ground. Each one is explained in full on its own page.
- Ledgering
Fishing a bait on the bottom held by a weight, with no float — the simplest way to fish at distance, in depth, or in wind.
The ground and the water
- The ground
- A long sandy beach at the end of Merricks Beach Road on the western shore of Western Port, with room for many anglers. The agency names it as the bay's place for gummy shark, fished at night, and lists King George whiting, Australian salmon, yellow-eye mullet and flathead.
Getting there
What public sources describe, last checked 2026-10-22. Car parks fill, services change and a path existing is not a path anybody may use — none of this is a guarantee of availability and none of it is permission to be anywhere.
- Getting to it
- At the end of Merricks Beach Road, on the western shore of Western Port.
Parking
Car park at the end of Merricks Beach Road
Public car park · Charging not established
The agency lists a car park at the end of the road. Its size and charges are not stated.
Where this access information comes from
- Go Fishing — Western Port — Victorian Fisheries Authority (Government fisheries body)Relied on for: The state fisheries agency's entry for this spot: where it is, the fish it lists here, the tide and method it recommends, and the amenities nearby.States this directlyPassage read and verified
What is there
Public toilets
The agency says toilets are located near the yacht club.
Through the year
The agency says the beach fishes best at high tide, especially early in the morning, that an evening high tide can also be productive, and that night is the time for gummy shark, whose peak across the bay it gives as March to October.
Rules and access
Particular to this water: The Victorian Fisheries Authority lists the beach among Western Port's public fishing spots; that is not a statement about access across land behind it. Toilets are by the yacht club.
Beyond what is stated above, FishingHQ does not know the current access position here. Victoria licenses recreational fishing in its marine waters, with exemptions the state lists; bag limits, size limits and closed seasons are set by the Victorian Fisheries Authority and change. Marine national parks and marine sanctuaries lie along the bays and coast, and their boundaries are shown by the state's fishing guide app. A pier or jetty being public is not a statement that fishing from it is allowed today. Check the current position with the Victorian Fisheries Authority before going.
Who holds the answer:
- The Victorian Fisheries Authority, which issues the recreational fishing licence and publishes the rules, limits and closures.
- Parks Victoria, for the state's marine national parks and sanctuaries.
- The operator of the pier or jetty, for whether it is open.
- The Victorian Fisheries Authority, which issues the recreational fishing licence and sets and publishes the catch limits, size limits and closed seasons.
- Service Victoria, the state's service through which the licence is bought.
- Parks Victoria, which manages the marine national parks and marine sanctuaries where fishing is prohibited.
- The operator of a pier or jetty, for whether it is open.
- The Victorian Fisheries Authority: issues the recreational fishing licence and publishes the bag limits, size limits and closed seasons for the bay.
Nearby fishing
Other publicly documented places within about 40 km, by distance. Positions are approximate public geography and are never exact marks.
- Stony Point Pier — 10–25 km · Pier
- Devilbend Reservoir — 10–25 km · Reservoir
- Flinders Jetty — 10–25 km · Jetty
- Hastings Jetty — 10–25 km · Jetty
- Cowes Jetty — 10–25 km · Jetty
- Rhyll Jetty — 10–25 km · Jetty
- Mornington Pier — 10–25 km · Pier
- San Remo Jetty — 25–40 km · Jetty
Sources for this place
- Go Fishing — Western Port — Victorian Fisheries Authority (Government fisheries body)Relied on for: The state fisheries agency's entry for this spot: where it is, the fish it lists here, the tide and method it recommends, and the amenities nearby.States this directlyPassage read and verified
- Buy a Victorian recreational fishing licence — Service Victoria (State Government of Victoria) (Local authority, harbour or protected-area body)Relied on for: That Victoria licenses recreational fishing in all its waters, with exemptions the state lists, and that the Victorian Fisheries Authority issues the licence.States this directlyPassage read and verified
How FishingHQ labels evidence is explained in the evidence policy. Last reviewed 2026-10-22.
Before you go
- Fish documented here
- 3 at this place itself. See them.
- Getting there
- Described from public sources, last checked 2026-10-22. Getting there.
- Rules particular to this water
- The Victorian Fisheries Authority lists the beach among Western Port's public fishing spots; that is not a statement about access across land behind it. Toilets are by the yacht club. From the body that sets it: Victorian Fisheries Authority and Service Victoria (State Government of Victoria), read 2026-10-22. Applies to: Merricks Beach.
Nothing here is watched for change. Sources and who to ask.
- Hazards particular to this place
- None recorded for this place; the hazards of the wider coast or water still apply.
Check before you travel
- Whether you may fish here, and whether a licence or permit is needed — start with the Victorian Fisheries Authority.
- The tide times and the forecast for the day you go.
- Anything recorded here was true when it was read; it is not watched for change.