Victoria

A temperate state facing Bass Strait, with two large bays south of Melbourne — Port Phillip, closed to the ocean but for a narrow entrance, and Western Port, shallow, tidal and channelled around Phillip Island and French Island — and an exposed ocean coast either side of them. Inland, rivers, lakes and reservoirs under the same state licence.

Shore fishing from the public piers and jetties of the two bays, with bait and with jigs for squid; small-boat fishing in the bays; night fishing on the tide for gummy shark in Western Port, which the state agency describes. Freshwater fishing in the rivers and lakes is licensed by the state too, and is not yet described here.

Port Phillip's sheltered bay piers and jetties over sand, seagrass and reef; Western Port's tidal channels, mudflats and seagrass; river mouths entering the bays; the open Bass Strait coast; and inland rivers, lakes and reservoirs.

Victoria licenses recreational fishing in all its waters with a single state licence, covering marine waters, lakes and rivers, valid only in Victoria and issued by the Victorian Fisheries Authority under the state's fisheries regulations. When its licence page was read on 22 and 23 October 2026, the state listed as not needing one: people under 18 or over 70, people identifying as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, and holders of particular seniors, veterans and pensioner concession cards that the page names. Catch limits, size limits and closed seasons are set by the Victorian Fisheries Authority and published in its recreational fishing guide and app; they change, and FishingHQ does not restate them. Fishing is prohibited from the shore and at sea in marine national parks and marine sanctuaries, which are managed by Parks Victoria; the state's fishing guide app shows whether you are in, approaching or outside one, and spear guns are not permitted in any of Victoria's marine protected areas. Victoria counts a waterway as inland from its mouth to its source, so an estuary is inland water, while the Gippsland Lakes, Lake Tyers, Wingan Inlet and the lower lake of Mallacoota Inlet are marine; the inland and marine rules differ. The intertidal zone, from the high-water mark to two metres deep, is protected: in Port Phillip Bay only worms, burrowing shrimp, squid, octopus and cuttlefish may be taken from it, elsewhere a wider list, and no hand-held digging tool may be used. At eleven listed high-risk rock zones on the ocean coast a lifejacket must be worn when fishing. A pier or jetty being public is not a statement that it is open or that fishing from it is allowed today. FishingHQ does not state what any current rule is: what is said here is what the state's pages said when read, and the state's page is the authority. Check the current position with the Victorian Fisheries Authority before going.

The bays are sheltered water, but not uniformly. The state agency warns of strong currents at Sorrento and at San Remo, where heavy sinkers are needed except around slack water, of Cowes Jetty's exposure in strong northerly winds, and of boat traffic in the Werribee River. The open ocean coast is a different place from the bays: several people drown each year after being swept off rocks, the agency says, and it requires a lifejacket at eleven high-risk rock zones. Sun and dehydration are a routine hazard across the state.

Almost certainly, unless you are in a group the state names as not needing one.

ONE LICENCE, ALL WATERS. Victoria's recreational fishing licence covers marine waters, lakes and rivers. There is no separate freshwater licence (though the inland and marine rules differ, and Victoria counts an estuary as inland water), and a licence from another state does not count: the Victorian licence is valid only in Victoria. The Victorian Fisheries Authority issues it, and it is bought through Service Victoria.

WHO THE STATE SAYS DOES NOT NEED ONE. When FishingHQ read the state's licence page on 22 and 23 October 2026 it listed people under 18 or over 70, people identifying as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, and holders of particular seniors, veterans and pensioner concession cards, which the page names card by card. That list is the state's, and it can change; check it on the day rather than here.

WHAT IT DOES NOT TELL YOU. A licence is one requirement among several; it says nothing about catch limits, closed ground, or whether a particular pier is open. Those are the next three questions.

CATCH AND SIZE LIMITS, AND CLOSED SEASONS. The Victorian Fisheries Authority sets them and publishes them in its recreational fishing guide — the 2026 edition when read, in print from licence-selling tackle shops, in the VicFishing app and online. FishingHQ does not copy them, because it does not watch them change; look them up for the fish and the water you intend to fish.

INLAND OR MARINE? The guide's rules differ between the two, and the line between them is the mouth of the river: upstream of it is inland water, even where the tide reaches.

MARINE NATIONAL PARKS AND SANCTUARIES. Fishing from the shore or at sea is prohibited in them. Parks Victoria says a boat may carry finfish caught outside a park and an unused rod through one, and some shellfish with the gear stowed if travelling straight through by the shortest route, and that spear guns are not permitted in any of Victoria's marine protected areas. The state's fishing guide app uses your position to show whether you are in, approaching or outside one, which matters on a coast where a park can start partway along a beach.

BAIT FROM THE SHORE. The intertidal zone, from the high-water mark to two metres deep, is protected. In Port Phillip Bay only marine worms, burrowing shrimp, squid, octopus and cuttlefish may be taken from it — not crabs, pipis or mussels; elsewhere the list is longer. No hand-held digging tool may be used in it anywhere, so pipis, worms and bass yabbies are not dug; a bait pump of the permitted size is allowed.

PIERS AND JETTIES. A structure being public does not mean it is open today or that fishing from it is allowed; its operator decides.

WHAT FISHINGHQ CANNOT TELL YOU. Whether any rule has changed since these pages were read, or what applies at a particular spot today. The authorities below can.

The Victorian Fisheries Authority says several people drown each year after being swept off rocks, and requires a lifejacket at eleven high-risk zones on the ocean coast, a rule kept after a two-year trial. Fines apply.

THE ZONES, AS LISTED WHEN READ. The rock platform near the blowholes car park at Cape Bridgewater; Artillery Rocks and Jump Rock near Lorne, and the platform opposite Sheoak Falls; all rock platforms between Point Nepean and West Head near Cape Schanck; Pyramid Rocks, Kitty Miller Bay, Cowries Rock and Sunderland Bay on Phillip Island; all rock platforms between Bore Beach at San Remo and Kilcunda; and Point Roadknight at Anglesea. The agency publishes maps of each.

EVERYWHERE ELSE, THE SAME ADVICE. The agency asks rock fishers to wear a lifejacket wherever they are.

IF SOMEBODY IS WASHED IN. Do not jump in after them. Throw a rope or anything that floats, call 000 or 112, and stay back from the edge. Someone in the water should swim away from the rocks and wait for help or a safe place to get out.

The piers and jetties of the two bays are not in these zones; the ocean side of Phillip Island and the coast east of San Remo are.

The Victorian Fisheries Authority publishes a guide to each of the two bays south of Melbourne, spot by spot, and they are the source of every Victorian place on FishingHQ.

PORT PHILLIP. Eight public spots, mostly piers, from Queenscliff and Geelong round to Mornington and Sorrento, each with the fish the agency lists there, how they are fished, and the amenities at the foot of the pier. It warns of strong currents at Sorrento and boat traffic at the Werribee River mouth.

WESTERN PORT. Nine spots — piers, jetties and one beach — around the bay and Phillip Island. It is a tidal bay with deep channels, and the agency warns that the current at San Remo Jetty is very strong except around slack water and that Cowes Jetty is exposed to strong northerlies. It describes night fishing on the rising tide around the full and new moon for gummy shark, with Merricks Beach as its named spot, and the deep channel at Corinella for gummy shark and elephant fish.

The places themselves, with the fish, methods and amenities for each, are listed below.