Description
Yet another capital city, Melbourne, is the second most populated city in Australia and is Victoria’s crown jewel and state capital. Located around Port Phillip Bay, nearly 3.75 people (called ‘Melburnians’) populate this unique, bustling metropolis. Melbourne is one of the significant hub centers of the Asia-pacific region, with the main focus being commerce, industry, and various cultural activities.
The city is often referred to as Australia’s ‘sporting and cultural capital’ and was the host city of the 1956 Olympics, and more recently, the 2006 Commonwealth Games. Melbourne has a golden reputation as a beautiful place to reside, as proven by the Economist Magazine’s annual survey on the World’s Most Livable Cities. It has been named the top city three times in the last decade. However, soaring property price tags have made it one of the least affordable places to reside in the entire world over the previous several years!
This isn’t so great for year-round citizens. Still, there are many more things to focus on for travelers and visiting anglers worldwide, including the multitude of cultural events annually, a vibrant performing arts segment, and fantastic architecture to be seen from every corner. Melbourne is also considered Australia’s live music capital, with a large proportion of successful Australian artists emerging from the Melbourne live music scene.
Aside from the abundance of culture, there is incredible fishing to be experienced here as well! Port Phillip Bay is one of the most popular fishing spots in Melbourne. Known just as ‘The Bay’ to locals, Port Phillip is a giant marine bay totaling nearly half a million acres. Although highly shallow for its vast size — the deepest point is only 80 feet, with most of the bay reaching depths of only 15 feet — most of the bay is navigable for most fishing vessels.
Port Phillips flat topography makes it an ideal locale for most water sports other than fishing, including kite-surfing, windsurfing, sailing, boating and yachting, and scuba diving, as well as a multitude of beach sports and activities. Scuba diving, in particular, is very popular, with easy access available to several wrecks, reefs, drift dives, scallop dives, and wall dives.
The beautiful Peninsula port of Mornington, located on the eastern side of the bay, with various beaches, provides the perfect base for most of Melbourne’s professional fishing and diving charters. In addition, the area has some of the best Snapper grounds in Port Phillip Bay. Unlike many locations worldwide, which require a large amount of travel time, you will be casting your line within 15-30 minutes of departure from the pier here in Mornington Peninsula.
In season, the local catches are anything from Snapper, Gummy Shark, Garfish, Couta, Rock Cod, Whiting, Leatherjackets, Squid – and right through the year, Flathead is the predominant fish of the bay, with squid and Shark also being the catch du-jour.