Fishing Spots in NSW & ACT

Hawkesbury is a nature enthusiast’s paradise, about an hour from Sydney and has over 70 percent of the region dedicated to National Parks. Surrounded by 200 million year old rugged Hawkesbury Sandstone and dotted with secluded river communities, the Hawkesbury River is navigable for over 100kms flowing through rainforests and mangroves to drier open woodlands.

Fishing Spots

Although the Hawkesbury region attracts over a million anglers annually, the river and its tributaries is long enough for you to find many quiet spots. Each of the bends and stretches of the Hawkesbury is famed for one species of fish or another. Good spots include Spencer Wharf, Mangrove Creek and Tarbay Gully which produces bream, flathead and mulloway. Around 4kms downstream from Wisemans Ferry, the target fish are bass and estuary perch. Near the Lower Hawkesbury where it is under the influence of the sea and tides, the points around Flint and Steel Bay can yield nice catches of black bream, juvenile snapper and mulloway. Within Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, there is a waterway in a beautiful valley called Cowan Creek. This creek can produce some good catches of flathead, whiting, bream, leatherjacket, luderick, mulloway, the occasional john dory and an interesting eel=like looking fish called hairtail.

Ballina is a coastal township set amid sub-tropical northern New South Wales. It features lush green rural countryside, pristine white beaches on the oceanside and picturesque headlands. The main waterway, the Richmond River is well stocked with a diverse range of marine wildlife.

Fishing Spots

Ballina is an excellent place for recreational fishing with plenty of spots on the Richmond River to choose from. You can target many different fish species from the rocks, breakwalls or the shores around the township. At Shaws Bay which is a landlocked albeit tidally influenced waterbody, big tailor, luderick, bream and even mangrove jacks can be caught. The Richmond River is very clean and well populated with fish and there are good spots around the north and south walls with luderick, bream, mulloway, tailor and the odd mackerel and bluefin tuna coming in close in summer. Further upstream at Burns Point is one of Australia’s finest bream spots especially when one is fishing around the structures. On the ocean side and to the north of Ballina is a great spot called Sharps Beach. This spot has a good hole at the northern end of the beach holding bream and school mulloway, whilst at the southern end at Flat Rock headland, the rocky gutters attract bream, luderick, trevally, tailor and the prized rock blackfish. Further south at Black Head is also a great spot for mulloway, bream, mackerel and marlin possibilities during summer.

Port Stephens is a large natural harbour about 160kms northeast of Sydney. The harbour is mainly shallow and sandy but has sufficient deep water to accommodate large vessels. Port Stephens is often called the ‘blue water paradise’ due to its beautiful marine surroundings, making it quite popular for recreational fishing and boating.

Fishing Spots

At various times of the year, the estuary of Port Stephens provides anglers plenty of reasons to fish. Some of the best and most exciting spots on the port is the entrance to the Myall River and the sand flats in the main channel. Here you can catch nice-sized bream, whiting, flathead and mulloway. A variety of species can be taken off the deep water jetty at Hawks Nest, whilst Bennetts Beach is good for tailor. Tomaree Head on the southern side of the mouth yields the most species in one spot including snapper, trevally, tuna, yellowtail kingfish, cobia and shark. Stockton Beach, which lies further down the coast offers everything from tailor, salmon and really big mulloway.

There are a number of fishing locations in the Australian Capital Territory where anglers can target species such as Murray cod, golden perch, silver perch, rainbow trout, and brown trout. These locations include the man-made Lake Burley Griffin and Googong Reservoir. There are also many good trout fishing locations throughout the many creeks and rivers flowing from Googong Reservoir and Corin Dam.