Cowan Creek shore fishing: Bobbin Head, Cottage Point and Illawong Bay

By Andrew Hestelow

At Bobbin Head, work a bridge eddy or retaining wall. At Cottage Point, put bread into the falling tide. At Illawong, a weed float may need a much deeper drop. Hairtail are a separate option when recent reports give you reason to expect them. Start with the public foreshore and choose one job.

Choose the water

A compact kit: for the wharf and wall session, take a light spinning outfit, spare light leader, small hooks, a few small sinkers and a landing net. Cottage Point's bread method below uses light fluorocarbon, a size 6 hook and no sinker. A luderick session needs weed, a balanced float and enough adjustable drop to test the bridge or Illawong depth; carry prepared spare leaders. For hairtail, add a suitable bait float, short wire trace, fish bait and long pliers. Keep that toothy-fish rig separate from the light bream leader. The hairtail guide has the fuller tackle discussion and boat-based examples.

Bobbin Head: bridge, walls and creek arms

Bobbin Head has public parking, picnic grounds and toilets, with shore fishing recognised by National Parks. The two creek arms, road bridge and entrance towards Apple Tree Bay make it more useful to think in separate pieces than as one fishing spot.

For a first outing with children, use the picnic grounds as your base and try small baits beside an open wharf or wall. Bream are worth targeting, and small yellowtail are a worthwhile catch too. Keep an adult supervising at the water's edge and leave room for boats and other users.

Cockle Creek bridge and the falling-tide eddy

The bridge is worth looking at for the water behind its pylons. As the tide falls, the obstruction creates an eddy where a float can stay with the berley longer than it would in the main flow. The old account singles this out for luderick. That is a float-and-weed job, with attention to the depth and the direction of the drift.

I tried that advice at Bobbin Head bridge in September 2021. Before fishing, I checked the water with a castable iBobber and recorded 4.2 metres at the eastern pylon and 6 metres at the western one. I did not get a down, but I started at 5.15 and ran out of daylight. Those were measurements from that visit, rather than fixed depths to set your float by today. What interested me was the amount of water there, and the difference between the two sides.

Set the bait to pass through the eddy without dragging over the bottom, then adjust if the float runs through untouched. Keep the line clear of the bridge structure. Bream are the other sensible target around the bridge banks, especially in low light. The historical account also records occasional bass, but this is not a reason to turn a bream session into a promise of bass fishing.

The western bank towards Apple Tree Bay

The rocky bank between the bridge area and Apple Tree Bay is the shallow-edge contrast to the bridge hole. The old account favours the last part of the rising tide, when water covers more of the margin, and records bream, luderick, mullet, leatherjackets and flathead.

At an accessible public edge, feed small amounts of berley and fish close enough to the rocks for bream and blackfish to find the bait. A lightly weighted prawn or worm suits the bream job; weed under a float changes the target to luderick. For mullet, use bread and keep the bait small. Flathead belong more to the adjoining bottom than to the vertical rock face.

Use the public precinct and formed access available on the day. The old roadside parking and scramble instructions are not a route through this bank.

Bobbin Head wharf, steps and retaining wall

The wharf area and adjoining wall offer two presentations. Along the steps and retaining edge, concentrate on bream and luderick close to cover. Out in front, the old account records flathead, with mulloway and occasional hairtail in low light. The outer water takes patience and suitable landing room; it is not a reason to spread several rods across a public facility.

Small fish can make this a very enjoyable place to start. At a Bobbin Head wharf fishing and barbecue evening in November 2020, I watched a group of youngsters become thoroughly excited over tiny yellowtail. There is a lot to be said for catching what is in front of you.

A small piece of bait on a small hook is a better starting point for those fish than a large bait intended for a mulloway. Keep a landing net handy for anything better, and give boats and other wharf users room.

The eastern entrance bank and marina arm

Across the entrance towards Apple Tree Bay, the historical account places bream and luderick along the eastern shore and larger predators near the outer mooring edge. That distinction matters: fish feeding against the shore can be reached from an open public edge, while the deeper mooring ground is principally a boat proposition.

There is also an old reference to a submerged rock beside former wharf remains towards the marina, with bream and luderick around high tide. The structure has not been matched reliably to today's frontage, so it is not a marked casting spot here. Work the visible public walls and edges instead.

My large flathead from the Bobbin Head marina was caught from my own berthed boat years ago. It is not evidence that the marina arms are public fishing platforms. Fishing among marina moorings or drifting the upper Cowan arm is a boat session.

Apple Tree Bay: structure at high water

Apple Tree picnic area has parking, picnic facilities and a boat ramp. It is a working launch area, so choose an open foreshore position clear of launching and retrieving boats. The current National Parks listing says there is no operating cafe.

The Berowra track between Apple Tree Bay and the Mount Kuring-gai access track is closed because of rockfall and foreshore instability. This does not close the Apple Tree picnic area; keep to its open public foreshore.

The ramp-side structure

The older account puts baitfish around the wharf beside the ramp, with bream, flathead and some luderick around the structure at high tide. Fish the edges rather than casting indiscriminately across the traffic. A small bait can tell you quickly whether baitfish are present; for bream, let a lightly weighted bait sink along the structure. A weed bait under a float is the more selective approach for luderick.

The deeper channel down the bay was described as a flathead drift for boats. From shore, concentrate on the bottom you can reach and retrieve from without crossing the launch lane. Early or late sessions reduce the disturbance, subject to current access and signs.

The point towards Bobbin Head

The upriver point is distinct from the ramp-side structure. The older account places the point towards Bobbin Head, with bream and luderick around former wharf remains during the opening part of either tidal run, with mullet taking bread and berley. The timing is useful: begin as water starts moving, rather than waiting until the tide is racing.

The former wharf remains are not positively identified on the modern map. Treat this as a broad point-side fishing area, using only the public foreshore you can reach normally. Do not go searching for a ruin through the bush. The old night-time live-mullet advice was aimed at mulloway; it belongs behind the more straightforward bream and mullet fishing, not ahead of it.

Historical prawning advice for the old swimming baths no longer applies: nets other than landing nets are prohibited in this part of Cowan Creek.

Cottage Point: bread in the run and weed by the pylons

The Cottage Point public wharf is reached by the public Anderson Place walkway and steps at the end of Cottage Point Road. Council notes that access is limited at low tide. This is the public wharf, separate from commercial and private marina facilities.

Bream on the falling tide

For someone starting out, this is the approach I recommended in April 2018: arrive about an hour after high tide and look for the steady run towards the point. Mix breadcrumbs with water and feed a little regularly into that flow. Use an unweighted bread bait on light fluorocarbon and a size 6 hook.

Put three or four small loose pieces in at the same time as the bait. The bait then travels with the feed, and competing bream have less time to inspect it. Watch the line and keep enough contact to strike without dragging the bread unnaturally across the current. Undersize fish can be a nuisance, so carry a measure and return them promptly.

This is a much more manageable first session than trying to cover every deep hole in Cowan for a big predator. The neighbouring moorings are mentioned in the historical bream account, but they do not extend the public wharf's access rights.

Luderick beside the pylons

The same wharf has a different job for a blackfish outfit. The old account places luderick by the pylons, responding to weed and berley. It records fish on both tides, with the latter half of the fall towards low water preferred.

Let the float carry the weed past the structure at feeding depth. Keep enough distance from the timber to control a hooked fish, and adjust the float rather than assuming the bream bait depth will suit. The practical limit is access as the water falls: the preferred historical tide does not overrule Council's low-tide access warning.

For the float setup and presenting weed, see how to catch blackfish.

Illawong Bay: the edge, the deeper float drift and hairtail

Illawong Bay is on Coal and Candle Creek, along Liberator General San Martin Drive. National Parks identifies the picnic precinct as a place for shore fishing, with picnic shelters and toilets. Work from the established public foreshore. This is Illawong Bay in Ku-ring-gai Chase, not the suburb on the Georges River.

Bream along the rocky margin

The older account describes the rocky shore from Illawong towards the creek entrance as bream water, with berley and a lightly weighted nipper, prawn or worm fished just away from the bank. The point is the close presentation. A heavy sinker lobbed into the middle changes the water you are fishing and can take the bait away from the feeding edge.

From an open position in the precinct, watch where a little berley travels and let the bait follow. Bring lawfully obtained bait with you. There is no need to expand a short shore session into a search for bait through the national park's foreshore.

Luderick as the tide fills

The old Illawong account gives a useful detail: fish the rocks towards the top of the tide, with weed under a float and a starting bait depth of about five metres, then adjust until fish are found. That is substantially deeper than a float set to skim a shallow rock edge.

Treat five metres as the historical starting point, not a sounding for every part of the bay. Check the depth from your position, use berley, and shorten the drop if the bait drags. The aim is to put the weed where fish are feeding along the underwater edge, while keeping control of the float and a way to land the fish.

A separate session for hairtail

In May 2020 I saw at least 50 anglers fishing for hairtail from the rock walls at Illawong, with little float lights dotted across the bay. That was a memorable turnout, not a forecast that the fish will be there on the next winter evening.

Hairtail move through the system, so recent reports matter more than a favourite date on the calendar. The historical account associates them with the deeper Coal and Candle shoreline and cooler months, but the archive also contains Cowan catches outside winter. A late-afternoon session can be worthwhile before committing to a long, cold night.

A pilchard or a long, thin strip of fresh yellowtail is a sensible bait. I use a short wire trace because those teeth make light work of ordinary leader. Present the bait at different depths under a suitable float where the shore position allows it; do not assume every fish will be on the bottom. Keep the number of rods manageable and leave room for the person beside you.

Akuna Bay: deeper water beside a busy marina

Akuna is farther up Coal and Candle Creek than Illawong. The public precinct has a boat ramp and parking, while the marina itself is leased. The picnic tables and barbecue operate from 8.30am to 5pm. Check the signs for the particular foreshore or facility you intend to use, especially for an evening session.

The shore above the marina

The historical shore account describes the point upstream of Akuna and a different hairtail presentation from a stationary float: cast a pilchard or garfish into the deeper water, allow it to sink, then retrieve slowly. That lets the bait search a band of water on its way back. It also requires a clear cast and a retrieve that will not run through moorings or other anglers' lines.

The old roadside descent is not included here. Use an established, permitted public foreshore position; the upstream point-side water has not been matched to a verified approach to a particular rock.

What the mooring and opposite-bank descriptions mean

Bream and luderick around the marina moorings, the small sandy bay on the opposite bank, and the old Y-shaped tree mark belong to the older boat-fishing account. They explain why this arm has attracted anglers, but are not directions to fish from private marina pontoons or to walk around the entire inlet.

For a fuller account of tackle and fishing the creek from a boat, see Cowan Creek hairtail fishing.

A practical plan before you go

For a straightforward daytime trip, choose Bobbin Head, Apple Tree Bay or the Cottage Point public wharf, and match the tide to the particular edge. For deeper float fishing, consider Illawong with a blackfish outfit. Chase hairtail when there is a reason to think they are present, with warm clothing, a headlamp and a clear plan to get home.

Use current National Parks alerts, local signs and facility hours. Wear a lifejacket beside steep or slippery edges, take care with boat wash and keep the landing area clear. The mandatory NSW rock-fishing lifejacket law applies at declared high-risk rock platforms; a sheltered picnic wharf is not automatically the same category.

Cowan Creek and its tributaries upstream of the closure line at Cowan Point, including Jerusalem Bay, are closed to nets other than landing nets. That includes prawn scoop nets and bait nets. Carry your fishing-fee receipt unless exempt, check current bag, size and protected-species rules, and use lawful bait. Those few preparations leave more of the session for the important part: getting a small bait or a weed drift into the right piece of water. For nearby trips, Pittwater shore fishing covers public wharves and beach edges, while lower Hawkesbury shore fishing covers its separate shore areas. The published Pittwater fishing guide is the broader boat and estuary plan.

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