Lane Cove River shore fishing: Woolwich, Longueville and the tidal flats
The tidal Lane Cove River is a series of different edges: close rock and channel water near its mouth, wharf structure farther up, then shallow flats and mangroves around Fig Tree Bridge. Fish one of those edges deliberately rather than trying to follow the whole bank through private frontages.
Make this a catch-and-release trip. The river is west of the Harbour Bridge, where the Food Authority advises against eating the catch.
| Part of the river | Starting plan | Water to fish |
|---|---|---|
| Woolwich and Onions Point | Falling-tide bream | The reachable edge and back eddy. |
| Greenwich | Bream around high water; luderick as a separate session | Close rock and weed structure. |
| Bay Street, Northwood and Longueville | Small baits near structure, plastics farther out | Public shore or permitted wharf space, not offshore moorings. |
| Fig Tree Bridge and Bridge Reserve | Bream, whiting or flathead around the tide turn | Shallow bank water with a moving bait. |
| Boronia Park | Summer flathead on falling water | Reachable open sand beside the flats. |
For a short bream-lure session, start at Greenwich's park shore near Church Street around high water and try the small-plastic setup along reachable rock. For summer flathead on falling water, choose Boronia's open sand edge instead.
Two useful outfits, with a float rig in reserve
For the close bream work, a 2–4kg spinning outfit, 2kg braid or mono and a 2–5kg leader is a useful starting point. A size 2 to 1/0 non-offset circle hook suits a small bait, fished unweighted or behind a small running ball sinker. Let the hook load under steady pressure. Keep the tackle light enough for the bait to move along the bank.
For a bream plastic, a 3–8cm wriggler on a 1–2g jighead is a sensible starting range in quiet, shallow water. Let it sink, lift it a little, then allow another controlled drop. Increase the head weight only when depth or flow stops you following the lure. The deeper channel casts and shallow Boronia flats will not always suit the same head.
For luderick, a soft 8-foot rod and 3000-size spinning reel with about 3kg line and leader, a size 8 sneck hook and a balanced float is a workable example. Use a longer rod where the bank demands more line clearance. Balance spare float rigs before leaving home and take a net with enough reach for release. The blackfish guide explains the complete setup.
Choose the lower tidal river
The lower river suits small baits for bream and whiting, plastics over open sand for flathead, and a separate weed-float method around suitable blackfish structure. Early and late sessions avoid some pleasure-boat traffic. The older accounts favour spring through autumn for the mixed shallow-water fishing, with autumn bream worth attention near the bank.
Bring bait. The presence of worms, crabs or prawns in an old location account does not establish a present collecting entitlement.
Woolwich and Onions Point
Valentia Street is the Woolwich ferry locality. Bream and flathead are possibilities on the first falling tide, though catches vary. Close pylons and structure suit small prawn baits for jackets; small mullet or yellowtail require a much smaller hook and bait than the bream rig.
Onions Point is different. A close drop-off and a southern-side back eddy give bream somewhere to hold on the run-out tide. Fish a lightly weighted bait along the edge, particularly after dark. Use the float or bait's actual movement to find the eddy. Keep the presentation beside the edge rather than casting into the middle of the river.
Greenwich's rocky reserve edge
The Greenwich park shore near the Church Street district offers a rocky reserve edge. Its close rock and depth suit bream near high water and into the first falling hours. Autumn dusk bream can be close enough that a wide cast misses them.
Small prawn pieces address jackets over the rocky bottom. Blackfish are another possibility along the weed edge, needing a float and weed rather than the same weighted prawn. Summer early-morning casts into more open water can find flathead and an occasional trevally. By day, boat traffic can make that outside line much less comfortable to fish.
David Beardmore caught the Greenwich luderick pictured above on a weed fly in November 2021. A weed fly is another way to present the food these fish are taking; the conventional weed-and-float method remains a useful starting point along a controllable edge.
Bay Street and Northwood
Bay Street's wharf district sits close to the main-channel edge. Its methods change with the cast: early falling-tide bream, flathead and trevally farther out; lightly weighted bream baits closer to either side near high water; jackets by the pylons on prawn.
Winter livebait fishing has produced tailor and an occasional john dory. Keep a livebait rig manageable around other users rather than putting a large bait across the channel. The present permission for a particular platform must be checked on its signs; the old fishing account is not that permission.
Northwood is another channel-edge locality. Use the same distinction between close pylon work and casts into more open water. Fisheries includes Northwood in its Harbour shore guidance, subject to current wharf operations and signs.
Longueville and Butchers Block Point
Longueville's wharf district is the Butchers Block Point locality. Bream suit the hours either side of high water, with falling water into the night a useful starting plan. Fish lightly enough for the bait to move near the edge.
The sand beyond the structure gives summer flathead a different feeding ground. A small plastic worked slowly on bottom or a small bait on the open margin suits it better than lowering the jacket rig beside a pile. Keep the casts within reachable sand; the offshore sailing-club water is a boat session.
Newcombe Point and Alexandra Street
On the Hunters Hill shore, Newcombe Point and the Alexandra Street district put close structure beside more open casting water. A longer cast can find bream, flathead or whiting; small prawn baits near open public structure address jackets.
Fish the reachable public shore. The deeper offshore hole is boat water, and club and private landings remain outside this bank-fishing plan.
Riverview and the flats below Fig Tree Bridge
The old Riverview ferry-jetty account favours night bream close to structure, jackets at the poles and higher-water blackfish on weed. The identity and current public fishing permission of that old landing have not been established, so do not plan to enter school or private structures to reproduce it.
The shallow flats downstream from Fig Tree Bridge are a more useful fishing-water reference. Small prawn-shaped plastics can search for summer flathead along a reachable sand edge. Work them with enough jighead weight to contact bottom, then pause between short lifts. Bring the bait with you rather than collecting in the protected intertidal margins.
For rigging and bottom-contact detail, see the flathead plastics guide; its examples are from kayaks and boats.
Fig Tree Bridge and Bridge Reserve
The bank water on either side of Fig Tree Bridge is relatively shallow. The first falling tide can carry a prawn, worm or nipper bait to bream and flathead. Use just enough lead to reach bottom while letting the bait travel. A heavily pinned rig misses that presentation.
Bridge Reserve is upstream around the northern bend, in the Burns Bay Road district. Its wall looks over shallower channel water. Summer whiting, flathead, bream and mullet suit small baits around the last rising and first falling tide. Night gives a stronger reason to target bream close to the bank. Fish from lawful banks, not the road bridge or its supports.
Boronia Park and the upper tidal margins
Boronia Park's shallow flats and nearby mangroves are not the channel-edge fishery of Bay Street. Summer falling water suits flathead on a small lure reaching the open margin. Mullet and garfish can be deliberate small-hook targets where they feed in the shallows.
The quiet park edges have autumn high-water bream possibilities into the evening. Keep out of soft mud and protect mangrove roots. Stay on the open bank rather than forcing a route through the mangroves.
The weir is a separate fishery
The water from Little Blue Gum Creek to the boatshed, including the weir, is closed to fishing. From the boatshed to Fern Valley, the specified fishing is catch-and-release from an unpowered vessel with flies or lures under the stated gear conditions. There are further conditions upstream of Fern Valley.
Check the exact Lane Cove closure boundaries and methods. In the specified tidal reach upstream of Epping Road bridge, nets are prohibited apart from landing nets.
Bait and a practical shore note
Harbour intertidal protection and shellfish restrictions rule out casual collecting of crabs, cunjevoi, oysters and mussels. Eastern blue groper cannot be targeted or retained. Bring lawful bait, use a landing net for release and leave no line or bait scraps.
Allow for boat wake and wet walls, keep public landings and paths clear, and wear an approved lifejacket where swell-exposed rock-fishing rules apply. Follow current signs at ferry wharves. For the surrounding main-water shores, see western Sydney Harbour; the blackfish guide explains the float setup.