Middle Head to Bradleys Head: rock washes, blackfish and Harbour bream

By Andrew Hestelow

Middle Head has much more in common with an ocean rock platform than a quiet Harbour wall. Its gulfs, kelp and rough reef suit blackfish and drummer in close, while tailor and summer pelagics pass the outside water. Towards Bradleys Head, sand pockets, pylons and walls give you different fishing again.

Take a float outfit for the weed-feeding fish and a separate rod for bait or spinning. A sinker dragged through a blackfish gutter is usually just an expensive way to find the bottom.

Choose the water for your session

Put the outfit together

For the close weed drifts, take a float outfit with spare shot, small strong hooks and enough rod length to keep line off the near rock. Carry a landing net that suits the position. Set up a separate stronger trace for drummer and a casting outfit rated for the chosen lure or pilchard rig. The small prawn bait for a leatherjacket needs a light sinker and a small hook, rather than the larger fish-bait rig. The blackfish guide covers the float balance; choose abrasion resistance for the actual reef.

Cobblers Beach: sand with reef within range

Cobblers lies on the western side of Middle Head. Reef runs across its outer water and along the adjoining shore. Bream are a sensible starting target rather than treating the small beach as uninterrupted whiting sand.

Fish a small pilchard piece, mullet strip or other fresh fish bait with little lead. Start a modest berley trail before dusk and work the change from beach water to rougher ground. Higher water near dawn or dusk gives a useful window. The northern reef adds leatherjackets on small prawn baits and blackfish for someone prepared to fish weed properly.

Cobblers and Obelisk are shared, clothing-optional beaches. Give swimmers space and choose the backcast accordingly.

The western flank and northern point

North of Cobblers, the close reef and water beyond it do different jobs. A little prawn placed near the reef suits leatherjackets. A fish bait beyond the rough ground has a better chance of finding bream, trevally or flathead on sand. Half a pilchard around twilight is an alternative when tailor are about.

The pointward wash is blackfish and drummer country. Watch where it carries food back past the rocks rather than casting over it. Swell and high water restrict the low shore positions, so this is not a continuous walking route around the point.

The eastern front: gulfs and passing fish

The two main gulfs on the eastern face concentrate the close-water fishing. Blackfish take cabbage under a balanced float. Drummer work the wash too, requiring stronger tackle and a suitable landing position. Keep the bait in the feeding water without letting the rig settle among the rocks.

Winter tailor take spun lures and pilchards outside the gulfs. Kingfish, bonito and small tuna are seasonal visitors. Have a lure ready, but do not abandon an active blackfish drift every few minutes to make another blind cast.

The reef is hard on terminal tackle. Repeated snags call for a change of depth, weight or casting line. Higher and lower ledges also create different line angles and landing problems. Choose a lawful open position first, then rig for it.

A Middle Head bait-and-lure session

In December 2018 I fished a pilchard under a balloon and cast lures for kings at Middle Head. I had one missed strike around midday, dead low tide and bright sun. My note was to try again at dawn.

The southern bommie and Obelisk-side rocks

The small bommie on the southern part of the point creates a different casting target from the gulfs. Tailor patrol its wash and can take slices or poppers in low seas. The adjoining rough reef holds blackfish and drummer, but is poor ground for leaving a weighted bottom bait unattended.

Towards Obelisk Bay, divide the shore into shorter pieces. The wash suits weed and a float for blackfish. The wall and pillbox district has bream on lightly weighted pilchard near dawn, dusk or after dark. Smaller platforms farther towards the beach suit prawn baits for leatherjackets. Nearer the sand, an unweighted fish bait at night is a separate bream approach.

Obelisk Beach: light tackle after dark

Worms or nippers on light tackle suit beach whiting and bream, with the quiet dark hours more promising than a crowded summer afternoon. The older account particularly favours autumn into early winter for bream.

I tried Obelisk for squid and blackfish one hot January evening in 2019 and caught neither. It was low tide with no wash. I wondered whether that combination explained the result; I did not establish it as a rule. It is a useful reason to reassess a weed float in still, shallow water.

Georges Head: close weed or the wider sand

The low weed-covered platforms give blackfish and drummer a feeding edge near high water with a manageable wash. Fish weed close to that edge for blackfish. A small fish bait under a float can keep a bream bait above the rough bottom; a small running sinker is another option in a clear lane.

Worm or nipper baits reaching the wider sand can find flathead, bream and whiting. The eastern tip has deeper casting water, and winter dawn tailor can be worth a lure or pilchard. Those shore casts are distinct from the boat grounds off the headland.

Conservation works at Middle Head’s outer forts and Georges Head’s Mine Observing Station have minor signed detours; follow the current NPWS directions.

Clifton Gardens: beach, pylons and the jetty end

Baths and jetty refurbishment has temporary access restrictions. Check the Council works update before planning to use the jetty. Closed sections remain unavailable.

From the open beach, worms or nippers suit whiting early, late or at night. Sand either side of the jetty is bream water, with small fish strips or worms fished lightly. Near open pylons, a little prawn just off the bottom targets leatherjackets instead of the whiting on the sand.

The deeper jetty-end water has held yellowtail, occasional slimy mackerel and garfish. When open and fishing is permitted, use tiny fish baits on small hooks in a sparse berley trail. A winter live bait can interest tailor or a john dory. Hairtail reports describe occasional visits rather than a dependable trip target.

Blackfish feed beside structure and enclosure edges. Keep baits and lines outside the swimming area.

Chowder Head: shallow kelp and deeper point water

The inner shore opposite Clifton Gardens is shallow and kelpy. Small prawn baits close to reef suit leatherjackets; neighbouring sand is worth a bream bait at twilight. The point offers substantially deeper casting water and needs a different sinker and line angle from the inner reef.

Pilchard, mullet or squid pieces suit that outer water, while worms and nippers remain useful for bream and trevally. Use enough lead to keep contact without anchoring the bait in every crevice. The small offshore islet is not part of this shore plan.

Taylors Bay: recognise the shallow shore

Taylors Bay's sand and shallow end reefs should not be confused with the boat drift out of the bay. The shallow shore is a more limited option than the point water. From an open public beach margin, keep the presentation small and quiet rather than trying to reproduce the offshore drift with a very long cast.

Bradleys Head: northern reef and western wall

The northern reef is weedy, with bream using gaps in the rough ground. Small fish can pick a bait apart by day. Higher water into evening gives a better reason to persist with a lightly weighted worm, nipper or fish piece in a clear lane. Summer flathead and cooler-month trevally add options beyond the reef; small prawn baits close in target jackets.

The western retaining-wall district is more about reaching open water beyond the edge. Bream are the main target, with the last few hours of the rising tide a useful window. A northeast wind can leave this side relatively sheltered; a strong southerly exposes the headland. Boat wake still reaches a sheltered shore.

Bradleys Head: lighthouse-side luderick

I caught a 37cm luderick at Bradleys Head in September 2024. The lighthouse-side reef is useful blackfish water, especially when the float follows the edge during the earlier rising or later falling tide. Leatherjackets are another close-structure target on prawn.

The end of Bradleys Head wharf is closed. Check NPWS local alerts and vehicle-gate times. The lighthouse and its service structures are landmarks, not permission to use restricted platforms.

Bring bait and choose the fishing edge

Harbour intertidal protection and the shellfish closure mean bringing lawful bait rather than collecting crabs, cunjevoi, oysters or mussels. Eastern blue groper cannot be targeted or retained. For fish retained east of the Harbour Bridge, follow the Food Authority's species and meal advice.

Wear an approved lifejacket where swell-exposed rock-fishing rules apply, fish with someone and watch the wash and boat wake before setting up. Choose an open public approach and a landing position you can use. Leave the rod packed if those do not work.

Continue with Mosman Bay to Kirribilli. The blackfish guide covers float balance and line control.

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