Narrabeen, Collaroy and Dee Why Shore Fishing

By Andrew Hestelow

The best starting point is often a gutter close to your feet. Narrabeen and Collaroy give you room to find one; Narrabeen Head and Dee Why add shallow reef breaks, wash and deeper outer water. Long Reef is a substantial fishery of its own, covered separately.

Choose the water

Tackle to take: the beach setup below uses a six or seven foot rod, 3000-size reel, 6–12 lb line and a changeable-sinker paternoster. Carry size 8 long-shank hooks for worm baits and a separate larger hook for a pilchard head. For luderick, add a balanced float, prepared weighted leaders, weed and a landing net; the blackfish guide covers the rig. Keep a stronger outfit for drummer or heavy bottom baits. My two Turimetta break-offs on 3 kg blackfish gear explain why.

North Narrabeen: beach and lagoon entrance

A light outfit for the inside gutters

When a reader asked me where to start on the Northern Beaches in 2018, I suggested North Narrabeen in the late afternoon, using a six or seven foot rod, a 3000-size reel and 6–12lb line. That is a close-gutter outfit for manageable surf. If the lead required to hold bottom is beyond what it will comfortably cast, choose different water or a suitable surf outfit.

Walk the sand and look for the darker strip between the beach and the first bank. Put a piece of beach worm into that strip for whiting and bream. Keep enough contact with the line to feel a bite without dragging the bait straight out of the gutter. You do not need to reach the horizon.

My suggested rig was a simple paternoster with a three-way swivel and a loop at the bottom so the sinker could be changed easily. Start with a size 8 long-shank hook and a piece of beach worm. If the worm is not producing and salmon are the better prospect, change to a larger hook and a pilchard head. Match the hook to the bait rather than putting the larger bait on the whiting hook.

The old local guide also favoured fresh or frozen beach worms for the beach's whiting, bream and flathead, with pilchards for tailor. These are mobile fish and mobile gutters. A bank that looked excellent last week may be filled in today, so spend a few minutes looking before putting the rod in a holder.

The lagoon mouth when it is running

The entrance changes the plan when it is open. Water leaving the lagoon carries food into the surf, and the edges of that flow are worth examining from the beach. The historical account favoured the first couple of hours of the run-out around dawn or dusk for bream, whiting, flathead and tailor, with summer mulloway another possibility.

Fish the edge of the run where the bait can stay in useful water, rather than assuming the strongest flow must hold the most fish. Use enough lead to control the presentation. A light whiting outfit and a squid bait intended for mulloway are different jobs; do not expect one rig to do both well.

The mouth is not always open, and an opening does not make a flood safe to approach. The photograph below records one particular open entrance. Check the entrance you actually find, and keep clear of fast water and undermined banks.

Narrabeen Head: work the changes in the reef

Around the pool and point, the water changes from shallow northern reef to a deeper south-eastern front, then back into small gutters on the Narrabeen side. The old hole names describe relative positions, not surveyed marks.

Northern gutter and shallow front

At the northern side, slightly higher rock overlooks a shallow gutter. The historical recommendation was bream and drummer in the second half of the rising tide, with first and last light preferred. Work the gutter itself with a compact bait and enough control to keep it out of the adjacent reef.

The shallower front is a lighter-bait proposition for bream and trevally. Pilchard pieces or nippers suit that work. Tailor passing the front can be approached with a moving lure or pilchard; drummer belong in the wash with a suitable bait. The difference matters: a bait allowed to settle among the reef while you wait for tailor is likely to find a snag first.

Breaks in the reef

A break in the shallow reef is the bream and luderick water. Present weed under a float for luderick, adjusting depth so the bait travels through the break. A nipper is the alternative bream bait. Drummer were associated with crab and cunjevoi, but those baits must be brought from a lawful source, not gathered here.

The Narrabeen Head Aquatic Reserve covers the rocky shore from southern Turimetta Beach to the Narrabeen rock baths and extends 100 metres offshore. Line fishing is permitted. Collection is restricted: sea lettuce and bait weed are allowed subject to NSW rules, but crabs, cunjevoi, worms, mussels and most other invertebrates are not. Do not turn an old bait recommendation into a collecting instruction.

Nearby at Turimetta in 2018, two drummer broke me off one after the other on 3kg blackfish gear. Rebalancing the floats took far too long. Tim's solution was to number the floats and prepare matching weighted leaders and hooks in advance. The idea was to need only one knot and a fresh bait after a break-off. It is useful preparation for this mixed blackfish-and-drummer water too.

The deeper south-eastern front

The south-eastern corner offers the longer-cast option into cleaner, deeper water. The older recommendation was squid, octopus and mullet baits for snapper, trevally and bream, with tailor also possible. Use bait legally obtained elsewhere and a rod that handles the required sinker and bait comfortably.

This is a different presentation from the shallow reef breaks: clear the rough foreground, establish where the bait is settling and avoid dragging it back through every snag. Wind and water movement determine the useful casting line on the day. The exact sand edge and casting bearing need judging from the position.

The cunje bed and inner gutters

On the Narrabeen side, the old account separates a small hole within a cunjevoi bed from two further inner gutters. The first was a high-water bream and drummer option, especially late in the day. The two gutters were described for smaller drummer, bream and luderick as the tide covered them.

Here the extra water over the reef is the important change. Fish a short drift into the opening rather than casting over it. If waves are covering the standing area, more water has stopped being an advantage. No bait may be collected merely because the bed is visible beside you.

Collaroy: sand first, then the southern corner

Close gutters along the beach

Along Collaroy, concentrate on the holes between the shore and the banks for whiting, bream, flathead and tailor. The historical book used a pair of apartment buildings on Pittwater Road as a marker for one set of close holes. That is useful evidence of the kind of water being fished, not a permanent gutter location. Read today's sand instead.

Worm baits on the light outfit suit whiting. A pilchard or fish bait suits tailor, especially as the light falls. Start where the inside gutter has enough depth to carry a bait naturally, then work along it if nothing happens.

The Pipe and the beach to its north

The old name The Pipe refers to the southern Collaroy car-park frontage. It was a tailor spot with pilchards, while the gutters immediately north were recommended for whiting, bream and flathead. Treat the name as a beach sector, not an invitation to stand on drainage infrastructure.

The older account also describes reaching offshore gravel for snapper from this vicinity. That was a substantially longer-cast proposition than the inside gutter fishing. It does not justify fishing during heavy seas or assuming there is a fixed gravel patch within reach of every beach outfit. For most sessions, the close gutter is the more practical place to begin.

The baths corner

The shallow corner by the Collaroy baths was a bream and tailor option at first light or late afternoon. Keep the presentation light enough to work over shallow ground and keep clear of swimmers. A pool is a useful landmark; its wall is not automatically a fishing platform.

The adjoining Long Reef Aquatic Reserve starts at Collaroy's southern end. It allows finfish fishing but prohibits collecting marine plants and invertebrates. Bring bait with you if continuing around that headland.

Dee Why Beach and headland

Beach gutters and the lagoon outflow

Dee Why's beach fishing centres on close gutters, including water near the lagoon's ocean outlet when it is open. The old account favoured the couple of hours around high tide, with tailor and summer whiting and bream. The historical green-pole marker and claims of a permanent gutter are not a substitute for looking at the beach now.

Use beach worms for whiting and bream; switch to a pilchard when tailor are the target. The older tailor rig used a four-hook gang with a ball sinker about 30cm above it. Choose a gang that fits the pilchard and only the lead needed for that gutter. You want the bait presented in the water, not buried by an unnecessarily heavy sinker.

At the southern beach corner, bream, tailor and luderick were recorded near the rocky edge. Keep casts out of the surfing and swimming area. The lagoon itself has specific net and trap restrictions, rather than a blanket ban on ordinary line fishing; check the Dee Why local closures before changing methods or collecting bait there.

Outside the pool

The water outside the pool was a rising-tide, late-afternoon bream and drummer option. Fish the wash with a suitable bait, and have a lure ready only if tailor are visibly working within casting range. Keep the pool and its swimmers separate from the fishing water.

The Ledge

South of the pool, the historical higher ledge offered several presentations: bottom baits cast beyond the close reef for snapper, spinning into open water for pelagics, or a pilchard held up under a bobby cork for tailor. Bream and drummer were targeted closer in with cunjevoi.

That is the useful choice here: the close wash, a suspended bait, or a bait beyond the rough ground. Start with one job and rig for it. A higher standing place does not make the coast suitable in a big sea.

Slopey Rock

The large sloping rock before the point was associated with deeper water and winter bream, trevally and tailor. First-light spinning was the tailor approach. A crab bait worked close to the wash was a drummer option, while clean summer water could bring small tuna within range.

Keep the seasonal possibilities in proportion. Blue water is a reason to watch for activity, not proof that tuna are there. The inclined surface and landing problem matter as much as casting distance.

Step Rock

At the outer point, Step Rock was another early-morning pilchard and spinning position. The important distinction was drummer nearer the wash and snapper farther out. Use that close-versus-wide distinction to decide where the bait should fish. Slopey Rock and Step Rock remain relative local names rather than positively identified modern ledges.

Bring bait for this whole headland. The Dee Why Intertidal Protected Area runs south to the northern end of Curl Curl Beach and prohibits taking cunjevoi and most invertebrates, including crabs. Ordinary finfish fishing remains permitted. The location-closure page gives the boundary and limited collection exceptions.

Parking, bait and a practical rock-fishing note

Council lists public beach parking at North Narrabeen, Collaroy and Dee Why. Use the current parking information and signs for the car park you choose. Beach parking establishes a place to start, not approval for an informal headland route.

On the rocks: wear the required lifejacket, fish with someone, watch the water before setting up and leave if the swell or rising tide threatens your standing area or exit. Keep a beach option ready. The NSW rock-fishing lifejacket law applies to exposed natural rock platforms in the Northern Beaches declared area.

Eastern blue groper are not a target, including the brown and red colour phases, under the current fishing prohibition. NSW also prohibits taking octopus from ocean rock platforms. Buy lawful bait, and use bait-supply prawns rather than prawns sold for human consumption. Check the current size, bag and bait rules before taking fish or collecting anything.

For more headland detail, continue with Long Reef or Curl Curl, Freshwater and Queenscliff. For the coast north of Narrabeen, see Newport, Mona Vale and Warriewood.

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