Newport, Mona Vale and Warriewood shore fishing

By Andrew Hestelow

Newport's shallow mainland shelf, Bungan's sand gutters and Mona Vale's drummer pockets call for different approaches. The Basin adds controlled weed drifts; Warriewood has beach corners, wash and a deeper outer gutter. Decide whether you want a close bait, a float drift or a longer cast before packing the tackle.

Choose the water

Pack for the presentation: a light beach outfit needs a small hook for worms, a larger hook for fish bait and interchangeable sinkers within the rod's casting rating. My North Narrabeen starting outfit was a six or seven foot rod, 3000-size reel and 6–12 lb line for manageable close gutters. For the Basin and other weed drifts, take a responsive float rod, small reel, balanced luderick float, spare leaders and a landing net. Use the blackfish rig guide for the assembly. A drummer pocket needs more stopping power; a wide bottom cast needs a rod rated for the combined sinker and bait. Do not make the light float rod do either job.

Newport Beach and the mainland side of Newport Reef

South Newport's sand-and-rock edge

At the southern beach end, small reef patches interrupt the sand before the pool. Bream and a few drummer feature in the higher-water accounts. A compact fish bait or lawful crab bait fished beside a patch of cover is a better starting point than anchoring a large sinker in the middle of it.

The beach has also produced tailor and mulloway on fish baits, with bream the smaller-bait option. The historical account singled out the water near a stormwater outlet, but an outlet does not guarantee a present gutter. Inspect the sand banks and choose a moving lane that lets the bait remain in the water you intend to fish.

Newport Pool exterior and the shallow gutter

The rocky water outside the pool adds luderick and leatherjackets to the bream-and-drummer mix. Weed under a balanced float is the luderick presentation. Small brought bait suits the other fish. The pool itself is a swimming facility; keep hooks and casts outside its users' water.

Immediately beyond it, a shallow mainland gutter has a snapper-casting history. There are two jobs here: a lightly weighted bait close for bream and drummer, or a longer fish-bait cast beyond the rough shelf for snapper. Wait until the sea leaves a dry, usable position and a bait can be retrieved cleanly.

Old Baths and the cunje-bed shelf

Old Baths is the historical name for the former pool site beyond the present pool. Its bream fishing depends on water covering the shallow ground. High tide around first light, dusk or night is the older local pattern. Lightly weighted crab, yabby or worm baits were used, with the weight kept down so the bait could work over shallow cover.

The adjoining shelf was described as very shallow reef with cunje beds. Its luderick and drummer fishing is a float job rather than a long bottom cast. Keep weed or another suitable bait above the snaggy floor. Bring the bait with you: the Bungan Head intertidal protection includes this coast, and old instructions to gather cunje or crabs are no longer appropriate.

Inter-shelf gutter, First Hole and High Boulders

The small gutter farther towards Bungan has a half-tide-rising bream and small-drummer history. A small lawful bait in that lane is the starting point; luderick add a weed-float option. First Hole follows, where the shelf drops into deeper water. That drop is the reason for the drummer emphasis, with snapper and bream also in the account. It needs a bait worked beside the drop, without letting the sinker disappear into it.

High Boulders is farther along the same mainland sequence. The older accounts favour high water and calm conditions for bream and drummer, using lightly weighted crab, yabby, mullet or pilchard. The tension is between a subtle presentation and enough abrasion resistance for broken rock. Reduce unnecessary lead before reducing the tackle's ability to turn a drummer.

Newport Reef itself

The large reef outside is separated from the mainland by a shallow channel, and most of its surface floods at high tide. Its wash-fed edges and baitfish cover explain the historical kingfish, tailor, snapper, bream, luderick and drummer fishing. That habitat also explains why the mainland shelf can fish when water covers its close feeding ground.

The reef is shown for orientation, not as a shore destination reached by wading or paddling. Keep the shore plan on usable mainland water. The different edges of the isolated reef belong in a separate access assessment, and its offshore kingfish fishery should not be mistaken for proof of a shore catch.

Bungan Beach: sand, rock corners and the square boulder

Bungan is a relatively small, shallow beach between Bungan Head and Mona Vale Headland. Its sandy gutters and rock corners call for different casts.

At the northern end, the rock corner near the surf club has holes and gutters for bream and tailor. Pilchard or mullet bait suits that water. Farther along the northern rocks, the large square boulder appears in the older snapper accounts. It represents a longer casting proposition beyond the close rock. The useful timing is after the disturbance of a southerly has passed and the position is usable, rather than while the sea is rising.

Along the beach, look for a clean lane between the sand banks. Worms give whiting a chance; a small fish bait adds bream, and pilchards suit tailor. The historical catches are described as occasional. There is no reason to spend a whole session on an empty-looking bank when the rock-and-sand corner offers a better-defined lane.

Bungan's pedestrian approaches are steep and parking is on the roads above. Keep the load sensible and use the public beach approaches. The northern surf corner can be busy, so choose water where a cast will stay clear of boards and swimmers.

South Bungan and Mona Vale Headland

The beach-edge rocks and northern drummer pockets

At the southern end of Bungan, the beach-edge rocks have a bream history around early morning or evening, using crab or yabby bait. A small bait close to the sand-and-rock boundary suits that session.

Farther towards the headland, the low shelf changes the emphasis to drummer. The following higher rocks overlook a small gutter at their base, another close-bait pocket. Fish compactly and keep enough control to stop the first run into cover. These waters are inside the Mona Vale Headland intertidal closure, so crab or other animal bait must be brought from a lawful source.

Outer sand water and the reef-finger hole

Near the outer part of the headland, the old account makes a useful distinction. A long cast from the large-boulder sector reaches sand for snapper and trevally. Beside it, a shallow reef finger shelters a hole behind the reef. That backing hole is the drummer job, particularly on a rising tide with crab bait.

Do not fish both with the same heavy bottom rig. The sand-water bait needs casting distance and enough weight to stay put. The drummer bait needs to remain in the pocket without being pulled under the reef finger. Check whether the bait can return through a clean lane before repeatedly sacrificing tackle.

The southern ledge and Basin-facing shore

The low southern ledge has drummer close and occasional tailor on a moving lure. On the shore turning into the Basin, the older accounts switch to night bream on yabby or crab, with winter tailor on a bottom-fished pilchard. Those are useful alternatives to the outer sand cast.

Keep clear of unstable cliff bases. The higher rocks do not establish a safe approach around the low ledges below them.

Mona Vale Basin and the ocean-pool platform

The pool platform is south of Mona Vale Headland, between Basin Beach and the main beach. It needs its own fishing plan. The Basin side, outer casting edge and main-beach side have different water in front of them.

Basin corner and the northern low ledges

Where Basin Beach meets the platform, luderick use the weed-feeding water around the top of the tide. The adjoining long, low ledges also have bream and luderick in their history, including lower-water sessions. Keep the float in a lane that carries the bait, rather than allowing it to drag across the flat beside it.

I fished Mona Vale with Fitz in April 2018. He caught a 40 cm luderick within minutes, then we went another hour without a fish. Another angler there only managed one. A good opening fish does not mean the whole tide will fire. Change the depth, check the bait and watch whether the drift is still crossing useful water.

The point wash and freestanding rock

At the northern outer corner, the wash between the low point and the rock in front has bream, drummer, luderick and tailor in the account. Keep a weed bait moving through the wash for luderick. A stronger bait outfit lets you fish the same general water for drummer without pretending the light float trace will stop everything that takes it.

Beside the larger freestanding rock, a floating or lightly weighted pilchard adds tailor, bream and trevally. The older casting line was just to the right of the rock from the seaward-facing position. The useful idea is the lane alongside the obstruction, where the bait can move without being dragged under it.

The eastern edge: rough bottom and wider sand

East of the pool, the older account describes rough bottom to the east and mainly sand to the southeast. Treat that as a useful casting distinction to test, not a permanent seabed chart. A long fish-bait cast into retrievable bottom gives snapper a chance, with bream, trevally and occasional morwong also recorded.

My August 2017 sessions around the platform produced luderick and some drummer. The drummer were a reminder that the close rough water is a separate job from the longer snapper cast. If the rig keeps lodging close to the ledge, changing the angle or shortening the bait drift is more useful than adding lead.

Southern gutters and the rocky corner

The two gutters on the southern outer side are luderick and drummer water over a rough floor. Keep weed above the snags and have a stronger close-bait outfit available if drummer are the target. Repeated bust-offs on delicate blackfish gear are a reason to change the outfit, not simply tie on another identical trace.

The rocky corner nearer the main beach has a specific older bream pattern: high water beginning to run out, around dawn or dusk, using crab bait. Beside it, the rock-and-sand edge adds luderick and bream and can offer a different wind angle during summer northeasterlies. Wind shelter still needs to be judged separately from the swell.

Carry two sorts of weed

In 2025 I collected a mixture of cabbage and string weed at Mona Vale. At the fishing spot I later tried, cabbage produced no interest, but the string weed did. That was a bait comparison, not a claim that every Mona Vale fish prefers string weed. Carry both when you can obtain them lawfully, and change one variable at a time so you know what helped.

Mona Vale Beach towards Warriewood

On the main beach, the historical emphasis is the gutters and holes near small rocky outcrops, particularly towards Warriewood. Bream, tailor and whiting feature around high tide at first or last light. Use worms for the whiting session, a compact mullet or other fish bait for bream, and pilchards for tailor.

The rocks and sand do not remain exposed in the same way after every swell. Look for a defined lane and an edge that holds water between the sets. The simplest useful move may be a short walk to a clean gutter, not a heavier sinker cast farther onto the bank.

Warriewood: the beach corner, washes and outer gutter

The southern beach corner and first gutter

The southern corner beside the surf club has a history of bream, tailor and whiting in the rip or gutter near the rocks. Worms or yabbies suit the smaller fish, with a fish bait for tailor. The lane shifts with the sand. Keep casts away from surfers, and choose a quieter part of the beach if the corner is occupied.

The first small, rock-studded gutter beyond the corner is a drummer proposition under a bobby cork. A float keeps the bait above some of the rough floor. Use lawful bait-shop prawns or another suitable bait, never supermarket or seafood-counter prawns. The old cooked-prawn instruction is not the bait-buying advice to follow now.

The rocky finger, wash edge and higher ledges

The first projecting rocky finger responds to a berleyed bait lane for bream and drummer. Farther along, distinguish the close leatherjacket, drummer and bream water from sand farther out for snapper and tailor. A small bait in the close pocket and a longer fish-bait cast onto sand are different sessions.

The wash edge beyond that ledge is another bream-and-drummer position. The following higher ledges repeat that close-water emphasis, while the outer high-ledged sector adds snapper on the wider cast. Below the last high ledge, a wash supports a luderick drift as well as small baits for bream. Work the bait in the moving lane instead of allowing a sinker to settle into a crack directly beneath you.

Outer low platform and deep return gutter

The outer low platform changes the target to moving fish outside: tailor, salmon and occasionally tuna. Bream, luderick and drummer remain the close-water option. Behind the outer tip on its southern return, the older account identifies a deeper luderick gutter. That depth contrast distinguishes it from the shallower washes along the northern face.

High ledges do not provide protection from a big southerly. Fish only water that can be reached and worked from a secure, lawful position; otherwise keep the session on the beach.

Bait, parking and the rock-fishing note

Bungan Head and Mona Vale Headland have intertidal collection closures. Ordinary line fishing is allowed, but bring your bait: do not collect crabs, cunje, nippers or other prohibited invertebrates there. The official page gives the boundaries and the separate abalone and rock-lobster exceptions. Do not treat the whole coast, or every part of the pool platform, as one identical collection area. Check the rule for the place where you intend to gather bait. Do not target eastern blue groper, including its red and brown stages.

Public beach parking is available at Newport, Mona Vale and Warriewood. Bungan has street parking above its pedestrian beach approaches. Use the current signs and public paths; pool walls and surf-club facilities do not create fishing rights through swimmers' water.

For rock fishing, wear the required lifejacket, use suitable footwear, fish with someone and watch the wave cycle before committing. Leave before tide or swell removes the dry working area. A high perch does not make the low ground around it safe.

Use the blackfish guide for the detailed float setup. North of Newport, continue with South Whale, Avalon and Bilgola. South of Warriewood, the next guide covers Narrabeen, Collaroy and Dee Why, with Long Reef treated separately.

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