North Head and Bluefish Point Boat Fishing: Troll, Stop or Jig?

A seal made the decision for us. We were downrigging at South Head when it started picking live baits off the lines. Over to Bluefish Point, on the northern side of North Head, where Stefano worked a slow jig through the burley trail and I stuck with the light gear. Bonito, kings and a 38cm snapper for dinner. Much better than feeding the resident seal.

That was May 2022. The useful lesson has lasted longer than the fishing report: take more than one way of catching fish. Around North Head and Bluefish, the best decision of the day can be pulling in the trolling gear and stopping. Or pulling the anchor and getting moving again.

Open Bluefish Point on our fishing map to see the public offshore reference. Use it to plan the area, then find the fish with your sounder. The pin is not an exact fishing position or a navigation waypoint.

This is a boat-fishing guide. Bluefish Point's rock platform and land access are closed to visitors. Give the cliffs, wash and breaking water plenty of room; reflected swell can make this an uncomfortable bit of coast even when the water farther out looks manageable.

Read the water before choosing the method

On the Thursday before that Bluefish session, Oscar and I came around North Head and found big shows on the sounder. We anchored, started a burley trail and caught small kings and bonito on micro jigs and live bait. The fish gave us a reason to stop.

Look at where the returns sit in the water column. A mass halfway down calls for a different presentation from fish tight to the bottom. Don't lower everything to the seabed just because the screen says 20 metres. If the bait and predators are higher, that is where your offering needs to spend its time.

It also pays to look above the screen. Birds picking at the water, bait showering, swirls and repeated splashes all deserve a look. Scattered bait with nothing following it is a different proposition from a tight school being pushed around by predators.

My starting choices are simple:

• Fish or bait spread along the coast: use the downrigger to search at a useful depth.
• A concentration holding in one patch: stop where conditions allow and work a live bait or jig through it.
• Fish feeding on top: have a small metal ready to cast, without driving through the school.

For help separating bottom, bait and fish returns, see how to read a sounder.

Downrigging: cover water with the bait in the right place

A downrigger earns its keep when the fish are below the surface and you need to cover ground. It holds the bait at a chosen depth while you follow the coast, rather than leaving a live bait skipping behind the boat.

Start with the sounder. Set the bait to pass through the depth of the returns while keeping the weight clear of the bottom. Watch that clearance as the ground changes, and allow room for turns. Line paid out is only a reference: an angled downrigger line puts the weight shallower than the same length hanging straight down.

Use the slowest speed that keeps the boat under control and the live bait swimming properly. Check the bait beside the boat before sending it down. A bait spinning on the trace needs fixing, not a longer tow. Our live-bait rigging guide covers the rig; how to start downrigging covers the release and depth setup.

And give yourself permission to change. In the trip behind Harbour Jigging, I downrigged from Old Man's Hat to Bluefish without a fish, then tried South Head with the same result. The day eventually came good on little jigs back inside the Harbour. A famous bit of coast still has quiet days.

When the fish stay put, stop and work the trail

Stefano's slow jigging was deadly on fish hanging well back in the burley trail at Bluefish. That is worth remembering. A fish can be close enough to your boat to catch without appearing directly under the transducer.

Get the boat settled safely before fishing. Keep clear of the wash, navigation traffic, other boats and divers, and leave yourself room to get out. Where anchoring is suitable, position up-current of the fish so the trail travels towards them. Watch where it actually goes, rather than assuming it follows the stern.

I like being able to put burley down at the depth I am fishing. On a September 2021 Long Reef session, I lowered a burley can from the downrigger to 10 metres in about 15 metres of water. A live bait set at the same depth under a balloon and drifted back into the trail brought quick strikes. That was Long Reef, but it shows the depth-control idea clearly.

The setup doesn't need a cloud of food on the surface. Use a manageable amount, watch the fish and keep the trail near the depth you are working. Keep the burley line away from the fishing lines, and have a plan to retrieve it when a fish runs around the boat. My original deep-burley report shows that session.

A downrigger is useful for both jobs: searching with a bait, then holding a burley container at depth once you stop. The container and its contents become part of the load, so check the setup and its load limit before lowering it.

Bring a live bait, even if you intend to jig

On our North Head session we fished both. It is a handy combination: one bait doing its own work while you put movement into a jig. Keep the bait rod attended and leave enough separation that a hooked fish doesn't immediately collect the other line.

Small yellowtail are a practical bait to have ready. Keep them lively, handle them gently and match the hook to the bait rather than overwhelming it. If you need help getting a useful supply, start with catching and caring for yellowtail and slimy mackerel.

Don't confuse yellowtail scad with undersized yellowtail kingfish. The little baitfish shown here is a yellowtail scad. If you're unsure what you have caught, identify it before putting it in the bait tank.

Work the jig through the fish, not past them

For this kind of fishing I want a jig that reaches the right depth, then spends some time there. Lower or cast it into the trail, let it sink under control and work it back with lifts and pauses. Watch the line as it falls. A sudden stop, flick or sideways movement can be the bite.

In my Harbour burley fishing, two sharp lifts followed by a pause have worked well. It is much like working a soft plastic. You don't need to race the jig to the surface after every drop.

The small 10g metals are useful when the bait is tiny and the fish are high in the water. Move to a 40g jig when you need to get down more directly or get past fish intercepting the smaller lure. Current, line diameter and the depth of the fish decide the weight. If the line is streaming away and the jig never gets into the zone, make a change.

If a salmon school starts feeding nearby, keep your approach quiet and cast to the edge. Tiny bait can make them ridiculously fussy. The separate Australian salmon guide covers the small-metal and bubble-float options in detail.

Light tackle, with enough control

I had a ball using six-pound line during those North Head and Bluefish outings. The smooth drag on my little Softbait 3000 was a big part of the fun, along with a proper reel knob I could get hold of. Tiny knobs you have to pinch between your fingertips drive me mad.

That was the outfit I used in 2022. For a current option, our light spinning combo suits small-metal work. Match the rod's lure rating to what you intend to cast, and check the current specifications on the product page.

Light gear makes small fish great fun in open water. It is a poor bargain if a better king can reach rough ground before you can turn it. Carry a stronger outfit for live bait and bigger fish, and check the leader after every encounter with teeth or rock.

Have the landing net and pliers ready. Small kings are enthusiastic scrappers, but there is no need to have one bouncing around the deck while everyone looks for the measure.

Know when the session has changed

On the first day of that May trip, small bronze whalers eventually arrived and we called it quits. On the second, a seal taking our baits prompted the move to Bluefish. Both were good reasons to change the plan.

The same goes for an empty screen or a worsening sea. On a lure-only outing in January 2023 we worked South Head and Bluefish with a popper, a diving minnow and a spreader bar off the downrigger. For a while there was bait but nothing bunched up and no predator marks. Eventually we found small kings and kept a couple of bonito. It was a fun session, but there was no big-fish miracle waiting at every headland.

Fish the conditions and the signs in front of you. A couple of useful drifts or passes will tell you more than an hour repeating something that isn't working.

A few local rules before you go

In NSW, yellowtail kingfish have a 65cm minimum length and a bag limit of five. Release undersized fish promptly and with care. Check the current saltwater limits for the other species you keep.

Know the nearby reserve boundaries. Cabbage Tree Bay is no-take. Inside North Harbour Aquatic Reserve, line fishing for finfish is permitted, but squid, cuttlefish, other invertebrates and marine plants cannot be collected. Bring squid from a lawful source. Check current closures, the forecast and your boat's offshore requirements before heading through the Heads.

Take the downrigger outfit, a light jig rod and a few good baits. Then let the water decide which one comes out first. North Head and Bluefish are much more interesting when you have options.