Pittwater shore fishing: Careel Bay, Taylors Point, Bayview and the western beaches

By Andrew Hestelow

Pittwater gives you sand-flat whiting, point bream, shore blackfish and useful baitfish water. Its productive edges are quite different: Careel's shallow drop-off, Stokes Point's deeper outside water and Taylors Point's blackfish drift do not need the same rig.

The eastern shore has several public starting points. The western beaches need a planned ferry or park visit. For squid, kingfish and small-boat sessions, use the Pittwater fishing guide.

Choose the water for your session

Put the outfit together

A light spin outfit, small bait hooks, a few light sinkers and compact plastics cover the sand-edge plan. Add a proper weed-float kit if Taylors Point is the destination: sensitive rod, small strong hook, shot, spare leader and net. My documented sheltered Taylors rig used 4lb fluorocarbon and a size 12 Sneck; the blackfish guide explains that session and the more versatile float alternative. For baitfish, bring tiny hooks and bait plus a bucket with aeration before keeping anything alive.

Palm Beach and West Barrenjoey

West Barrenjoey, Palm Beach and its ferry-wharf district are covered in Barrenjoey Head and Palm Beach shore fishing. The important distinction is between sand-and-weed shore fishing and the offshore bait grounds around the headland. The latter are boat positions.

Sandy Point and Snapperman Beach

Sandy Point combines beach bait fishing with occasional surface action. Near a dusk high tide, small worms, nippers or prawns suit whiting, bream and flathead. Summer accounts also list passing frigate mackerel and mackerel tuna. A small metal ready on a second outfit is useful if salmon or tailor move into casting range, but that action is irregular. It is not a dependable school to plan the whole session around.

Snapperman Beach lies south and inside the point. It suits the same small bottom-bait species, with less reason to expect passing pelagics. Concentrate on the sand and reachable bottom changes rather than spending the entire visit making long blind spinning casts.

Careel Bay: the sand edge and the public wharf

Careel's shallow mud, sand and weed flats have a defined outside edge near the public-wharf district. A small plastic worked along open sand on falling water is a flathead method. The flathead guide explains straight rigging, jighead choice and pauses; its kayak and boat examples need to be kept separate from this bank-fishing position. Worms or nippers over the sand suit whiting, bream and an occasional flounder.

The structure holds small mullet, yellowtail and tailor. Older bait-fishing accounts favour daytime at Careel. A tiny fish bait and small hook in a sparse berley trail is a better bait-catching rig than the outfit intended to use the yellowtail later. An occasional winter john dory is a possibility near suitable deeper structure.

Nets other than landing nets are prohibited east of the specified Barrenjoey–Observation Point–Stokes Point boundary, including Careel Bay. Lawful line fishing remains available. The old blanket bait-gathering advice must be checked against the current Pittwater closures and habitat rules. Bring bait, protect mangroves and seagrass, and keep out of soft mud and private marina approaches. Follow the public wharf's current signs and boating requirements.

Stokes Point: close at low light, wider after sunrise

Stokes sits beside relatively deep Pittwater water. At dawn or dusk, fish a lightly weighted worm, nipper, prawn or pilchard piece close to the shore with modest berley for bream and trevally.

As light increases, try open water beyond the point, with flathead, bream, trevally and tailor among the possibilities. Keep casts clear of boats and use an open public shore position.

Clareville Beach and Taylors Point

Clareville's sand is a whiting, bream and flathead proposition on small worms or nippers as the tide rises early or late. Near the top of the tide, a lure or pilchard can interest tailor if they appear. After sunrise, reaching open water beyond the shallow margin can matter more than adding a larger bait.

Taylors Point adds a proper blackfish option. In May 2013 I fished near the pontoon in roughly three metres of water, using a size 12 Sneck hook and 4lb fluorocarbon. With almost no current, the berley took time to bring the fish in; a small indicator suited that short sheltered drift. The point was fine tackle and a controlled weed presentation, not a long cast into the boating channel. Set the float for the actual depth beside the edge when you fish it.

The adjacent park shore can also be fished with small sand baits in the Clareville pattern. The old beacon alignments, sand spit and deep drop-off belong to the boat account and are not shore casting marks.

Newport and Bayview: baitfish beside working water

The public Newport Wharf at Queens Parade was informally called Newport Arms Wharf in the source. Keep it distinct from private hotel pontoons. Early or late around high water reduces some boat-traffic interference. Yellowtail and other small baitfish use the structure; jackets suit tiny prawn pieces close in. Winter livebait fishing can produce dory, while summer worms or nippers reaching open sand give flathead and whiting a chance.

Rowland Reserve provides public parking and amenities at Bayview. Bayview Arm is shallower. Sand flats and the spit suit small whiting baits on either tide. A plastic reaching open bottom is a flathead alternative, including the falling-water edge near the small southwestern creek. Near the ramp, boat launching has priority over every cast.

Bayview's broader flats have rising-water whiting, with bream and flathead secondary targets. The historical nipper-pumping and prawning accounts do not establish a collecting entitlement throughout the modern bay. Use the current closure map and protect seagrass rather than wading across it for casting distance.

Church Point and McCarrs Creek

Church Point's close shore and working-wharf district suits dawn or dusk bream near the end of the rising tide. A small bait and little lead are enough in manageable flow. Winter yellowtail can attract dory or tailor; the source also records occasional salmon.

Historical bait-fishing accounts record yellowtail, with seasonal slimies and garfish, around the Church Point wharves. Use only a public facility where fishing is permitted. Ferry landings and private residential wharves are different things, and the lines must come out for vessels and passengers.

The McCarrs Creek public wharf and reserve provide parking and amenities. At McCarrs Creek, favour the mouth's open sand for flathead and whiting during the first half of the fall. A small plastic or worm/nipper bait suits that edge. Bream are a higher-water night target closer to structure. The older accounts describe modest returns, so treat this as a small, quiet session. The northern bait flats described as boat access are not a new shore route.

The Basin: sand and the lagoon entrance

The Basin's sand suits summer whiting on worms or nippers, with sand mullet another small-hook possibility. Keep the lagoon, swimming area and outer moorings distinct. Follow NPWS visitor information and alerts and current local signs.

Morne Swiegers' salmon photograph records an actual shore catch here, with fish taking two-inch hardbodies. It adds a useful option when fish move into range, without making salmon a constant feature of the sheltered sand. The old winter dory and crab-trap reports concern outer moorings and should not be read as beach guarantees.

Currawong and Great Mackerel Beach

Council lists land-based fishing at Currawong for day visitors at the northern beach end. Currawong is a small-bait beach plan: whiting on an early rising tide, then bream or flathead nearer high water. The source describes modest catches. The surface-fish and trolling water outside is a separate boat fishery.

At Great Mackerel, fish the beach after the busy part of the day, early or into the evening, with small worm baits on the last rising tide for bream and whiting. The public ferry locality has historical baitfish, flathead and winter-dory records, but current signs and ferry operations decide whether the platform can be used. Do not tie up to the wharf or cast across the ferry approach to reproduce an old boat-bait instruction.

The western shore is not one continuous fishing bank

Soldiers Point has a historical close drop-off for bream, trevally and flathead on the run-out tide, with jackets on nearby reef. The source does not establish its shore approach. Longnose, Towlers, Scotland Island and West Head accounts are largely anchored or drifting boat positions. Their anchored and drifting positions are separate from the public beach and wharf options here.

Bait and a practical shore note

Check the current Pittwater fishing closures, lawful bait gear, size and bag limits. Marine vegetation is protected and eastern blue groper cannot be targeted or retained. Bring bait unless a particular collecting method and place are confirmed lawful.

Allow for boat wake, rising water and slippery edges; carry a suitable landing net and keep working facilities clear. Wear an approved lifejacket where swell-exposed rock-fishing rules apply. Plan western-beach transport and return times before fishing. For the main-river shore, continue with the lower Hawkesbury.

For the western tributary, Cowan Creek shore fishing covers Bobbin Head, Cottage Point and Coal and Candle Creek.

Return to Fishing Guides