In this guide, I’ll delve into the heart of lure fishing in Pittwater and Palm Beach, pinpointing the seven best fishing spots that promise a bounty of sportfish. From the choice of lures to strategic techniques, I’ll explore everything enthusiasts need to know to make the most of these prime locations.
No article about fishing in Pittwater would be complete without a mention of Barrenjoey Headland, with its rugged rocky outcrops and deep drop-offs. is a haven for bream and tailor fishing enthusiasts. As the tide rolls in, strategically casting along the rocky edges can result in exhilarating hook-ups. Small soft plastic lures including prawns, paddletails and curly tail grubs are perfect for bream, along with small hard bodies. For tailor it’s worth trying metals or casting a range of stickbaits and poppers. Whiting are also a good target on the beaches between Barrenjoey and Palm Beach.
Scotland Island fishing isn’t just about jewfish (mulloway) and kingfish, but we’ll start there. The channels around Scotland Island fish well for mulloway on the tide changes and for kingfish whenever the tidal movement is greatest. Large soft plastic paddletails, 100mm soft vibes and deep-diving hard-bodied lures are the weapons of choice for mulloway in these waters. Soft plastic prawns are another great option, whilst surface stickbaits and poppers can be effective on kingfish. The area also produces some cracking bream, usually the result of throwing small hard bodies, small stickbaits or soft plastic grubs at pylons and rocky shorelines. Boat hulls, moorings and mangroves add to the bream fishing options.
Some of the best fishing in Pittwater is also the most accessible, and Palm beach jetty fishing is definitely a case in point. Accessible to almost anyone, the jetty offers access to bread and butter species like bream and flathead, along with the odd squid and very occasionally, mulloway. The jetty at the yacht club is also reportedly a hotspot for tailor, bream and squid. The jetties are definitely not the only Palm Beach fishing spots though – for those with a boat or kayak the flats off the beach are extremely productive for a range of species. The most commonly targeted ones are bream, flathead and squid, both arrow and calamari. For the bream, working small curl tail grubs, soft plastic prawns, hardbodies and blades is effective. Work areas where the substrate changes from sand to shell or weed thoroughly and you should find some fish. Flathead will turn up as a bycatch when targeting bream, but best results come when fishing the weed edges on a runout tide with 4-5″ paddletail soft plastics rigged on a standard J hook jig head. Squid can be caught year-round, but dawn and dusk (on night) are the more productive times. A size 2.5 jig in a slow sink is a good staring point through this area, switching to heavier jigs if the current keeps them from reaching bottom.
The shoreline of Towlers Bay is a great place for those fishing in Pittwater to target kingfish on soft plastic paddle tails and high speed jigs. Pelagic species move through this area, so expect Australian salmon, tailor and (during spring-autumn) bonito to get in on the act as a welcome bycatch. At dawn and dusk it can also be worth prospecting the area for these species with stickbaits and poppers, especially if surface activity is evident. At other times of day, switching to large soft plastics, high speed metal jigs or deep diving hardbodies can do the trick. Don’t overlook the fantastic flathead fishing in this area also. The flats from Towlers Bay to Long Nose Point frequently turn up quality flathead, which are very receptive to well presented soft plastic paddletails or soft vibes on the runout tide.
West Head can produce the usual run of pelagic species that work the western shoreline, such as kingfish, tailor, salmon and bonito, particularly working poppers and stickbaits around dawn or casting metals into the wash. The area also produces quality bream along the shorelines and reef structures, small soft plastics and hard bodies are the best bet. It’s worth tossing a squid jig over the side also, calamari feed on baitfish around the reef structures in this area. And flathead, plus the occasional flounder are likely to be encountered when drifting the flats between Barranjoey and West Heads whilst working paddletails, soft vibes and metal blades.
The waterways within Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park offer an enticing labyrinth of mangrove-lined channels that adds an extra dimension to fishing in Pittwater. There are some land-based access points via the national park, but it’s a prime location for sportfishers exploring the waters in kayaks or small boats. Bream, whiting, and flathead are the main targets and soft plastics and small surface lures are excellent choices. Due to the prawn populations typically found in and around mangrove shorelines, soft plastic prawns are also an excellent lure choice.
The rock fishing platform at Palm Beach is a renowned spot for targeting kingfish – and a magnet for land-based sportfishers. Surface lures, danced across the water’s surface in the early morning or around dusk can create explosive strikes from these powerful predators. As the sun gets higher it can be productive to work high speed metal jigs or sinking stickbaits around the suds in search of pelagic species.
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Best Times For Fishing In PittwaterTides and seasons As with any fishing spot, the species that are available can vary with the season. Even species that are in Pittwater all year round exhibit times when they are more aggressive, more active or otherwise just easier to catch. So it definitely pays to know what fish to target based on the time you fish the system.
The fishing calendar on this page provides a guide to the common species you can expect to find when you’re fishing in Pittwater, no matter what time of year.
Time of day You may have noticed in the above description of fishing spots that I often talk about fishing early morning or late afternoon. Changes of light and changes of tide can be prime times when fish are actively feeding. Early morning is often good when you’re fishing in Pittwater because there’s less boating traffic and fish are more relaxed about feeding. But don’t forget to factor in tides too. Different spots often fish better on different tides and likewise, different fish species can fish better on different tides.
Sure, Sydney Harbour is a busy and highly pressured fishery. But fortunately there remains plenty of quality kingfish for those who know how to find them and what it takes to hook them. Sydney Harbour guide of over 2o years Stuart Reid shares his tips with Shroom!
Peter Le Blang is a kingfish specialist who has fished Pittwater for over 50 years and for many years was a sportfishing guide on these waters. He continues to help anglers experience all that Pittwater and its kingfish have to offer through his writings for Fishing Monthly and through interviews and commentary on “The Big Fish” and 2CCC radio.
Catching quality jewfish during the day in the highly pressured waters around Australia’s largest population centre has become an art for respected jewie specialist Chris Cleaver. In this episode Chris shares his secrets and dispels the misconceptions around finding and catching jewfish on lures.