Fishing Port Stephens

[1 HARD YAKKA]

Cheers mate heading to Broughton early December for snapper and kings hopefully there’s a few around it’s first time for us n we r camping there should be good I’ll check out ur spots 

[kingie chaser]

On ‎3‎/‎10‎/‎2015 at 4:44 PM, tgeos said:

I am heading up this weekend, and was hoping for any tips on any landbased spots that are fishing well at the moment?

Top write up scratchie, very informative overall!

 

This is the question I was about to ask.

 

I have found inside the bay difficult to find decent land based spots other than the break wall.

 

Its either to shallow or weedy in a lot of areas so if you could elaborate a bit on this it would be great  

[Scratchie]

As you can appreciate I don’t do too much land based fishing. But when I do, I normally go to Wanda headland, off the wall at soldiers boat ramp, soldiers point jetty or walk flicking sps and hard bodies along corlette or Taylor’s beach. 

Hope that helps,

cheers scratchie!!! 

[Berleyguts]

1 hour ago, Scratchie said:

As you can appreciate I don’t do too much land based fishing. But when I do, I normally go to Wanda headland, off the wall at soldiers boat ramp, soldiers point jetty or walk flicking sps and hard bodies along corlette or Taylor’s beach. 

Hope that helps,

cheers scratchie!!! 

Add to that: the marina wall at The Anchorage resort; the groynes at Corlette; the jetty at Salamander Shores; Shoal Bay jetty; and the Rocks around near Tomaree Lodge.

[kingie chaser]

7 hours ago, Berleyguts said:

Add to that: the marina wall at The Anchorage resort; the groynes at Corlette; the jetty at Salamander Shores; Shoal Bay jetty; and the Rocks around near Tomaree Lodge.

Nice one Baz, caught a nice 50cm flatty from the beach at Marrungbanga Reserve once & walked almost to then end or Tomaree headland having a flick along the way for no luck.

The only place I haven't really tried is the anchorage.

When you brought up shoal bay jetty a few memories came flooding back of jumping of the thing many a time as a kid & also watching the game boats come back & seeing plenty of fish hanging for the weigh in.

Actually my Auntie & Uncle owned a hardware at Shoal bay almost opposite the wharf for a number of years until they sold out.

 

How times have changed! 

Edited November 16, 2018 by kingie chaser

[Berleyguts]

11 minutes ago, kingie chaser said:

Nice one Baz, caught a nice 50cm flatty from the beach at Marrungbanga Reserve once & walked almost to then end or Tomaree headland having a flick along the way for no luck.

The only place I haven't really tried is the anchorage.

When you brought up shoal bay jetty a few memories came flooding back of jumping of the thing many a time as a kid & also watching the game boats come back & seeing plenty of fish hanging for the weigh in.

Oh, and there’s been some good flathead caught from Little Beach, too, according to some tackle shop reports.

[back cruncher]

Hi all...a few months ago i seen agood snapper caught off little beach jetty.it was about 55-60 cm.

[TheMatt123]

Land based around Soldiers Point / Salamander / Corlette...where's best in the next few weeks??

[Scratchie]

4 minutes ago, TheMatt123 said:

Land based around Soldiers Point / Salamander / Corlette...where's best in the next few weeks??

Off Wanda headland! 

[TheMatt123]

Very close to where i'll be, what to chase there?? Rig??

[Scratchie]

12 hours ago, TheMatt123 said:

Very close to where i'll be, what to chase there?? Rig??

Plenty of  bread and butter species. Just a running sinker with 30cm trace and long shank hook. Fishes better at high tide! 

[Ojay Samson]

Awesome post Scratchie. Went through the whole post and took notes accordingly.

I’m planning a trip up there from the 28.03.19 – 01.04.19 with my partner for a fishing getaway, have never been before outside of Sydney and am pretty excited for it. Been watching a few YouTube videos etc trying to figure out what is possible up there and where to go with the boat… but would be lying if I wasn’t a little nervous as I’ve never been there before let alone gone up with a boat in tow.

Anyway had a few questions to anyone who could answer:

Was ringing around at the usual accommodation places which can accommodate a boat and trailer and the consensus was that none of the places could facilitate engine flushing. My question is to anyone who has the know, where do people like me who are from out of town and drag their boats up to Port Stephens for a few days fish flush their outboards at the end of a day’s session? Are there washdown/engine flush bays in any of the public boat ramps there? soldiers point, little beach etc? I will gladly bring my own hose etc but would like to know if there are actually any taps which one can use for a standard 5-minute engine flush?... I’m not even fussed about washdowns too much, but the engine flush is a must after every session and a rinse of the trailer if possible. All the accommodation places I rung seemed to have no idea and suggested that they might have taps at the ramps but could not guarantee it, I found this a bit odd seeing as I am led to believe this place is a fishing comp mecca, with a big fishing comp happening a week after my stay there, and I would assume everyone who has a boat would flush after every session…

Next questions:
 

-          shoal bay is a pretty big bay, where should I be focussing my efforts for catching squid for livies and any livies in general? East, west, or middle of the bay? Specific marks would be greatly appreciated if anyone’s feeling generous enough to share. Also, could someone show me on a map where “30m near the big crack (Mrs murphys)” is? Whose Mrs Murphy’s and where is her crack at?

 

-          When venturing out past the heads to go to broughton island, is the area known as “the rips” basically the heads of port Stephens and to be careful there? Or is it somewhere more specific between the little islands out past the heads? Sorry for my ignorance if I’m not understanding this right.

 

-          In the time I will be there, what species of fish would I have the most change of catching … snapper, mac tuna, bonito? … anything else

 

-          Would a 4.5M boat be enough to get to broughton island on a decent day, and generally how long do people stay outside in regards to safety and fishing sessions… do people pack it in relatively early? ie do people start early and go outside and start heading back after midday or something and fish inside... or really depends on the day and the person/experience and boat etc?

 

Any other tips, suggestions, info on fishing the place would be greatly appreciated

Thanks
Ojay
 

 

 

 

 

 

[Berleyguts]

@Ojay Samson Wow! A lot of questions! 😂 I can answer some of them.

Outboard flushing: You can flush your motor at Soldiers Point ramp if your hose is long enough to reach the taps at the fish cleaning tables. A 15m hose may just reach... I’m not sure. Safer to take a 30m hose. They removed the tap in the trailer parking area that I used to use. I’m pretty sure the taps  at Little Beach and Shoal Bay ramos are crimped over so you can’t connect a hose. If you’re staying in one of the caravan parks you should be able to flush your motor. Otherwise, try renting a house or duplex. I once rented a cottage on the water at Corlette. It was one of the few places I could find that confirmed space to park a boat.

Squid: I don’t fish much for squid but I’ve heard they’ve been getting them amongst the moored boats in Shoal Bay. I’ve caught a few around the weed patches in Shoal Bay.

Mrs Murphy’s: Simple! Head straight out the heads close to Tomaree, then turn right. You can’t miss it. See attached screenshot from Navionics app.

The rips: Badically between the heads and the islands. It’s pretty much shown on the charts. It can get a bit sloppy as the swells hit the headlands and bounce back. Also, on a runout tide. I’ve never had a problem there - just use common sense.

Species: snapper, bonito, Mack tuna, long tail, kings all a chance.

I go to Broughton in my 4.5m boat. I pick my days and it takes me 15-30 minutes from Cabbage Tree Island bait grounds depending on the sea and if I get distracted by dolphins or whales. 😂

I usually like to be back inside Port by 2pm but often come in earlier. That’s a long enough day for me if I’m launching before first light! That’s my personal preferences. One day I plan to overnight at Broughton, though!

 

Edited February 27, 2019 by Berleyguts

[Ojay Samson]

13 hours ago, Berleyguts said:

@Ojay Samson Wow! A lot of questions! 😂 I can answer some of them.

Outboard flushing: You can flush your motor at Soldiers Point ramp if your hose is long enough to reach the taps at the fish cleaning tables. A 15m hose may just reach... I’m not sure. Safer to take a 30m hose. They removed the tap in the trailer parking area that I used to use. I’m pretty sure the taps  at Little Beach and Shoal Bay ramos are crimped over so you can’t connect a hose. If you’re staying in one of the caravan parks you should be able to flush your motor. Otherwise, try renting a house or duplex. I once rented a cottage on the water at Corlette. It was one of the few places I could find that confirmed space to park a boat.

Squid: I don’t fish much for squid but I’ve heard they’ve been getting them amongst the moored boats in Shoal Bay. I’ve caught a few around the weed patches in Shoal Bay.

Mrs Murphy’s: Simple! Head straight out the heads close to Tomaree, then turn right. You can’t miss it. See attached screenshot from Navionics app.

The rips: Badically between the heads and the islands. It’s pretty much shown on the charts. It can get a bit sloppy as the swells hit the headlands and bounce back. Also, on a runout tide. I’ve never had a problem there - just use common sense.

Species: snapper, bonito, Mack tuna, long tail, kings all a chance.

I go to Broughton in my 4.5m boat. I pick my days and it takes me 15-30 minutes from Cabbage Tree Island bait grounds depending on the sea and if I get distracted by dolphins or whales. 😂

I usually like to be back inside Port by 2pm but often come in earlier. That’s a long enough day for me if I’m launching before first light! That’s my personal preferences. One day I plan to overnight at Broughton, though!

 

Thank you so much Berleyguts for answering all my question, and in a very timely manner, genuinely appreciate it.

Im sorting out my plotter/sounder right now to just putting in all the marks I can find for the place to try, and have just added the crack thanks to you clearing it up for me.

Accommodation was already sorted as of yesterday night, one could say i'll be 'escaping in the trees'. Unfortunately they say they cant accom. engine flushing, so my only hope is the taps at soldier point by the loops of things. So it seems like my only hope is that the taps at the fish cleaning station at soldiers is in working order or I'm in trouble haha.

 

If anyone will be fishing the area around the  time I will be up there, feel free to say hi as its always nice to meet up with fellow raiders, i can PM my number if keen.

And if anyone has more advise or tips I'm willing to listen via PM if need be, sorry for hijacking this post, i was thinking of creating a new one to try avoid this hijack but at the same time i didn't want to make it seem like i wasn't familiar with the 'search' button... 

Thanks again Berleyguts 
 

Ojay 😁

[Berleyguts]

No problem @Ojay Samson. I can now confirm that the taps at the Little Beach ramp cleaning tables are crimped over. BTW - I struggled for live bait at Mrs Murphy’s this morning, so headed over to Cabbage Tree and filled my tank in about 10 minutes. 😉

Edited February 28, 2019 by Berleyguts

[jeffb5.8]

My tips

1. Beware of Sand bar in the bay

2. Use the Fish Smart app to avoid the  marine parks as big fines for fishing.

[Ojay Samson]

Thanks for the advice  and confirmation about the taps.
Just download the app now, pretty neat!

[mrsswordfisherman]

On 3/3/2019 at 6:03 PM, Ojay Samson said:

Thanks for the advice  and confirmation about the taps.
Just download the app now, pretty neat!

Grab the Deckee app also - things about to happen to further this

 

https://www.fishraider.com.au/forum/54-gps-marks/ 

 

[Subtropic]

On 12/6/2014 at 3:34 PM, Scratchie said:

G'day Raiders,

With the holiday season fast approaching I receive many PM's asking for places to fish LB, ocean, rock estuary etc. I generally respond to all at length and provide as much information as I can to give our members the best possible chance to catch fish.

So what I am writing here is an overview of the area and most of the general locations that are productive year round.

I do not claim that this will guarantee that you will catch a trophy fish or your bag limits, nor do I claim that I am some fishing god of port stephens (far from it), this is merely a summary to assist any member travelling to port stephens, based on my approximately 20years experience of fishing the area.

Estuary and the bay-

Probably the most productive place in the bay would be the breakwall in nelson itself. You can catch many species there from bream, luderick kingfish and even jew. This wall offers land based fishing and those fortunate to have a boat can make the most of the deep channels that run off it.

The wreck at corlette offers the chance of that elusive jew also and can resemble a carpark this time of year. The bay has many places that you can catch flathead and whiting. Drifting any of the beaches within the bay in 2-5m of water around an afternoon high tide is best time to target flathead. LB fishos can do the same thing walking and casting lures. My favourite lure for chasing flatty is a 100mm bloodworm wriggler or 80mm silver fox. When it's warm, a 5inch jerk shad in pilchard is a killer. The whiting are in numbers year round and most are trumpeter whiting which have no legal size limit and taste the same as their cousins. (sand whiting)

Fishing the racks from soldiers point to tiligerry creek will pay dividends on your bread and butter species also. North arm cove is a great spot for these as well, but it may also pay to take a few crab traps when there on as you can be handsomely rewarded. If your trying to hide from the N/E winds can be tough but hawks nest/tea gardens is your best bet and can produce thumping flatty up there, especially with the run of the prawns. I've heard of a few unstoppable jew in 3-4m of water there too around the bridge pylons.

Middle Island adjacent the boat ramp also has some deep holes and many of jew have been caught there too.

Bait: There are plenty of area's in the bay to collect bait. You can pump nippers at corlette or taylors beach at low tide. The wharf at soldiers point often holds slimies, yakkas and garfish. Squid is any weedy patch within the bay but the most productive spot is shoal bay just before the heads. Live whiting for jew in the bay is gun bait.

My theory on fishing the bay is that the bay fishes best 2hrs before low to low. This is when I've caught most of my jewfish especially if it coincides with a low light period. With the exception of the late afternoon flatty session at high tide.

Rock fishing-

First of all I must say that I practice rock safety and there are many places that are fishable but can change at a moments notice. You can fish anywhere between Birubi Point, Fingal Bay and Tomaree headland. These areas hold a variety of fish and constantly changes with the season.

To name a few spots that are the most productive are: cemetery point anna bay, any of the headlands of boat harbor and boulder bay, sunny corner at one mile and of course tomaree headland itself. There are people on this forum with way more experience than me from the stones, so I wont go into methods and techniques but you are able to catch anything from snapper to longtail at some of these locations.

Beaches-

The obvious stand out for this area is Stockton beach and is 39km long and only accessible by 4wd for the most part. You are able to fish at Birubi and walk up but most of the deep channels are further up the beach. The best area is about 7km north of the signa wreck and is where the most channels are. During the winter months, this is a gun spot to chase jewfish on the run of the mullet.

Fingal beach at the spit is a great place to throw lures for flatty and whiting but be cautious with the tide flow and sand banks. Many of tourist have drowned in this area thinking they can walk to the island.

The south end of wreck beach and box beach on low light periods will produce salmon and tailor. You can use a variety of baits and lures and is generally a very quiet area away from the crowds.

Middle rock at one mile will produce almost anything and can be another great area to target jewfish. I've caught a few there and the channels near the rock itself are worth a shot. The other side is Samuri beach which is another great beach to fish from but it comes with a warning as it is a NUDE beach and only accessible by 4wd. (take whatever tackle you want )

Baits: Beach worms, mullet fillets and pilchards I find are they best baits to use in these areas

Ocean-

During the summer months if you are heading offshore there are many of places you target different species. The islands out the front of the headlands area great place for a not so confident or new to boating destination for trolling or fishing islands and the washes chasing snapper. In saying this, know your limits! The entrance to the headlands can be a dangerous area to navigate and is known as "the rips". That is because you can often be faced with a southerly wind, an exiting tide and an easterly swell, all bouncing off the headlands and makes it like a washing machine.

The islands out front normally hold many bonito and the best method is trolling. The occasional kingfish is caught there, as well as fishing the washes early morning for snapper. Unweighted baits thrown into a burley trail should produce a few.

Broughton Island is the go to place, my favourite spots in this area are, the sisters, cod rock and north rock. Other areas worth mentioning are, the gibber, the little gibber, 21 and airforce reefs, the V and the pinnacles. All of these marks can be found in the GPS section of this forum in which I placed a post GPS Marks Port Stephens.

The landmines or fish traps east from broughton in about 100-120m of water will hold dollies during the warmer months.

Seal rocks is also a great place to fish but remember, it's a long way in a trailer boat and requires a fair amount of fuel.

Marlin: Well if you come here to chase marlin then there is no need for any information because your guess is as good as mine!

Bait:

It is plentiful up here and doesn't require much effort usually. Out the front of tomaree headland 30m near the big crack (mrs murphys) is a great place for slimy and yakkas.

There is also bait station at cabbage tree island. Be cautious as this is a sanctuary zone and bait fishing only. No dropping anchor either.

Notes:

There are many sanctuary zones up here and it is your responsibility to have maps and know the area you are fishing. They are patrolled regulary and my advise to anyone heading offshore would be to have the appropriate equipment as well.

Marine rescue operate 24/7 and it is worth checking in before leaving the bay. Don't forget to check off though.

Well, I hope that has given you some insight into this area. I'm often out and about in the area's I've just described, so please feel free to say hi or come and join me. I'll be in a haines hunter 470 breeze with SCRATCHIE written on the boat.

And please, whether you are land based or fishing from a boat, TAKE YOUR RUBBISH WITH YOU!

Tight lines all,

Cheers scratchie!!!

Apologies if covered by other comments, however good Drummer and Luderick at Rocky Point and on the headlands immediately south of Fingal. 

Reminder to all 4wd to respect the beach and don’t drive through the fore dunes.