Where we may fish during your fishing charter

All of these waterways are connected so you may fish more than one area during your fishing charter depending on what type of fish are about and what sort of fish you would like to target.

Fishing charters in Broken Bay

Broken Bay being open to the ocean and the mouths of the mighty Hawkesbury River, Brisbane Water, Pittwater and Cowan Creek is one of my favourite spots to fish.

In Summer a lot of pelagic fish visit Broken Bay. Some include Kingfish, Cobia, Amberjack, Sampson Fish and then there are the Mackerels and the Tunas. Even soaking a bait is very productive with fish to be caught like Flathead, Bream, Mulloway (Jewfish), Whiting, Snapper, Blue Swimmer Crabs, Mud Crabs and squid. If you need a rest from reeling in the fish you can even stop for a swim at one of many secluded beaches to cool off.

Winter fishing in Broken Bay sees most of the summer pelagic fish disappear and the winter fish take over, such as Salmon, Tailor and Trevally. Bottom fishing targets different fish again, fish such as Bream, Whiting and Snapper, but the Flathead slow right down until the warmer months. Other fish to be caught in winter are Leather Jackets, Blackfish (Luderick) and the odd John Dory. There are still a few Kingfish around but they are very large and very evasive.

So from drifting with bait or flicking soft plastics for Flathead and Bream to fishing a burly trail for Bream, Tailor, Trevally, Whiting, Leather Jackets and Blackfish (Luderick), or night fishing for Jewies, Sharks and Hairtail Fishing in Broken Bay has it all. Sometimes the schools of Salmon, Tailor or Kingfish are so thick you can see the birds working as soon as you get out on the bay, by flicking small crommies or saltwater flies into the school it won’t be long before you get a hook up.

Fishing charters in Pittwater

Pittwater is mainly known for sheltered fishing targeting fish such as Bream, Flatties and Whiting. While that’s true the summer Kingfish population in Pittwater is where all the action is. Kingfish fill Pittwater in the summer months eating baits such as fresh or live Squid, Yakkas, Slimmies, Pike and an array of lures with Slugos or Stikbaits the best. Summer in Pittwater also brings Cobia (Black Kingfish), AmberJack, Sampson Fish and a load of Mackerels and Tunas and they are all caught the same way. It’s a great time to enjoy reeling in any one of these mighty fighting fish.

West Head and Barranjoey are the best spots to get your live bait including Yakkas, Slimmys, Squid and right in the corner of the Basin for Mullet.

John Dory visit Pittwater in winter with the Basin and around Scotland Island the best spots to fish. Drifting slowly with live Yakkas or Slimmys is the best way to catch these tasty critters, but don’t expect to bag out.

Winter fishing also brings Blackfish (Luderick) which are sometimes so thick around the wharfs and headlands its just not fair for the fish. I had some customers get on at Palmy and we filled the esky before we even left the wharf. You can see them under the wharf and you put your bait right in front of them. On a couple of occasions there have been one hundred fish under Palmy Wharf.

Fishing charters in Brisbane Water

I love fishing Brisbane Waters and lately it has been allot better than fishing the Hawkesbury River (since the oyster thing). I was born in Gosford and have fished here all my life. When I was a kid I had a 12ft tinny with a 6hp outboard and that is all you need if you’re not going out past Boxhead, even on a flat day we would go out to Lion Island in Broken Bay and fish. Brisbane Waters is calm and relaxing on the water and the fishing is great.

Summer fishing in Brisbane Waters sees allot of Flatties caught either on bait or soft plastics and Big Bream and Whiting caught up in the oyster racks with Pink Nippers, Cockles and Worms (any sort), Blue Swimmer Crabs invade the system, so do Frigate Mackerel (Leadies) and Mullet, Mud crabs will be down all the creeks (Narara, Erina, Kincumber). Then there is some of the best night time Jewie spots, the Rip Bridge, Halftide Rocks or Little Boxhead. Many Jewies have been caught at these places over the years and there is still plenty more to be caught, you just need the right baits and a bit of patience.

In winter Brisbane Waters becomes a great Black fishing (Luderick) spot with spots like Riley’s Island, Paddy’s Channel, the Rip Bridge and Halftide Rocks. Most of the flatties disappear in winter but you can still catch a few on small live baits, the Bream come out of the racks and make there way out to the mouths around Little Box and Halftide Rocks, a bit of burly and some fresh bait will catch a feed of Bream. Trevally seem to invade the whole system and aren’t to bad to eat if bled and eaten fresh, peeled prawns are the best for Trevally. A few schools of Tailor and Salmon come into Brisbane Waters but not in massive schools like in Broken Bay.

Overall fishing in Brisbane Water is a great days fishing and its easy to duck out into Broken Bay for even more fishing on the same charter.

Fishing charters in the Hawkesbury River

The Hawkesbury River is one of the longest rivers on the eastern side of Australia. Starting off as the Nepean River near Goulburn in the south stretching to the Blue Mountains and Wollemi National Park near Sydney. With the Colo & Macdonald Rivers draining into the middle reaches and Berowra Creek further down stream, the Hawkesbury covers over 22000 square kilometres as well as smaller creeks like Mangrove, Mooney Mooney and Marramurra and then there is the National Parks and nature reserves connected to the river like the Ku-ring-gai Chase, Bouddi, Brisbane Waters, Dharug, Popran, Muogamarra, Marramurra, Yengo and Cattai.

You can cruise for miles without seeing a house or building and its full of history with early settlers there from 1788 and aboriginal people there for at least 14000years before them, this is evident by the shell middens (Piles of shells), axe grinding grooves, wells and engravings. In Dharug National Park there have been over 10000 engravings recorded, by 1890 only 34 full-blood Dharug aborigines remained thanks largely to smallpox and influenza brought here by European settlement and in 1927 the last of the Dhurag people Martha Everingham died at Ebenezer. I could write all day about the history of the Hawkesbury River but let me tell you about the fishing instead.

Fish to be caught in the Hawkesbury, Cowan and Berowra Waters include Jewfish (Mulloway), Bream, Flathead, Whiting, Hairtail, Tailor, Salmon, Bass (Past Wisemans Ferry), Estuary Perch, Blackfish (Luderick), Kingfish, Cobia, Sampson Fish and a load of Mackerels and Tunas as well as Blue Swimmer and Mud Crabs and even a Lobster can be caught near the entrance to the river. If you are going fishing in one of the waters target your fish one species at a time you stand a much better chance that way. I could tell you where to fish but there are so many spots as the river is so large you’ll have to come out with me to see a few.