Hawkesbury River and Broken Bay

Fishing places on Hawkesbury River and Broken Bay

6 publicly documented places inside this one, each with its own ground, catch and access.

• Bar Point

  Estuary mark

  A point on the Hawkesbury upstream of Brooklyn, which the department lists among its proven mulloway places and its bream hot spots, and maps for mulloway, flathead and bream, with Bar Island beside it.

  Documented here: Dusky kob

• Barrenjoey Head

  Headland

  The headland at the southern entrance of Broken Bay above Palm Beach, an aquatic reserve. The department names it as one of its four Australian salmon hot spots on the Hawkesbury, with fish cast for and trolled around the deeper rocks.

  Documented here: Kahawai

• Berowra Waters

  Estuary mark

  The settlement and ferry crossing on Berowra Creek, a southern arm of the Hawkesbury, which the department maps for mulloway, flathead, bream and hairtail.

  Documented here: Dusky kob

• Cowan Creek

  Estuary

  An arm of the Hawkesbury system south of Broken Bay. The department names Cowan Creek, Cottage Point, Jerusalem Bay and Coal and Candle Creek as hot spots for hairtail in winter, Cottage Point for bream, and Cowan Creek for Australian salmon, with tailor and kingfish mixing with the salmon from the creek's entrance out to Broken Bay.

  Documented here: Bluefish, Yellowtail kingfish, Kahawai

• Dangar Island

  Island

  A small island in the Hawkesbury just downstream of the railway bridge at Brooklyn, which the department maps for flathead, bream and luderick and names among its hot spots for large bream.

  Documented here: Luderick

• Hawkesbury River bridges at Brooklyn

  Bridge

  The railway bridge and the road bridge across the Hawkesbury at Brooklyn, which the department lists among the river's proven mulloway places and maps for mulloway, flathead, bream and, at the road bridge, luderick.

  Documented here: Dusky kob, Luderick

Fish documented nearby, not here

Nothing below has been documented at Hawkesbury River and Broken Bay itself. Each one has been documented at a named place on the same ground, and the places are listed with it. Treat this as what the water around here holds rather than as a catch list for this mark.

Named only as a group

The guide for Hawkesbury River and Broken Bay also names these fish by a name that covers more than one species here. It does not say which, so none is attached to this place.

• bream — could be Black bream or Yellowfin bream. Black bream and yellowfin bream overlap in south-east Australia and hybridise in Victoria; the working difference is the colour of the pelvic and anal fins.

How people fish it

Practised here: Sea fishing, Lure fishing.

Methods the sources name for this ground. Each one is explained in full on its own page.

• Ledgering

  Fishing a bait on the bottom held by a weight, with no float — the simplest way to fish at distance, in depth, or in wind.

• Spinning

  Casting an artificial lure and retrieving it so that it moves like something alive — the most direct form of lure fishing.

• Trolling

  Towing lures or baits behind a moving boat to cover large volumes of water and locate scattered fish.

• Float fishing

  Suspending a bait at a controlled depth beneath a buoyant indicator — the most visual, most controllable and most widely applicable method in angling.

• Saltwater fly fishing

  Fly fishing adapted to the sea: heavier lines, corrosion-proof tackle, fish that run rather than fight, and wind as the permanent constraint.

Baits and lures for these fish

The baits and lures each of the fish above is commonly taken on, from that fish’s own page. This is what works for the fish, not a report of what people use on this particular water — local knowledge and the conditions on the day still decide.

The ground and the water

The ground

The tidal lower Hawkesbury, which meets the sea at Broken Bay north of Sydney, with Pittwater, Cowan Creek and Berowra Creek among its arms. The department says it is best known for some of the state's largest mulloway, found from Broken Bay up to Wisemans Ferry, and for big bream, winter hairtail in Cowan Creek, surface-feeding Australian salmon, bonito, tailor and kingfish in Broken Bay, and Australian bass and estuary perch in its upper reaches.

Tide and flow

The department says mulloway feed most around the tide change, when the water slows, and that the change comes later the further a place is from the mouth, so several places can be fished at their best in one tide.

Through the year

The months the sources attach to each species here. Where a species carries no season it is listed underneath rather than assumed to run through the year.

Recorded here with no season stated: Australian bass, Bluefish, Dusky kob, Estuary perch, Luderick, Yellowtail kingfish.

Rules and access

Particular to this water: The Barrenjoey Head Aquatic Reserve lies at the southern end of Broken Bay; elsewhere the department tells anglers to check closures, limits and protected species before going.

Beyond what is stated above, FishingHQ does not know the current access position here. New South Wales requires its recreational fishing fee to be paid in all its waters, with exemptions the state lists. Marine parks and aquatic reserves have zones where fishing is not allowed or only some methods are, much of the shore is an intertidal protected area where shellfish and other invertebrates may not be taken, the state publishes advice against eating fish from some waters, and wearing a lifejacket is the law when rock fishing in declared council areas. Bag and size limits change. Check the current position with the NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development before going. This water is tidal and transitional, so the freshwater regime may also apply above the tidal limit: FishingHQ does not know the current access position here. The New South Wales fishing fee applies in fresh water too, trout rivers and streams have a closed season and some are lure and fly only, and much of the high country is national park. All of it changes. Check the current position with the NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development before going.

Who holds the answer:

• The NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, which collects the fishing fee and publishes the rules, closures and marine park zoning.
• The council, port or land manager, where the shore or wharf is theirs.
• The NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, which publishes the freshwater rules and trout seasons.
• The National Parks and Wildlife Service, where the water is inside a national park.
• The NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, which sets the recreational fishing fee and its exemptions and publishes the rules, closures, marine park zoning and freshwater seasons.
• Service NSW, the state's service through which the licence is bought.
• The council, port or land manager, for wharves, parks, reserves and other land it owns or leases, which carry rules of their own.
• The NSW Food Authority, for advice on eating fish from waters with a contamination advisory, including Sydney Harbour.
• The National Parks and Wildlife Service, where the water or shore is inside a national park such as Kosciuszko.
• The managers of Booderee National Park, on Jervis Bay's southern shore, which is Commonwealth land with its own fishing rules.
• The NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development: collects the fishing fee and publishes the bag and size limits, closures and reserve rules for this water.

Nearby fishing

Other publicly documented places within about 40 km, by distance. Positions are approximate public geography and are never exact marks.

• Dangar Island — under 2 km · Island
• Hawkesbury River bridges at Brooklyn — under 2 km · Bridge
• Bar Point — 5–10 km · Estuary mark
• Cowan Creek — 5–10 km · Estuary
• Barrenjoey Head — 10–25 km · Headland
• Berowra Waters — 10–25 km · Estuary mark
• Middle Harbour — 25–40 km · Estuary
• Federation Point — 25–40 km · Headland

Sources for this place

• Go Fishing — Sydney's mighty Hawkesbury River — NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, 2024 (Government fisheries body)Relied on for: The state fisheries department's Hawkesbury guide: this place on its maps or in its hot-spot lists, the fish it gives here, and the methods and reserve rules.States this directlyPassage read and verified
• Recreational fishing fee — NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (Government fisheries body)Relied on for: That the NSW recreational fishing fee must be paid, and a receipt carried, when fishing in any NSW water.States this directlyPassage read and verified
• FishBase: a global information system on fishes — Froese, R. and D. Pauly, eds. — FishBase Consortium (Scientific institute)Relied on for: That Arripis truttaceus ranges from Western Australia to Victoria and Tasmania and Arripis trutta from Brisbane to western Victoria, so 'Australian salmon' on this coast is Arripis trutta.States this directlyPassage read and verified

How FishingHQ labels evidence is explained in the evidence policy. Last reviewed 2026-10-22.