Fishing Tweed Heads
General fishing in Tweed Heads revolves around timing your trips with the summer currents for tropical predators like giant trevally, or working the cooler winter tides for schooling yellowfin bream in the deep rock channels. Flood tides are essential for flats fishing, whereas run-out tides spark predatory activity around the major deep water structures. Anglers can expect highly productive sessions by timing their trips around the lunar cycles and local tide turns.
Land-based anglers can target flathead and whiting by wading the shallow sand flats of Terranora Creek or Letitia Spit. The massive Tweed River North Wall and South Wall are iconic land-based platforms where casting heavy soft plastics or whole pilchards into the wash zones yields trophy-sized mulloway. Wading the sandy margins of Jack Evans Boat Harbour with light estuary tackle is also highly effective for sand whiting on a summer flood tide.
Offshore and boat fishing in Tweed Heads offers access to exceptional oceanic reefs like the high-relief basalt columns of Nine Mile Reef. Boaters launching from the Kennedy Drive ramp can target spanish mackerel and yellowtail kingfish by slow-trolling live bait or drifting past the newly deployed Tweed Offshore Artificial Reef. Crossing the unpredictable Tweed River bar requires strict caution and proper safety gear on every outgoing tide.
Top 10 Species
Landbased
- Tweed River North Wall and VMR Jetty: This location serves as a highly productive current deflection zone. It consistently targets species such as Mulloway, Mangrove Jack, Bream, and Flathead. Fishing is best during high-tide slack water turns with light westerly to southwesterly winds by rolling large paddle-tail soft plastics or drifting live bait near the rocks.
- Boyds Bay Bridge: This high-velocity channel features deep vertical pylon structures that attract quality fish. Anglers can target Bream, Trevally, Flathead, and Luderick around these structures. It is best to fish run-out tides by twitching small suspending hardbodies around the concrete pylons or drifting green weed under floats.
- Jack Evans Boat Harbour: This protected and calm estuarine basin is an ideal location for family fishing. It consistently produces species such as Whiting, Flathead, and Luderick. Anglers should fish during slack water by flicking light soft plastics or lightly weighted baits along the sandy margins and retaining walls.
- Tweed River South Wall: This exposed rocky ledge offers excellent fishing opportunities for active shore anglers. The primary targets here include Tailor, Bream, and seasonal Mulloway. Fishing is highly productive at dawn or dusk on an incoming tide by casting whole pilchards on ganged hooks or spinning metal slugs into the wash.
- Terranora Creek Sand Flats: This expansive shallow intertidal zone is a prime playground for wading anglers during warmer months. It mainly targets Sand Whiting and Dusky Flathead. Wade these flats on flood tides in summer while rapidly retrieving topwater stickbaits to trigger aggressive surface strikes.
Offshore
- Tweed Offshore Artificial Reef: This reef sits in twenty-five metres of water and features a ten-metre-high steel fish grotto surrounded by concrete Arrowhead modules. It attracts high-value targets including Spanish Mackerel, Wahoo, Snapper, Yellowtail Kingfish, and Amberjack. Anglers find success by drifting unweighted live slimy mackerel past the modules or vertically jigging heavy metal slugs.
- Tweed Nine Mile Reef: This high-relief natural reef rises sharply from thirty metres to five metres to create a massive pelagic magnet. It hosts a variety of predatory species such as Snapper, Yellowtail Kingfish, Spanish Mackerel, Wahoo, and Cobia. It is best to slow-troll live bait using downriggers along the steep walls or high-speed troll bibbed minnows.
- Fidos Reef: This inshore reef system rises to five metres depth east-southeast of Fingal Head. The reef attracts Snapper, Yellowtail Kingfish, Spanish Mackerel, and Cobia. Anglers should drift current-facing edges casting heavy soft plastics on half-ounce jigheads or float-line unweighted pilchards.
- Boyds Bay Scour Holes: These deep river bend scour holes are highly productive areas within the lower estuary. The deep, dark water mainly targets Mulloway and Estuary Perch. Position your boat on the tide turns and drop weighted live herring or large soft swimbaits deep into the holes.
- Tweed Canyons: These deep-water canyon structures are situated wide on the continental shelf. The deep drops target Wahoo, Dolphinfish, Marlin, Bar Cod, and Blue Eye Trevalla. High-speed troll skirted lures along current lines or deep-drop double-hook paternoster rigs in three hundred metres of water.
Hot Spots
- Clarrie Hall Dam: A pristine freshwater impoundment in the Tweed Valley renowned for producing fat Australian bass on surface lures during low-light hours.
- Terranora Creek Bridge: This structure provides deep shadow lines for night-time bream and flathead.
- Fingal Beach Surf Gutters: Productive surf gutters that produce high-quality tailor and dart on fresh beach worms.
- Letitia Spit: A remote sandy spit producing flathead and bream on bait.
- Chinderah Sand flats: Shallow flats holding sand whiting and yabbies.
Local Bait Tips
- Saltwater Nippers: Extract these baits by pumping nippers using a hand-operated suction pump on intertidal flats in the lower Tweed River between Chinderah and Condon from two hours before to one hour after low tide. Keep them alive in flat rectangular containers with shallow aerated saltwater to preserve their freshness.
- Beach Worms: Harvest beach worms along Letitia Spit and Fingal beaches during the last two hours of the run-out tide by waving a mesh stink bag in the wave wash and presenting a hand bait. Once the worm rises, squeeze firmly at the index joint when the worm arches, then pull slowly before storing in dry sand.
- Live Mullet: Catch mullet using ultra-light handlines or rods baited with bread dough under a small float in the quiet canal margins of the lower Tweed River. Keep them alive in an aerated bait bucket and hook them through the shoulder to target quality flathead.
Boat Ramps
- Kennedy Drive Boat Ramp, Tweed Heads:
Kennedy Drive Boat Ramp: Located at Ray Pascoe Park along Kennedy Drive in Tweed Heads, this high-use, dual-lane concrete ramp sits near the confluence of Terranora Creek and the Tweed River. Supported by a public timber jetty and modern floating pontoon, it experiences strong tidal currents and heavy congestion. A mid-2024 upgrade added enhanced lighting, a cleaning table, and carpark resealing.
- Foysters Jetty Boat Ramp, Tweed Heads:
Foysters Jetty Boat Ramp: Located on Minjungbal Drive in Tweed Heads, this facility acts as a public wharf rather than a vehicle launch. It features a fixed timber jetty and two floating pontoons with a strict four-hour mooring limit. Hazards include narrow bridge pylons, shallow shoals in Terranora Inlet, and a six-knot speed limit.
Bait and Tackle
- BCF Tweed Heads: 20-22 Minjungbal Dr, Tweed Heads South NSW 2486 | Phone: (02) 5524 3745
- Tweed River Bait and Tackle: 144 Chinderah Bay Dr, Chinderah NSW 2487 | Phone: (02) 6674 3133
Basecamp & Accom
- Tweed Holiday Parks Fingal Head: Marine Parade, Fingal Head NSW 2487 | Phone: (02) 6674 1234
- Tweed Holiday Parks Boyds Bay: 18-36 Dry Dock Rd, Tweed Heads NSW 2485 | Phone: (02) 6674 1211
- Tweed Holiday Parks Kingscliff: Marine Parade, Kingscliff NSW 2487 | Phone: (02) 6674 1250
Emergency & Safety
- Emergency: 000 | Marine Rescue Point Danger: 100-104 Marine Parade, Coolangatta QLD 4225 | Radio: VHF Ch 16, Working Ch 72 | Phone: (07) 5536 9333
