Fishing Woolgoolga
General fishing in Woolgoolga runs on the seasons, with DPI rating snapper best from April to October and sand whiting best from November to April. Spanish mackerel peak from February to May, when the warm currents hit the Coffs Coast in late summer and autumn. Woolgoolga Lake is a shallow lagoon with an entrance that opens and closes to the sea, and it sits inside the marine park.
Land-based anglers can fish Woolgoolga Beach, the headland and Woolgoolga Back Beach, which council lists as a popular fishing spot. The water around Flat Top Point, on the southern side of Woolgoolga, is a sanctuary zone, and Arrawarra Headland to the north is a no-fishing zone, so check the FishSmart app before you cast. Wear good footwear on the rocks and stay off them in big swell.
Offshore and boat fishing starts from the two-lane beach ramp off Carrington Street, or the Arrawarra Beach Boat Ramp to the north. DPI names Arrawarra as a snapper hot spot, and Spanish mackerel are trolled around the islands, headlands and shoals of the Coffs Coast. No fishing or anchoring is allowed in sanctuary zones, including the western side of North West Solitary Island, so log on with Marine Rescue and check your position before you drop a line.
Top 10 Species
Landbased
- Woolgoolga Beach: This patrolled surf beach curves up to the headland, and council lists it for surfing and fishing. DPI says mulloway are taken off the rocks and beaches of the Coffs Coast, and sand whiting peak from November to April. For whiting, fish live nippers or beach worms on a size 1 to 1/0 circle or long shank hook with a running sinker and about a metre of 2 to 5kg trace, well away from the flags.
- Woolgoolga Headland: This rocky headland is part of Coffs Coast Regional Park and sits outside the sanctuary zones, so line fishing is allowed. DPI names the rocks of the Coffs Coast as mulloway water. Wear cleated shoes, never turn your back on the sea and stay off the rocks in big swell.
- Woolgoolga Back Beach: Council lists this unpatrolled beach south of the headland as a popular fishing spot, and dogs are allowed off leash. Line fishing is open as far as the Flat Top Point sanctuary zone, which covers the water within 200m around the point and is not marked on the sand. Work live nippers or marine worms for sand whiting on a running sinker rig, with the hook size matched to the bait.
- Woolgoolga Lake: This shallow lagoon opens and closes to the sea, sits inside the marine park and has Coffs Coast Regional Park on the northern side of its mouth. Its average depth is less than half a metre, according to NSW Environment and Heritage. DPI lists bream, flathead, luderick and whiting in the region's estuaries, and its whiting outfit is a light 1 to 3kg spin rod with 2 to 3kg braid and a 2 to 5kg leader.
Offshore
- Woolgoolga Boat Ramp: The council ramp off Carrington Street is a two-lane concrete ramp onto the beach, listed by Transport for NSW as usable at all times. It has toilets, a BBQ, a fish cleaning table and 11 to 20 car and trailer spaces, and vehicles may launch and retrieve on the beach but not park there. Keep to 25km/h within 100m of people on the sand, and log on with Marine Rescue Woolgoolga before heading out.
- Arrawarra Beach Boat Ramp: This one-lane concrete ramp off Second Avenue, Arrawarra, is listed as usable at all times, with toilets, lighting and 21 to 50 car and trailer spaces. It is the launch at Arrawarra, which DPI names as a snapper hot spot. Arrawarra Headland is a special purpose zone with no fishing or collecting, so run clear of it before you fish.
- Off Arrawarra: DPI lists Arrawarra among its Coffs Coast snapper hot spots, with April to October generally the best months. Drift pilchards or fresh tuna strips on a 2/0 to 7/0 non-offset circle hook with a running ball sinker straight to the hook, and use berley to bring fish up. On deeper reef and gravel beds, DPI suggests a paternoster rig with squid, tuna or pilchards, or 7 to 27g jigheads with 8 to 14cm soft plastics.
- North West Solitary Island: A sanctuary zone covers the water off the western side of this island, and the marine park has a public mooring here that can be used for up to 12 hours. DPI says Spanish mackerel peak from February to May and are trolled around islands and shoals with fast diving hard-bodies or vibes on a short single-strand wire trace. Fish only outside the sanctuary zone, and never fish from the mooring while it sits inside the zone.
Hot Spots
- Woolgoolga Creek: DPI names this creek as one of the stand-out mangrove jack spots around Coffs Harbour, where herring or poddy mullet baits fished hard against snags around the tide change work best.
- Safety Beach: This long, unpatrolled sandy beach near the mouth of Darkum Creek is open to line fishing, and DPI says mulloway are taken off Coffs Coast beaches.
- Darkum Creek: This marine park creek opens and closes to the sea and suits light estuary gear for the bream, flathead and whiting DPI lists across the region's estuaries.
- Mullaway Beach: Council lists this beach north of Woolgoolga as a popular surf break, and it is open to line fishing for the mulloway DPI says are taken off Coffs Coast beaches.
- Corindi River: DPI names the Corindi River as a sand whiting hot spot from November to April, but its northern side below Mullet Creek is a sanctuary zone.
Know the Rules
- FISHING FEE: You must pay the NSW Recreational Fishing Fee and carry your receipt when you fish, unless you are exempt. It covers hand lining, bait collecting, hand gathering and trapping, and even having fishing gear near the water. It costs $7 for 3 days, $14 for a month, $35 for a year or $85 for 3 years, from Service NSW online or on 1300 369 365.
- MARINE PARK: All of Woolgoolga sits inside the Solitary Islands Marine Park. Sanctuary zones are no-take, so no fishing of any kind, no bait or shellfish collecting and no anchoring on reefs. Line fishing is allowed in the habitat protection and general use zones.
- NO-FISHING ZONES: The Flat Top Point sanctuary zone covers the water within 200m around the point, on the southern side of Woolgoolga. Arrawarra Headland is a special purpose zone that protects Aboriginal cultural values, with no fishing or collecting. The North West Solitary Island sanctuary zone covers the water off the western side of the island.
- PASSING THROUGH A ZONE: You may travel through a sanctuary zone with your gear stowed and your lines unbaited. The zone lines are not marked on the beach, so check the free FishSmart NSW app, which tracks where you are against the zones in real time.
- REEF FISH LIMITS: Snapper must be at least 30cm, with a bag limit of 10. Pearl perch must be at least 30cm, with a bag limit of 5. Yellowtail kingfish must be at least 65cm and Spanish mackerel at least 75cm, with a bag limit of 5 for each.
- BEACH AND ESTUARY LIMITS: Yellowfin bream must be at least 25cm, with a bag limit of 10 in total with tarwhine. Sand whiting must be at least 27cm, with a bag limit of 20. Dusky flathead must be 36cm to 70cm, with a bag limit of 5, and luderick and tailor have a bag limit of 10 each, at 27cm and 30cm minimum.
- MULLOWAY, JACKS AND CRABS: Mulloway must be at least 70cm, with a bag limit of 1 and a boat limit of 2 when 2 or more fishers are on board. Mangrove jack have no size limit and a bag limit of 5. Mud crabs must be at least 8.5cm, with a bag limit of 5.
- EVERYTHING ELSE: Any fish not on the DPI list has a bag limit of 20. Eastern blue groper are release only, and DPI has kept the line fishing ban on them for three years from 1 March 2025.
- BAIT LIMITS: The limit is 20 beach worms, 100 saltwater nippers and 100 other worms. Poddy mullet under 15cm have a limit of 20 and are for live bait only. Pipis are for bait only, must not be taken more than 50m from the high tide mark, and count toward 50 in total with cockles and mussels.
- GEAR RULES: Cast nets are banned in NSW, and a nipper pump barrel must be no wider than 85mm. Spearfishing is not allowed in any estuary in the park, or on ocean beaches except the last 20m at each end of the beach.
- GREY NURSE SHARKS: Bait fishing is not allowed within 200m of the grey nurse shark sites at North Solitary and South Solitary islands. Within 500m of those islands, wire traces are for trolling only and must not be used from a still or anchored boat.
- PARK MOORINGS: Marine park moorings sit at North West Rock and North Solitary, North West Solitary, South West Solitary (Groper), Split Solitary and South Solitary islands. You can use one for 12 hours at most, and you must not fish from a mooring inside a sanctuary zone.
- PROTECTED IN THE PARK: Corals, sea anemones, seahorses and pipefish must not be taken from any part of the marine park.
- BEACH RULES: Lifeguards patrol Woolgoolga Beach every day from the start of the September school holidays to the end of the April school holidays, so fish well away from the flags. Dogs are not allowed on the southern end of Woolgoolga Beach but can be walked on a lead north of Hofmeier Close, and are allowed off leash on Woolgoolga Back Beach. You may launch and retrieve a boat on Woolgoolga Beach, but you must not park on the sand.
Rules change. Check the state fisheries website or app before you fish.
Local Bait Tips
- Nippers: Pump nippers from sand and mud flats at low tide with a stainless steel nipper pump, which by law must have a barrel no wider than 85mm, and keep to the bag limit of 100. Never pump inside a sanctuary zone or the Arrawarra Headland zone, and keep them alive in a bucket of clean seawater out of the sun.
- Beach Worms: Beach worms are taken by hand picking on the ocean beaches outside sanctuary zones, and gloves are allowed. The limit is 20 whole or part in total, so keep them cool and damp, and take only what you need.
- Pipis: Pipis may only be taken for bait, and you must not take them more than 50m from the high tide mark. Feel for them by hand in the wet sand at the water's edge outside sanctuary zones, and keep to the limit of 50 in total with cockles and mussels.
Basecamp & Accom
- Woolgoolga Beach Holiday Park: 12 Wharf Street, Woolgoolga NSW 2456 | Phone: (02) 6648 4711
- Woolgoolga Lakeside Holiday Park: 80 Lake Road, Woolgoolga NSW 2456 | Phone: (02) 6648 4715
- The Beach Arrawarra: 46 Arrawarra Beach Road, Arrawarra NSW 2456 | Phone: (02) 6649 2365
- Reflections Corindi Beach Holiday Park: 93 Pacific Street, Corindi Beach NSW 2456 | Phone: (02) 6649 2803
Emergency & Safety
- Marine Rescue Woolgoolga: Emergency: 000 | Address: 24 Third Avenue, Arrawarra Headland NSW 2456 | Radio: VHF 16, 27MHz 88 | Phone: (02) 6654 1785
