Coffs Harbour

Hi Guys and girls, was wondering if any of you out there has fished around the Coffs Harbour (NSW) region, have a wedding to attend at the start of October over that way and wanted to wet a line while i'm there, will be there with the missus, 11 month old son and mother in law so was thinking jettys? also i have heard that you need a fishing liscence to fish in NSW, does this include fishing from a charter boat? or is it exempt from the liscence like our fishing from boat liscence?

 

any help would be greatly appreciated

Cheers Yewie 


PattyT's picture

Posts: 1025

Date Joined: 15/08/10

Hey mate. There is a big pier

Tue, 2011-04-26 19:34

Hey mate. There is a big pier to fish off in Coffs, havnt had to much luck from it though. There is a good surf beach about 15km north, name isnt coming to me at the moment though. Plenty of nice flattys and the chance of a Jew there. There are also a few good place's to have a flick for flatties around town. Make sure you have a look at the tackle shop in Coffs, Mo Tackle its called.. supposedly the biggest in the world. Hope that helps.

PattyT's picture

Posts: 1025

Date Joined: 15/08/10

and you do need a licence to

Tue, 2011-04-26 19:36

and you do need a licence to fish NSW. You wont need one if your fishing with a charter though. I think you can pick 3 day ones fairly cheap.

Yewiefish85's picture

Posts: 780

Date Joined: 02/01/11

Cheers Patty, yeah will have

Tue, 2011-04-26 19:43

Cheers Patty, yeah will have to go see mo tackle

Posts: 77

Date Joined: 29/05/09

Check with the charter operator

Tue, 2011-04-26 19:56

Check with the charter operator on the liscense as not all of them have the certificates.There are also alot of good land based spots to the south of Coffs aswell. Fishing Tackle Australia (mo tackle) is definately worth a look, as PattyT mentioned.

Yewiefish85's picture

Posts: 780

Date Joined: 02/01/11

cheers "adamkk" will look

Tue, 2011-04-26 20:26

cheers "adamkk" will look into it, do you know of any that would be worth a look?

Posts: 77

Date Joined: 29/05/09

Depends

Tue, 2011-04-26 20:53

Depends on what sort of fish you want and how far you are willing to travel. And what sort of gear you will have.

Yewiefish85's picture

Posts: 780

Date Joined: 02/01/11

pretty much have the gear to

Wed, 2011-04-27 17:28

pretty much have the gear to target whiting to marlin and everything in between (except surf gear and ultra deep), will be driving down from Brissy then off to a place called Dorrigo (been told about an hour from Coffs), any chance of jiggin any YTK's at that time of year?, really just want to try for stuff we don't get here in Hedland

Posts: 40

Date Joined: 14/02/11

Dorrigo

Thu, 2011-04-28 07:09

If your going to Dorrigo then you will be up in rainbow and brown trout country, guarantee you don't get them in Hedland!

And if you drive a little further inland you will be into some of the best gorge fishing for murray cod to be had anywhere in Australia. Would have to go a guide for this one though but would be a great experience.

Great counrty side over there. The drive from Coffs up to Dorrigo is awesome.

cheers

Matt

Yewiefish85's picture

Posts: 780

Date Joined: 02/01/11

cheers Matt, when you say a

Thu, 2011-04-28 17:48

cheers Matt, when you say a little further inland how much further are we talking? also what type of gear would be suitable for the murray cod? barra gear ok?

DazSamFishing's picture

Posts: 1518

Date Joined: 19/08/09

plenty of beach options. Most

Tue, 2011-04-26 21:21

plenty of beach options. Most beach gutters will hold the bread & butter species, plus tailor - you can put in the time for mulla's, but if you're only there for a short stint, get out on a charter. Usually plenty of rat kings & snapper to keep people interested. There are also plenty of rock based options - safety first of course. A 3 day license will cost you about $6.

Posts: 5

Date Joined: 10/05/10

jetty

Wed, 2011-04-27 12:44

usually only get small stuff off the jetty, but you might be lucky.

Makes a nice walk with the Kids.

Off the Jetty around the shore break you'll pick up some whiting and Flathead,

else try about halfway out. October is probably a bit early in the season though.

Have seen some good bream and trevally caught off the fish co-op wharf (pretty finickey) and a Jewy at the entrance to the marina.

You might get a few small reef fish around Mutton bird Island.

Should do alright off the beaches in the evening or early morning

Careful if you go swimming around the entrance to Coffs creek (Park Beach), few been drowned around there.

 

PattyT's picture

Posts: 1025

Date Joined: 15/08/10

Sapphire beach is the spot I

Wed, 2011-04-27 14:13

Sapphire beach is the spot I was talking about mate, there is a really good gutter that runs along it not far from the car park. Just go north on the pacific highway and it will take you right past.

Posts: 40

Date Joined: 14/02/11

Urunga

Thu, 2011-04-28 06:44

The creeks around coffs fish well but can be very tricky little systems.

Head down to Urunga and fish the flats behind the golf course/sports club. Should be lots of flathead on 3-4" plastics and bream style hardbodys.

If lure fishing isn't your thing then try and get hold of a yabbie/nipper pump, lots of these in the small creek on the boardwalk out to the river mouth (have a look on google earth)

Yabbies/nippers are the number 1 bait in east coast systems. You will catch fish on fresh green prawns also but forget about the frozen stuff at the servo. Fresh is best.

Big bream in the main boat harbour are very smart fish. Sometimes you can trick one or two by flicking unweighted cooked prawns under the boat hulls, thinking they have been washed off the prawn trawlers.

Tailor should be available spinning off the headlands in town and should be a few bonito starting to fire up on the deeper water platforms like muttonbird and the southern breakwall to the harbour.

October is a tricky time of year, the water can be cold and the north-east seabreeze will send you crazy at times.

best of luck