9 of the Best Brisbane Fishing Spots Revealed

There’s no shortage of good fishing spots in Brisbane and the mild Brisbane weather makes fishing a good option all year round. Try as many locations as it takes to find your hot fishing spot in Brisbane then keep it a secret! You could even start with a few of these fishing hotspots this weekend!

Land Based Fishing Spots Brisbane

Brisbane has plenty of options for land-based fishing, perfect for kids and adults to wet a line. With a light rod and reel, some lures and a little know-how, you can be rewarded with a good catch. Look for jetties, rock walls, piers, pontoons and bridges where fish tend to hang out to feed. If you want to increase your chances of going home with a full bucket, try to avoid popular swimming and jet ski spots. The activity in water can scare your fish away.

1. Wellington Point Jetty

It might be a long walk out to the end of the jetty, but it can be well worth it. The Wellington Point is a popular spot for fishing, picnicking and water sports. Finished in 1937, the iconic wooden jetty is 22 km southeast of Brisbane. Flathead and bream are available year-round while snapper is available in the cooler months. Bait, plastic and lures can reward you with a catch during the day but stick with live or weighted dead bait when fishing at dusk, dawn and night. If the fish aren’t biting from the jetty, you can take a walk out to adjoining King Island at low tide. Fish from a kayak when it’s not windy, and the reef habitat will reward you with a range of fish including flathead, snapper, cod and sweetlip.

2. Bribie Island

Bribie Island is a favourite fishing hotspot for Brissie anglers. Hit the beaches on an incoming tide with your light to medium rod for bream, dart, flathead and (on a good day) mulloway. The seagrass beds are favoured by whiting with yabby bait. In the canals, bream can be caught on bread for bait. Try the Bongaree Jetty early for juvenile snapper, bream, mulloway, flathead, cod, parrot and Moses perch. Just beware, there are a few strict no fishing zones around Bribie Island.

3. Brisbane River

The Brisbane River has everything from bream, flathead, salmon, snapper, tuna, sweetlip, cod, jewfish, mangrove jack and tailor for the taking. The trick is to know where to cast your line to improve your chance of going home with a catch. Following the bait fish is a good clue. Rains wash the baitfish downstream. Try these locations: Cameron Rocks Reserve To increase your chances of catching bream, flatheads, and the odd mangrove, head down to the reserve in the evening. The current is can be very strong in this location so lure fishing can be rather difficult. Gateway Bridge The best time to fish in this location is during the turn of the tide. Great spot for Threadfin Salmon, Mangrove Jack and Mulloway. Hornibrook Bridge A fishing hotspot with deep and shallow waters sometimes housing Bream and Flathead. Fishing closer to the Pine River will increase chances of catching these fish.

4. Port of Brisbane Fishing

The port is another favourite spot for land-based and boat fishing. Under the Port Bridge to the west down Howard Smith Drive offers deep water that is best fished on a turning tide. You are most likely to hook a Mangrove Jack, Jewfish or Bream here. Under the Captain Bishop Bridge, you can use lures for jew, bream, cod, flathead, tailor and flounder. If you are taking your boat out into the port, be aware of the restrictions. Access is restricted within 30 metres of operating wharves and vessels berthed at the wharf. Heavy fines can apply. Waterside restricted zones are also patrolled. Check Port Brisbane’s wave heights, swell, weather, water temperature at Tides4Fishing.

5. Wynnum Creek & Jetty

If you think buying your feed of fish from the fish market café is cheating, go out and catch your own. The weed shallows of the rock wall can provide bream, whiting and flathead on an incoming tide. The jetty will give you access to deeper water. Use bait for more bream, whiting, flathead and during late winter and spring you may be rewarded with a tailor.

6. Manly Boat Harbour Rock Wall

The rock wall has the benefit of extending out into deep water. You have the choice of fishing from the concrete walkways or rock entrance walls. High tide is the best time for bream, whiting and flathead. The bait of choice is yabbies, worms and prawns. Two hours either side of high tide is best. Mackerel and cod have been caught here occasionally. Around 2,000 boats are moored here which bream and flathead like hiding under looking for bait fish.

7. Breakfast Creek

Located in Albion 4 km north-east of Brisbane. Breakfast Creek is a waterway about 1.5 km upstream to the railway bridge crossing. The mouth of the creek offers flathead on soft plastics. At high tide, the rocks are covered, and bream usually feed actively. Cast at 45 degrees from the shore and bring the lures back with the tide, ideally bouncing them along the top of the rocks. Strong currents and lures aren’t a good match, but at slack tides, threadfin salmon, jackfish and mangrove jack have been caught here. Fish from the jetty at night with live or dead bait.

8. Cleveland Point

The rocks around the point make it perfect fishing at high tide. Cod, bream and snapper can be caught on bait. A berley mix of bread and prawn heads can also reward you with a good catch of bream. Fish at dawn in the shallows before the traffic gets too busy.

9. Cabbage Tree Creek

Cabbage Tree Creek in Shorncliffe is a popular fishing spot in north Brisbane. Best at high tide, you may be able to catch whiting and flathead near the mouth and bream closer to the boat ramp. Also known as Tighgum Creek, it is home to a professional fishing fleet that sometimes sells fresh fish and prawns from the boat. So if you don’t have any luck, you can still take home tea. You don’t have to tell the family they didn’t come from your line.

Brisbane Fishing Books & Guides

There are plenty of hydrographic maps to help you find your way around Brisbane’s rivers, creeks and points. The range of nautical charts include Brisbane River – The Bar to Lytton Reach, Brisbane River – Lytton Cutting to Victoria Bridge, and Lion Island to Brisbane Water. If you are looking for fishing reference books, the Queensland Fish Guide and Fisherman’s Guide Queensland and Great Barrier Reef will make the job of fish identification easy and great fun for the kids. The Australian National Tide Tables will tell you the best time to go fishing. Check out the complete range of Fishing Books and Guides for essential information on knots, rigs, lures and lines. Looking for a particular map or book? No problem, give us a call on (08) 9335 8665 or contact us online and we’ll track it down for you.