Cooke Point (Pretty Pool / Four Mile Creek)

Fish the rock shelf at the tip of Cooke Point around the top-of-the-tide change, when it fishes best — with around six metres of range on the springs, a spring low leaves mostly mud in front of the rock. Cooke Point is the rocky elbow at the eastern end of Port Hedland, where the town's north beach turns the corner towards Pretty Pool and its tidal flats. The Pretty Pool inlet opens just over a kilometre to the south-east, and Four Mile Creek, the next mangrove creek along, holds barramundi and mangrove jack. It is also where the town comes to watch the Staircase to the Moon, so on those evenings the crowd on the foreshore is not there for the fish.

Arrive before the tide turns rather than for it: be set up an hour ahead and fish through the first hour of the new run, when the water starts moving across the rock and along the beach. Off the rocks, drift a float-rigged strip or whole mullet into the current for threadfin, and cast metals or soft plastics across the run when queenfish push bait along the edge. The flats around the point drain a long way at low water, so the middle and top of the tide put fish within casting range and the bottom of a spring low mostly puts mud there. Four Mile Creek is a barramundi and jack fishery worked on the moving tide with shallow hardbodies and weedless paddle tails along the mangroves, but it has no signed public track, so ask the Town's rangers about access before going.

Off the rock, king threadfin, blue salmon and queenfish are the targets on the moving tide. Barramundi and mangrove jack belong to Four Mile Creek and the mangrove edges rather than the open shelf. Identify a threadfin before keeping it: king threadfin are 450mm minimum and two a day, while blue salmon — blue threadfin — have no minimum size and a bag of four. Mangrove jack are 300mm and two a day, and barramundi carry a 550 to 800mm slot with a bag of two.

Read the tide chart for height as well as time, because a big spring and a neap make two different spots out of the same rocks. In the warmer months, fish the first and last hours of daylight. From October to March keep head torches dim and pointed away from the sand — flatback turtles nest on the Pretty Pool and Four Mile beaches, and the Town asks for no bright lights or flash after dark. A Staircase to the Moon evening fills the foreshore with photographers, so come early or fish another night. Throwing a cast net for mullet needs a Recreational Net Fishing Licence.

Park on the street at the end of Goode Street and walk the sand track about 250 metres out to the rocks at the tip; Cooke Point is the neighbourhood at the eastern end of Port Hedland, about 7 km east of the West End. The nearest public toilets — wheelchair accessible, with a shower — plus barbecues, a shaded playground and picnic facilities are at Pretty Pool Park, about 2 km to the south, and the town's shared path links Marapikurrinya Park, Cooke Point and Pretty Pool. The sand track and the rock are no place for wheelchairs or prams, and the shelf is somewhere to keep children close rather than let them roam. Pretty Pool Park is the better base with kids, and Discovery Parks Port Hedland is a few hundred metres from it.

The top-of-the-tide change is the window, and the first hour of the run-out is when the water starts working along the point. Port Hedland's range runs around six metres on spring tides and more than seven on the biggest, rising and falling about every six hours, so the flats around the point empty and fill fast. The dry season from about May to September is the comfortable time to stand on exposed rock, with mornings the pleasant hours. The build-up and the November-to-April cyclone season bring heat, storms and the best of the barramundi at Four Mile Creek — the usual Pilbara trade-off — and there is no shade on the rocks, so bring it.

Stay out of the inlet and the creeks, keep back from the water's edge and clean fish at home: in January 2015 the state wildlife department said slide marks photographed on Pretty Pool beach were likely a saltwater crocodile's, the fifth croc sighting at beaches near Pretty Pool in three years. With six metres of tide and more on the springs, the flats between the point, Pretty Pool and Four Mile Creek flood quickly, so fish from the rock and the beach rather than walking out onto the flats, and don't cross the creek channels. The Town warns of stonefish at Pretty Pool, so wear hard-soled shoes on the rock and around the pools. From October to March the Town bans driving on the beaches for turtle nesting, and dogs must be on a lead.

Off the rock at the tip of the point, reached by a short sand track from the end of Goode Street. It fishes best around the tide change, so be set up before the tide turns and fish into the new run. The surrounding flats drain a long way on a spring low, so the middle and top of the tide are the hours that put fish within reach.

Pretty Pool is a tidal swimming and picnic spot more than a fishery — the Town promotes its rock pools, barbecues and shaded playground and warns about stonefish, and there are crocs about. Most anglers use Pretty Pool Park as a base for its toilets and parking, and fish the rock at Cooke Point to the north or, after checking access with the Town's rangers, Four Mile Creek to the east. Wear hard-soled shoes and do not wade the inlet.

Four Mile Creek is the mangrove creek that reaches the coast about 2.5 km east of Pretty Pool Park, and it holds barramundi and mangrove jack. There is no signed public track to its mouth, the Town bans driving on the beaches during the October-to-March turtle season, and salt-works ponds and private roads sit behind it. Ask the Town of Port Hedland's rangers on (08) 9158 9300 about access before going.

Yes. In January 2015 the then Department of Parks and Wildlife said slide marks photographed on Pretty Pool beach were likely from a saltwater crocodile. Treat the inlet, creeks and flats as croc habitat: stay out of the water, keep back from the edge and don't clean fish there.

No. The Town of Port Hedland allows camping only in caravan parks, in its RV Overflow Area on McGregor Street — fully self-contained vehicles, a maximum of 72 hours in any 28 days — or for up to 24 hours at a roadside rest area in an emergency. Discovery Parks Port Hedland on Taylor Street is a short walk from Pretty Pool if you want to stay within reach of the fishing.