Avoca Point

Avoca Point is the cluster of rock ledges at the southern headland of Avoca Beach, and it carries more fishing history than its size suggests. It sits over deep, clean water that drops away fast off the platform, which is what lets it hold weed-grazing luderick and drummer in close and fast pelagics within casting range. Local lore credits anglers off these stones with pioneering high-speed metal spinning for bonito and kingfish, drawing strikes by burning a lure faster than the fish could think. It is, in the same breath, one of the Central Coast's most renowned luderick marks and one of its more serious ledges — a spot that rewards reading the swell and punishes ignoring it.

The southern ledges are worked two ways depending on what's running. For luderick, locals float-fish green cabbage or stringy green weed under a quill or pencil float, trotting the bait along the wash line and into the gutters where the swell pushes whitewater off the platform. Rock blackfish come to the bottom on cunjevoi or peeled prawn fished tight to the rock face on heavier gear. When the water warms and bait pushes through, the same anglers swap to spinning — long casts with metal slugs and stickbaits burned at speed at first light, or a pilchard fished under a bobby cork drifted out into the deeper water for kingfish and the occasional jewfish. Early morning on a rising tide with a manageable swell is the window everyone waits for.

Luderick are the year-round backbone here, best through the cooler months when weed is thick on the rocks, taken on float-drifted cabbage and weed; they need 27cm and the daily bag is 10. Rock blackfish, the black drummer, come from the same wash on cunjevoi and prawn at a 30cm minimum and a bag of 10 — not to be confused with blue drummer, which is release-only. Eastern blue groper live on these ledges and will pick up a bait meant for something else, but line fishing for them is prohibited in NSW until 1 March 2028 and the bag is zero, so every one goes back. Bream and the odd tarwhine pick at baits along the edges, sharing a combined bag of 10 at 25cm for bream and 20cm for tarwhine. From late spring the pelagics arrive: yellowtail kingfish from November to May on live bait and fast metals at a 65cm minimum and a bag of 5, bonito from January with no size limit and a bag of 10. Through winter the ledges turn over tailor at 30cm, bag 10, and Australian salmon, which carry no minimum size at all and a bag of 5.

First light is when the spinning fires and when you'll have the best ledges to yourself — by mid-morning on a weekend the platform fills. Luderick anglers should match the bait to the weed actually growing on the rock that week; green cabbage is the standard, but long filamentous weed off the platform itself is often the better bait when it's there. Berley a steady trail of chopped weed and sand to hold a luderick school in the gutter. If a blue groper takes, unhook it in the water and let it go — that is the law, not a suggestion, and it applies to every method. Cleaning fish on the platform just feeds the gulls and the next angler's resentment, so bag and take home.

Drive into Avoca Beach and head to the southern end, where there is parking near the surf club and along the street, though both fill on weekends and through summer. The Captain Cook Lookout car park at the end of Del Monte Place sits above the headland, but it is approached from the Copacabana side rather than from Avoca, so set the navigation accordingly. There is a rock pool on the headland and a genuine low-tide playground for kids around it, which is where young ones belong rather than on the fishing ledges. From the car the walk is a short stroll across sand and then onto the rock platform, but the ledges themselves are uneven, often wet rock with no railings or formal path — not a mobility-friendly surface. Toilets and food are around the beachfront rather than at the ledges, so sort both out before you walk down.

The platform faces broadly east to south-east and takes ocean swell square on, so it fishes best on a low to moderate swell — under about 1.5m — with light to moderate west or south-west winds blowing offshore. A rising tide into the top of the high pushes whitewater into the gutters and lifts the luderick and drummer bite; the spinning is a dawn game regardless of tide. It blows out fast when an east or south-east swell builds, when sets start washing the lower ledges, or when a strong onshore wind chops the wash to foam. After heavy rain the nearby lake and runoff can colour the inshore water and slow the bite. When the swell's up, this is a day to fish somewhere sheltered, not to test the ledge.

This is a genuinely dangerous ledge, and the Central Coast is a declared high-risk rock-fishing area precisely because anglers get swept off stones like these. The southern platform takes swell head-on and sets can wash the lower ledges without warning — watch the water for a full ten minutes before stepping down, and never fish a low ledge on a building sea. The rock is slick with weed and spray; cleated or felt-soled boots and a grippy stance matter. Rock fishing anywhere in the Central Coast local government area is covered by the NSW Rock Fishing Safety Act 2016, so an approved lifejacket is required by law on the high-risk locations the council has declared, including for anyone helping you and any children present, with a $100 on-the-spot fine for going without. Adults need AS 4758 level 50S or greater and children under 12 need level 100. Fish with a mate, tell someone your plan, never turn your back on the sea, and don't fish here alone in the dark.

Yes. Avoca sits in the Central Coast local government area, which is declared under the NSW Rock Fishing Safety Act 2016, so an approved lifejacket is required by law at the high-risk rock-fishing locations the council has declared, and these swell-exposed ledges are exactly what the law is aimed at. It covers anyone helping you fish and any children present. Adults need AS 4758 level 50S or greater, children under 12 need level 100, and going without can draw a $100 on-the-spot fine. You also need a NSW Recreational Fishing Fee to fish anywhere in NSW, including from the rocks.

No. Eastern blue groper is a no-take species across NSW with a bag limit of zero, and the line fishing prohibition was continued for a further three years from 1 March 2025, so it runs to 1 March 2028. Any groper that picks up a bait meant for something else must go back in the water alive. Spearfishing for the species has been banned since 1969 and remains so.

Green cabbage drifted under a float is the standard and most reliable luderick bait off the Avoca ledges, fished along the wash line on a long-shank hook. When stringy green weed is growing thick on the platform itself, picking it fresh off the rocks is often even better. A steady berley trail of chopped weed and sand helps hold the school in the gutter. Luderick have a 27cm minimum and a daily bag of 10, with a possession limit of 20.

Early mornings from late spring through autumn — roughly November to May, peaking January to May as the warm current pushes in. First light with a low to moderate swell is the window; burn metal slugs or stickbaits at speed, the style local lore credits Avoca anglers with pioneering. Live bait under a bobby cork is the other proven method for the bigger kingfish. Kingfish must be 65cm with a bag of 5; bonito have no size limit and a bag of 10.

Only with care and the right conditions. It is an exposed ocean ledge in a local government area declared high-risk under the Rock Fishing Safety Act 2016, which is not a label councils hand out lightly, so it is not a beginner spot in any swell. Fish it on a low swell, wear the legally required lifejacket and cleated boots, watch the sea for several minutes before stepping onto lower ledges, and don't fish alone or with your back to the water. If the swell's up, fish the sheltered Terrigal Haven or Avoca Lake instead.