Burrill Lake Entrance

Burrill Lake drains to the sea through a short, shallow entrance channel below the Princes Highway bridge, with grassy reserves on the western bank and Dolphin Point's rocks at the mouth. It is the easiest estuary in the area to fish from shore: you can park on the grass at Smithys Point and cast into the channel from the sand. The lake is an intermittently closed and open lake or lagoon — the entrance shoals up and can close — but the channel off Smithys Point holds water and fish more often than not. Flathead are the reason most people come.

Work soft plastics or lightly weighted prawns along the edge of the deeper channel that hugs the eastern sand spit, casting from the Smithys Point sand and hopping the lure back up the drop-off. The run-out is best for flathead as bait drains off the flats. Whiting and bream take nippers, worms or peeled prawn on light running rigs over the sand on the rising tide. Luderick and trevally feed around the weed and the rocks towards Dolphin Point, and salmon and tailor come into the mouth on the change of light in the cooler months — a small metal cast across the current gets them.

Dusky flathead are kept inside a 36–70 cm slot with a bag of 5. Yellowfin bream are 25 cm minimum on a bag of 10 shared with tarwhine, sand whiting 27 cm on a bag of 20 across all whiting, and luderick 27 cm with a bag of 10. Silver trevally are 30 cm on a bag of 10 shared across the trevallies, tailor 30 cm with a bag of 10, and Australian salmon have no size limit and a bag of 5.

Spearfishing is closed in the Burrill Lake entrance waters. Pump your own nippers on the flats at low tide — they outfish anything bought for whiting here. Summer brings swimmers and paddlers into the shallows off the reserve, so fish early or late. Watch the mouth after big seas; the channel moves and the best drop-off one month can be a sand bar the next.

Turn off the Princes Highway onto Dolphin Point Road just south of the bridge and park at the Smithys Point reserve, a few steps from the sand. Dolphin Reserve further south gives access to the mouth and the Dolphin Point rocks. The reserves are flat and grassed, making this a good family spot. There is no formed platform; you fish from the sand edge.

The channel is sheltered from swell except right at the mouth. A north-easter blows straight up the channel and makes light-line fishing hard; westerlies leave it calm. When the entrance is open, the run-out tide is the trigger for flathead; when it is shoaled up or closed, warm calm days fish best. Heavy rain colours the lake and can scour the entrance open.

The channel is shallow at the edges but drops quickly into deeper water with a strong current on the ebb — don't wade out after a snag, and keep children in the shallows near the reserve. When heavy rain breaks the entrance open the current through the mouth becomes dangerous and the banks collapse. The Dolphin Point rocks at the mouth are exposed to ocean swell; Shoalhaven is not one of the ten declared rock-fishing lifejacket areas, but a lifejacket is strongly recommended on these rocks.

The entrance channel off the Smithys Point reserve on Dolphin Point Road, just south of the Princes Highway bridge. You can park on the grass and fish the channel drop-off from the sand for flathead, bream and whiting.

Dusky flathead, yellowfin bream, sand whiting, luderick and silver trevally, with salmon and tailor at the mouth. Dusky flathead must be 36–70 cm with a bag of 5.

It opens and closes — the entrance shoals up and can shut. Burrill Lake is an intermittently closed and open lake, so check local reports, especially after a long dry spell or a big sea.

No. Spearfishing is closed in the Burrill Lake entrance waters. Rod-and-line fishing is allowed under normal NSW bag and size limits.