Clifton Gardens (Chowder Bay)

Clifton Gardens is the rare Sydney Harbour spot that works for a family picnic and a serious squid session on the same afternoon. The wharf that matters is the Clifton Gardens Reserve wharf at the end of Morella Road, which reaches well out past the netted baths into deep, current-washed water — sources put the drop at around 12 metres off the end — and the southern rocks at Chowder Head add reef and kelp to the mix. Do not confuse it with the Chowder Bay wharf a few hundred metres south in the Harbour Trust's Headland Park, which is signed no-fishing. That blend of deep pylon water, weed beds and sandy patches is why squid, bream and luderick are so consistent here, and why kingfish drift in to hunt yellowtail around the pylons at first and last light. It is sheltered, deep and structured in a single short walk from the car park, which is most of the appeal.

Most of the action is off the Reserve wharf itself. Locals work the pylon shadows and the edges of the downstream kelp bed for squid, and fish berley trails of bread or chook pellets to hold bream and luderick close. The deep water at the end is where the kingfish show — a live yellowtail jigged up off the pylons, then sent back down on a balloon or unweighted, is the classic harbour trick around the tide change at dawn and dusk. For luderick, a float drifting weed or green cabbage along the wharf and the rock edge on a moving tide is the proven method. Light is everything here: the first and last hour of daylight, lined up with a tide change, does the heavy lifting.

Southern calamari are the year-round headline, with autumn typically the standout as they move shallower over the weed. Yellowfin bream feed under the wharf all year and respond well to a steady berley trail. Luderick stack up around the pylons and rocks through the cooler months, roughly April to September, on float-and-weed gear. Silver trevally turn up year-round and are a reliable winter target. Yellowtail kingfish are the prize from late spring through summer, hunting bait around the deep pylons at change of light — most are rats, but better fish pass through. Garfish work the surface in calm corners, while sand whiting and the odd dusky flathead come off the sandier ground near the baths in the warmer months. Bream are 25cm inside a combined bag of 10 with tarwhine, luderick 27cm with a bag of 10, and kingfish 65cm with a bag of 5.

It gets busy — it is a postcard park as much as a fishing spot — so first light on a weekday is when the wharf is yours. The Sydney Harbour Intertidal Protected Area covers these shores, which means no collecting cunjevoi, nippers, crabs, mussels, oysters or any other intertidal life, and no gathering bait from the rocks; bring bait with you. If someone sends you to "the wharf at Chowder Bay", check which one they mean — the Harbour Trust's wharf in Headland Park bans fishing outright, while the Reserve wharf off Morella Road is the fishing pier. A steady berley trail is what separates a good bream session from a quiet one. Bring a long-handled net, because lifting fish straight up the wharf drop loses plenty. And do not fillet on the deck — the gulls and the picnicking families will both have opinions.

Park at the large pay-and-display car park at the end of Morella Road, Mosman — all-day parking is not cheap and the place fills fast on weekends and through summer. From the car park it is a flat, sealed couple of minutes to the Clifton Gardens Reserve wharf, past the playground, BBQs and the netted swimming enclosure. Public toilets are right there in the reserve. The level path and sealed wharf make this one of the more pram- and wheelchair-friendly fishing spots in the harbour, and the shark-netted swimming area, shaded playground and grass make it genuinely good for kids — they can swim while a line soaks off the wharf.

Tucked into Chowder Bay on the harbour's north shore, Clifton Gardens is well sheltered and fishes in most conditions short of a strong southerly funnelling up the bay. There is effectively no ocean swell here, so it is a reliable fallback when the open coast and the headlands are blown out. The bite keys off tide far more than wind — a moving tide through the change at dawn or dusk is the window for squid, kingfish and luderick alike, while dead slack water is usually flat. Heavy rain colours the harbour and slows the squid; give it a day or two to clear.

This is a sheltered harbour spot, so the risks are the quiet ones rather than washing swell. The wharf and rocks get slippery with dew, weed and squid ink, so grippy footwear matters. The drop from the wharf to the water is significant — mind small children near the edge, and use a net rather than swinging fish up. Boat and ferry traffic moves through the bay, so keep lines clear of the channel and the moored vessels. Oyster-covered rocks at Chowder Head will open a hand or a leg quickly; if you fish those southern rocks rather than the wharf, a lifejacket is sensible. National Parks is running a 1080 fox-baiting program in the Chowder Bay area through to 31 January 2027, and the baited ground is signed, so keep dogs on a lead and away from baits and ejector devices. Bluebottles drift in on summer northerlies, and the summer sun on an exposed wharf is its own slow hazard. A NSW Health note worth knowing: fish from Sydney Harbour east of the bridge — which includes here — should be eaten only in limited amounts, generally no more than about 150 grams a month, so many anglers treat this as a catch-and-release spot.

Yes — the Clifton Gardens Reserve wharf at the end of Morella Road is one of the more consistent squid spots in Sydney Harbour, working year-round with an autumn peak. Fish 2.5–3.0 egi jigs along the wharf pylons and over the downstream kelp bed, natural colours by day and brighter ones at first and last light, with no minimum size and a bag of 20 across all squid and cuttlefish. Note the separate Chowder Bay wharf in Headland Park, a few hundred metres south, is signed no-fishing. A NSW Recreational Fishing Fee is required to fish anywhere in NSW, including from the wharf.

You do not need a separate licence, but adults must pay the NSW Recreational Fishing Fee and carry the receipt while fishing, whether from the wharf, the rocks or a boat. Under-18s, Aboriginal people and Pensioner Concession Card holders are exempt — a Seniors Card or Health Care Card is not. It is $7 for 3 days, $14 for a month, $35 for a year or $85 for three years.

Clifton Gardens sits east of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, where NSW Health advises eating no more than about 150g of harbour-caught fish per month, though higher amounts of some species may be eaten. Many anglers fish it as catch-and-release for that reason. Fish caught west of the bridge should not be eaten at all.

It is one of the better family fishing spots on the harbour. The flat, sealed walk from the car park, the shark-netted swimming enclosure, shaded playground, BBQs and toilets mean kids can swim and play while a line soaks off the wharf. Mind the drop from the wharf edge and bring a net for lifting fish up.

Late spring through summer — roughly November to April — around the change of light on a moving tide. Jig up live yellowtail off the deep pylons and send them back down; most kings are rats, but better fish patrol the deep water at the end of the wharf at dawn and dusk.