Collaroy Beach

Collaroy is a long, open surf beach that curves south to the rock baths below Long Reef headland, and the whole stretch is built on the same thing surf anglers chase — gutters. After a decent swell, deep troughs carve out parallel to the sand, and the channels running over a metre deep hold whiting, bream and tailor that move in to feed where the wash drags food off the banks. The Stewart Street to mid-beach section is the proven patch for whiting and bream, while the deeper holes further along produce surprisingly large tailor. It is also one of the most accessible surf beaches in Sydney, which makes it a rare spot where a serious gutter session and a family afternoon can happen on the same sand.

Read the beach before you wet a line — walk to a high point or arrive at low tide and look for the darker, calmer strips of water between the white banks, because that is where the fish sit. Whiting and bream anglers fish a light running rig straight into the back of a gutter on the rising tide, ideally with the last of the run-up bleeding into the change. Tailor and salmon get worked with metals or ganged pilchards cast across the deeper holes at first and last light, when the schools push in. Dawn, dusk and the two hours either side of high tide are the windows locals plan around; the middle of a flat, sunny day is the slow shift.

Sand whiting are the headline through the warmer half of the year, October to April, taken on live beach worms and pink nippers fished into the gutters. Yellowfin bream and tarwhine share the same water year-round and turn up in the same sessions, often a touch better through the cooler months. Tailor work the deeper gutters right through the year with the best of it from autumn into late winter, and genuine XL fish hold in the bigger holes for anglers casting metals at low light. Australian salmon take over as the dominant beach catch through the cooler months, roughly April to September, smashing baitfish in the wash. Dusky flathead lie in the gutters and along the edges of the banks over summer, and dart show in the warmer months around the same sand the whiting like.

Time your session to a gutter that has had a day or two to settle after a swell rather than fishing into churned-up soup straight after a blow. Pump or dig your own beach worms and nippers, but do it north of the Collaroy rock baths — the southern end and Fishermans Beach sit inside the Long Reef Aquatic Reserve, where collecting worms, nippers and shellfish is banned even though line fishing for finfish is allowed. Fresh-pumped worms out-fish anything from a packet for whiting. The beach gets busy with swimmers and surfers in the patrolled flags from October, so set up well clear of the flags and away from the rock baths crowd, and fish the early and late shifts when the sand is quiet.

The beach runs off Pittwater Road with parking right behind it — free for vehicles displaying a Northern Beaches Council permit, and pay-and-display for everyone else, with designated accessible bays near the playground. The Collaroy Surf Life Saving Club sits behind the sand with toilets, change facilities and a ramp onto the beach. From any car park it is a flat, short walk over the seawall to the sand. With the rockpool, the large playground and lifeguards patrolling through the warmer months, it is about as kid-friendly as ocean fishing gets, provided the little ones stay back from the wash.

Collaroy faces roughly east-southeast, so it copes with a westerly off the land but blows out fast in an onshore southerly or a stiff nor-easter that flattens the gutters and rolls in weed. A moderate swell of around one to one and a half metres is ideal — enough to keep the gutters cut and the fish feeding, but workable. Once the swell pushes past two metres the open banks become unfishable and dangerous, and the sheltered corner down at the southern rockpool end is the only water still holding shape. The rising tide into the high is the prime feeding window; a glassy, flat, low-tide middle of the day is the time to scout rather than fish.

This is an open ocean beach with real surf, and Collaroy has form — the June 2016 east coast low stripped around 50 metres of sand off the beach and spun up a mega-rip, and sections of the beachfront are now backed by a rock seawall built to hold the storm seas off the houses. The same gutters that hold fish are flanked by rips that can drag a wading angler off their feet, so fish from the dry sand or the very edge of the wash, never with your back to the sea, and watch the sets before committing to a low bank. Fish the rock at the southern end or walk round to Long Reef and the lifejacket law comes with you — the Northern Beaches is a declared area under the Rock Fishing Safety Act 2016, and an appropriate lifejacket is required when you fish with rod, line or handline from naturally occurring rock exposed to ocean swell, level 50S or greater for adults and level 100 or greater for under-12s, covering anyone helping you, with a $100 on-the-spot fine. Bluebottles wash up in numbers on nor-east winds and the southern rockpool rocks are slick and surge-prone. Fish away from swimmers, keep clear of the flagged area when patrols are on, and respect that a rising swell turns this beach dangerous quickly.

Sand whiting, yellowfin bream and tarwhine are the bread-and-butter through the gutters, with tailor and Australian salmon over the deeper holes — salmon in the cooler months, tailor year-round with autumn and winter the pick. Dusky flathead and dart show over summer. Anyone fishing here needs a NSW Recreational Fishing Fee, which covers you anywhere in the state.

The Stewart Street to mid-beach section is the proven patch for whiting and bream, while the deeper holes further along hold the bigger tailor. Gutters shift with every swell, so walk the beach at low tide and look for the darker, calmer strips of water running between the white banks — that depth, ideally over a metre, is where the fish feed.

Yes, but only north of the Collaroy rock baths. The southern end of the beach and Fishermans Beach sit inside the Long Reef Aquatic Reserve, where collecting worms, nippers, shellfish and other invertebrates is prohibited — line fishing for finfish is still allowed there, but bring your bait or pump it on the open beach to the north.

It is one of the more family-friendly surf beaches in Sydney, with a rockpool, a large playground, accessible parking bays, surf club toilets and lifeguards patrolling through the warmer months. Fish the quiet early and late shifts, keep kids well back from the wash and rips, and set up clear of the flagged swimming area.

Sand whiting must be at least 27cm and bream 25cm. The whiting bag is 20 shared across all whiting species; the bream bag is 10 in total shared with tarwhine and black bream, and twice that in possession. Tarwhine themselves only need to be 20cm, which catches plenty of people out. A NSW Recreational Fishing Fee is required to fish here, as it is everywhere in NSW, and you have to carry the receipt.