Fingal Head Rock Platform

Fingal Head is a short, rocky headland pointing out at Cook Island, just offshore. It is one of the few natural rock platforms on the Tweed Coast, a stretch of mostly sand and creek mouths, and it gives a land-based angler deep, moving water close to the rocks. Jew and tailor are spun from the headland, while bream and luderick work the washes through the cooler months. It is a small, exposed platform, and it rewards anglers who read the swell before they read the tide chart.

Tailor are taken on metals and ganged pilchards cast into the white water off the point at first and last light. For jew, locals spin large shallow-running minnows and soft plastics slowly through the suds, or fish a fresh tailor or mullet fillet on a running rig after dark. Bream and luderick sit in the washes close to the rock — lightly weighted prawn or strip bait for bream, cabbage or green weed under a float for luderick, though the cabbage on the platform is grazed down quickly. Flat seas are needed to work the lower ledges at all; when they are not flat, this is a lookout, not a fishing spot.

Tailor are the headline cool-season fish, running from about April into August (30 cm minimum, bag 10). Mulloway come off the headland year-round, best through autumn and winter when the mullet run (70 cm, bag 1). Bream and luderick are prolific in the cooler months (bream 25 cm with a bag of 10 shared with tarwhine; luderick 27 cm, bag 10). Dart work the beach gutters either side through the warmer months. Ledges with deep water have a reputation for the odd mackerel in late summer and autumn, and longtail tuna are sometimes seen racing past — a bonus, not a plan.

Cook Island Aquatic Reserve is a 500 m circle around the island, and its edge is about 250 m off the point — beyond a normal cast — so the water you fish from the rocks is ordinary NSW water. Inside the reserve, the outer zone allows line fishing but bans set-lines, and the inner zone around the island is a no-take sanctuary. Eastern blue groper can't be taken by any method in NSW until the end of February 2028 — release any you hook. Bring your bait — the platform's cabbage disappears by mid-tide and the rock is no place to go hunting for it.

Drive to the end of Lighthouse Parade at Fingal Head village, park, and follow the Fingal Lighthouse Track up the headland toward the lighthouse; tracks lead down to the rocks on the northern and eastern faces. It is a short walk but the last part is over uneven rock, so it is not suitable for wheelchairs, prams or small children. The Fingal Rovers surf club and the small village sit at the base of the headland.

The headland faces east and north-east, so any decent swell from that quarter washes the platform and a big south-easterly groundswell wraps in too. Small swell, a light westerly and a rising tide in low light are the combination to wait for. Dirty water after rain helps the jew and tailor; clean, calm water suits the bream and luderick. If the lower ledges are wet from the last set, you are already too low.

Fingal Head is a fully exposed ocean rock platform, and the water around the headland has a record of drownings. The rip along the northern end of Dreamtime Beach, just south, is permanent and runs straight out past the headland. Check the swell forecast and fish only in small, settled swell; watch the water for at least ten minutes before going down, keep off low, wet rock, never turn your back on the sea, and never fish it alone. Tweed Shire is not one of the ten council areas declared under the Rock Fishing Safety Act 2016, but a lifejacket is strongly recommended every time you fish this platform — adults AS 4758 level 50S or greater, under-12s level 100 — with cleated boots and light clothing you can swim in. Know where the nearest angel ring is before you start, and if you are washed in, swim away from the rocks, float, signal and have your mate call 000. Pick your retreat to higher rock before you cast.

Yes. The rock platform at Fingal Head is open to line fishing and is outside Cape Byron Marine Park. The Cook Island Aquatic Reserve starts about 250 m off the point; its outer zone allows line fishing but not set-lines, and the inner zone around Cook Island is a no-take sanctuary. Fingal Head is also inside DPIRD's Tweed fee-concession area, which runs south of the Tweed River breakwaters to the lighthouse at Fingal Head, where the NSW Recreational Fishing Fee is discounted by 50%.

The reserve extends 500 m out from Cook Island. The inner zone around the island is a no-take sanctuary with no fishing by any method. In the outer zone you may fish under the normal NSW rules except by set-line, which includes any line that is neither held in the hand nor attached to a rod held in the hand — a rod left in a holder counts.

Tailor and jewfish are spun from the headland, best from about April to August, and bream and luderick are prolific in the washes through the cooler months. Dart work the beach gutters either side in the warmer months. Eastern blue groper can't be taken by any method in NSW until the end of February 2028 — release any you hook.

It can be. The platform is exposed to swell from the east and north-east, the rocks are slippery, and the rip off the northern end of Dreamtime Beach runs out past the headland. Fish only in small swell, never alone, and wear a lifejacket — adults AS 4758 level 50S or greater, under-12s level 100. Tweed is not a declared lifejacket area, but one is strongly recommended.