Greenwell Point Wharf (Fishermen's Jetty)

Greenwell Point is an oyster-and-trawler village on the Crookhaven River, a few kilometres inside Crookhaven Heads, and its concrete T-shaped Fishermen's Jetty off the point is the public wharf. It sits over a deep channel that carries the whole river's tide past the end of the T, with oyster leases and weed beds on the flats either side. That mix of deep water, structure and constant bait — plus the pelicans loitering on the foreshore, who know a good wharf when they see one — makes it one of the easiest places on the Shoalhaven to put a bait in front of bream. The jetty was built in the late 1970s and still serves the commercial fleet, so it is a working wharf first and a fishing spot second.

Fish off the T-head into the channel on a run-in tide with a lightly weighted bait for bream and trevally: peeled prawn, nipper, mullet strip or chicken gut, with as little lead as the current allows. Flathead sit along the edges of the channel and the sand beside the jetty — a soft plastic hopped back to the pylons on the run-out picks them up. Luderick feed along the weed and around the pylons in the cooler months and come to a float with green weed. Whiting are a summer target on the sand either side of the point with nipper or worm. After dark, a live poddy mullet or fresh squid in the deep water off the T is the mulloway play.

Yellowfin bream are 25 cm minimum on a bag of 10 shared with tarwhine. Dusky flathead are kept inside a 36–70 cm slot with a bag of 5, sand whiting 27 cm on a bag of 20 shared across all whiting, and luderick 27 cm with a bag of 10. Silver trevally are 30 cm on a bag of 10 shared across all trevallies. Mulloway are 70 cm minimum with a bag of one per person and a boat limit of two per boat per day.

Trawlers and commercial boats tie up at the jetty, so leave the berths clear, keep lines out of the way of anyone mooring, and be ready to move. The current runs hard off the end of the T in the middle of the tide — the hour either side of the turn is when light baits behave. Bream around a busy wharf see a lot of baits; fine leader and a bait that drifts naturally beats a heavy sinker. Keep your casts off the oyster leases; snagging a lease costs you a rig and an oyster farmer a morning.

Greenwell Point Road runs right to the point, with a public car park beside the jetty, public toilets about 50 m south and the village shops and fish-and-chip outlets within a short walk. The jetty is concrete and flat, so it is one of the more accessible fishing platforms on this coast, though not every edge has a rail. The Greenwell Point boat ramp is about 150 m north if you want to launch a kayak. It is a good family spot provided children stay back from unfenced edges.

The wharf is well inside the river, sheltered from ocean swell, so it fishes in almost any sea. Wind is the bigger issue: a strong north-easter or southerly blows straight along the river and pushes light baits off the bottom. The tide runs fast through the channel off the point, and the change of tide is the most comfortable time to fish. After heavy rain the Shoalhaven's floodwater comes down the Crookhaven, which colours the water and switches the bite to flathead and mulloway.

The jetty is a working commercial wharf — watch for boats manoeuvring in and out, and never fish across a berth or a mooring line. Its edges drop straight into a deep, fast channel with no easy way back up, so keep small children close and away from unrailed sections. The concrete gets slippery with fish slime and bird droppings. DPIRD bans all traps except bait traps from the Crookhaven entrance up to Orient Point, downstream of this wharf — check its Crookhaven River closure before setting a crab trap anywhere on the river.

Yes. The concrete T-shaped Fishermen's Jetty off the point is the public wharf, and it is fished for bream, flathead, whiting, luderick and trevally. It is also a working commercial wharf, so leave the berths clear and move for boats coming in.

Yellowfin bream, dusky flathead, sand whiting, luderick and silver trevally, with mulloway at night. Bream are 25 cm with a bag of 10 shared with tarwhine, and dusky flathead are kept inside a 36–70 cm slot with a bag of 5.

Yes. There is a public car park beside the jetty, public toilets about 50 m south, and the village shops a short walk away. The jetty is flat concrete, so access is easy.

Traps other than bait traps are banned in the Crookhaven River entrance waters from the heads to Orient Point. Check the DPIRD Crookhaven River closure before setting any trap near the wharf or elsewhere on the river.