Hastings Point Headland & Cudgera Creek

Hastings Point is the low headland where Cudgera Creek meets the sea, and the fishing starts on the rock at its northern end, right where the creek mouth and the ocean wash meet. Cudgera is the only Tweed Coast estuary without man-made walls, so the mouth wanders and the sand flats change with every big tide and flood. That gives two fisheries a few steps apart: whiting and bream in the creek on the run-out, and jew and tailor in the washes off the headland ledges. It is not a famous rock-fishing coast, which is half the charm — the ledges are found by walking the headland track and looking.

In the creek, fish the run-out with light running rigs and small baits — worms, yabbies or peeled prawn — on the sand edges and the channel where it leaves the mouth. Off the headland, anglers spin for jew and tailor from the ledges that give access to the water behind the break, winding a large shallow-running minnow or a soft plastic slowly through the suds. Tailor also come to metals and ganged pilchards at first and last light. Bream and luderick sit in the washes along the platform in the cooler months, fished on lightly weighted bait or weed under a float. Low light suits all of it and keeps you out of the way of the surfers.

Sand whiting and bream are the creek's mainstays — whiting best from spring to autumn (27 cm, bag 20 shared across whiting) and bream year-round (25 cm, bag of 10 shared with tarwhine). Tailor run past the headland through the cooler months (30 cm, bag 10), with luderick on the platform weed at the same time (27 cm, bag 10). Mulloway are spun or baited from the ledges year-round, particularly when the mullet run in autumn and winter (70 cm, bag 1). Dart turn up in the beach gutters either side for most of the year; they have no size limit and fall under the general bag of 20.

Walk the headland track first and pick your ledge in daylight — the fishable spots are the ones with access to deeper water behind the break, and they are not obvious from the car park. Fish the creek on the run-out, when bait washes out over the flats. The headland is a popular surf spot, so the low-light sessions that suit the fish also keep your lures out of the line-up. Eastern blue groper can't be taken by any method in NSW until the end of February 2028 — release any you hook. Pipis from the beach are bait-only and can't be taken more than 50 m from the high-tide mark.

Hastings Point is on Tweed Coast Road between Cabarita and Pottsville. A car park sits on top of the headland, with a track along its crest and short scrambles down to the rocks; Cudgera Creek Park, with toilets, sits on the creek side beside the general store. The creek banks and the sand at the mouth are an easy walk for kids. The headland rock is uneven and slippery, so it is not suitable for wheelchairs or prams.

The headland faces east, so a big north-east or south-east swell washes the platform and closes the ledges, while the creek mouth stays fishable in most weather. Small swell, a light westerly and the run-out tide at dawn or dusk are the combination to aim for. Rain turns the creek brown and pushes bream and flathead toward the mouth; a big flood reshapes the entrance entirely, so the channel you fished last month may not be there.

The headland is a natural ocean rock platform: swell can wash the ledges without warning and the rock is slippery and uneven. Check the swell forecast, watch the water for ten minutes before going down, never turn your back on the sea, and stay off low, wet rock and off the platform in any real swell. A lifejacket is strongly recommended on the rocks — adults AS 4758 level 50S or greater, under-12s level 100 — with cleated boots and light clothing you can swim in; Tweed Shire is not a declared lifejacket area. Never fish the ledges alone. If you are washed in, swim away from the rocks, float, signal and have your mate call 000, and know your way back up the headland before you start. The creek mouth runs hard on the ebb and the entrance shifts, so don't wade across it and keep kids out of the channel. Watch your casts around surfers and swimmers.

Yes. Anglers fish the Cudgera Creek mouth for whiting and bream and the headland ledges for jew, tailor, bream and luderick. Hastings Point is outside Cape Byron Marine Park, so the normal NSW rules apply. Eastern blue groper can't be taken by any method in NSW until the end of February 2028 — release any you hook.

The run-out. Bait washes out of the creek over the sand flats and the whiting and bream wait for it at the mouth. Fish it at dawn or dusk with worms, yabbies or peeled prawn on a light running rig.

The creek is. The sand at the mouth and the creek banks are an easy walk from Cudgera Creek Park, and whiting and bream come to small baits. Keep kids off the headland rocks and out of the channel when the tide is running out.

There's no licence as such, but you must pay the NSW Recreational Fishing Fee and carry the receipt to fish anywhere in NSW, salt or fresh. It's $7 for three days, $14 for a month, $35 for a year or $85 for three years. Some people are exempt, including anglers under 18 and certain concession holders.