Korogoro Point (Hat Head)

Hat Head is the whole headland east of the village; Korogoro Point is its north-eastern tip, a knuckle of dark rock about 700 m from the summit marker, reached by the Korogoro walking track. The headland has a long record of Spanish mackerel and jewfish, and bream, blackfish, trevally and tailor are the everyday catch. The point is inside Hat Head National Park, so the walk in is through coastal heath rather than past a kiosk. The northern ledges face back into the bay and get some shelter from a southerly; the eastern face takes everything the Tasman sends.

Bream, blackfish and drummer are bait-and-berley fishing in the wash: cunjevoi, peeled prawn or bread for drummer, green weed or cabbage under a float for luderick, lightly weighted prawn or mullet strip for bream, all fished close to the rocks. Tailor and trevally come to metals and ganged pilchards cast into the white water at first and last light. The pelagic gamble — mackerel in a warm late-summer current — means a live bait under a balloon or a big metal spun off the deeper ledges on a calm day. Mulloway are a dusk-and-dark proposition on fresh slab baits.

Bream and black drummer are the dependable fish, with drummer and luderick strongest through the cooler months. Tailor run in autumn and winter and trevally are around most of the year. Mulloway come off the headland in the low light, and in the warm months with clean blue water close in, Spanish mackerel are the prize that keeps rock-spinners walking the track. Eastern blue groper can't be taken by any method in NSW until the end of February 2028 — release any you hook.

Read the swell forecast for the day before as well as the day itself; a southerly swell that built overnight is what catches people on this point. Fish the northern side when there's any south in the swell and leave the eastern face for genuinely calm days. Black drummer are 30 cm minimum with a bag of 10; tailor 30 cm and 10; mulloway 70 cm and one; Spanish mackerel 75 cm, with a combined bag of five across Spanish and spotted. Octopus cannot be taken from ocean rock platforms in NSW. Korogoro Creek behind the village is the soft option when the ocean is too big.

From Hat Head village, cross the footbridge over Korogoro Creek near the holiday park and follow the path to The Gap car park, or drive to The Gap; the Korogoro walking track starts there and loops 3.2 km around the headland (grade 4, one to two hours). NPWS charges a park entry fee for vehicles in Hat Head National Park ($8 per vehicle per day; check NPWS for the current fee). The last stretch to the point is rough rock scrambling with gear, so this is a spot for fit adults, not children or anyone unsteady on their feet.

Wants a small swell — around a metre — and a westerly or light north-westerly that flattens the face. The northern ledges handle a moderate southerly swell; a north-east swell or a building southerly over 1.5–2 m makes the whole point unsafe. Rising tides into dawn or dusk are the classic windows. Warm, clean water pushed in by the East Australian Current in late summer is what brings the pelagics within casting range.

This is an exposed ocean headland and people have been washed off ledges like it on this coast. Sets arrive bigger than the ones before them, the low ledges flood without warning, and the rock is slick with weed and cunjevoi. Check the swell forecast, then watch the water for at least 15 minutes before setting up, keep to the higher, dry rock, never turn your back on the sea, and leave if spray is reaching your feet. Kempsey is not one of the ten council areas declared under the Rock Fishing Safety Act 2016, but a lifejacket is strongly recommended on every ledge here, with cleated boots and light clothing you can swim in. Fish with a partner, carry a charged phone in a dry bag and tell someone your walk-out time; mobile coverage on the track can be patchy. If you are washed in, swim away from the rocks, float, signal and have your partner call 000, and pick your retreat before you cast.

The Korogoro walking track loops around the Hat Head headland from The Gap car park, and Korogoro Point at its north-eastern tip is the main rock-fishing spot. Expect bream, black drummer, luderick, trevally and tailor, with mulloway and, in warm water, Spanish mackerel as the bigger prizes. NPWS park entry fees apply to vehicles in Hat Head National Park.

Not quite. Hat Head is the name of the whole headland and its summit cape; Korogoro Point is the separate north-eastern tip about 700 m away, on the Korogoro walking track loop. The village of Hat Head sits on Korogoro Creek to the west.

It is a 3.2 km loop, grade 4, taking one to two hours, on the easternmost tip of Hat Head National Park. Carrying rods and a bait bucket makes it slower, and the final scramble to the ledges is rough.

Korogoro Creek, which runs behind the village into the bay, is the fallback for whiting, flathead, bream and luderick, best on the incoming tide. The Trial Bay breakwall to the north is another sheltered option on a southerly.