Iluka Bluff

Iluka Bluff is the headland at the end of Iluka's beaches, a short drive north of town inside Bundjalung National Park. On its north side a broad, flat rock platform runs out from Bluff Beach into the white water, and that platform is the fishing. It's a classic North Coast wash spot — tailor and luderick in the white water, the odd jew off the platform, dart and whiting along the beach — with rainforest behind and whales going past in winter. It's quieter than the Clarence walls and rewards anglers who can read a sea.

Most fishing here is wash fishing: a lightly weighted bait — prawn, bread, pilchard pieces or cabbage weed — drifted into the white water off the platform edge for drummer, bream and luderick. Tailor anglers spin 30–50 g metals or float ganged pilchards over the deeper edge at dawn and dusk. The sand corner where the platform meets Bluff Beach is worth a cast for dart and whiting. Berley — bread and a little tuna oil — keeps the drummer in close.

Black drummer (rock blackfish) are the usual wash fish on this coast's rock platforms, best on a bit of white water; they're 30 cm minimum with a bag of 10. Bream work the same wash year-round, luderick move through in winter, and tailor school off the headland from autumn into winter. Dart and whiting work the Bluff Beach gutters year-round. Mulloway are an occasional capture off the platform. Eastern blue groper can't be taken by any method in NSW until the end of February 2028 — release any you hook.

Watch the platform for at least ten minutes before you walk out, and fish from the higher, drier rock rather than the edge the swell is washing. The bluff faces north-east, so a southerly change often leaves it sheltered. Bring your own bait from town; there's nothing to buy at the bluff. Rock fishing here needs real care.

From Iluka, follow Bluff Road (unsealed at the end) to the Iluka Bluff picnic area in Bundjalung National Park, which has parking, picnic tables and toilets. Park entry fees don't apply at Iluka Bluff, though Bundjalung National Park charges $8 per vehicle per day elsewhere in the park. Bluff Beach is about 100 m north of the car park and is the only patrolled beach locally during the peak summer holidays. The platform is reached across rock and is no place for prams, wheelchairs or small children.

The platform faces north-east, so it's sheltered in southerly weather and washed by north-east swell and wind. A clean swell under about 1.5 m with light winds gives enough white water to fish without washing the platform. It shuts down in a big easterly or north-easterly sea. Dawn and dusk suit most of it, and tailor hold in the white water and wash areas, particularly at low tide.

This is an exposed natural rock platform: waves wash across it in a north-east swell, the rock is slick with weed, and a fall into the wash is a serious event. Check the swell forecast and watch the platform for ten minutes before going down; never fish it alone, never turn your back on the sea, keep off low, wet rock, and leave when the swell builds. Clarence Valley 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 the platform, with cleated boots and light clothing you can swim in. If you are washed in, swim away from the rocks, float, signal and have your mate call 000, and know your retreat to higher rock before you cast. Expect oyster and barnacle cuts, sun and dehydration on the open rock, and bluebottles on a north-easter.

Yes. Recreational fishing is permitted along the coastline of Bundjalung National Park, and the flat rock platform on the north side of Iluka Bluff is fished for tailor, luderick and the odd mulloway. NPWS asks visitors to take care rock fishing here. A NSW Recreational Fishing Fee is required unless you're exempt.

No. Park entry fees don't apply at Iluka Bluff, although Bundjalung National Park's general fee is $8 per vehicle per day elsewhere in the park.

Black drummer (rock blackfish), bream and luderick in the wash, tailor through the cooler months and dart along Bluff Beach year-round, with the odd mulloway. Eastern blue groper can't be taken by any method in NSW until the end of February 2028 — release any you hook.

Clarence Valley is not one of the ten council areas declared under the Rock Fishing Safety Act 2016, but a lifejacket is strongly recommended at Iluka Bluff — the platform takes waves in a north-east swell and people are swept off ledges on this coast.