Lilli Pilli Point & Baths

Lilli Pilli Point sits on the north shore of the Port Hacking estuary, and its single best feature is the depth that sidles in close to the bank — deep water lies just outside the netted baths, with the main channel running almost under your feet. Fish moving up and down the river funnel past this drop-off and stop to feed on the tide changes. It is a classic Port Hacking bread-and-butter mark: bream and dusky flathead are the headline acts, with a well-regarded luderick run and squid jigged off the point at dusk. The grassed reserve, jetty and floating pontoon make it one of the more comfortable land-based spots in the Shire, which is exactly why it gets busy.

Locals fish from the jetty, the pontoon and the point rather than inside the netted swimming enclosure, casting to the edge of the drop-off so baits or lightly weighted plastics sink down the slope of the channel and let the current do the searching. The tide change is the trigger — the run-in often switches the bite on, and the deep hole holds fish through the slack better than the surrounding shallows. Bream and trevally come on lightly weighted nippers, peeled prawns or strips of squid fished on the bottom; flathead are worked along the sandy edges with soft plastics and blades drifted with the tide. Luderick anglers float-fish weed or green cabbage under the rocks and along the channel edge, and squid are jigged off the point and the jetty into dusk and after dark. First light and the last of the evening are the windows that fish best.

Yellowfin bream are the year-round constant, with the cooler months often producing the better fish around the deep water, at 25 cm and a bag of 10 shared with tarwhine. Dusky flathead spread across the sandy edges from spring into autumn, and the channel here does give up fish past the 70 cm mark, which makes the slot worth remembering — 36 to 70 cm keepers only, a bag of 5, and the big ones go back. Sand whiting feed over the shallow flats through the warmer months at 27 cm on a bag of 20 shared across the whiting, and luderick run hard from autumn into winter at 27 cm and a bag of 10. Silver trevally turn up year-round around the drop-off at 30 cm on a bag of 10 shared across the trevallies. Southern calamari are caught off the point day and night with no size limit and a bag of 20 shared across all squid and cuttlefish, and eastern sea garfish school through the warmer half with no size limit and a bag of 20. Australian salmon push past the baths on the cooler water with no minimum size at all and a bag of 5, and the odd pelagic follows the bait through.

Fish the tide change rather than the clock — the run-in is the standout, and the deep hole keeps producing through the slack when the flats go quiet. Bring a steady berley trail of bread and chopped prawn to hold bream and trevally on the edge of the channel, and rinse the trail well before the swimmers arrive in the warmer months. The jetty and pontoon are shared with boaties loading and unloading small craft, so keep gear clear of the ramp. If you pump nippers, note that the Gunnamatta Bay worm, nipper and shellfish closure is bounded by the Burraneer Point to Hungry Point line and does not reach Lilli Pilli, but the state-wide ban on digging in seagrass, mangrove or saltmarsh certainly does, and Port Hacking seagrass is extensive right here. Squidders do best off the point as the light drops, and a slow-sinking jig worked over the seagrass bottom is the difference between a few and a feed.

Park at the Lilli Pilli Point reserve above the baths, where the handful of spots close by fill early on weekends and in summer, so the side streets a short walk up the hill are the fallback. The walk from the car to the water is short and flat across grass, with the baths reached down a few stone steps. There are toilets and changing facilities near the baths, and Caringbah and Cronulla buses run nearby. The grassed reserve, calm netted swimming enclosure and easy water access make it a genuinely good spot to bring kids, though the stone steps and the channel depth mean little ones need watching at the edge.

This is a sheltered estuary mark that fishes in almost any weather — the north-shore aspect and the surrounding land take the sting out of the prevailing southerlies and the nor'-easter. Swell does not reach it, so the main spoiler is heavy freshwater run-off after sustained rain, which colours the river and pushes the fish around. Wind is more a comfort issue than a fishing one, and a light breeze with a moving tide is ideal. The deep channel means it stays workable on the bigger tides when shallower spots blow out.

This is a calm estuary spot, so the risks are the small ones rather than the dramatic. The stone steps and rock around the baths get slippery with weed and wet feet, and the seagrass and rock edges carry oysters that open up hands and shins, so wear footwear with grip and cover up. The channel drops away fast and close to the bank, which matters with children near the edge. Boat traffic, divers and swimmers share the water through the day, so watch your casts around the jetty and pontoon, and in the warmer months bluebottles blow in and the sun off open water is stronger than it feels. Two rules are worth carrying with you: Port Hacking is closed to spearfishing west of a line from Glaisher Point to Port Hacking Point, which puts Lilli Pilli well inside the closure, and Shiprock Aquatic Reserve, about 1.75 km east at the end of Shiprock Road, is a no-take reserve where you may not fish by any method or collect anything, dead or alive. Sutherland Shire is a declared rock-fishing area under the Rock Fishing Safety Act 2016, so a lifejacket is compulsory when you fish with rod, line or handline from naturally occurring rock exposed to ocean swell here, and the duty covers anyone helping you and any child under 12 in your care.

Yellowfin bream and dusky flathead are the mainstays, with sand whiting on the flats in the warmer months, luderick from autumn into winter, silver trevally year-round, garfish through the warm half, and squid jigged off the point. Australian salmon push past the baths on the cooler water. A NSW Recreational Fishing Fee is required to fish anywhere in NSW, including here.

Fish the tide change rather than a set time — the run-in tide is the standout trigger, and the deep hole just off the baths keeps producing through the slack. First light and the last of the evening fish best, and dusk is prime for jigging squid off the point.

Yes. Dusky flathead in NSW have a slot limit — only fish between 36 cm and 70 cm may be kept, anything over 70 cm must be released, the daily bag is 5 and the possession limit is 10. Lilli Pilli's deep channel does produce big flathead, so it pays to carry a measure and release the breeders. Yellowfin bream are 25 cm on a bag of 10 shared with tarwhine, sand whiting 27 cm on a bag of 20 shared across the whiting, and luderick 27 cm on a bag of 10.

It is one of the better family options in the Shire — a grassed reserve, a netted swimming enclosure, toilets, changing sheds and a flat, short walk to the water. The catch is the limited parking and the channel that drops away fast close to the bank, so keep little ones in reach near the edge and the stone steps.

There is no separate licence, but a NSW Recreational Fishing Fee is required to fish anywhere in NSW, fresh or salt, and the receipt has to be carried while you fish. It is $7 for three days, $14 for a month, $35 for a year or $85 for three years. Worth knowing locally: Shiprock Aquatic Reserve, about 1.75 km east of the baths, is a no-take reserve where no fishing by any method is permitted, so the fee buys you nothing there.