North Curl Curl Rock Platform

The North Curl Curl rock platform wraps around the southern foot of Dee Why Head, at the northern end of Curl Curl Beach, with the North Curl Curl rock pool set into it. From the platform the reef runs north along the headland's ocean face, giving land-based anglers washy gutters for drummer and luderick and deeper ledges that produce snapper. The whole platform sits inside the Dee Why Headland Intertidal Protected Area, which runs along the ocean face of Dee Why Head and around its tip to the northern end of Curl Curl Beach. Line fishing is allowed throughout but bait collecting is not, which makes this a smaller, quieter alternative to Long Reef with a stricter bait rule than most people expect.

Drummer and luderick are the bread-and-butter targets, fished under a float with green weed or cabbage in the gutters along the platform edge, with a weed-and-sand berley to hold them. Local reports put snapper on the ledges further along the headland's ocean face, where a running sinker rig with fresh squid or pilchard and a steady berley trail is the standard approach. Tailor and salmon move through the white water at dawn and dusk and take metal slugs or a ganged pilchard. Fish the platform away from the pool, and on a southerly swell leave it for another day.

Rock blackfish (black drummer) are 30 cm with a bag of 10, and blue drummer, which look similar, are release-only in NSW. Luderick are 27 cm with a bag of 10, and snapper are 30 cm with a bag of 10. Tailor are 30 cm with a daily bag of 10, Australian salmon have no minimum size and a bag of 5, silver trevally are 30 cm inside a shared trevally bag of 10, and yellowfin bream are 25 cm on a bag of 10 shared with tarwhine. Eastern blue groper are protected from line fishing in NSW until 28 February 2028, so any that grabs a bait goes straight back.

Bring every bait with you — inside the Dee Why Headland Intertidal Protected Area you cannot collect cunjevoi, crabs, worms, snails, shellfish or any other invertebrate, and that includes the platform you are standing on. Give the rock pool and its swimmers a wide berth; it is a public pool, not a fishing platform. Early mornings beat afternoons here, before the walkers, pool swimmers and the afternoon sea breeze arrive.

The closest parking is the council car park on Huston Parade behind North Curl Curl Surf Life Saving Club; it is paid parking, so check the signs and meters. Toilets are near the surf club. From there, at lower tides, it is a walk along the northern end of Curl Curl Beach and onto the rocks to the pool and the platform around it; around high tide take the coastal walk over the headland from the end of the car park instead, because the beach route is awash. The rock is uneven, weedy and slippery, so this is not a spot for prams or wheelchairs, and children should wear a lifejacket and stay back from the outer edge.

The platform wraps the south-east tip of Dee Why Head, facing east-south-east round to south, so it is exposed to easterly and southerly swell and becomes dangerous quickly when a southerly change pushes a sea in; only the inner, south-facing corner by the pool gets any shelter from a north-easter. A small, clean swell under about 1.5 m with a westerly or north-westerly wind is the ideal combination. Some white water helps the drummer and luderick bite; flat calm days are slower. Dawn and dusk on a rising tide are the best windows, especially for snapper and tailor.

Sets sweep the outer edge of this ocean-facing platform without warning, especially on a southerly. Check the swell and tide forecasts, watch for at least ten minutes before walking out, stay off wet, weedy rock, never turn your back on the water, and come in early once the sea starts building. The Northern Beaches is declared under the Rock Fishing Safety Act 2016, so a lifejacket is compulsory on this rock — adults AS 4758 level 50S or greater, under-12s level 100 — for you, anyone helping and children in your care, with a $100 on-the-spot fine. Wear cleated or grippy footwear and light clothing you can swim in, never fish alone, and tell someone your plan. If you are washed in, swim away from the ledge, float, signal and have your mate call 000, and know your way back to higher rock. The rock pool is busy with swimmers, so keep casts and hooks well clear of it.

You can line fish from the rock platform around the North Curl Curl rock pool, but not into the pool itself, which is a public swimming pool. The platform is inside the Dee Why Headland Intertidal Protected Area, so fishing is permitted but collecting bait such as cunjevoi, crabs or worms is not. A lifejacket is compulsory on this ocean rock, and a NSW Recreational Fishing Fee is required unless you are exempt.

Yes. The Northern Beaches is a declared area under the NSW Rock Fishing Safety Act 2016, so a lifejacket is compulsory when fishing from ocean rock here. Adults need AS 4758 level 50S or greater, children under 12 need level 100 or greater, and the on-the-spot fine is $100.

Rock blackfish (black drummer) and luderick are the main targets in the washy gutters, with snapper off the deeper ledges along Dee Why Head, plus tailor, Australian salmon, silver trevally and yellowfin bream. Eastern blue groper must be released — line fishing for them is prohibited in NSW until 28 February 2028.

No. Dee Why Headland is an Intertidal Protected Area running along the headland's ocean face and around its tip to the northern end of Curl Curl Beach. Inside it, from the high-water mark to 10 m seaward of low water, you cannot collect cunjevoi or invertebrates (abalone and rock lobster aside), so bring your bait with you.