Morgans Creek Jetty (Picnic Point, Georges River)

Morgans Creek picnic area is the riverside precinct of Georges River National Park at Picnic Point, and a short way along the bank from the boat ramp sits a small T-head fishing jetty. It is one of the gentlest land-based sessions on the Georges — big flat lawns, flush toilets and barbecues behind you, and a platform that puts a bait over deeper water without any rock-hopping. NPWS points to the river here as rich fishing ground, with yellowfin bream the winter target, while dusky flathead, luderick and the odd mulloway share the reach. It is a family spot first and a serious one second, which is exactly why it earns its place.

Fish off the head of the jetty, dropping a lightly weighted bait close to the structure for bream and casting out toward the channel edge for flathead. Peeled prawn, a strip of mullet or a half-pilchard on a small running sinker covers most of it, and a little bread berley keeps bream interested around the pylons. Small soft plastics or blades worked slowly along the bottom pick up flathead on the warmer days. Moving water beats slack, so fish either side of the tide change rather than the dead middle of it, and keep an eye on the clock, because the park gates set the end of the session, not the tide.

Yellowfin bream are the mainstay and the best of them come in winter, at 25 cm on a bag of 10 shared with tarwhine. Dusky flathead turn up from spring into autumn — only fish between 36 cm and 70 cm may be kept, bag 5. Luderick feed along the edges through the cooler months at 27 cm and a bag of 10, and mulloway are an occasional prize at 70 cm with a bag of one per person. Estuary perch also live in this reach of the river; they share a combined bag of 2 with Australian bass, only one over 35 cm, and both are release-only from May to August in rivers and estuaries.

This stretch lies between Tom Uglys Bridge and Rabaul Road boat ramp at Georges Hall, the reach covered by the tighter Georges River PFAS dietary-advice table: adults are advised to cap dusky flathead and estuary perch at two serves a week, mulloway at one and silver trevally at three, and children aged two to six at one serve a week of any one of those, not one of each, because the limits assume a single species is eaten that week. Luderick need no PFAS advice for adults, but children aged two to six are capped at four serves a week of them, again assuming no other listed species that week. Yellowfin bream were tested and need no PFAS advice, which makes a couple of winter bream the sensible feed. Upstream of the Rabaul Road boat ramp the advice changes to not eating anything you catch at all, so do not carry these serving caps further up the river. Leave the oysters on the pylons — taking them is prohibited throughout the Georges River.

Turn off Henry Lawson Drive into Burrawang Reach Road opposite The River Road, then bear left at the roundabout into the Morgans Creek picnic area. NPWS charges a vehicle entry fee of $8 per day, and the gates open at 6am and lock at 7.30pm in daylight saving and 6.30pm the rest of the year, so a car left inside after closing stays there. The main asphalt car park is reserved for boat trailers; cars without trailers park along Burrawang Reach Road. Flush toilets, including an accessible one, sit near the picnic area, and the jetty is a short, flat walk across grass from the boat ramp. Pets are not permitted in the national park.

This far up the estuary there is no swell, so wind and boat traffic are the variables that matter. The river is wide and open here, and any strong wind blowing along the reach chops it up, so a calm morning is the most pleasant time on the jetty. Weekends in summer bring waterskiers and jet skis, whose wakes slap the jetty and stir the edges, so early mornings and weekdays fish more quietly. After heavy rain the river runs brown for days; bream go quiet while flathead and mulloway can improve.

The jetty stands over open river water with fast boat traffic close by, so small children need a hand on them and, ideally, a lifejacket. Morgans Creek is the precinct with the boat ramp, and jet skis, ski boats and trailers are constantly coming and going — keep lines and kids clear of the ramp and its jetty while boats are launching. Wakes from passing boats rock the water around the jetty without much warning. Follow the PFAS dietary advice before keeping flathead or mulloway for the table.

Yes. The Morgans Creek picnic area at Picnic Point is the national park precinct NPWS describes as popular for fishing, and it has a small fishing jetty a short walk along the bank from the boat ramp. Yellowfin bream are the main target, best in winter, with dusky flathead, luderick and the odd mulloway also about. A NSW Recreational Fishing Fee is required, and the park charges an $8 per day vehicle entry fee.

NPWS opens the Morgans Creek precinct gates at 6am and locks them at 7.30pm during daylight saving and 6.30pm at other times. Plan to be back at the car before the gate shuts, because vehicles left inside after closing are locked in.

Picnic Point sits in the reach between Tom Uglys Bridge and Rabaul Road boat ramp, where NSW precautionary PFAS advice caps adults at two serves a week of dusky flathead or estuary perch, one of mulloway and three of silver trevally, and children aged two to six at one serve a week of any one of those, not one of each, because the limits assume a single species is eaten that week. Luderick need no PFAS advice for adults but are capped at four serves a week for children aged two to six. Yellowfin bream were tested and need no PFAS advice. Upstream of the Rabaul Road boat ramp at Georges Hall the advice is not to eat anything you catch.

No. Australian bass and estuary perch are catch-and-release only from May to August in NSW rivers and estuaries, including the Georges. Outside those months the combined bag is 2, with only one fish over 35 cm, and there is no minimum length. Fishing for them in winter is still allowed as long as every fish goes back.