St Georges Basin (Island Point jetty)

St Georges Basin is the broad coastal lake south of Jervis Bay that drains to the sea through Sussex Inlet. It is a Recreational Fishing Haven — largely free of commercial fishing — and a trophy fishery known for giant dusky flathead. Much of the best water, including the artificial reefs on the five-metre contour off Sanctuary Point, is out of casting range, which makes a public jetty with rod holders worth knowing about. Shoalhaven City Council rebuilt the Island Point Road jetty at Kingfisher Reserve after the February 2022 storms badly damaged the old one, partly with a Recreational Fishing Trust grant, and reopened it in March 2025. Bream hold around Island Point, and Sepulchre Island just to the south is bream and flathead water.

Flathead are the main event. Fish whitebait, fresh prawn or a live poddy mullet on a running sinker rig with a 1/0–4/0 circle hook, or work a 6–10 cm paddle-tail plastic on a 9–14 g jighead with a lift-and-drop retrieve, fanning casts around the pontoon to find the drop-offs and weed edges. Bream take fresh prawn, mullet strip or worm fished unweighted or under a small 00 ball sinker, helped along with a little berley, or a 3–8 cm wriggler tail on a 1–2 g jighead. Whiting feed over sand and shallow weed in summer — live worms, or small poppers skipped across the top. Tailor turn up as a bycatch on bait and plastics.

Dusky flathead are kept inside a 36–70 cm slot with a bag of 5, so the big breeders the basin is famous for go back. Yellowfin bream are 25 cm minimum on a bag of 10 shared with tarwhine, sand whiting 27 cm on a bag of 20 across all whiting, and tailor 30 cm with a bag of 10. Normal NSW bag and size limits apply in a Recreational Fishing Haven, and so does the NSW Recreational Fishing Fee unless you are exempt.

Sepulchre Island, about 250 m south-west of the pontoon, is marked for bream and flathead too, but it is out of casting range — a kayak job. Handle any flathead over 70 cm gently, with wet hands and a knotless landing net, and get it back in the water quickly. A little berley dribbled off the pontoon helps hold bream; a bucket of it dumped at once mostly feeds the mullet. The rod holders and the seats at the jetty approach suit a patient bait session on a quiet evening.

The jetty is at the end of Island Point Road in St Georges Basin village, at Kingfisher Reserve on the tip of Island Point. A car park sits under 100 m from the jetty, with toilets and a picnic table in the reserve and a boat ramp beside it. The rebuilt jetty is a fixed deck on concrete piles, then an 8.5 m steel gangway down to a 6 m by 4 m floating pontoon, with rod holders, seating and a solar light at the approach. Because the pontoon floats, the gangway's angle changes with the water level.

The basin is sheltered from ocean swell, so the jetty fishes in most weather. Island Point faces south across the open basin, which means a fresh southerly or south-easter blows straight onto the pontoon and chops up the shallows, while a northerly leaves it in the lee. The tide reaches the basin through the long Sussex Inlet channel, so it is smaller and later than on the open coast — wind and light matter more here than the tide table. After heavy rain the creeks run brown into the basin and the water can stay coloured for days.

The pontoon floats, so it shifts underfoot when boat wash or a southerly chop comes through — step on and off the gangway carefully, especially with a rod and bucket in hand. The boat ramp is right beside the jetty, so watch for boats launching and retrieving and keep your line out of their way. Keep small children close, because the pontoon has water on three sides. Wet decking and boat-ramp concrete are both slippery, so wear shoes with grip.

Yes. Shoalhaven City Council rebuilt the Island Point Road jetty at Kingfisher Reserve after the 2022 storms and reopened it to the public in March 2025, with rod holders, seating and a light at the approach. It is outside the marine park, and normal NSW bag and size limits apply.

Yes. St Georges Basin is a Recreational Fishing Haven, largely free of commercial fishing, and a trophy fishery for dusky flathead. Normal NSW bag and size limits apply, and you need to pay the NSW Recreational Fishing Fee unless you are exempt.

Dusky flathead and yellowfin bream are the mainstays, with whiting in summer and tailor as a bycatch; snapper are caught on the artificial reefs from a boat. Dusky flathead must be 36–70 cm with a bag of 5.

About 1,000 concrete reef balls sit on the five-metre contour off Sanctuary Point — the largest estuarine artificial reef system in Australia. They are a boat or kayak target, and bream, tailor and snapper are the common catches.