The Spit (Middle Harbour)

The Spit sits where Middle Harbour pinches into a narrow channel under the 1958 bascule bridge, and that pinch point is the whole appeal. The tide funnels hard through the gap, dragging bait off the sand flats either side, and a string of flathead, bream and whiting line up to eat it. The flats running west toward Seaforth and the deeper channel under the bridge give land-based anglers two completely different fisheries within a few hundred metres of the same car park. It is one of the few Mosman foreshores where you can work soft plastics over shallow sand at dawn and still have a credible shot at a squid or a passing kingfish off the same bank by mid-morning.

Locals fish the run-out hard here — as the tide drains off the flats it pulls flathead and bream into the channel edges and drop-offs where they ambush whatever washes past. Work soft plastics and small hardbodies along the Spit West Reserve foreshore and the rock edges, fan-casting the sand and hopping the lure back slowly along the bottom. The bridge pylons and nearby moorings are the squid and bream structure, fished tight from the bank with light leader and a slow, patient retrieve. For the pelagics, the dawn and dusk windows on a moving tide are when tailor, salmon and the odd kingfish push bait against the channel — that is metals-and-surface time, not soft-plastic time.

Dusky flathead are the headline, thickest over the warmer months from October through April when the flats warm up and the fish spread across the sand. Yellowfin bream hold year-round around the pylons, rock edges and moorings, with the better fish coming on the cooler-month run-out. Sand whiting move onto the flats through summer, roughly November to March, and silver trevally turn up year-round in the deeper channel water. Tailor and bonito push through on the warm-season pelagic run, Australian salmon show in the cooler months, and yellowtail kingfish chase yakkas and squid through the channel from late spring into autumn. Luderick come on through the cooler months around the weed and structure, and a mulloway is the genuine after-dark prize for anyone who puts in the night sessions.

Squid are the local currency here — sort a few off the pylons or the weed early and your kingfish and jewfish odds jump dramatically. Work them from the foreshore rather than the bridge itself, because Transport for NSW treats fishing from a road bridge as a prohibited activity. Bring the rest of your bait in with you, though, because the whole Sydney Harbour foreshore is an Intertidal Protected Area: pumping nippers, digging worms or picking oysters and cunjevoi off these rocks is prohibited, even though line fishing is not. Time the run-out so the last of the draining tide lines up with first or last light and you have stacked two edges at once. The flats fish best when they have had sun on them and the water is clear, so a clean incoming after a few still days beats a dirty one after rain. Mind the slot on flathead — anything over 70cm goes back, and the big girls here are breeders worth releasing anyway. Anything you do keep is east-of-the-bridge harbour fish, where the health advice is to eat no more than about 150 grams a month, though higher amounts of some species may be eaten. Keep noise and footfall down on the shallow sand; flathead and whiting in knee-deep water spook off heavy boots more than most realise.

Spit West Reserve on the Mosman side, just south of the bridge, has a paid car park, a public toilet block, drinking water and a grassed foreshore that drops to a beach at low tide — the easiest base for the flats. Ellery's Punt Reserve, on the north-eastern side of the bridge, is a grassed bank with road access, parking, seating and shade, and it doubles as the start of the Spit-to-Manly walk. Both reserves put you on the water within a short, flat walk from the car, and the grass-to-foreshore transition makes them genuinely workable for less mobile anglers and for casual bank fishing. The low-tide beach and shallow flats at Spit West make it a soft option for kids, provided someone keeps an eye on the channel current and the boat traffic.

Tucked deep inside Middle Harbour, the Spit is sheltered from ocean swell entirely and fishes through wind that would shut the open coast down — it is a reliable bad-weather fallback. The run-out tide is the engine of the place; the flats and channel edges fire as the water drains and go quiet on a slack high. A clear incoming after a run of still days is when the flats sight-fishing is at its best, while heavy rain dirties the harbour and knocks the bite for a day or two. Strong afternoon nor'-easters in summer can chop up the open foreshore, but the bridge and the bays either side always leave a sheltered corner to fish.

This is sheltered harbour fishing, not ocean rock, and the risks here are the estuary kind. The tide rips through the bridge channel surprisingly fast, so wading the flats demands respect for the current and a close watch on anyone small; the drop-off into the channel is abrupt. The rock edges and lower foreshore carry oyster encrustation that opens hands and shins in a slip — closed footwear earns its keep. Boat traffic through the channel and around the marinas is constant and fast, so keep lines clear of the navigation lane and moorings. The Spit Road and bridge approach are busy, summer northerlies bring bluebottles into the corners, and a few hours on open grass means real sun exposure.

Dusky flathead are the main land-based target over the sand flats and channel edges, alongside yellowfin bream around the pylons and moorings, sand whiting on the summer flats, and silver trevally in the deeper water. Tailor, bonito and yellowtail kingfish push through on the warm-season run, Australian salmon show in the cooler months, and a mulloway is the after-dark prize. A NSW Recreational Fishing Fee is required to fish anywhere in NSW, including here.

The run-out tide is the standout. As the water drains off the flats it pulls flathead, bream and whiting into the channel edges and drop-offs where they sit and ambush bait. Line the last of the run-out up with dawn or dusk and you have the best window the spot offers.

Yes. In NSW dusky flathead must be released if under 36cm or over 70cm — they sit in a 36–70cm slot — with a daily bag limit of 5 and 10 in possession. The bigger flathead on these flats are breeding females, so releasing the larger fish helps keep the fishery healthy regardless of the rule.

Spit West Reserve on the Mosman side, just south of the bridge, has a paid car park, public toilets, drinking water and a grassed foreshore that becomes a beach at low tide. Ellery's Punt Reserve on the north-eastern side also has road parking and a grassed bank, and it is the start of the Spit-to-Manly walk.

Wear one whenever you fish swell-washed rock or anywhere over deep water. The Spit is calm harbour bank rather than ocean ledge, so the hazard that actually catches people here is the current ripping through the bridge channel — keep a close eye on anyone small and stay back from the abrupt drop-off into the channel.