Toronto Wharf (Lake Macquarie)

Toronto Wharf is the public wharf on Toronto's foreshore, on the western side of Lake Macquarie, running about 50 metres out off Wharf Road beside Edward Gain Park and the Toronto Baths. The shoreline either side is lined with private jetties and marina berths, which is exactly why the public one is worth knowing — it is the stretch of deck here that anyone can stand on with a rod. DPIRD names Toronto among the towns fringing what it calls an extremely productive lake fishery for bream, dusky flathead, whiting and tailor, and the whole lake is a Recreational Fishing Haven with no commercial netting. This is a town wharf with cafés behind it rather than a famous mark, and that is the appeal: a feed of bream and a decent coffee are both a short walk from the car.

Fish the head of the wharf for bream with a lightly weighted peeled prawn or fish strip on a size 2–1/0 circle hook, letting the bait sink down beside the pylons rather than launching it into the middle distance. A little berley — bread and pilchard mash dribbled rather than dumped — brings bream and the odd tarwhine up to the structure. Whiting and flathead want the sand off the end: a running sinker rig with live worms for the whiting, or a 6–10 cm paddle-tail hopped slowly along the bottom for flathead. Tailor turn up as a bycatch on all of the above, and a small metal kept in the bag turns a bust-up into a fish. Stay off the private berths and pontoons beside the wharf and keep every cast clear of moored boats.

Bream are the reliable catch from the wharf in every month, and the pylons are where they feed. Dusky flathead and sand whiting are the warm-season pair from October to April, the flathead on the drop-offs and weed edges and the whiting over cleaner sand. Tailor move through year-round, usually as choppers that grab a bait meant for something else. 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, tailor 30 cm on a bag of 10, and dusky flathead sit in a 36 to 70 cm slot with a bag of 5. The big flathead over 70 cm are the breeding females, so they go back.

Toronto Baths sit right beside the wharf and fill with swimmers through summer — fish the side away from the enclosure and wind in when someone is in the water nearby. Boats can come alongside a public wharf, so give way when one does and keep rigs and rod tips off the berthing face. Bait-collection rules are strict lake-wide: no digging with a spade or fork, and no trap other than a bait trap carrying a BT tag with your initial and surname, year of birth and postcode, so bought bait or a nipper pump is the easy answer. Crab traps in Lake Macquarie are governed by a separate DPIRD order, so check the current order and its entrance-size rule on DPIRD's fishing closures, restrictions and permits page before setting one, and if you keep crabs, the NSW Government's cadmium advice for the lake is up to six 150 g serves a week of blue swimmer crab or six a month of giant mud crab (six a month in total if you eat both) for anyone aged six or over, and three 75 g serves on the same basis for children under six. Anyone 18 or over who isn't exempt needs the NSW Recreational Fishing Fee — $7 for three days or $35 for a year — with the receipt on you.

Toronto Wharf is off Wharf Road in the middle of the town foreshore, with a car park at Edward Gain Park and public toilets a few steps from the shore end of the wharf. The Toronto Foreshore shared path follows the old railway line along the water, and the cafés and restaurants of Victory Parade are across the road. The foreshore is flat and sealed, so a trolley or pram reaches the wharf without fuss. Council's Toronto Foreshore Master Plan is reworking this precinct in stages — the Wharf Road precinct is in design, with a bigger playground, new amenities and removal of the boat ramp proposed — so expect works around the wharf over the next few years.

The wharf points north-east into open lake water, so the afternoon north-easter that builds on summer days pushes chop straight onto it, while a westerly blows off the town and leaves the water flat. There is no ocean swell this far inside the lake and the tide range is modest, so wind and light matter at least as much as the tide chart. Early mornings are calmer and quieter, before the sea breeze and the boat traffic arrive together. After heavy rain the creeks draining into the western side of the lake colour the water for a few days, which slows the whiting but rarely bothers the flathead.

This is a sheltered lake wharf, so the risks are small but worth respecting. The water off the end is deep enough to matter, and a child who goes in needs an adult who was already watching — a kids' lifejacket on the deck is cheap insurance. Lake Macquarie is a declared rock-fishing lifejacket area for its ocean-swell rock; on this wharf a lifejacket is strongly recommended for children and anyone fishing alone. Swimmers at the Toronto Baths next door and boats coming alongside both share this water, so look before every cast. The deck gets slippery when wet, and the foreshore offers little shade at the water's edge on a summer afternoon.

Yes — it is the public wharf on the Toronto foreshore, off Wharf Road beside Edward Gain Park. The jetties and berths either side of it are private, so fish from the public wharf or the foreshore rather than anyone's pontoon. You need a current NSW Recreational Fishing Fee receipt, and the lake-wide closure on digging bait with a spade or fork and on traps other than bait traps applies, with crab traps governed by a separate DPIRD order — check its current terms before setting one.

Yellowfin bream are the year-round mainstay around the wharf pylons, with dusky flathead and sand whiting from October to April and chopper tailor through the year. Bream are 25 cm on a bag of 10 shared with tarwhine, sand whiting 27 cm on a bag of 20, tailor 30 cm on a bag of 10, and dusky flathead must be between 36 and 70 cm with a bag of 5.

Yes. There is a car park at Edward Gain Park beside the wharf and public toilets a few steps from its shore end, with cafés and restaurants across the road on Victory Parade. The foreshore path is flat and sealed. Council's Toronto Foreshore Master Plan is upgrading this precinct in stages, so check for works fencing before you go.

There is no licence as such, but NSW requires anyone fishing in salt or fresh water to pay the NSW Recreational Fishing Fee and carry the receipt, with limited exemptions. It costs $7 for three days, $14 for a month, $35 for a year or $85 for three years. Lake Macquarie being a Recreational Fishing Haven means no commercial fishing — it does not waive the fee or change bag and size limits.