Bulcock Beach Boardwalk

The Bulcock Beach boardwalk runs along the seawall at the northern mouth of the Pumicestone Passage, right in front of Caloundra's cafés. The whole passage pours past it on every tide, so bream, whiting, flathead and trevally are carried within a short cast of the rail. It is the easiest serious estuary spot on the coast: flat, lit, close to parking and coffee. Families fish it by day and the mulloway crowd takes over after dark.

Fish light running-sinker rigs with just enough lead to hold near the bottom and let the current walk the bait along. Yabbies, worms and peeled prawns account for bream and whiting, while a whole pilchard or a strip of mullet on a larger hook suits flathead and the odd mulloway. Soft plastics hopped down the drop-off work well for flathead on the run-out. Slack water at the top and bottom of the tide is the time for a lighter rig and a little berley.

Yellowfin bream and sand whiting are the staples; bream are 25 cm minimum and whiting 23 cm, each with a possession limit of 30 (bream combined with tarwhine). Dusky flathead have a 40–75 cm slot with a possession limit of 5, so the big breeding females go back. Tailor (35 cm, 20) and silver trevally move through with the tide, garfish school in the clearer water, and mulloway need to be 75 cm with a possession limit of 2.

Pumicestone Passage is part of Moreton Bay Marine Park, and every bivalve and gastropod except pipis is no take in Moreton Bay waters. Queensland has no recreational fishing licence for tidal waters, so there is nothing to buy before you fish here. Fish the last two hours of the run-in and the first of the run-out, when the water is clean and the current is manageable. The banks and channels at the bar have shifted a great deal since Bribie Island's northern tip broke through in 2022, so expect the good drop-offs to move from year to year. The pelicans have worked out the boardwalk too and will supervise your bait board. This coast from Caloundra south is a white spot movement area: raw prawns, yabbies and marine worms, including bait, must not be taken out of it unless cooked.

The boardwalk follows the Bulcock Beach foreshore off the Esplanade, with paid and time-limited parking in the streets behind and more at the shopping centre. Toilets, cafés and shade are a few steps away. It is flat and suits prams, wheelchairs and children, though the rail does not run the full length.

This is a sheltered estuary spot and fishes in most winds, although a fresh northerly blows straight down the passage and makes light rigs hard to control. Big tides run hard past the boardwalk, so the neaps are kinder for bait fishing. After heavy rain the passage colours up from the creeks and the flathead often bite better on the dirty water. A southerly swell pushes surge in over the bar and stirs the shallows.

The current along the boardwalk is strong enough to drag a swimmer off their feet, so keep children back from the edge and never wade off the end on a run-out tide. Swimmers, paddleboards and boats all use this stretch — cast clear of them and watch your backcast on the path. The timber and rock can be slippery when wet.

No. Queensland has no recreational fishing licence for tidal waters. Size and possession limits and the Moreton Bay Marine Park rules still apply.

Yellowfin bream, sand whiting, dusky flathead, silver trevally, tailor and garfish, with mulloway after dark. Bream are 25 cm and whiting 23 cm minimum, and dusky flathead must be between 40 and 75 cm.

Yes, it is part of Moreton Bay Marine Park. The water along the boardwalk is a habitat protection zone, but the main channel about 150 m out is the Pumicestone Channel conservation park (yellow) zone: max 2 rods or handlines and 2 hooks in total per person if your bait ends up out there.

The last of the run-in and the start of the run-out usually fish best, with clean water and a current you can manage. On big spring tides, fish the hour either side of slack water.