Cotton Tree (Maroochy River Mouth)
Summary for 24 Oct 2026
Bite Compass is showing a high fish activity bite score on 24 Oct 2026. Wind is around NE at 11 km/h. Solunar feeding windows are listed below.
Feeding Windows
Local Knowledge
Cotton Tree sits on the southern side of the Maroochy River mouth, where the river swings around a sandy point and runs past the groynes to the surf. The shallow sand banks are some of the coast's best whiting ground, and bream and flathead hold on the channel edges. Trevally and tailor push in from the ocean on the tide, and the deeper holes turn up mulloway at night. The caravan park, cafés and swimming spots make it lively, but there is plenty of bank.
Wade the sand banks on the rising tide and cast yabbies or worms along the edges of the channels for whiting. Flick soft plastics or small hardbodies along the drop-offs for flathead, especially on the run-out. Fish a pilchard or strip bait from the point into the current for tailor and trevally. At night, a live bait or a big soft plastic fished in the deeper holes near the mouth is the mulloway method.
Sand whiting must be 23 cm (possession 30), and yellowfin bream 25 cm (combined 30 with tarwhine). Dusky flathead are 40–75 cm (5), tailor 35 cm (20), and mulloway 75 cm (2). Trevally, including GTs, have no size limit and a combined possession limit of 20.
Upstream, the Maroochy River is a declared Fish Habitat Area, where a hand pump is the only digging tool allowed. The banks at the mouth shift after every big flood and swell, so look at them at low tide before you fish the high. The whiting have usually worked out the new layout before you have.
Access & Conditions
Park along Cotton Tree Parade and around the Cotton Tree parks, which have toilets, showers, picnic shelters and cafés. The river bank and the sand banks are a short flat walk. Families fish here a lot, but the river channel near the mouth is deep and fast.
The river side is sheltered from southerly winds and swell. A northerly blows into the mouth and makes the banks choppy, while a big easterly swell can push surge up into the river. Clean water on the run-in tide suits whiting and bream. After heavy rain the river runs brown, and flathead and mulloway move down to the mouth.
The channel at the mouth runs fast and deep, and wading across it is dangerous, especially on a run-out tide. Bull sharks use the river, so avoid wading at dawn or dusk. Stingrays lie on the sand banks, so shuffle your feet. Watch out for swimmers, boats and jet skis.
Gear & Rigs
For whiting, a light 2–3 kg rod with a 1000–2500 reel, 4–6 lb line and size 6–4 long-shank hooks. For flathead and bream, step up to an 8–10 lb leader and 1/8–1/4 oz jigheads. A heavier rod with 20–30 lb leader handles tailor and trevally from the point.
Seasons
Whiting are best from spring through summer, and bream through winter. Flathead peak from late winter into early summer, and tailor and trevally follow the winter bait. GTs are mostly summer visitors, and mulloway are best from autumn into spring.
If This Spot's Blown Out
Frequently Asked
Yes. The Maroochy River mouth at Cotton Tree is known for whiting on the sand banks, with bream, flathead, trevally and tailor, and mulloway at night.
Yes, with a hand pump. Upstream, the Maroochy River is a declared Fish Habitat Area, where a hand pump is the only digging tool allowed. Yabbies have no possession limit.
No. There is no marine park at the Maroochy River, so normal Queensland fisheries rules apply. Upstream, the river is a declared Fish Habitat Area.