Toorbul Esplanade

Toorbul is a small, quiet township on the mainland shore of the Pumicestone Passage, looking across the water to the western side of Bribie Island. The foreshore along the Esplanade overlooks wide sand and seagrass flats that drain at low tide and flood on the high, which is exactly what whiting, flathead and grunter like. It is also a well-known shorebird roost, so the anglers share the flats with a lot of birds that are better at finding yabbies than anyone else. There is no surf, no crowds and not much to do except fish, which is the point.

Fish the last two hours of the rising tide and the first hour of the fall, when the flats are covered and fish move in to feed. Whiting and grunter take yabbies or worms on a light running sinker cast onto the edge of the channel. Flathead lie along the drop-offs and take small soft plastics or a whitebait fished slowly. At low tide, pump yabbies on the exposed flats for bait. The water out from the foreshore is a yellow zone, so keep to 2 rods or handlines and 2 hooks in total per person.

Sand whiting are the main catch in the warmer months, along with grunter. Dusky flathead are present all year and best in spring. Bream are a winter staple. Mud crabs and blue swimmer crabs can be potted in the channels in the warmer months. Whiting 23 cm (possession limit 30), dusky flathead 40–75 cm (5), bream 25 cm (30, combined with tarwhine), grunter 40 cm (10), mud crab 15 cm (7) and blue swimmer crab 11.5 cm (20); female crabs of both species are no take.

The passage in front of Toorbul is the Pumicestone Channel–Godwin Beach conservation park (yellow) zone of the Moreton Bay Marine Park: maximum 2 rods or handlines and 2 hooks in total per person, and up to 4 crab pots or dillies. It is also a declared Fish Habitat Area, so a hand-held yabby pump is the only digging tool allowed. Crab pots must carry your surname and address and a light-coloured float. The shorebirds arrive with the high tide and leave with the low, a more reliable timetable than the whiting keep.

Toorbul is reached via Toorbul Point Road, about an hour north of Brisbane. Park along the Esplanade and walk down to the water; there is a small jetty and parkland along the foreshore. Facilities are limited, so bring what you need.

The passage is sheltered from swell, and the foreshore faces east toward Bribie, so westerly winds are offshore and leave the water calm. A fresh south-easterly or north-easterly ruffles the flats and makes light-line fishing harder. After heavy rain, the passage colours up from the creeks, which slows the whiting.

The flats are soft mud in places, and the incoming tide floods them quickly, so don't wade far from shore and keep an eye on the water. Stingrays are common on the flats; shuffle your feet. Mosquitoes and sandflies are fierce at dawn and dusk, so bring repellent. Shorebirds roost here at high tide, so keep your distance and don't disturb them.

No. The water off the Toorbul foreshore is a conservation park (yellow) zone, where you may fish with up to 2 rods or handlines and 2 hooks in total per person.

Sand whiting, dusky flathead, yellowfin bream and grunter, with mud crabs and blue swimmer crabs in the channels during the warmer months.

Yes, with a hand-held yabby pump. Toorbul is in a declared Fish Habitat Area, where a hand pump is the only digging tool allowed.