Torquay Jetty

Torquay Jetty is a short jetty off the beach in the middle of the Hervey Bay Esplanade, a few steps from cafes, parks and the bike path. It is not Urangan Pier and doesn't pretend to be: on a big low tide the end stands over sand. On the top half of the tide, though, whiting, bream and flathead push in over the flats around it. That makes it the easiest after-school session in town, with an ice cream as the fallback catch.

Fish the two hours either side of high tide, when there is enough water around the end for fish to move in. Cast small baits on light running sinker rigs onto the sand off the end and sides for whiting, and drop a bait beside the pylons for bream. A small soft plastic hopped back across the sand will find the flathead. Once the water drains away from the end, move to the beach and follow the edge of the tide out.

Sand whiting are 23 cm (combined possession 30), while trumpeter (winter) whiting have no size limit and a possession limit of 50. Yellowfin bream are 25 cm (combined 30) and dusky flathead 40–75 cm (5). Trevally have no size limit but a combined possession of 20.

The jetty sits in the Great Sandy Marine Park general use zone, but the Great Sandy Strait conservation park (yellow) zone starts roughly 100 m out from the end — if you're casting long, fish to the yellow rule of max 2 rods or handlines and 2 hooks in total per person. Torquay is inside the Hervey Bay recreational netting closure (Point Vernon to the Urangan boat harbour wall), so recreational fishers must not use or possess a net here, cast nets included. Pialba Reef, about 2 km west off Pialba, is a marine national park (green) zone where no fishing of any kind is allowed.

The jetty is off the beach on the Esplanade at Torquay, with street parking, shaded parkland, toilets and the foreshore path nearby. It is a short, flat walk from the car. The beach either side is easy walking at low tide.

Hervey Bay's tides are big — a spring tide moves more than three metres — so the tide clock rules here more than the weather. The beach faces north across the bay and is sheltered from southerly winds; a north-easter puts a chop on the water and muddies the flats. Calm winter mornings are the prettiest, with the water clear enough to watch the whiting ignore your bait.

Marine stingers, including Irukandji, are a risk in Hervey Bay waters, especially November to May — cover up if you wade, and carry vinegar. Stingrays sit on the flats; shuffle your feet when walking the shallows. The jetty is low and the sand under it is hard at low tide, so keep kids from jumping off.

Whiting, bream and flathead around high tide, with the odd golden trevally. It is a short jetty over sand flats, so the top half of the tide is the time.

No. Torquay is inside the Hervey Bay recreational netting closure, where recreational fishers must not use or possess a net.

Yes — it is short, flat and right beside parks, toilets and cafes. Fish it around high tide for the best chance of a whiting.