Woorim Beach

Woorim is Bribie Island's surf beach, facing east across the northern end of Moreton Bay toward Moreton Island. It is less exposed than a true ocean beach but still has proper gutters, banks and a shore break, which is enough to hold dart, whiting, bream and tailor. It is also the closest surf fishing to Brisbane that doesn't involve a ferry or a 4WD. The beach runs north for kilometres, so a short walk away from the patrolled flags gives you plenty of sand to yourself.

Spend the first half hour looking for a gutter: a deeper, darker channel of water running along the beach with a sand bank on its seaward side. Fish into it with a running sinker rig and a beach worm, a pipi or a strip of mullet for whiting, dart and bream. For tailor, fish a ganged pilchard or throw a metal slug into the gutter at dawn and dusk in winter. Low tide is the time to collect bait and find the gutters, and the run-in tide is the time to fish them. Keep the rig as light as the surf allows, because whiting and dart are not big fish.

Dart are the staple surf fish and are at their best from autumn to spring. Whiting feed in the shallow gutters in the warmer months, and tailor arrive with the winter run. Bream, flathead and the occasional mulloway are possible around the gutters and the gaps in the bars. Swallowtail dart 30 cm (possession limit 30), whiting 23 cm (30), tailor 35 cm (20), bream 25 cm (30, combined with tarwhine), mulloway 75 cm (2).

Beach worms are the best bait here, and you can take 30 per person; pipis are also legal on this beach, with a possession limit of 30. Raw prawns, yabbies and marine worms must not be taken out of the white spot movement restriction area (Caloundra to the NSW border) unless cooked. Shark control nets or drumlines operate off Bribie Island's surf beach; stay more than 20 m from them, because it is an offence to be inside that zone. Worming is a skill that looks very easy when someone else is doing it.

Park along the Esplanade or at the Woorim surf club area and walk straight onto the sand. The patrolled beach in front of the surf club has toilets and showers. North of Woorim, the beach is part of the Bribie Island Recreation Area, and a vehicle access permit is needed to drive on it.

The beach faces east-south-east, so a westerly or north-westerly offshore wind flattens the surf and gives the easiest conditions. Strong south-easterlies bring a messy shore break and lots of weed. After a big blow, the gutters change shape quickly and are worth re-checking each trip. The water is clearest after a few days of offshore winds.

Rips form between the sand banks, so don't wade beyond knee depth, especially on a falling tide. Swim only between the flags at the patrolled beach. Bluebottles wash up in north-easterly winds. Watch for 4WDs on the sand north of the access tracks.

Swallowtail dart, sand whiting, winter tailor and yellowfin bream are the main species, with flathead and the occasional mulloway around the gutters.

Fresh beach worms are the best all-round bait, followed by pipis and mullet strips. The possession limit is 30 for beach worms and 30 for pipis.

No licence is needed to fish Queensland's tidal waters. You only need a vehicle access permit if you plan to drive on the beach north of Woorim in the Bribie Island Recreation Area.