Exploring Parks Along the Lane Cove River

[linewetter]

Had a change of plans and a few hours free this afternoon after seeing how good the weather in Sydney was today - forecasted to be rainy but instead no rain was to be had.  I haven't had too much luck fishing lately ever since the temps dropped, so decided to check out a few parks along the Lane Cove River that I had been curious about fishing.  I also just bought an action camera so I could record my fishing and rewatch it whenever I catch anything interesting and wanted to test it out.  

 

First up was Burns Bay Reserve.  It was a rising tide and looked like it would fish okay, with a good amount of rock walls to fish along.  I didn't have much luck here though - I cycled from crank baits, to soft plastics, to bread on a tiny hook....I even tried the Gulp soft plastics which usually get demolished.  I just hate dealing with the smell and the leaky packaging, but bought a packet thinking it would at least get me a couple fish with the tough goings I've been having.  

 

An observation I made...this circled area seemed very fishy to me, so I had a cast - snag after a few hops..  I freed it and then retrieved a bit, then snag again.  Tried to free it and ended up losing the jighead.  I tied on a new one and tried again, just not the exact same spot.  Instant snag again..  It was higher tide, so I couldn't see the bottom but I'm thinking there's a lot of roots in that particular area to snag on.  I didn't give it another shot after losing 2/2.

 

The remaining area around the bay and around the boat ramp seem to be a sandy bottom though, as I didn't encounter any snags at all.  Water looked like choccy milk today, though the river seems to always be that color whenever I pass by.  

 

After an hour or so of no activity, I moved onto another park nearby - Blackman Park.  It looked like you could access the water from the park itself, but once I got there and did a bit of walking, there is actually no water access at a higher tide.  At a low tide, it looks like you could walk into the mangroves and cast into the river from there, but not at a tide higher than probably 0.8m.  

 

Disappointed but undeterred, I decided to just walk along the edge to see if there were additional access points.  I saw there was a sign for a bushwalk so decided to go for it...turned out to be very enjoyable.  I forget how nice it is to just be out in nature.  After walking for a bit of time and coming across a few forks in the trail, I found a platform overlooking the river that was cast-able - not ideal for fishing due to the trees and branches and how high up the ledge is...but it was cast-able.  So I decided to have a seat and have a few casts.  I wasn't expecting to land any fish, but damn it was just nice to sit there and listen to the sounds of Sydney.  The birds...the airplane overhead...the birds some more...  A really nice place to get lost in the moment.  Here is a little bit of a clip just so you can feel like you were there too:

 

After some time just taking it all in, I got up and headed back to my car.  I went back to Burns Bay to try my hand again with some bread along the boat ramp.  No luck again...bread was my trick up my sleeve when the fishing got tough but seems like the fish weren't interested today yet again.  All was not lost though - I got to see this beautiful sunset because I decided to give Burns Bay a second shot:

[Little_Flatty]

Nice little report there @linewetter, shame it was relatively fishless. I have been to Burns Bay many a time, but never with a rod in hand! It looks like it will be prime topwater luring territory come summer, with a nice high tide.

Gulps are great, but yes it takes a bit of discipline to manage them so that partners/colleagues/family/friends don't start avoiding you! I like the gulp alive containers for home storage and zip lock bags with minimal to no juice for the fishing bag. When I get back home, they go back into the gulp alive containers, sans hooks. I like using EWG hooks with them as you can take the hooks out before storing (as opposed to jigheads with aggressive hook keepers that destroy plastics upon removal).

[lhan]

Great report and thanks for sharing those beautiful sceneries - I only realised how we're blessed living in such a beautiful city after my start at fishing.

It's absolutely tough fishing in the upper now, the usual jelly prawns are all gone in upper Parra and I couldn't even get a bite today with my magic micro jigs. Hopefully it will get better soon

Edited June 2 by lhan

[linewetter]

24 minutes ago, Little_Flatty said:

Nice little report there @linewetter, shame it was relatively fishless. I have been to Burns Bay many a time, but never with a rod in hand! It looks like it will be prime topwater luring territory come summer, with a nice high tide.

Gulps are great, but yes it takes a bit of discipline to manage them so that partners/colleagues/family/friends don't start avoiding you! I like the gulp alive containers for home storage and zip lock bags with minimal to no juice for the fishing bag. When I get back home, they go back into the gulp alive containers, sans hooks. I like using EWG hooks with them as you can take the hooks out before storing (as opposed to jigheads with aggressive hook keepers that destroy plastics upon removal).

I could definitely see it being good for topwater fishing - especially near the creek mouth area where it's snaggy.  There is so much of the rockwall too available.  I didn't see any oysters though, however today was a pretty high tide..thinking there are oysters, but maybe just lower on the rockwalls.

That's a great idea around the Gulps by the way.  So far I've been double bagging them but it's still annoying.  I might migrate to your idea of just keeping the Gulp juice at home, and taking what I'm going to use without juice.  What size EWG hooks are you using with them by the way?  I've got some of the 2.5" Crabby shapes...would like to try using EWG hooks with them unless they're too small at 2.5" to be used with them.  

[linewetter]

26 minutes ago, lhan said:

Great report and thanks for sharing those beautiful sceneries - I only realised how we're blessed living in such a beautiful city after my start at fishing.

It's absolutely tough fishing in the upper now, the usual jelly prawns are all gone in upper Parra and I couldn't even get a bite today with my magic micro jigs. Hopefully it will get better soon

I agree!  What's different for me since living here is that you can be at a park and stumble on a bushwalk like I did today and take a few steps in a feel so far from the city because of how untouched it seems.  That's something Sydney excels at that I haven't encountered in many other cities...having amazing nature access so close to the doorstep like that.

[Aussie_fisher]

Nice report 👍 unfortunate there were no fish. Went for a fish at the parra myself this evening on the rising tide. Unusually quiet and not a bite at a spot that usually always gets me a few good flatties. Water was very fresh and dirty from the rain so maybe it’s that or perhaps the dropping temps 🥶

[bessell1955]

I think the recent heavy rain may well have put the fish off the bite.

[Little_Flatty]

8 hours ago, linewetter said:

I could definitely see it being good for topwater fishing - especially near the creek mouth area where it's snaggy.  There is so much of the rockwall too available.  I didn't see any oysters though, however today was a pretty high tide..thinking there are oysters, but maybe just lower on the rockwalls.

That's a great idea around the Gulps by the way.  So far I've been double bagging them but it's still annoying.  I might migrate to your idea of just keeping the Gulp juice at home, and taking what I'm going to use without juice.  What size EWG hooks are you using with them by the way?  I've got some of the 2.5" Crabby shapes...would like to try using EWG hooks with them unless they're too small at 2.5" to be used with them.  

You'll need to go down to a size 4 or size 6 EWG. Starting to get hard to get, but I can PM you a good Australian online supplier if you are having trouble.

[sashkello]

Ah, always wanted to explore those areas myself as it's not far from my home and would be nice to have a good fishing spot which I could visit without driving 40+ minutes... I think it was just that kind of day. I've spent evening trying everything I could at a spot where I almost always end up with some nice fish, and there were no takers on any kind of bait. Hoped to at least catch some yakkas to freeze for next offshore outing, but even they didn't show up in spite of wasting a whole loaf of bread on burley...

[Mike Sydney]

The lane cove river around there is almost entirely mangroved , and very thick at that, with very few access points from land.

I’m not familiar with lane cove fishing restrictions other than knowing there are some but you can access the water via a lot of the bush walks in the area.

Directly on the other side of the river of those impassable mangroves at Bradman Park is Sugarloaf Point (in the National Park.

At the end of a walking trail near Boronia Park is the Princes St Lookout.

Linley Point, under the bridge slip road and the park at Cunningham’s Reach is easily accessed and has a very wide stretch of river. The last two times I went there had shark fishermen set up there. I’m not sure if they were the same blokes or if it’s a known shark area?

Opposite burns bay reserve is the Thyne Reid Boatshed. There’s a small set of steps at the entrance which I’ve fished from but it’s a very small fishing area and  while I wasn’t turned away on my visit there I’d no be surprised if the boaters took a dim view. 

On the Blackman park to Epping road bush walk there’s an old brick pump house. You can access the water behind it and at a few other spots along this walk - I guess this is where your video was shot?

Bush track off Avro Rd Lane cove north has sections of water accessible.

The Rotary Athletics field has a pontoon, I’m not sure if it’s public or private there but there’s also some land near it - at the very least a path to the water past the mangroves.

That’s a handful of the spots upriver of Linley Point before the weir anyway near where you were fishing. 

 

Edited June 4 by Mike Sydney

[linewetter]

1 hour ago, Mike Sydney said:

The lane cove river around there is almost entirely mangroved , and very thick at that, with very few access points from land.

I’m not familiar with lane cove fishing restrictions other than knowing there are some but you can access the water via a lot of the bush walks in the area.

Directly on the other side of the river of those impassable mangroves at Bradman Park is Sugarloaf Point (in the National Park.

At the end of a walking trail near Boronia Park is the Princes St Lookout.

Linley Point, under the bridge slip road and the park at Cunningham’s Reach is easily accessed and has a very wide stretch of river. The last two times I went there had shark fishermen set up there. I’m not sure if they were the same blokes or if it’s a known shark area?

Opposite burns bay reserve is the Thyne Reid Boatshed. There’s a small set of steps at the entrance which I’ve fished from but it’s a very small fishing area and  while I wasn’t turned away on my visit there I’d no be surprised if the boaters took a dim view. 

On the Blackman park to Epping road bush walk there’s an old brick pump house. You can access the water behind it and at a few other spots along this walk - I guess this is where your video was shot?

Bush track off Avro Rd Lane cove north has sections of water accessible.

The Rotary Athletics field has a pontoon, I’m not sure if it’s public or private there but there’s also some land near it - at the very least a path to the water past the mangroves.

That’s a handful of the spots upriver of Linley Point before the weir anyway near where you were fishing. 

 

Good tips for spots!  I'll keep these in mind to check out next time I try the Lane Cover River.  

In regards to the fishing restrictions....I did a bit of looking a while back and this is what I came up with from my understanding.  The boxed area is supposed to be no fishing from the shore I think, then upstream of the box supposedly has some type of restriction...though I haven't been able to find what are the restrictions.  It's kind of hard to find info on it.  But I did glean that from Blue Gum Creek till the boatshed is supposed to be no fishing from shore.  Different story on a kayak it seems.  But was hard for me to find current info, so take it with a grain of salt.

 

I also circled a spot where there's a very very small concrete platform.  Driving along the A38, I've seen someone fishing from it before one time.  It's caught my eye but seems to be in disrepair at least from my glancing.  It's in front of a closed down restaurant which has fencing on its perimeter, so I am not sure if that person accessed the platform through the park, or if they went through the fencing.

 

[Steve0]

See page 4 in this DPI guide for Lane Cover River advice relating to closed section, C&R only sections and no nets other than landing nets. https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/614512/Recreational-Fishing-Guide-Sydney-North-November-2021.pdf

[Mike Sydney]

Thanks @Steve0 that is much less restrictive than I thought. I thought I recalled restrictions on no barbed hooks in certain sections there. Anyway the map is pretty clear from south of Epping road there’s no restriction other than the standard intertidal zone.

Thanks again for posting the PDF

[Steve0]

On 6/4/2024 at 9:18 AM, Mike Sydney said:

Thanks @Steve0 that is much less restrictive than I thought. I thought I recalled restrictions on no barbed hooks in certain sections there. Anyway the map is pretty clear from south of Epping road there’s no restriction other than the standard intertidal zone.

Thanks again for posting the PDF

Note the date of the PDF is November 2021. Perhaps you remember earlier restrictions, or I found the wrong asset still available on DPI, but is does link from a different 2024 dated link to a 2017 guide that contains that link.

Why do we get confused reading the DPI website!

Edited June 5 by Steve0
brain too slow!

[GoldenHourFishing]

Our estuaries and rivers inside the harbour bridge will be tough fishing for at least the next week, with all of the rain we have had, and are expected to have, the water is chocolate, the salinity levels will be very low unless you fish deep. I would be trying to fish the main channels with blades or heavier jigheads for a while. Its a nice section of river where you fished. 

[slothparade]

On 6/4/2024 at 10:40 AM, Mike Sydney said:

The lane cove river around there is almost entirely mangroved , and very thick at that, with very few access points from land.

I’m not familiar with lane cove fishing restrictions other than knowing there are some but you can access the water via a lot of the bush walks in the area.

Directly on the other side of the river of those impassable mangroves at Bradman Park is Sugarloaf Point (in the National Park.

At the end of a walking trail near Boronia Park is the Princes St Lookout.

Linley Point, under the bridge slip road and the park at Cunningham’s Reach is easily accessed and has a very wide stretch of river. The last two times I went there had shark fishermen set up there. I’m not sure if they were the same blokes or if it’s a known shark area?

Opposite burns bay reserve is the Thyne Reid Boatshed. There’s a small set of steps at the entrance which I’ve fished from but it’s a very small fishing area and  while I wasn’t turned away on my visit there I’d no be surprised if the boaters took a dim view. 

On the Blackman park to Epping road bush walk there’s an old brick pump house. You can access the water behind it and at a few other spots along this walk - I guess this is where your video was shot?

Bush track off Avro Rd Lane cove north has sections of water accessible.

The Rotary Athletics field has a pontoon, I’m not sure if it’s public or private there but there’s also some land near it - at the very least a path to the water past the mangroves.

That’s a handful of the spots upriver of Linley Point before the weir anyway near where you were fishing. 

 

Linley point isn't really a known shark area, there's only the occasional pups and maybe a large breeding female. The known shark spots are a lot closer to the harbour, though occasionally they will be in the upper reaches. In saying that, under the bridge is quite deep and I wouldn't see a reason why they wouldn't be there, as long as there is food in there. Id guess during the warmer months the fishing around there may improve and I have caught decent bream under that bridge. Mullet and squid work well in there.