Iron Cove Fishing

[Elkw]

Hello!

I've recently picked up fishing and am planning on going to Iron Cove soon to have a go at it.

Would love to hear any of your tips for fishing around that area and any general tips you might have for lure fishing in general. In addition would using a 1/8oz jighead around the cove be fine and is the area unfishable during low tide? I have been told its best before and after high tide however due to time constraints I won't be able to fish during those periods.

Thank you.

[Aussie_fisher]

Its a very good area in general for flathead and bream. Near the canal at hawthorne, around the rowers club, iron cove bridge and rodd park are all good areas. I'd use 1/12th and even 1/16th if its a really calm day as most of the place is very shallow. A tip is to keep walking around and fanning your casts as you never know where that flatty might be sitting. I only fish the high there due to the fact that it can be very shallow and rocky at the low. But if you fish a deeper area and manage to avoid the snags on the low you can still get them. 

[JimT]

On 8/31/2024 at 10:41 AM, Elkw said:

Hello!

I've recently picked up fishing and am planning on going to Iron Cove soon to have a go at it.

Would love to hear any of your tips for fishing around that area and any general tips you might have for lure fishing in general. In addition would using a 1/8oz jighead around the cove be fine and is the area unfishable during low tide? I have been told its best before and after high tide however due to time constraints I won't be able to fish during those periods.

Thank you.

It will be high tide twice at sometime during the week. check your tide charts and plan according

[XD351]

In the map the lilac colour is 2-6m depth , Aqua colour is 1-2 m , the red is 0-1 m depths . There is a mix of everything so you can fish in there at any tide phase . You can fish the canal on the run in and chase the fish , you can fish the canal mouths on the runout and catch the fish as the retreat from the draining canal . If you have some waders you wade the shallow banks around rod point on high tide when the fish come up over the shallows to feed . There is deeper water on the rozelle  side you can fish at any tide but I prefer high tide ,

I would suggest running a weedless rig (Texas rig) on your plastics . 

Edited September 3 by XD351

[Aussie_fisher]

50 minutes ago, XD351 said:

In the map the lilac colour is 2-6m depth , Aqua colour is 1-2 m , the red is 0-1 m depths . There is a mix of everything so you can fish in there at any tide phase . You can fish the canal on the run in and chase the fish , you can fish the canal mouths on the runout and catch the fish as the retreat from the draining canal . If you have some waders you wade the shallow banks around rod point on high tide when the fish come up over the shallows to feed . There is deeper water on the rozelle  side you can fish at any tide but I prefer high tide ,

I would suggest running a weedless rig (Texas rig) on your plastics . 

Interesting to know it’s that shallow. Which app do you use to check depths?

[XD351]

Navionics

[Elkw]

Hi all, thanks so much for the tips. Will be going out in the morning to try.

[Aussie_fisher]

On 9/6/2024 at 10:12 AM, Elkw said:

Hi all, thanks so much for the tips. Will be going out in the morning to try.

How’d u go?

[Elkw]

Unfortunately no luck, fished from 1 hour before to 1 hour after peak tide from the bridge to Timbrell Drive. Saw a few fish jumping out of the water but didn’t get a single hit.

I’m fairly certain it has more to do with my technique rather than the location itself and at least I got a nice morning walk in 😅. Will probably try again sometime next week maybe around spit bridge.

[Aussie_fisher]

It’s just been really slow lately. I’ve barely caught anything there this winter except a small flatty or two. The warmer months is when it really started to fire up hopefully from October onwards

[R E G I C Y C L E]

The back of the bay around Timbrell Drive was going off earlier this year. I got 19 bream in one 2 hour session between there and the rowing club in March. In a period of 5 weeks I caught around 100 bream and most of them were in this area.

There is some ledges there that are exposed at low tide. As the tide rises the fish push up very close to shore searching for food.

I suspect it will fire up again as the water temp rises.

[Aussie_fisher]

What were you fishing with? Plastics? I’m going with some mates this Saturday around iron cove bridge hopefully there’s some activity 

[R E G I C Y C L E]

Crankbaits and bent minnows... I can count the fish I've caught on plastics with one hand 😄

My go to is the Daiwa Rollin Crank MR in black (other opaque colours are also good). A simple slow roll (like really slow) gets the job done.

Only issue is flatties engulf them, so your leader is at the mercy of their teeth. I reckon I lost close to 20 cranks last summer to flatties!

[Aussie_fisher]

I only fish with plastics. Last time I got a crank bait for $20 and I instantly snagged it and now am traumatised 😅 probably will have to face my fears and give buying another one a shot.