Rock Platform & Drummer Fishing

Target Species

Fishing Tips

1. 1

   Always wear a life jacket on any exposed platform — rock fishing is one of the highest-risk recreational activities in Australia and the consequences of a rogue wave are severe. Check the swell forecast and never turn your back on the ocean.

2. 2

   Black drummer (also called luderick or greenfish) feed almost exclusively on green algae — fish a long float rig with fresh green cabbage weed (harvested from rocks in the area) on a small hook in the surging white water.

3. 3

   The key to drummer is finding the correct depth on the float — adjust so the weed is just off the bottom in the surge zone. Too deep and it snags, too shallow and the fish ignore it.

4. 4

   Australian salmon and tailor hit metal lures cast into breaking white water — stand on an elevated, safe platform and cast a chrome or blue pilchard-pattern slug into the gutter and retrieve at medium speed through the foam.

5. 5

   Rock fishing spots produce best when a medium ocean swell is running — not glassy calm (fish move offshore) and not huge surf (too dangerous and fish move to deeper water). A 1.5–2 m swell with light wind is the ideal.

Gear Setup