The first decent ledge is called Rod 
Holders. The best time to access the 
ledge is two to three hours either 
side of low tide, depending on the 
height of the tide and your appetite 
for wading the channel about 50–
70m from the beach. There’s good 
room for several rods here, and it 
has had a lot of kings hit the stones.
My first land-based kingfish was 
taken here on 12kg line and went 
17kg. You can berley for kahawai, 
snapper and trevally, or you can spin 
for kahawai for live baits. Kahawai 
typically swim past in small schools, 
so take a kid’s inflatable pool to keep 
them alive when they turn up. I would 
start with a 100–120lb leader but 
go down to 80lb if you see kingfish 
swim past, nose your bait and keep 
going. I once saw three kings swim 
past my live bait on a 120lb leader 
and had to go down to 60lb before 
I hooked up. You can, of course, risk 
waiting for a fish hungry enough, 
but my approach is to go down in 
leader size here until it works.
You can fish ledges further along 
towards the point. Rod Holders cuts 
back but you need a half tide or lower 
to access the ledges further along.
The next piece of rock that looks 
fishable is not a very flat area, but 
the current becomes obvious, and 
it looks very fishy. This, I believe, 
is Bucks Ledge and is where I 
caught my one and only skipjack 
off the rocks. If you wanted to 
target a larger pelagic like a mako, 
bronzie or possibly marlin, then 
this would be the spot, so up your 
gear to a 50W or 80W with 37kg 
line and a heavy 10m leader.
If you’re lucky, your kahawai will 
swim out instead of towards the far 
point and sit in the strike zone for 
a big fish. Guys have been spooled 
here on TLD50s, so don’t go under 
gunned. The furthest point is only 
accessible by hiking up the hill before 
you get to Rod Holders. I’m not sure 
what the access legalities are now, as 
they have changed over the years.
However, you should take a 
50-metre rope if you want to fish 
Hoopers Point. The current rages 
past this final finger of rock, and it 
looks like the kind of place where 
you could catch anything. I landed a 
decent 20kg kingfish the only time 
I fished it and had a wave smash 
the edge and completely swamp 
me as I was playing my fish. I have 
some grainy video somewhere of 
me disappearing under 300L of sea 
water. Be very careful at Spirits 
Bay, as the swell can be variable 
and, even on calm days, rise over 
the ledge and catch you unawares.
Looking east towards Square Top Island at Port Jackson, shows some of 
the better ledges are best accessed via inflatable boats or kayaks.
Feature
24  FISHING IN GODZONE MAGAZINE

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