The Best Fishing Spots on the Gold Coast

You’re never far from a good fishing spot on the Gold Coast. With a huge variety of waterways to explore, from canals, creeks, estuaries and mangroves to urban lakes and long stretches of beach with seawalls and sand pumping jetties, there are plenty of places to cast a line.

While offshore action for reef and game fish species is world class, this blog covers land based fishing spots on the Gold Coast. You can explore creeks and lakes in a tinny or kayak, but keen anglers can just as easily access a range of great locations on foot from foreshores, canals, beaches, bridges and creek banks. 

Read on to learn some tips for fishing on the Gold Coast as well as some of the best fishing spots in the city. 

Tips for Gold Coast Fishing

• The most common fish species in the region is bream but anglers also catch flathead, whiting, trevally, tailor, mulloway, mangrove jack, estuary cod and tarpon.

• Baitfish such as yabbies, beach worms, pilchards and mullet are good choices for bait. Yabbies can be caught with a yabby pump on most tidal sandbanks.

• Target waters around structures like rock walls,  bridges, jetty pylons and deep channels - the base of these structures attract large varieties of bait and the fish that prey on them.

• Keep Gold Coast waterways pristine. Dispose of all rubbish, bait bags, tackle and tangled fishing lines thoughtfully. 

• Practice catch and release, or only keep the fish that you need. Observe bag limits.

• The City of Gold Coast maintains 20 public fishing platforms in various rivers, creeks and waterways all over the city. Download a map and discover more info here.

• You can also enter ‘Gold Coast Fishing Spots’ into your maps app to find good fishing locations near you. 

Gold Coast Seaway

Located at the end of The Spit in Main Beach, this large channel connects the city’s canals to the sea. The long, rocky seawall is one of the most popular Gold Coast fishing spots, for its ease of access and success rate for catching a wide variety of species.


You can also fish off the sand pumping jetty on the ocean side of The Spit. There are great spots underneath for flathead in some of the big gutters. (Note: public access is not available during maintenance works).

Snapper Rocks

A close proximity to Kirra Reef just offshore means this spot has a good strike rate. You can fish from Snapper Rocks themselves for pelagic fish (but beware of big swell) or cast a line from the beaches that stretch either side of the point. To the north, there’s a big gutter close to shore.

Just south of here at Duranbah, you can fish along the rock wall that borders the Tweed River as it flows into the sea.

Tallebudgera Creek

Tallebudgera is an Aboriginal word meaning ‘good fish’ and the Yugambeh people, who are the traditional custodians of the Gold Coast area knew the waters of this stunning creek as a plentiful source of seafood.

On the south side of the creek, where it flows into the ocean, you can fish from the Tallebudgera Seawall or a few hundred metres down the creek, cast a line from the Tallebudgera Creek Bridge.

If you prefer to cast from the shore, follow the creek further inland along Tallebudgera Drive. Pick a spot along the bank or on the sandflats, cast your bait into the water and wait for a big bream to swallow it up.

Jacobs Well

Found at the very north end of the Gold Coast, Jacobs Well is a 10 minute drive off the Pacific Highway, through scenic canefields. The village offers direct access to Moreton Bay Marine Park - one of the largest estuarine bays in Australia. The fishing is great year round in these protected waters, full of whiting, bream, flathead, yabbies and crabs.

Fishing from jetties and the shoreline will get results but this region is best explored by boat. A web of channels, creeks, islands and gutters spread as far as your tinny can take you.

Fishing in Gold Coast Canals

There are more than 400 km of canals weaving through the Gold Coast, and they hold large populations of fish amongst the rock walls, jetties and boardwalks.

With so many waterways to explore, you’ll have no trouble finding somewhere to unfold your camp chair, cast your line, take a seat and enjoy the scenery while you wait for a bite. There are plenty of spots to choose from but Broadbeach Canal Reserve, Runaway Bay, Platter Park, Mermaid Waters and Sickle Park are all good options.

Broadwater

The Gold Coast Broadwater begins just behind Surfers Paradise and stretches all the way north past Labrador and Runaway Bay to Paradise Point. Home to a vast array of marine creatures and many types of fish, this expansive, calm-water estuary is a fishing mecca for anglers of all experience levels. 

Beachcomber Charters offer calm water fishing charters on the Broadwater on a comfortable boat that can accommodate up to 8 guests. You can charter Beachcomber privately or join a group fishing trip, with soft drinks, snacks and water available. 

Fishing rods, lures and bait are provided along with experienced advice on fishing techniques to help you reel in a big one. The skipper, Andreas, is also a chef and can fillet any dinner-worthy catches on request. A fishing charter is a fabulous day out with your family or a group of friends, and a great opportunity for fishers who didn’t bring any equipment with them to get some time on the line while they’re on holiday.

Lake Orr

Found in the central residential suburbs of Robina/ Varsity Lakes, Lake Orr is a somewhat unexpected fishing location, but plenty of locals will tell you it’s a good one for bream, flathead and trevally. You can access it from the foreshore parks and boardwalks off Varsity Parade or try your luck from the foot bridge accessed from Lake Orr Drive. (It’s not advised to swim here - big bull sharks are common.)