Can you fish at Barrenjoey Headland inside the aquatic reserve?

Yes. Line fishing is permitted in the Barrenjoey Head Aquatic Reserve subject to normal NSW size and bag limits, and so is spearfishing on the rock — though NSW closes every ocean beach to spearguns apart from a 20-metre strip at each end, so the Palm Beach sand is out. All nets except a landing net are banned in Pittwater east of the Barrenjoey Head – Observation Point – Stokes Point line, to limit the spread of the pest alga Caulerpa taxifolia. Inside the reserve you may take abalone, rock lobster, sea lettuce and bait weed — everything else, cunjevoi, squid and empty shells included, stays where it is, so bring your bait with you. A NSW Recreational Fishing Fee is required to fish anywhere in NSW, salt or fresh, and you have to carry the receipt.

Do you have to wear a lifejacket rock fishing at Barrenjoey?

Yes. The Northern Beaches is a declared area under the NSW Rock Fishing Safety Act 2016, and the law requires an appropriate lifejacket when you fish with rod, line or handline from naturally occurring rock exposed to ocean swell. Adults need an Australian Standard AS 4758 level 50S jacket or greater, and children under 12 need level 100 or greater. It covers anyone helping you fish and anyone supervising a child who is fishing, and going without can attract a $100 on-the-spot fine.

What can you catch off the rocks at Barrenjoey Headland?

Tailor and Australian salmon in the wash, yellowfin bream and silver trevally along the edges and in the corner gutter, drummer (rock blackfish) on the north face, luderick in the weedy holes, and yellowtail kingfish off the deeper ocean-side ledges in summer. Tailor and salmon are the headline catch, with bream the most reliable year-round.

How do you get to the fishing spots at Barrenjoey Headland?

Park at Governor Phillip Park off Beach Road at the north end of Palm Beach — parking is paid unless you hold a Northern Beaches resident permit. From there it is either the steep Smugglers Track or the gentler, longer Access Trail, then a scramble down to the platforms. There are toilets and a kiosk near the car park but nothing on the headland.

When is the best time to fish Barrenjoey for tailor?

Tailor are about all year, with autumn into late winter the pick, and they bite hardest at dawn and dusk on a run-in tide. Fish metals, ganged pillies or stickbaits in the wash. Skip the session if the southerly swell is above about 1.3m or a strong southerly is blowing — the platforms become dangerous and the water turns to soup.

Bite Compass

Bite Forecast

Barrenjoey Headland (Palm Beach)

Thu 22 Oct 2026 · Australia/Sydney

Forecast updated Thu 22 Oct, 11:19pm AEDT

Bite Alert

←

22 Oct

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Today Tomorrow Sat 31 Oct

📍 Barrenjoey Headland (Palm Beach)

waxing gibbous · 82%

Weather: Rainy Wind: NE 47° · 19 km/h Swell: 1.0 m @ 5 s E Water: 18.5 °C Pressure: 1023.4 hPa → steady Faces north-east · Offshore: S, SW, W · Onshore: N, NE, E · Forecast wind: onshore

★★★☆☆

Medium Fish Activity

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▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 6:00 am

Solunar Between windows

Time of day Dawn

Tide Turning

Wind E 15 km/h

Moon waxing gibbous all day

Water temp 18.5 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day Timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 5:40 am Last light 7:38 pm

High 6:12 am Low 11:54 am High 6:00 pm

Drag or use arrow keys to explore

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

5:00 am → 7:30 am

2h 30m

Good

6:30 pm → 8:30 pm

Good

9:30 am → 10:30 am

Good

9:30 pm → 10:30 pm

First light

5:40 am

Last light

7:38 pm

Sunrise

6:05 am

Sunset

7:13 pm

Moonrise

3:11 pm

Moonset

3:36 am

High tide

6:12 am

Low tide

11:54 am

High tide

6:00 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

🌧️

17°

→︎

81°

9 km/h

1am

🌧️

17°

↗︎

55°

12 km/h

2am

🌧️

17°

↗︎

66°

12 km/h

3am

🌧️

17°

→︎

75°

7 km/h

4am

🌧️

17°

↗︎

67°

13 km/h

5am

🌧️

17°

→︎

80°

14 km/h

6am

☁️

18°

→︎

72°

15 km/h

7am

☁️

18°

→︎

75°

17 km/h

8am

🌧️

19°

→︎

74°

18 km/h

9am

🌧️

20°

↗︎

67°

20 km/h

10am

🌧️

20°

↗︎

64°

22 km/h

11am

🌧️

21°

↗︎

62°

22 km/h

12pm

🌧️

20°

↗︎

62°

24 km/h

1pm

🌧️

20°

↗︎

63°

25 km/h

2pm

🌧️

20°

↗︎

61°

24 km/h

3pm

🌧️

21°

↗︎

60°

26 km/h

4pm

🌧️

21°

↗︎

55°

28 km/h

5pm

🌧️

20°

↗︎

49°

26 km/h

6pm

☁️

20°

↗︎

49°

25 km/h

7pm

☁️

19°

↗︎

49°

23 km/h

8pm

☁️

19°

↗︎

50°

22 km/h

9pm

☁️

19°

↗︎

50°

21 km/h

10pm

☁️

19°

↗︎

48°

21 km/h

11pm

☁️

19°

↗︎

47°

19 km/h

Hourly Swell

Steady ~1.0 m E

12am

0.9 m

@ 5 s

→︎

Slight

chop

1am

0.9 m

@ 5 s

→︎

Slight

chop

2am

1.0 m

@ 5 s

→︎

Slight

chop

3am

1.0 m

@ 5 s

→︎

Slight

chop

4am

1.0 m

@ 5 s

→︎

Slight

chop

5am

1.0 m

@ 5 s

→︎

Slight

chop

6am

1.0 m

@ 5 s

→︎

Slight

chop

7am

1.0 m

@ 6 s

→︎

Moderate

chop

8am

1.0 m

@ 6 s

→︎

Moderate

chop

9am

1.0 m

@ 6 s

→︎

Slight

chop

10am

1.0 m

@ 6 s

→︎

Slight

chop

11am

0.9 m

@ 6 s

→︎

Slight

chop

12pm

0.9 m

@ 6 s

→︎

Slight

chop

1pm

0.9 m

@ 6 s

→︎

Slight

chop

2pm

0.9 m

@ 6 s

→︎

Slight

chop

3pm

0.9 m

@ 6 s

→︎

Slight

chop

4pm

0.9 m

@ 6 s

→︎

Slight

chop

5pm

0.9 m

@ 6 s

→︎

Slight

chop

6pm

1.0 m

@ 6 s

→︎

Slight

chop

7pm

1.0 m

@ 6 s

→︎

Moderate

chop

8pm

1.0 m

@ 6 s

→︎

Moderate

chop

9pm

1.0 m

@ 6 s

→︎

Moderate

chop

10pm

1.0 m

@ 6 s

→︎

Moderate

chop

11pm

1.0 m

@ 5 s

→︎

Moderate

chop

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 19 km/h NE (47°).

Wind map data: ECMWF HRES (operational), updated every 6 hours. Not for navigation.

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

5:00 am → 7:30 am

2h 30m

Good

6:30 pm → 8:30 pm

Good

9:30 am → 10:30 am

Good

9:30 pm → 10:30 pm

First light

5:40 am

Last light

7:38 pm

Sunrise

6:05 am

Sunset

7:13 pm

Moonrise

3:11 pm

Moonset

3:36 am

High tide

6:12 am

Low tide

11:54 am

High tide

6:00 pm

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