Can you fish at Bass Point Shellharbour?

Yes — the open ledges and the boat ramp area are productive land-based marks for kingfish, snapper, salmon and drummer. The one exception is Bushrangers Bay at the eastern point, a no-take aquatic reserve where fishing by any method is banned. Anyone fishing in NSW also needs a paid NSW Recreational Fishing Fee and has to carry the receipt.

What fish can you catch off the rocks at Bass Point?

Yellowtail kingfish are the prize from late spring into autumn, usually on live yakkas, alongside snapper close inshore year-round, salmon and tailor in the cooler months, bonito in summer, plus black drummer and luderick in the wash. Eastern blue groper turn up too, but they are no-take in NSW, line fishing for them is prohibited until 1 March 2028, and they must go back alive.

Do you need a lifejacket to rock fish at Bass Point?

A lifejacket is strongly recommended on any swell-washed rock here — adults AS 4758 level 50S or greater, under-12s level 100. Bass Point is exposed ocean rock on a coast where anglers have drowned, and a jacket to that standard is the single thing that keeps a wash-off survivable. Wollongong to the north and Kiama to the south are both declared rock-fishing areas under the Rock Fishing Safety Act 2016, and this point takes the same swell they do. The platform is just as exposed as either of them and people have drowned on Illawarra ledges, so wear one, along with cleated boots, and watch the swell before you commit.

Is there a boat ramp and parking at Bass Point?

Yes — there is a two-lane concrete ocean boat ramp managed by Shellharbour Council, with sealed parking, picnic tables and a public toilet nearby. Access is via Bass Point Tourist Road; the reserve gate is generally open 6am to 8pm and closes on total fire ban days. Part of the headland is a working quarry and fenced off, so stick to the public reserve.

When is the best time to catch kingfish at Bass Point?

Kingfish run from November through to about May, peaking over summer. Fish a rising tide into the top of the change at dawn or dusk with live yakkas or slimies drifted over the wash, and expect plenty of undersized rat kings with the occasional legal fish — the NSW minimum is 65cm and the bag limit is 5.

Bite Compass

Bite Forecast

Bass Point

Fri 18 Sep 2026 · Australia/Sydney

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18 Sep

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Today Tomorrow Sat 19 Sep

📍 Bass Point

first quarter · 38%

Weather: Sunny Wind: E 73° · 10 km/h Swell: 0.9 m @ 6 s SE Water: 17.8 °C Pressure: 1029.4 hPa ↓ falling

★★★☆☆

Medium Fish Activity

▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 5:30 pm

Solunar Major window

Time of day Dusk

Tide Moving

Wind NE 6 km/h

Moon first quarter all day

Water temp 17.8 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 5:27 am Last light 6:14 pm

High 12:06 am Low 5:45 am High 12:30 pm Low 7:40 pm

Drag or use arrow keys to explore

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

4:30 pm → 7:00 pm

2h 30m

Good

5:00 am → 7:00 am

First light

5:27 am

Last light

6:14 pm

Sunrise

5:52 am

Sunset

5:49 pm

Moonrise

9:40 am

Moonset

12:59 am

High tide

12:06 am

Low tide

5:45 am

High tide

12:30 pm

Low tide

7:40 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☀️

7°

←︎

283°

7 km/h

1am

☀️

6°

←︎

283°

7 km/h

2am

☀️

5°

←︎

282°

7 km/h

3am

☀️

5°

←︎

281°

8 km/h

4am

☀️

5°

←︎

280°

8 km/h

5am

☀️

6°

←︎

280°

8 km/h

6am

☀️

7°

←︎

280°

8 km/h

7am

☀️

8°

←︎

283°

7 km/h

8am

☀️

11°

↖︎

309°

3 km/h

9am

☀️

15°

↗︎

45°

4 km/h

10am

☀️

18°

↗︎

65°

8 km/h

11am

☀️

19°

→︎

71°

10 km/h

12pm

☀️

19°

→︎

73°

10 km/h

1pm

☀️

19°

→︎

72°

10 km/h

2pm

☀️

19°

↗︎

66°

10 km/h

3pm

☀️

19°

↗︎

54°

8 km/h

4pm

☀️

18°

↗︎

40°

7 km/h

5pm

☀️

17°

↗︎

24°

6 km/h

6pm

☀️

16°

↑︎

355°

4 km/h

7pm

☀️

14°

↖︎

325°

4 km/h

8pm

☀️

13°

↖︎

326°

4 km/h

9pm

☀️

12°

↖︎

303°

5 km/h

10pm

☀️

11°

←︎

292°

6 km/h

11pm

☀️

10°

←︎

285°

6 km/h

Hourly Swell

Easing 1.1 → 0.7 m SE

12am

1.1 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

1am

1.0 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

2am

1.0 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

3am

1.0 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

4am

1.0 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

5am

1.0 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

6am

0.9 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

7am

0.9 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

8am

0.9 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

9am

0.9 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

10am

0.9 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

11am

0.9 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

12pm

0.9 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

1pm

0.8 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

2pm

0.8 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

3pm

0.8 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

4pm

0.8 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

5pm

0.8 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

6pm

0.8 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

7pm

0.8 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

8pm

0.8 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

9pm

0.8 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

10pm

0.7 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

11pm

0.7 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

Water Temp (°C)

→ steady around 17.8°

Tue

15 Sep

18.1°

Wed

16 Sep

17.9°

Thu

17 Sep

17.7°

Fri

18 Sep

17.8°

Sat

19 Sep

17.9°

Sun

20 Sep

18.1°

Mon

21 Sep

18.1°

Tue

22 Sep

18.0°

Wed

23 Sep

—

Thu

24 Sep

—

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 10 km/h E (73°).

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

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

4:30 pm → 7:00 pm

2h 30m

Good

5:00 am → 7:00 am

First light

5:27 am

Last light

6:14 pm

Sunrise

5:52 am

Sunset

5:49 pm

Moonrise

9:40 am

Moonset

12:59 am

High tide

12:06 am

Low tide

5:45 am

High tide

12:30 pm

Low tide

7:40 pm

Nearby spots

Species at this spot

Yellowtail Kingfish
Snapper
Australian Salmon
Tailor
Bonito
Rock Blackfish
Luderick
Eastern Blue Groper · closed