What fish can you catch at Bateau Bay?

Bateau Bay is best known for rock blackfish (drummer or pigs) off the rock platforms, plus luderick, yellowfin bream and silver trevally in the washes and pools. Tailor and Australian salmon show in the corners in the cooler months, and dart turn up off the sand in summer. Eastern blue groper live here too, but they are release-only and cannot legally be targeted on a line. A NSW Recreational Fishing Fee is required to fish anywhere in NSW, including here, and you must carry the receipt.

Can you keep blue groper caught at Bateau Bay?

No. Eastern blue groper is the NSW state fish, its bag limit is zero, and line fishing for the species is prohibited statewide — the line fishing prohibition was continued for a further three years from 1 March 2025, so it runs to 1 March 2028. Crackneck Point and the Bateau Bay ledges have a long history as groper grounds, but the only lawful outcome now is a clean release. Spearfishing for them has been banned since 1969.

Do you have to wear a lifejacket rock fishing at Bateau Bay?

Yes, on swell-exposed rock. The Central Coast local government area is declared under the Rock Fishing Safety Act 2016, so an approved lifejacket is required by law at the high-risk locations the council has declared, and these east-facing platforms take ocean swell square on. The duty covers anyone helping and any children. The minimum is AS 4758 level 50S for adults and level 100 for children under 12, and the fine for going without is $100.

What is the best bait for drummer at Bateau Bay?

Peeled prawns and cunjevoi float-fished in the white water are the standard, drawn up with a steady trail of soaked stale bread berley. Lay the berley early and keep it going, and fish a rising tide with some swell working the edges for the best results. Rock blackfish must be 30cm or longer and the daily bag is 10.

Where do you park to fish Bateau Bay?

Both access points are inside Wyrrabalong National Park, which has no entry fee but gates at 5.30am–8pm during daylight saving and 5.30am–6pm the rest of the year. For the beach and pools, use the Bateau Bay Beach picnic area behind the north end of the beach. For the southern drummer platforms, the Crackneck Point lookout car park is a short drive, or about 2km along the coast walking track — but the ledges below are reached on rough, unmade ground and are not mobility-friendly.

Bite Compass

Bite Forecast

Bateau Bay

Sun 20 Sep 2026 · Australia/Sydney

Save

←

20 Sep

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Today Tomorrow Sat 19 Sep

📍 Bateau Bay

first quarter · 59%

Weather: Sunny Wind: SE 150° · 4 km/h Swell: 0.4 m @ 7 s S Water: 18.9 °C Pressure: 1020.9 hPa ↓ falling

★★★☆☆

Medium Fish Activity

▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 6:30 pm

Solunar Major window

Time of day Dusk

Tide Moving

Wind NE 7 km/h

Moon first quarter all day

Water temp 18.9 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 5:22 am Last light 6:13 pm

High 2:45 am Low 7:50 am High 2:53 pm Low 10:00 pm

Drag or use arrow keys to explore

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

5:30 pm → 8:00 pm

2h 30m

Good

5:00 am → 6:30 am

1h 30m

Good

3:00 pm → 4:00 pm

First light

5:22 am

Last light

6:13 pm

Sunrise

5:46 am

Sunset

5:48 pm

Moonrise

11:27 am

Moonset

1:42 am

High tide

2:45 am

Low tide

7:50 am

High tide

2:53 pm

Low tide

10:00 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☀️

12°

↙︎

237°

8 km/h

1am

☀️

11°

←︎

261°

8 km/h

2am

☀️

10°

←︎

283°

8 km/h

3am

☀️

10°

↖︎

299°

10 km/h

4am

☀️

10°

↖︎

304°

10 km/h

5am

☀️

12°

↖︎

302°

9 km/h

6am

☀️

14°

↖︎

294°

8 km/h

7am

☀️

17°

←︎

274°

6 km/h

8am

☀️

20°

↙︎

242°

5 km/h

9am

☀️

22°

↙︎

213°

5 km/h

10am

☀️

24°

↓︎

197°

6 km/h

11am

☀️

25°

↓︎

182°

5 km/h

12pm

☀️

25°

↘︎

150°

4 km/h

1pm

☀️

25°

→︎

99°

4 km/h

2pm

☀️

25°

→︎

71°

6 km/h

3pm

☀️

24°

↗︎

59°

8 km/h

4pm

☀️

23°

↗︎

52°

8 km/h

5pm

☀️

22°

↗︎

47°

8 km/h

6pm

☀️

21°

↗︎

39°

7 km/h

7pm

☀️

19°

↗︎

23°

5 km/h

8pm

☀️

17°

↑︎

349°

4 km/h

9pm

☀️

15°

↖︎

313°

4 km/h

10pm

☀️

14°

↖︎

297°

5 km/h

11pm

☀️

13°

←︎

290°

6 km/h

Hourly Swell

Easing 0.7 → 0.3 m S

12am

0.7 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

1am

0.7 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

2am

0.6 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

3am

0.6 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

4am

0.5 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

5am

0.5 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Calm

6am

0.5 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Calm

chop

7am

0.5 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Calm

chop

8am

0.4 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Calm

chop

9am

0.4 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Calm

chop

10am

0.4 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Calm

chop

11am

0.4 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Calm

chop

12pm

0.4 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Calm

chop

1pm

0.4 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Calm

chop

2pm

0.4 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Calm

chop

3pm

0.4 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Calm

chop

4pm

0.3 m

@ 6 s

↓︎

Calm

chop

5pm

0.3 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Calm

chop

6pm

0.3 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Calm

chop

7pm

0.3 m

@ 6 s

↓︎

Calm

chop

8pm

Calm

9pm

Calm

10pm

Calm

11pm

Calm

Water Temp (°C)

→ steady around 18.9°

Thu

17 Sep

18.6°

Fri

18 Sep

18.6°

Sat

19 Sep

18.8°

Sun

20 Sep

18.9°

Mon

21 Sep

18.9°

Tue

22 Sep

18.9°

Wed

23 Sep

—

Thu

24 Sep

—

Fri

25 Sep

—

Sat

26 Sep

—

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 4 km/h SE (150°).

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

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

5:30 pm → 8:00 pm

2h 30m

Good

5:00 am → 6:30 am

1h 30m

Good

3:00 pm → 4:00 pm

First light

5:22 am

Last light

6:13 pm

Sunrise

5:46 am

Sunset

5:48 pm

Moonrise

11:27 am

Moonset

1:42 am

High tide

2:45 am

Low tide

7:50 am

High tide

2:53 pm

Low tide

10:00 pm

Nearby spots

Species at this spot

Rock Blackfish
Luderick
Yellowfin Bream
Tailor
Australian Salmon
Silver Trevally
Dart