Black Head & Pebbly Beach (Hallidays Point)

Black Head is the headland at the southern end of Black Head Beach in Hallidays Point, with the surf club and ocean pool tucked under its northern side. Pebbly Beach starts at the headland's eastern tip and runs about 200 m south — a short sand beach backed by a cobble and boulder bank, with rock platforms at both ends and permanent gutters in front. Tailor, bream, mulloway and whiting are fished here from the sand and the rocks, and the Black Head washes give up drummer and bream when there is some swell about. The name comes from the first settler's Irish birthplace, not the colour of the rock.

Fish the permanent gutters off Pebbly Beach from the sand, or from the rocks at the northern end of the beach. Tailor are a dawn and dusk job with metals or ganged pilchards thrown into the white water. Bream and whiting take beachworms, pipis or peeled prawn on a light running rig worked through the gutters. Mulloway are a night bait — fresh fillet or squid in the deepest gutter on a rising tide. Drummer and bream sit in the washes around the headland: bread or peeled prawn on a short, strong trace with as little lead as possible, and a bread-and-sand berley to hold them.

Tailor come off the headland through the cooler months, 30 cm minimum with a bag of 10. Bream (25 cm, combined bag of 10 with tarwhine) and black drummer (30 cm, bag 10) work the washes, and whiting work the beach gutters in the warmer months (27 cm, 20 in total across all whiting). Mulloway are the prize at 70 cm minimum and a bag of one. Eastern blue groper can't be taken by any method in NSW until the end of February 2028 — release any you hook.

Pebbly Beach holds its gutters year-round, while Black Head Beach on the other side of the headland only has them after big seas — so Pebbly is worth a cast in settled weather too. Bring your own bait; pipis can only be used as bait and must not be taken more than 50 m from the high-water mark. Octopus cannot be taken from ocean rock platforms in NSW.

Park beside the Black Head Bowling Club at the southern end of Main Street, Black Head. A short track from beside the club joins the walking track around the headland, and steps lead down to the northern half of Pebbly Beach — roughly 250 m from the car. The same track starts near the surf club and ocean pool on the northern side of the headland, about 600 m away, and the toilets are there. The steps, boulders and rock make it no place for prams or wheelchairs.

Pebbly Beach faces south-east, so a southerly or south-easterly swell runs straight onto it, while Black Head Beach on the northern side gets slight protection from the headland in a southerly. A small swell and a light westerly are the pick, with the rising tide into dawn or dusk the window for tailor, and after dark for mulloway. Drummer and bream come on in the washes after a blow, once the sea has dropped enough to fish safely. In a big swell the rocks at both ends are out of bounds.

Pebbly Beach is rated dangerous for swimming because of its rocks and rips, it is fronted by steep, jagged rock flats, and the Black Head rocks slope steeply into the sea. Check the swell forecast before you go, watch the sets for at least 10 minutes before you pick a spot, stay off low or wet rock and never turn your back on the sea. MidCoast is not one of the ten council areas declared under the Rock Fishing Safety Act 2016, but a lifejacket is strongly recommended on these rocks. Wear shoes that grip and light clothing you can swim in, never fish alone, and know your way back off the rocks before the tide or swell rises. Don't wade out over the rock flats or into a gutter. If you are washed in, swim away from the rocks, float, signal for help and call 000.

Yes. Pebbly Beach, on the southern side of Black Head, is fished from the sand and rocks into permanent gutters for tailor, bream, mulloway and whiting, and the headland washes produce drummer and bream. A NSW Recreational Fishing Fee receipt is needed unless you're exempt.

Black Head is in MidCoast, which is not one of the ten council areas declared under the Rock Fishing Safety Act 2016, but a lifejacket is strongly recommended on these rocks — adults AS 4758 level 50S or greater, under-12s level 100 — with shoes that grip. Fish with a partner and only in a small swell.

Park beside the Black Head Bowling Club at the southern end of Main Street, Black Head, and take the short track to the headland walk; steps lead down to the northern half of Pebbly Beach, roughly 250 m from the car. The track also runs around the headland from the surf club.