Do you need a lifejacket to fish the rocks at Boat Harbour?

Yes. Port Stephens is a declared area under the NSW Rock Fishing Safety Act 2016, and the council's map of high-risk rock fishing locations includes Boat Harbour. You must wear an appropriate lifejacket when fishing from naturally occurring rock exposed to ocean swell, and so must anyone helping you and any child under 12 in your care. Adults need AS 4758 level 50S or greater, under-12s level 100 or greater, and going without risks a $100 on-the-spot fine.

What can you catch off the rocks at Boat Harbour, Port Stephens?

Black drummer (rock blackfish), luderick and bream in the wash, tailor and Australian salmon when they move along the coast, and the occasional snapper. Black drummer are 30 cm with a bag of 10, but blue drummer and eastern blue groper must be released. A NSW Recreational Fishing Fee is required to fish anywhere in NSW.

Is Boat Harbour in a marine park sanctuary zone?

No. The water off the Boat Harbour headland is a habitat protection zone of the Port Stephens–Great Lakes Marine Park, where recreational line fishing is allowed. The nearest sanctuary zones are inside Port Stephens and around Fingal Island, more than 5 km away, but check the marine park zoning map or the FishSmart NSW app if you move along the coast.

When is the best time to fish Boat Harbour rocks?

A small, clean swell under about a metre with a light westerly or north-westerly, early morning or late afternoon on a making tide. Winter is the strongest season for drummer, luderick and salmon. Stay off the platform in any south to south-east swell, which pushes straight onto the low ledges.

Bite Compass

Bite Forecast

Boat Harbour Headland (Port Stephens)

Mon 26 Oct 2026 · Australia/Sydney

Forecast updated 7:02pm AEDT

Bite Alert

←

26 Oct

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Today Tomorrow Sat 31 Oct

📍 Boat Harbour Headland (Port Stephens)

full · 100%

Weather: Rainy Wind: S 190° · 29 km/h Swell: 0.9 m @ 7 s E Water: 19.1 °C Pressure: 1013.3 hPa ↑ rising Faces south-east · Offshore: W, NW, N · Onshore: E, SE, S · Forecast wind: onshore

★★★☆☆

Medium Fish Activity

Email me when a High bite day is coming Free

▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 7:30 pm

Solunar Minor window

Time of day Dusk

Tide Moving

Wind SE 19 km/h

Moon full all day

Water temp 19.1 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day Timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 5:33 am Last light 7:37 pm

Low 2:14 am High 8:38 am Low 3:04 pm High 9:00 pm

Drag or use arrow keys to explore

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

7:00 pm → 9:30 pm

2h 30m

Good

5:00 am → 7:00 am

Good

2:00 am → 3:00 am

Good

8:00 am → 9:30 am

1h 30m

First light

5:33 am

Last light

7:37 pm

Sunrise

5:59 am

Sunset

7:12 pm

Moonrise

7:27 pm

Moonset

5:28 am

Low tide

2:14 am

High tide

8:38 am

Low tide

3:04 pm

High tide

9:00 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

🌧️

21°

↑︎

338°

11 km/h

1am

☁️

21°

↖︎

313°

13 km/h

2am

☁️

21°

↖︎

309°

17 km/h

3am

☁️

21°

↖︎

298°

19 km/h

4am

☁️

22°

↖︎

295°

18 km/h

5am

☁️

22°

←︎

291°

19 km/h

6am

☁️

22°

←︎

280°

24 km/h

7am

☀️

22°

←︎

278°

24 km/h

8am

☀️

22°

←︎

273°

25 km/h

9am

🌧️

20°

↙︎

204°

27 km/h

10am

🌧️

19°

↓︎

193°

29 km/h

11am

🌧️

19°

↓︎

195°

30 km/h

12pm

🌧️

19°

↓︎

190°

29 km/h

1pm

🌧️

19°

↓︎

182°

29 km/h

2pm

☁️

19°

↓︎

172°

29 km/h

3pm

☁️

19°

↓︎

167°

27 km/h

4pm

☁️

19°

↓︎

165°

23 km/h

5pm

☁️

19°

↘︎

155°

25 km/h

6pm

☁️

19°

↘︎

146°

23 km/h

7pm

☁️

19°

↘︎

141°

19 km/h

8pm

☁️

19°

↘︎

136°

18 km/h

9pm

☁️

19°

↘︎

136°

16 km/h

10pm

☁️

19°

↘︎

138°

16 km/h

11pm

☁️

19°

↘︎

138°

16 km/h

Hourly Swell

Building 1.2 → 1.9 m S

12am

1.2 m

@ 6 s

↗︎

Moderate

chop

1am

1.2 m

@ 6 s

↗︎

Moderate

chop

2am

1.2 m

@ 7 s

↗︎

Moderate

chop

3am

1.2 m

@ 7 s

↗︎

Moderate

chop

4am

1.1 m

@ 7 s

↗︎

Moderate

chop

5am

1.1 m

@ 7 s

↗︎

Moderate

chop

6am

1.1 m

@ 7 s

↗︎

Moderate

chop

7am

1.0 m

@ 7 s

↗︎

Moderate

chop

8am

1.0 m

@ 7 s

↗︎

Slight

chop

9am

0.9 m

@ 7 s

↗︎

Slight

chop

10am

0.9 m

@ 7 s

↗︎

Slight

chop

11am

0.9 m

@ 7 s

↗︎

Slight

chop

12pm

0.9 m

@ 7 s

→︎

Slight

chop

1pm

0.9 m

@ 7 s

→︎

Slight

chop

2pm

1.0 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

3pm

1.2 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

4pm

1.5 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

5pm

1.7 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

6pm

1.8 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

7pm

1.9 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

8pm

2.0 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

9pm

1.9 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

10pm

1.9 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

11pm

1.9 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 29 km/h S (190°).

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

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

7:00 pm → 9:30 pm

2h 30m

Good

5:00 am → 7:00 am

Good

2:00 am → 3:00 am

Good

8:00 am → 9:30 am

1h 30m

First light

5:33 am

Last light

7:37 pm

Sunrise

5:59 am

Sunset

7:12 pm

Moonrise

7:27 pm

Moonset

5:28 am

Low tide

2:14 am

High tide

8:38 am

Low tide

3:04 pm

High tide

9:00 pm

Nearby Spots

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