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)

Thu 29 Oct 2026 · Australia/Sydney

Forecast updated 7:02pm AEDT

Bite Alert

←

29 Oct

tap to pick date

→

Today Tomorrow Sat 31 Oct

📍 Boat Harbour Headland (Port Stephens)

waning gibbous · 91%

Weather: Sunny Wind: S 187° · 15 km/h Swell: 1.6 m @ 8 s S Water: 20.0 °C Pressure: 1022.1 hPa → steady 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 · 5:30 am

Solunar Between windows

Time of day Dawn

Tide Moving

Wind W 11 km/h

Moon waning gibbous all day

Water temp 20.0 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day Timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 5:30 am Last light 7:40 pm

Low 4:19 am High 10:53 am Low 5:43 pm

Drag or use arrow keys to explore

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

2:00 am → 7:00 am

Good

10:30 pm → 12:00 am

1h 30m

Good

7:00 pm → 8:30 pm

1h 30m

Good

2:30 pm → 4:00 pm

1h 30m

First light

5:30 am

Last light

7:40 pm

Sunrise

5:56 am

Sunset

7:15 pm

Moonrise

11:03 pm

Moonset

7:42 am

Low tide

4:19 am

High tide

10:53 am

Low tide

5:43 pm

High tide

11:37 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☀️

16°

↖︎

300°

10 km/h

1am

☀️

16°

↖︎

297°

11 km/h

2am

☀️

15°

↖︎

295°

11 km/h

3am

☀️

15°

↖︎

295°

11 km/h

4am

☀️

14°

←︎

292°

11 km/h

5am

☀️

14°

←︎

289°

11 km/h

6am

☀️

14°

←︎

285°

11 km/h

7am

☀️

16°

←︎

278°

10 km/h

8am

☀️

17°

←︎

266°

9 km/h

9am

☀️

18°

↙︎

236°

9 km/h

10am

☀️

18°

↙︎

205°

11 km/h

11am

☀️

19°

↓︎

192°

14 km/h

12pm

☀️

19°

↓︎

187°

15 km/h

1pm

☀️

19°

↓︎

186°

15 km/h

2pm

☀️

19°

↓︎

180°

15 km/h

3pm

☀️

19°

↓︎

169°

16 km/h

4pm

☀️

19°

↘︎

157°

17 km/h

5pm

☀️

20°

↘︎

148°

19 km/h

6pm

☀️

20°

↘︎

139°

19 km/h

7pm

☀️

20°

↘︎

131°

19 km/h

8pm

☀️

20°

↘︎

123°

18 km/h

9pm

☀️

19°

↘︎

113°

14 km/h

10pm

☀️

19°

→︎

92°

8 km/h

11pm

☀️

18°

↗︎

57°

6 km/h

Hourly Swell

Building 1.1 → 2.0 m S

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

1.1 m

@ 6 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

4am

1.2 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

5am

1.2 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

6am

1.3 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

7am

1.3 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

8am

1.4 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

9am

1.4 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

10am

1.5 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

11am

1.5 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

12pm

1.6 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

1pm

1.6 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

2pm

1.7 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

3pm

1.7 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

4pm

1.8 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

5pm

1.8 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

6pm

1.8 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

7pm

1.8 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

8pm

1.8 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

9pm

1.9 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

10pm

1.9 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Moderate

11pm

2.0 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Moderate

Water Temp (°C)

↗ warming — up 0.9° over the last 3 days

Mon

26 Oct

19.1°

Tue

27 Oct

19.8°

Wed

28 Oct

19.8°

Thu

29 Oct

20.0°

Fri

30 Oct

20.0°

Sat

31 Oct

19.8°

Sun

1 Nov

19.9°

Mon

2 Nov

19.9°

Tue

3 Nov

—

Wed

4 Nov

—

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 15 km/h S (187°).

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

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

2:00 am → 7:00 am

Good

10:30 pm → 12:00 am

1h 30m

Good

7:00 pm → 8:30 pm

1h 30m

Good

2:30 pm → 4:00 pm

1h 30m

First light

5:30 am

Last light

7:40 pm

Sunrise

5:56 am

Sunset

7:15 pm

Moonrise

11:03 pm

Moonset

7:42 am

Low tide

4:19 am

High tide

10:53 am

Low tide

5:43 pm

High tide

11:37 pm

Nearby Spots

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