Can you catch kingfish from the shore at Bottle and Glass Point?

Yes. The rocks on the southern side drop into deep water and are one of the better land-based kingfish spots inside Sydney Harbour, especially from late spring through autumn. The proven method is a live squid or yellowtail fished under a float or balloon toward the deep ledge and around the offshore marker locals call Old Yella. Use heavy gear — 30–50lb braid and 40–60lb leader — because kings will bury you in the kelp. Yellowtail kingfish must be at least 65cm in NSW with a bag limit of 5, and you need a NSW Recreational Fishing Fee to fish here.

Do you need a fishing licence to fish at Nielsen Park?

There is no separate licence, but a NSW Recreational Fishing Fee is required to fish anywhere in New South Wales, including Bottle and Glass Point and the rest of Nielsen Park. It runs $7 for three days, $14 for a month, $35 for a year or $85 for three years, and you must carry the receipt while fishing. Entry to Nielsen Park itself is free and NPWS lists it as open sunrise to sunset.

Where do you park to fish Bottle and Glass Point?

Park on Greycliffe Avenue, Vaucluse, which has standard and accessible bays, then take the short, mostly level walk out to the point. The car park fills early on warm weekends and spaces cannot be reserved, so arrive at first light for both a park and the best fishing. Flush toilets and drinking water are about five minutes back toward Shark Beach.

What can you catch at Bottle and Glass Point and what are the rules?

The regulars are yellowtail kingfish, yellowfin bream, luderick, southern calamari, and a chance at mulloway on dusk, plus tailor, silver trevally and the odd flathead. The NSW limits that matter here are kingfish 65cm and a bag of 5; mulloway 70cm and a bag of one per person, with a boat limit of two per boat when two or more are aboard; bream 25cm and a bag of 10 shared with tarwhine; luderick 27cm and a bag of 10; tailor 30cm and a bag of 10; dusky flathead a 36–70cm slot with a bag of 5; and squid no minimum size with a bag of 20 across all squid and cuttlefish. If you hook an eastern blue groper it goes straight back — it is a no-take species everywhere in NSW and line fishing for it is prohibited until 1 March 2028. Fish caught east of the Harbour Bridge also carry the dioxin advice of no more than about 150 grams a month.

Is Bottle and Glass Point safe for rock fishing?

It is one of the more forgiving harbour rock spots, but it is still rock beside deep water. The sandstone gets slippery with weed low on the tide, and a large ocean southerly swell can wrap into the harbour and surge over the lower southern ledges, so wear cleated boots, fish higher rock when there is swell, and never turn your back on the water. Wear a lifejacket whenever you fish the lower ledges — adults need Australian Standard AS 4758 level 50S or greater and under-12s level 100 or greater — and supervise children closely.

Bite Compass

Bite Forecast

Bottle and Glass Point (Nielsen Park, Vaucluse)

Wed 16 Sep 2026 · Australia/Sydney

Save

←

16 Sep

tap to pick date

→

Today Tomorrow Sat 19 Sep

📍 Bottle and Glass Point (Nielsen Park, Vaucluse)

waxing crescent · 19%

Weather: Sunny Wind: S 189° · 27 km/h Swell: 1.2 m @ 9 s S Water: 17.9 °C Pressure: 1027.7 hPa → steady

★★★☆☆

Medium Fish Activity

▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 6:00 pm

Solunar Between windows

Time of day Dusk

Tide Moving

Wind S 26 km/h

Moon waxing crescent all day

Water temp 17.9 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 5:29 am Last light 6:11 pm

Low 4:12 am High 10:50 am Low 5:19 pm High 11:10 pm

Drag or use arrow keys to explore

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

5:00 pm → 7:00 pm

Good

4:30 am → 6:30 am

First light

5:29 am

Last light

6:11 pm

Sunrise

5:53 am

Sunset

5:46 pm

Moonrise

8:18 am

Moonset

11:01 pm

Low tide

4:12 am

High tide

10:50 am

Low tide

5:19 pm

High tide

11:10 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

🌧️

13°

↓︎

191°

18 km/h

1am

🌧️

13°

↓︎

199°

17 km/h

2am

🌧️

13°

↙︎

216°

12 km/h

3am

🌧️

12°

↙︎

234°

11 km/h

4am

☀️

12°

↙︎

223°

13 km/h

5am

☀️

11°

↙︎

219°

17 km/h

6am

☀️

11°

↙︎

216°

20 km/h

7am

☀️

11°

↙︎

224°

17 km/h

8am

☀️

12°

↙︎

221°

17 km/h

9am

☀️

13°

↙︎

204°

23 km/h

10am

☀️

14°

↓︎

196°

23 km/h

11am

☀️

15°

↓︎

192°

24 km/h

12pm

☀️

15°

↓︎

189°

27 km/h

1pm

☀️

15°

↓︎

189°

29 km/h

2pm

☀️

15°

↓︎

189°

29 km/h

3pm

☁️

16°

↓︎

190°

31 km/h

4pm

☁️

15°

↓︎

189°

29 km/h

5pm

☀️

15°

↓︎

190°

28 km/h

6pm

☀️

15°

↓︎

191°

26 km/h

7pm

☀️

15°

↓︎

187°

27 km/h

8pm

☀️

15°

↓︎

190°

24 km/h

9pm

☀️

14°

↓︎

191°

24 km/h

10pm

☀️

14°

↓︎

193°

23 km/h

11pm

☀️

13°

↓︎

196°

23 km/h

Hourly Swell

Building 0.9 → 1.5 m S

12am

0.9 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Slight

chop

1am

1.1 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

2am

1.1 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

3am

1.1 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

4am

1.1 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

5am

1.2 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

6am

1.4 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

7am

1.5 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

8am

1.5 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

9am

1.5 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

10am

1.5 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

11am

1.3 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

12pm

1.2 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

1pm

1.0 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

2pm

1.0 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

3pm

1.0 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

4pm

1.0 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

5pm

1.1 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

6pm

1.2 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

7pm

1.2 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

8pm

1.3 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

9pm

1.3 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

10pm

1.3 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

11pm

1.5 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

Water Temp (°C)

→ steady around 17.9°

Sun

13 Sep

18.0°

Mon

14 Sep

18.0°

Tue

15 Sep

18.1°

Wed

16 Sep

17.9°

Thu

17 Sep

17.7°

Fri

18 Sep

17.7°

Sat

19 Sep

17.9°

Sun

20 Sep

18.1°

Mon

21 Sep

18.1°

Tue

22 Sep

18.1°

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 27 km/h S (189°).

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

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

5:00 pm → 7:00 pm

Good

4:30 am → 6:30 am

First light

5:29 am

Last light

6:11 pm

Sunrise

5:53 am

Sunset

5:46 pm

Moonrise

8:18 am

Moonset

11:01 pm

Low tide

4:12 am

High tide

10:50 am

Low tide

5:19 pm

High tide

11:10 pm

Nearby spots

Species at this spot

Yellowtail Kingfish
Yellowfin Bream
Luderick
Southern Calamari (Squid)
Mulloway (Jewfish)
Silver Trevally
Tailor
Dusky Flathead