Can you fish off the old jetty at Catherine Hill Bay?

No — the historic coal-loading jetty is not a public fishing platform, and on 30 July 2026 the NSW Government confirmed it will be demolished after a structural assessment found extensive deterioration and contaminated piles. Demolition is expected to take at least 12 to 18 months to get under way, so the structure is still standing in the meantime. The fishing happens off the headland rock ledges at either end of the bay and the deep gutters that run along the beach beneath them. Treat the jetty as scenery and keep off it.

Do you need a lifejacket to rock fish at Catherine Hill Bay?

Yes. Lake Macquarie is one of the ten areas declared under the Rock Fishing Safety Act 2016, and the council's map marks the Catherine Hill Bay headland as a high-risk rock fishing location, so a lifejacket is compulsory when you fish with rod, line or handline from naturally occurring rock exposed to ocean swell here. The duty covers anyone helping you and any child under 12 in your care, adults need AS 4758 level 50S or greater and under-12s level 100, and a $100 on-the-spot fine applies. The headland genuinely cops dangerous swell.

When is the best time to catch mulloway at Catherine Hill Bay?

Mulloway run year-round here, but the long, dark nights of autumn through to early spring around the new moon are the prime window. Fish the bottom of the tide and the first of the run-in with fresh squid, a tailor slab or a live yellowtail off the beach gutters or the lower ledges, and be patient — it is a vigil, not a quick session.

What can you catch off the rocks at Catherine Hill Bay in winter?

Winter is the wash-fishing season — black drummer (rock blackfish), luderick and bream all fire from about April through September when the green weed is up. Drummer are 30cm with a bag of 10 and luderick 27cm with a bag of 10. Eastern blue groper live in the rock gullies year-round, but line fishing for them is prohibited in NSW and they are release-only, so they are something to look at rather than target.

Do you need a fishing licence at Catherine Hill Bay?

A NSW Recreational Fishing Fee is required to fish anywhere in NSW, including the rocks and beach at Catherine Hill Bay, unless you hold an exemption. Carry proof of payment while you fish, and check the current NSW DPIRD bag and size limits — mulloway are 70cm with a bag of 1 per person, luderick 27cm and bream 25cm with a bag of 10 each (bream shared with tarwhine), and tailor 30cm with a daily bag of 10.

Bite Compass

Bite Forecast

Catherine Hill Bay Headland & Jetty

Thu 17 Sep 2026 · Australia/Sydney

Save

←

17 Sep

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Today Tomorrow Sat 19 Sep

📍 Catherine Hill Bay Headland & Jetty

waxing crescent · 28%

Weather: Cloudy Wind: S 180° · 21 km/h Swell: 2.1 m @ 8 s S Water: 18.8 °C Pressure: 1030.7 hPa ↓ falling

★★★☆☆

Medium Fish Activity

▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 6:00 pm

Solunar Between windows

Time of day Dusk

Tide Turning

Wind S 8 km/h

Moon waxing crescent all day

Water temp 18.8 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 5:26 am Last light 6:10 pm

Low 4:45 am High 11:35 am Low 6:30 pm

Drag or use arrow keys to explore

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

4:00 pm → 7:30 pm

3h 30m

Good

5:00 am → 6:30 am

1h 30m

First light

5:26 am

Last light

6:10 pm

Sunrise

5:50 am

Sunset

5:46 pm

Moonrise

8:57 am

Moonset

11:56 pm

Low tide

4:45 am

High tide

11:35 am

Low tide

6:30 pm

High tide

11:50 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☁️

14°

↓︎

200°

23 km/h

1am

☀️

14°

↓︎

202°

23 km/h

2am

☁️

13°

↙︎

211°

21 km/h

3am

☁️

12°

↙︎

221°

20 km/h

4am

☀️

11°

↙︎

226°

20 km/h

5am

☀️

11°

↙︎

225°

21 km/h

6am

☀️

10°

↙︎

235°

20 km/h

7am

☀️

10°

↙︎

240°

17 km/h

8am

☀️

12°

↙︎

236°

17 km/h

9am

☁️

14°

↙︎

215°

17 km/h

10am

☀️

15°

↓︎

198°

18 km/h

11am

☁️

16°

↓︎

185°

22 km/h

12pm

☁️

17°

↓︎

180°

21 km/h

1pm

☀️

16°

↓︎

176°

21 km/h

2pm

☀️

16°

↓︎

169°

19 km/h

3pm

☀️

16°

↓︎

164°

17 km/h

4pm

☀️

16°

↓︎

160°

15 km/h

5pm

☀️

15°

↘︎

157°

12 km/h

6pm

☀️

14°

↓︎

172°

8 km/h

7pm

☀️

13°

↓︎

184°

6 km/h

8pm

☀️

13°

↙︎

217°

4 km/h

9pm

☀️

12°

←︎

260°

3 km/h

10pm

☀️

11°

←︎

274°

7 km/h

11pm

☀️

10°

←︎

274°

8 km/h

Hourly Swell

Steady ~1.5 m S

12am

1.8 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

1am

1.8 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

2am

1.8 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

3am

1.9 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

4am

1.9 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

5am

2.0 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Solid

6am

2.1 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Solid

7am

2.2 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Solid

8am

2.2 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Solid

9am

2.2 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Solid

10am

2.2 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Solid

11am

2.1 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Solid

12pm

2.1 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Solid

1pm

2.1 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Solid

2pm

2.1 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Solid

3pm

2.1 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Solid

4pm

2.1 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Solid

chop

5pm

2.0 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Solid

chop

6pm

1.9 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

7pm

1.9 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

8pm

1.8 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

9pm

1.7 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

10pm

1.6 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

11pm

1.5 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

Water Temp (°C)

↘ cooling — down 0.5° over the last 3 days

Mon

14 Sep

19.3°

Tue

15 Sep

19.4°

Wed

16 Sep

19.2°

Thu

17 Sep

18.8°

Fri

18 Sep

18.8°

Sat

19 Sep

19.0°

Sun

20 Sep

19.1°

Mon

21 Sep

19.2°

Tue

22 Sep

19.2°

Wed

23 Sep

19.2°

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 21 km/h S (180°).

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

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

4:00 pm → 7:30 pm

3h 30m

Good

5:00 am → 6:30 am

1h 30m

First light

5:26 am

Last light

6:10 pm

Sunrise

5:50 am

Sunset

5:46 pm

Moonrise

8:57 am

Moonset

11:56 pm

Low tide

4:45 am

High tide

11:35 am

Low tide

6:30 pm

High tide

11:50 pm

Nearby spots

Species at this spot

Mulloway (Jewfish)
Rock Blackfish
Luderick
Yellowfin Bream
Tailor
Australian Salmon
Silver Trevally