Catherine Hill Bay Headland & Jetty

Catherine Hill Bay is a heritage coal-mining village at the southern end of Lake Macquarie, with rock headlands bracketing a patrolled beach and the skeleton of the old coal-loading jetty framing the southern corner. The jetty is on its way out: on 30 July 2026 the NSW Government confirmed it will be demolished after a structural assessment found extensive deterioration and piles carrying bitumen oil and heavy hydrocarbons, and planning approvals, methods and contracts are expected to take at least 12 to 18 months before demolition gets under way. Until then it stands there unusable, so the fish come off the headland rock ledges and the deep gutters that run along the beach beneath them. It earns its reputation as a long-night land-based mulloway spot: the washes hold bait, the gutters run deep close in, and a patient angler with a fresh squid or a slab of tailor can pin a jewfish here after dark. By day the same washes give up black drummer, luderick and bream, which makes it a spot that fishes through the seasons rather than for a single run.

Work the wash zones off the headland ledges at either end of the bay, dropping baits tight to the white water where black drummer and luderick feed. Luderick are float-fished with green weed or cabbage on the run-in over the rock, while drummer take bread, cunjevoi or prawn fished close in under the foam. The mulloway game is a night game — set up on the beach gutters or the lower platform edges around the bottom of the tide and the first of the run-in, soak a fresh bait, and wait. Bream come off the beach gutters and the rock edges on prawn, pilchard or pudding, best worked at first and last light when the wash is alive but the swell is sensible.

Mulloway are the headline draw and run year-round, with the long autumn and winter nights into early spring the classic windows around the dark of the moon — they are 70 cm minimum with a bag of one per person. Black drummer (rock blackfish) and luderick fire in the cooler months from about April through September when the green weed is up and the washes are working, at 30 cm and 27 cm respectively with a bag of 10 each. Eastern blue groper sit in the rock gullies year-round, but they are release-only in NSW and line fishing for them is prohibited, so they are a sight rather than a catch and the crab baits that single them out are best left in the bag. Yellowfin bream are a year-round mainstay off the gutters and ledges, tailor chop through the gutters and washes most of the year, and Australian salmon and silver trevally turn up off the rocks through the cooler half of the year.

The fish are off the rock platforms and the beach gutters, not the old jetty — treat the condemned structure as scenery, not a casting platform. The dark of the moon and a sensible swell are the combination that turns a long mulloway night from a vigil into a result; fresh bait beats frozen here, so cast a few tailor or yellowtail before dark and rebait through the session. Drummer and luderick want the green weed and cabbage that grow on the lower rocks — bring it or pick it on the day, and berley lightly with bread to hold them in the wash. If a blue groper follows a bait in, admire it and move along: the species is release-only and cannot be line-fished in NSW. Give established anglers room on a productive ledge, and remember the headland is a declared high-risk rock-fishing location where a lifejacket is the law, not a suggestion.

Reach the village off the Pacific Highway, with formal car parks near the surf club and the cemetery plus street parking through the township. The surf club sits behind the beach with a kiosk, public toilets and showers on the foreshore, and the beach is patrolled in the warmer months. The beach and rock pool are an easy stroll from the car park and fine for families with kids fossicking the rock pools at low tide, but the headland rock platforms are a different proposition — uneven, often wet, and reached by a rougher walk that is not mobility-friendly and not a place for small children. Plan the gentle beach day and the serious rock session as two separate outings.

The bay faces broadly east-to-south-east and the headland ledges catch the brunt of any southerly swell, so the rock fishing washes out quickly when the swell pushes past about 1.5 to 2 metres or the period gets long. A small, clean south-east swell working the washes is what the drummer and luderick want; flat calm fishes slow on the rock. The beach gutters and the more sheltered corners stay workable in a moderate sea, and a westerly offshore wind cleans the water and flattens the surface for night sessions. Big onshore north-easters and any heavy swell shut the platforms down — that is the day to fish the beach or move to sheltered water.

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, and 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 ledges face the swell and can be washed by sets that arrive without warning; watch the water for several minutes before committing to any low ledge, never fish a rising sea, and never fish the rock alone or at night without someone knowing the plan. The rock is slippery wet or dry, so cleated boots are essential, and the old coal jetty is condemned and not to be climbed on — a government structural assessment found large cracks, voids and corroded steel before the July 2026 demolition decision. On the beach side, watch for rips in the gutters, bluebottles on a north-easterly, oyster-cut hands on the lower rocks, and a full day of exposed sun.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.