Can you fish off the rocks at Clovelly and Gordons Bay?

Yes. Line fishing is permitted throughout the Bronte-Coogee Aquatic Reserve, and North Clovelly Point and the Gordons Bay ledges are popular for luderick, bream, trevally, drummer and the odd kingfish. What is closed here is spearfishing, which is banned in Clovelly Bay, Gordons Bay and the surrounding waters, and bait collection — no cunjevoi, crabs, worms or shellfish may be taken, and among the plants only sea lettuce and bait weed. Eastern blue groper cannot be taken by any method. A NSW Recreational Fishing Fee is required to fish anywhere in NSW.

Do you need a lifejacket to rock fish at Clovelly?

Yes. Clovelly sits in the Randwick City local government area, which is a declared area under the NSW Rock Fishing Safety Act 2016, 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 an AS 4758 level 50S jacket or better and under-12s need level 100, and going without risks a $100 on-the-spot fine. It is a state law rather than a council rule, and it applies to rocks exposed to ocean swell.

Can you catch kingfish from the rocks at Clovelly?

Yes, kingfish are hooked close in off the diver-entry rocks near the Clovelly car park, mostly through the warmer months from around November to April. Chrome metals like a 20g Halco Twisty, stickbaits, or a live yellowtail all work, but the fish bolt straight into the kelp, so bring heavy gear and expect to lose a few.

Is the blue groper at Clovelly protected?

Yes. The eastern blue groper is the NSW state fish emblem and a no-take species across all NSW waters — it cannot be kept, taken by any method, and the line fishing prohibition on it runs until 1 March 2028. That covers the famous tame groper at Clovelly and Gordons Bay the same as anywhere else in the state, so there is no lawful way to take one here. If one picks up your bait, release it carefully and get on with the session.

When is the best time to fish North Clovelly Point?

Sunrise, sunset and overcast days are the standout windows, and the surface bite is best then. For luderick and bait fishing, work the run-out and the last of the run-in tide; on clear, calm days concentrate on the two hours either side of high water. Light winds and a swell under about 1.5m are what you want.

Bite Compass

Bite Forecast

Clovelly / Gordons Bay

Wed 23 Sep 2026 · Australia/Sydney

Save

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23 Sep

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Today Tomorrow Sat 19 Sep

📍 Clovelly / Gordons Bay

waxing gibbous · 87%

Weather: Sunny Wind: NE 35° · 11 km/h Swell: 0.7 m @ 7 s SE Water: 18.0 °C Pressure: 1024.9 hPa ↓ falling

★★★☆☆

Medium Fish Activity

▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 5:30 am

Solunar Between windows

Time of day Dawn

Tide Moving

Wind N 6 km/h

Moon waxing gibbous all day

Water temp 18.0 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 5:19 am Last light 6:16 pm

High 5:24 am Low 11:00 am High 5:16 pm

Drag or use arrow keys to explore

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

4:30 am → 7:00 am

2h 30m

Good

5:00 pm → 7:30 pm

2h 30m

Good

8:30 pm → 10:30 pm

Good

11:00 am → 12:00 pm

First light

5:19 am

Last light

6:16 pm

Sunrise

5:43 am

Sunset

5:51 pm

Moonrise

2:25 pm

Moonset

3:40 am

High tide

5:24 am

Low tide

11:00 am

High tide

5:16 pm

Low tide

11:58 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☁️

15°

↑︎

343°

6 km/h

1am

☁️

15°

↑︎

342°

6 km/h

2am

☁️

14°

↑︎

342°

6 km/h

3am

☁️

14°

↑︎

343°

6 km/h

4am

☁️

15°

↑︎

346°

6 km/h

5am

☁️

15°

↑︎

349°

6 km/h

6am

☀️

16°

↑︎

353°

6 km/h

7am

☀️

18°

↑︎

358°

6 km/h

8am

☀️

19°

↑︎

5°

6 km/h

9am

☀️

20°

↑︎

14°

6 km/h

10am

☀️

21°

↑︎

21°

7 km/h

11am

☀️

22°

↗︎

29°

9 km/h

12pm

☀️

22°

↗︎

35°

11 km/h

1pm

☀️

22°

↗︎

39°

14 km/h

2pm

☀️

22°

↗︎

42°

17 km/h

3pm

☀️

22°

↗︎

43°

19 km/h

4pm

☀️

22°

↗︎

44°

19 km/h

5pm

☀️

21°

↗︎

44°

19 km/h

6pm

☀️

21°

↗︎

44°

17 km/h

7pm

☀️

20°

↗︎

43°

14 km/h

8pm

☀️

19°

↗︎

42°

11 km/h

9pm

☀️

19°

↗︎

40°

8 km/h

10pm

☀️

18°

↗︎

36°

6 km/h

11pm

☀️

17°

↗︎

28°

5 km/h

Hourly Swell

Building 0.5 → 0.8 m E

12am

0.5 m

@ 12 s

↓︎

Calm

ground

1am

0.5 m

@ 11 s

↓︎

Calm

ground

2am

0.5 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Slight

ground

3am

0.6 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Slight

4am

0.6 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

5am

0.6 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

6am

0.6 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

7am

0.7 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

8am

0.7 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

9am

0.6 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

10am

0.6 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

11am

0.7 m

@ 8 s

↘︎

Slight

12pm

0.7 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

1pm

0.7 m

@ 7 s

→︎

Slight

chop

2pm

0.7 m

@ 7 s

→︎

Slight

chop

3pm

0.7 m

@ 7 s

→︎

Slight

chop

4pm

0.7 m

@ 7 s

→︎

Slight

chop

5pm

0.7 m

@ 6 s

→︎

Slight

chop

6pm

0.7 m

@ 5 s

→︎

Slight

chop

7pm

0.7 m

@ 5 s

→︎

Slight

chop

8pm

0.7 m

@ 5 s

→︎

Slight

chop

9pm

0.7 m

@ 5 s

→︎

Slight

chop

10pm

0.8 m

@ 5 s

→︎

Slight

chop

11pm

0.8 m

@ 5 s

→︎

Slight

chop

Water Temp (°C)

→ steady around 18.0°

Sun

20 Sep

18.1°

Mon

21 Sep

18.1°

Tue

22 Sep

18.1°

Wed

23 Sep

18.0°

Thu

24 Sep

18.1°

Fri

25 Sep

18.1°

Sat

26 Sep

—

Sun

27 Sep

—

Mon

28 Sep

—

Tue

29 Sep

—

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 11 km/h NE (35°).

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

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

4:30 am → 7:00 am

2h 30m

Good

5:00 pm → 7:30 pm

2h 30m

Good

8:30 pm → 10:30 pm

Good

11:00 am → 12:00 pm

First light

5:19 am

Last light

6:16 pm

Sunrise

5:43 am

Sunset

5:51 pm

Moonrise

2:25 pm

Moonset

3:40 am

High tide

5:24 am

Low tide

11:00 am

High tide

5:16 pm

Low tide

11:58 pm

Nearby spots

Species at this spot

Yellowtail Kingfish
Luderick
Yellowfin Bream
Tailor
Australian Salmon
Rock Blackfish
Silver Trevally
Eastern Blue Groper · closed