What fish can you catch at Congwong and Frenchmans Bay La Perouse?

Yellowfin bream year-round, sand whiting and dusky flathead on the flats through the warmer months, silver trevally and luderick around the rocky ends, plus tailor, Australian salmon and southern calamari that move through with the seasons. The sand suits whiting and flathead; the rock at either end holds the bream, trevally and squid. These are Botany Bay waters, so the NSW PFAS Taskforce advises releasing Australian salmon rather than eating them, and weekly servings of silver trevally, tailor and mulloway are capped. A NSW Recreational Fishing Fee is required to fish anywhere in NSW, including here.

Do you need a lifejacket to fish the rocks at La Perouse?

Yes on the swell-exposed ledges. La Perouse sits in the Randwick City local government area, a declared area under the 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 AS 4758 level 50S or greater and under-12s need level 100, with a $100 on-the-spot fine for going without. Some Randwick council facilities run lifejacket loan trials, so it is worth asking around before you buy one.

Is Congwong Beach good for fishing with kids?

It's one of the better family fishing beaches in Sydney's east — the water inside Botany Bay is calm, shallow and usually very clear, the walk in is short, and there are toilets and cafes nearby on Anzac Parade. Stick to the sand with light gear for whiting and flathead, keep the kids off the slippery rock at the ends, and remember the beaches aren't lifeguard-patrolled.

What's the best tide and time to fish Frenchmans Bay?

The change of tide does the work — the last of the run-out and the first of the run-in, ideally around dawn or dusk. Early starts are doubly worth it in summer because the beaches fill with swimmers and snorkellers by mid-morning, and the squid and whiting both bite better in the low light before the crowds arrive.

Can you pump nippers or collect bait at La Perouse?

On the bay beaches you may gather bait under the usual NSW rules, but on clean sand only — digging in seagrass, mangroves, saltmarsh or on rock platforms is prohibited state-wide. The ocean-side foreshore from the Endeavour Light at Henry Head around to the Cape Banks bridge sits inside Cape Banks Aquatic Reserve, where line fishing is permitted but taking cunjevoi, worms, shellfish and other invertebrates is not. Work out exactly where you are before pumping nippers, and keep within NSW bag and size limits for anything you keep.

Bite Compass

Bite Forecast

Frenchmans Bay / Congwong (La Perouse)

Mon 02 Nov 2026 · Australia/Sydney

Forecast updated 5:09pm AEDT

Bite Alert

←

2 Nov

tap to pick date

→

Today Tomorrow Sat 31 Oct

📍 Frenchmans Bay / Congwong (La Perouse)

last quarter · 55%

Weather: Rainy Wind: NE 66° · 14 km/h Swell: 0.8 m @ 6 s S Water: 19.2 °C Pressure: 1016.8 hPa ↓ falling Faces several ways: wind direction isn't scored here

★★★☆☆

Medium Fish Activity

Email me when a High bite day is coming Free

▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 7:30 pm

Solunar Major window

Time of day Dusk

Tide Moving

Wind NE 18 km/h

Moon last quarter all day

Water temp 19.2 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day Timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 5:27 am Last light 7:50 pm

High 3:15 am Low 8:42 am High 3:14 pm Low 10:14 pm

Drag or use arrow keys to explore

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

6:30 pm → 9:00 pm

2h 30m

Good

5:00 am → 8:00 am

Good

3:30 pm → 4:00 pm

30m

First light

5:27 am

Last light

7:50 pm

Sunrise

5:53 am

Sunset

7:23 pm

Moonrise

1:47 am

Moonset

12:16 pm

High tide

3:15 am

Low tide

8:42 am

High tide

3:14 pm

Low tide

10:14 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

🌧️

19°

→︎

90°

2 km/h

1am

🌧️

18°

↗︎

45°

1 km/h

2am

🌧️

18°

↑︎

360°

2 km/h

3am

🌧️

18°

↑︎

343°

2 km/h

4am

🌧️

17°

↖︎

331°

2 km/h

5am

🌧️

17°

↖︎

322°

2 km/h

6am

☁️

17°

↖︎

304°

3 km/h

7am

☁️

18°

↖︎

294°

4 km/h

8am

☁️

18°

↖︎

303°

3 km/h

9am

🌧️

19°

↗︎

32°

3 km/h

10am

🌧️

21°

↗︎

65°

8 km/h

11am

🌧️

22°

→︎

69°

12 km/h

12pm

🌧️

22°

↗︎

66°

14 km/h

1pm

🌧️

23°

↗︎

61°

15 km/h

2pm

🌧️

23°

↗︎

57°

16 km/h

3pm

☁️

23°

↗︎

56°

17 km/h

4pm

☁️

22°

↗︎

56°

18 km/h

5pm

☁️

22°

↗︎

53°

18 km/h

6pm

☁️

21°

↗︎

48°

18 km/h

7pm

☁️

21°

↗︎

41°

18 km/h

8pm

☁️

21°

↗︎

35°

18 km/h

9pm

☁️

20°

↗︎

31°

17 km/h

10pm

☁️

20°

↗︎

27°

15 km/h

11pm

☁️

20°

↗︎

24°

13 km/h

Hourly Swell

Easing 1.1 → 0.6 m S

12am

1.1 m

@ 6 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

1am

1.1 m

@ 6 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

2am

1.0 m

@ 6 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

3am

1.0 m

@ 6 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

4am

1.0 m

@ 6 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

5am

1.0 m

@ 6 s

↓︎

Slight

chop

6am

1.0 m

@ 6 s

↓︎

Slight

chop

7am

0.9 m

@ 6 s

↓︎

Slight

chop

8am

0.9 m

@ 6 s

↓︎

Slight

chop

9am

0.9 m

@ 6 s

↓︎

Slight

chop

10am

0.8 m

@ 6 s

↓︎

Slight

chop

11am

0.8 m

@ 6 s

↓︎

Slight

chop

12pm

0.8 m

@ 6 s

↓︎

Slight

chop

1pm

0.7 m

@ 6 s

↓︎

Slight

chop

2pm

0.7 m

@ 6 s

↓︎

Slight

chop

3pm

0.7 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Slight

chop

4pm

0.6 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Slight

chop

5pm

0.6 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Slight

chop

6pm

0.5 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Slight

chop

7pm

0.5 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Slight

chop

8pm

0.5 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Slight

chop

9pm

0.5 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

10pm

0.6 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

11pm

0.6 m

@ 5 s

→︎

Slight

chop

Water Temp (°C)

→ steady around 19.2°

Fri

30 Oct

19.1°

Sat

31 Oct

18.7°

Sun

1 Nov

18.9°

Mon

2 Nov

19.2°

Tue

3 Nov

19.0°

Wed

4 Nov

19.1°

Thu

5 Nov

19.2°

Fri

6 Nov

19.2°

Sat

7 Nov

—

Sun

8 Nov

—

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 14 km/h NE (66°).

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

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

6:30 pm → 9:00 pm

2h 30m

Good

5:00 am → 8:00 am

Good

3:30 pm → 4:00 pm

30m

First light

5:27 am

Last light

7:50 pm

Sunrise

5:53 am

Sunset

7:23 pm

Moonrise

1:47 am

Moonset

12:16 pm

High tide

3:15 am

Low tide

8:42 am

High tide

3:14 pm

Low tide

10:14 pm

Nearby Spots

Species at This Spot

Keep Tabs on Frenchmans Bay / Congwong (La Perouse)

Get an email when the bite score here hits High, and stop refreshing this page. Free account, takes a minute.

Alert Me When It's High Save This Spot