What fish can you catch at Dee Why Beach?

Sand whiting and yellowfin bream are the mainstay, mostly from the protected southern corner under Dee Why Head. Tailor are about all year and best from autumn into late winter alongside Australian salmon, and the deeper gutters at the northern end by the lagoon and Long Reef hold a genuine chance at mulloway after dark, plus dart and the odd flathead in the warmer months.

Where is the best spot to fish at Dee Why Beach?

The southern corner, tucked under Dee Why Head by the rockpool and surf club, is the most reliable for whiting and bream because the headland calms the water there. For mulloway, fish the deeper, longer gutters at the northern end by the lagoon entrance and Long Reef SLSC on the run-up to high tide after dark.

Do you need a licence to fish at Dee Why Beach?

Yes. A NSW Recreational Fishing Fee is required to fish anywhere in NSW, including the beach. It costs around $7 for three days, $14 for a month, $35 for a year or $85 for three years, and you must carry proof of payment while fishing.

When is the best time to fish Dee Why Beach for mulloway?

Mulloway are a patience game on Sydney ocean beaches, but the best odds come on the new or full moon, fishing the run-up to high tide through the first hours of dark in a deep gutter. The bite often lifts after heavy rain, when the lagoon flushes discoloured, food-rich water into the northern surf zone. If you land one, the NSW minimum is 70cm and the bag is one fish per person, with a boat limit of two per boat when two or more people are aboard.

Is Dee Why Beach good for beginners and kids?

The southern corner is, yes — it has flat firm sand, calmer protected water, patrolled flags in summer, and toilets, showers and cafés metres from the car park off The Strand. Light whiting and bream gear on worms or pipis is forgiving, and you are never far from facilities.

Bite Compass

Bite Forecast

Dee Why Beach

Fri 11 Sep 2026 · Australia/Sydney

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11 Sep

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Today Tomorrow Sat 19 Sep

📍 Dee Why Beach

new · 1%

Weather: Cloudy Wind: E 107° · 3 km/h Swell: 1.0 m @ 8 s SE Water: 18.0 °C Pressure: 1033.2 hPa → steady

★★★★☆

High Fish Activity

▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 6:00 pm

Solunar Minor window

Time of day Dusk

Tide Moving

Wind SE 8 km/h

Moon new all day

Water temp 18.0 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 5:35 am Last light 6:08 pm

Low 1:30 am High 7:34 am Low 1:30 pm High 7:46 pm

Drag or use arrow keys to explore

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

5:00 pm → 7:30 pm

2h 30m

Good

5:00 am → 8:30 am

3h 30m

Good

12:00 pm → 3:00 pm

Good

1:00 am → 2:30 am

1h 30m

First light

5:35 am

Last light

6:08 pm

Sunrise

6:00 am

Sunset

5:43 pm

Moonrise

5:50 am

Moonset

5:50 pm

Low tide

1:30 am

High tide

7:34 am

Low tide

1:30 pm

High tide

7:46 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☀️

11°

↙︎

243°

11 km/h

1am

☀️

11°

←︎

251°

12 km/h

2am

☀️

11°

←︎

251°

12 km/h

3am

☀️

11°

←︎

248°

12 km/h

4am

☁️

10°

←︎

256°

11 km/h

5am

☁️

11°

←︎

264°

11 km/h

6am

☁️

11°

←︎

263°

13 km/h

7am

☁️

11°

←︎

260°

14 km/h

8am

☁️

13°

↙︎

245°

12 km/h

9am

☁️

16°

↙︎

223°

10 km/h

10am

☁️

18°

↙︎

207°

5 km/h

11am

☁️

18°

↘︎

156°

2 km/h

12pm

☁️

19°

→︎

107°

3 km/h

1pm

☁️

19°

→︎

110°

7 km/h

2pm

☁️

19°

→︎

106°

11 km/h

3pm

☀️

18°

→︎

100°

13 km/h

4pm

☀️

18°

→︎

96°

11 km/h

5pm

☀️

17°

→︎

103°

8 km/h

6pm

☀️

15°

↘︎

114°

8 km/h

7pm

☀️

14°

→︎

105°

9 km/h

8pm

☀️

14°

→︎

101°

8 km/h

9pm

☀️

14°

→︎

88°

6 km/h

10pm

☀️

13°

→︎

106°

3 km/h

11pm

☀️

13°

→︎

103°

2 km/h

Hourly Swell

Steady ~1.0 m SE

12am

1.1 m

@ 8 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

1am

1.1 m

@ 8 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

2am

1.1 m

@ 8 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

3am

1.1 m

@ 8 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

4am

1.1 m

@ 8 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

5am

1.1 m

@ 8 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

6am

1.1 m

@ 8 s

↘︎

Moderate

7am

1.1 m

@ 8 s

↘︎

Moderate

8am

1.1 m

@ 8 s

↘︎

Moderate

9am

1.0 m

@ 8 s

↘︎

Moderate

10am

1.0 m

@ 8 s

↘︎

Moderate

11am

1.0 m

@ 8 s

↘︎

Moderate

12pm

1.0 m

@ 8 s

↘︎

Moderate

1pm

1.0 m

@ 8 s

↘︎

Moderate

2pm

1.0 m

@ 8 s

↘︎

Moderate

3pm

1.0 m

@ 8 s

↘︎

Moderate

4pm

1.0 m

@ 9 s

↘︎

Moderate

5pm

1.1 m

@ 9 s

↘︎

Moderate

6pm

1.1 m

@ 9 s

↘︎

Moderate

7pm

1.1 m

@ 9 s

↘︎

Moderate

8pm

1.1 m

@ 9 s

↘︎

Moderate

9pm

1.0 m

@ 9 s

↘︎

Moderate

10pm

1.0 m

@ 9 s

↘︎

Moderate

11pm

1.0 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

Water Temp (°C)

→ steady around 18.0°

Tue

8 Sep

18.2°

Wed

9 Sep

18.1°

Thu

10 Sep

18.0°

Fri

11 Sep

18.0°

Sat

12 Sep

18.0°

Sun

13 Sep

18.0°

Mon

14 Sep

18.2°

Tue

15 Sep

18.3°

Wed

16 Sep

18.0°

Thu

17 Sep

17.7°

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 3 km/h E (107°).

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 → 7:30 pm

2h 30m

Good

5:00 am → 8:30 am

3h 30m

Good

12:00 pm → 3:00 pm

Good

1:00 am → 2:30 am

1h 30m

First light

5:35 am

Last light

6:08 pm

Sunrise

6:00 am

Sunset

5:43 pm

Moonrise

5:50 am

Moonset

5:50 pm

Low tide

1:30 am

High tide

7:34 am

Low tide

1:30 pm

High tide

7:46 pm

Nearby spots

Species at this spot

Sand Whiting
Yellowfin Bream
Tailor
Australian Salmon
Mulloway (Jewfish)
Dusky Flathead
Dart