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

Thu 17 Sep 2026 · Australia/Sydney

Save

←

17 Sep

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Today Tomorrow Sat 19 Sep

📍 Dee Why Beach

waxing crescent · 28%

Weather: Cloudy Wind: S 188° · 25 km/h Swell: 1.5 m @ 8 s SE Water: 17.7 °C Pressure: 1031.5 hPa → steady

★★★☆☆

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 15 km/h

Moon waxing crescent all day

Water temp 17.7 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 5:27 am Last light 6:12 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

5:27 am

Last light

6:12 pm

Sunrise

5:51 am

Sunset

5:47 pm

Moonrise

8:57 am

Moonset

12:00 am

Low tide

4:45 am

High tide

11:35 am

Low tide

6:30 pm

High tide

11:56 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☀️

13°

↓︎

197°

26 km/h

1am

☁️

12°

↓︎

202°

25 km/h

2am

☀️

12°

↙︎

209°

23 km/h

3am

☀️

11°

↙︎

216°

21 km/h

4am

☀️

10°

↙︎

223°

19 km/h

5am

☀️

10°

↙︎

229°

18 km/h

6am

☀️

10°

↙︎

232°

17 km/h

7am

☀️

10°

↙︎

230°

17 km/h

8am

☁️

12°

↙︎

218°

18 km/h

9am

☁️

13°

↙︎

203°

21 km/h

10am

☁️

15°

↓︎

194°

25 km/h

11am

☁️

16°

↓︎

190°

25 km/h

12pm

☁️

16°

↓︎

188°

25 km/h

1pm

☁️

16°

↓︎

186°

24 km/h

2pm

☁️

16°

↓︎

185°

23 km/h

3pm

☁️

16°

↓︎

186°

22 km/h

4pm

☁️

15°

↓︎

186°

20 km/h

5pm

☁️

15°

↓︎

184°

18 km/h

6pm

☀️

15°

↓︎

181°

15 km/h

7pm

☀️

14°

↓︎

178°

13 km/h

8pm

☀️

14°

↓︎

179°

11 km/h

9pm

☀️

14°

↓︎

183°

10 km/h

10pm

☀️

13°

↓︎

196°

8 km/h

11pm

☀️

12°

↙︎

222°

8 km/h

Hourly Swell

Easing 1.5 → 1.1 m S

12am

1.5 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

1am

1.6 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

2am

1.6 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

3am

1.6 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

4am

1.7 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

5am

1.6 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

6am

1.6 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

7am

1.5 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

8am

1.5 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

9am

1.5 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

10am

1.5 m

@ 8 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

11am

1.5 m

@ 8 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

12pm

1.5 m

@ 8 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

1pm

1.5 m

@ 8 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

2pm

1.5 m

@ 8 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

3pm

1.5 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

4pm

1.6 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

5pm

1.5 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

6pm

1.4 m

@ 8 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

7pm

1.3 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

8pm

1.3 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

9pm

1.2 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

10pm

1.2 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

11pm

1.1 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

Water Temp (°C)

↘ cooling — down 0.5° over the last 3 days

Mon

14 Sep

18.2°

Tue

15 Sep

18.3°

Wed

16 Sep

18.0°

Thu

17 Sep

17.7°

Fri

18 Sep

17.8°

Sat

19 Sep

17.9°

Sun

20 Sep

18.1°

Mon

21 Sep

18.1°

Tue

22 Sep

18.2°

Wed

23 Sep

—

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 25 km/h S (188°).

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

5:27 am

Last light

6:12 pm

Sunrise

5:51 am

Sunset

5:47 pm

Moonrise

8:57 am

Moonset

12:00 am

Low tide

4:45 am

High tide

11:35 am

Low tide

6:30 pm

High tide

11:56 pm

Nearby spots

Species at this spot

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