Inscription Point (Kurnell)

Inscription Point is the flat sandstone shelf on the southern headland of the Botany Bay entrance, inside the Kurnell section of Kamay Botany Bay National Park, a short walk east of where the Endeavour crew first came ashore in 1770. It takes its name from the plaque fixed to the cliff in 1822, and locals also know it as The Steps after the climb down from Cape Solander Drive. The water off the ledge is clear and close to the bay's entrance, which is why it is a favourite with both rock fishers and divers. Luderick, black drummer and bream work the wash, with tailor and salmon pushing through in the cooler months.

The core of it is wash fishing: a float-rigged green weed or cabbage for luderick, and a lightly weighted bait sunk into the white water for black drummer and bream, all worked close along the front of the shelf. A berley trail of bread and chopped weed draws luderick and bream into the wash and holds them. When tailor and salmon are showing at first light or dusk, a metal slice or a ganged pilchard thrown wide covers them. The Kurnell area is open only from 7am to 7.30pm, so the summer dawn bite is out of reach, and from about November to February sunset falls after closing too — fish the late afternoon, leave the ledge with time to walk out before the gates shut, and save true dusk sessions for the cooler months, when sunset comes well before closing.

Luderick are the signature fish here, best from autumn into spring, at 27 cm and a bag of 10. Rock blackfish — black drummer — are year-round residents of the wash at 30 cm and a bag of 10; blue drummer look similar and are release-only in NSW, so check before you keep one. Yellowfin bream are 25 cm on a bag of 10 shared with tarwhine, and tailor are 30 cm on a bag of 10. Australian salmon have no minimum size and a bag of 5, but this is Botany Bay water, and the NSW PFAS advice is to release them rather than eat them. Eastern blue groper also feed along this ledge and are off-limits: line fishing for them is prohibited in NSW until 28 February 2028.

Bring every scrap of bait with you. The foreshore from the Captain Cook obelisk around to the climbing track at Inscription Point is an Intertidal Protected Area, where cunjevoi, crabs, sea snails, octopus, urchins and every other invertebrate except abalone and rock lobster are off-limits from the high-tide mark to 10 m beyond low tide — line fishing stays legal, bait collecting does not. Green weed and cabbage are best brought from home rather than stripped off a national park ledge. On eating the catch, the Botany Bay PFAS advice caps adults at two serves a week of mulloway, five of silver trevally and six of tailor, and children aged two to six at one, three and three respectively, plus six of luderick, with each limit assuming that is the only species eaten that week; yellowfin bream were tested and need no advice, so bream are the ones to keep.

Inscription Point is reached through the Kurnell area of Kamay Botany Bay National Park, which NPWS opens from 7am to 7.30pm all year and may close in bad weather or high fire danger. A vehicle entry fee of $8 per day applies, paid at coin or card machines or through the Park'nPay app. Walk east along the rocks from Commemoration Flat or come down the steps from Cape Solander Drive; either way the last stretch is uneven rock, not suitable for prams or wheelchairs. The Kurnell visitor centre is closed while a new one is built; parking and toilets are at the Cricket Pitch and Commemoration Flat precincts, and the NPWS alerts page lists any current works fencing. Pets are not allowed in the park.

The ledge faces the open entrance of Botany Bay, so it takes east and north-east swell more directly than the bay beaches behind it, while the Kurnell headland gives some cover from a straight southerly. It fishes best on a small swell, with enough wash to work a float but not enough to sweep the shelf. A westerly lays the sea down and is the pick, while a fresh north-easter stacks swell and chop onto the front of the point. Watch the sets for a good ten minutes before committing to a low spot, and leave when the swell starts to build.

Sets wash the lower shelf without warning, and two young men drowned off Cape Solander Drive at Kurnell in May 2024, neither wearing a lifejacket. Check the swell and tide forecasts, watch for at least ten minutes before climbing down, stay off wet, weed-slick rock, never turn your back on the water, and leave in a rising sea. Sutherland Shire is declared under the Rock Fishing Safety Act 2016 and the council map marks the ledge at Inscription Point, so a lifejacket is compulsory here — adults AS 4758 level 50S or greater, under-12s level 100 — for you, anyone helping and children in your care, with a $100 on-the-spot fine. Wear cleated boots and light clothing you can swim in, never fish alone, and tell someone your plan. If you are washed in, swim away from the rocks, float, signal and have your mate call 000, and know your route back up the steps. Divers use the water below, so look for bubbles or a dive flag before casting.

Yes. Line fishing is allowed at Inscription Point in Kamay Botany Bay National Park, and the ledge is known for luderick, black drummer, bream, tailor and salmon. The shoreline is an Intertidal Protected Area, though, so you cannot collect any bait there — no cunjevoi, crabs or other invertebrates — and must bring your own. A NSW Recreational Fishing Fee is required, and the park charges $8 per vehicle per day.

Yes. Sutherland Shire is a declared area under the Rock Fishing Safety Act 2016, and the council map of high-risk rock-fishing locations includes the Inscription Point ledge. Anyone fishing from the rock there, plus anyone helping and any child under 12 in your care, must wear an appropriate lifejacket — AS 4758 level 50S or greater for adults and level 100 for under-12s — and a $100 on-the-spot fine applies.

NPWS opens the Kurnell area from 7am to 7.30pm all year, and areas can close in poor weather or high fire danger. A vehicle entry fee of $8 per day applies, paid at the coin and card machines or by the Park'nPay app. Those hours rule out a summer dawn session at Inscription Point, and from about November to February sunset also falls after the 7.30pm close, so in summer fish the late afternoon and be back at the car before closing.

NSW has no minimum size for Australian salmon and the daily bag is 5, but the NSW EPA's PFAS advice is that salmon caught in Botany Bay should be catch-and-release only. Anyone who still chooses to eat them is advised to limit it to two serves a fortnight for adults and one for children aged two to six.