Can you fish off the wharf at Lemon Tree Passage?

Yes. The public wharf at Henderson Park on Cook Parade is a popular family fishing spot, with bream and luderick around the pylons and flathead, whiting and the odd mulloway in the channel. Fish the outer face into the passage, not into the netted tidal baths, and keep clear of the boat ramp pontoons when boats are launching. A NSW Recreational Fishing Fee is required to fish anywhere in NSW.

Is it safe to eat fish caught at Lemon Tree Passage?

Tilligerry Creek, which drains through the passage, is covered by the NSW Government's Williamtown PFAS dietary advice, which limits servings rather than banning fishing. Adults are advised to eat no more than one 150 g serve a week of dusky flathead, luderick or mulloway, and up to eight serves of yellowfin bream or sand whiting, while blue swimmer crab is limited to half a serve a week; children aged two to six have lower limits, and each limit assumes only that one species is eaten that week. Eating fish from outside the advice area, such as the open port, helps spread the exposure.

Is Lemon Tree Passage in a marine park sanctuary zone?

No. The wharf water is a special purpose zone of the Port Stephens–Great Lakes Marine Park, where the adjoining general use zone rules apply and line fishing is allowed. The Mallabula Sanctuary Zone begins about 1.3 km north-west along the shore, the Cromartys Bay Sanctuary Zone about 1.8 km north-east, and the Wallis and Fenninghams Island Creeks Sanctuary Zone about 1.8 km south-east up Tilligerry Creek, and all three are closed to all fishing, so check the zoning map or the FishSmart NSW app before moving.

What is the best bait for bream at Lemon Tree Passage?

Peeled prawn, a strip of mullet or nippers fished lightly weighted beside the wharf pylons account for most of the bream. Bream are 25 cm minimum with a bag of 10 shared with tarwhine. A moving tide in low light is the best window.

Bite Compass

Bite Forecast

Lemon Tree Passage Public Wharf (Henderson Park)

Tue 20 Oct 2026 · Australia/Sydney

Forecast updated 10:47pm AEDT

Bite Alert

←

20 Oct

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Today Tomorrow Sat 31 Oct

📍 Lemon Tree Passage Public Wharf (Henderson Park)

first quarter · 63%

Weather: Rainy Wind: NE 62° · 21 km/h Swell: 0.8 m @ 6 s E Water: 19.6 °C Pressure: 1026.0 hPa → steady Faces north · Offshore: SE, S, SW · Onshore: NW, N, NE · Forecast wind: onshore

★★★☆☆

Medium Fish Activity

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▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 6:00 am

Solunar Between windows

Time of day Dawn

Tide Moving

Wind NE 13 km/h

Moon first quarter all day

Water temp 19.6 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day Timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 5:41 am Last light 7:32 pm

High 4:40 am Low 9:50 am High 4:27 pm Low 11:20 pm

Drag or use arrow keys to explore

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

5:00 am → 10:00 am

Good

7:00 pm → 9:00 pm

Good

2:00 am → 3:00 am

Good

11:30 pm → 12:00 am

30m

First light

5:41 am

Last light

7:32 pm

Sunrise

6:06 am

Sunset

7:07 pm

Moonrise

1:10 pm

Moonset

2:32 am

High tide

4:40 am

Low tide

9:50 am

High tide

4:27 pm

Low tide

11:20 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

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17°

↗︎

27°

18 km/h

1am

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17°

↗︎

25°

17 km/h

2am

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17°

↗︎

29°

17 km/h

3am

☀️

16°

↗︎

30°

16 km/h

4am

☀️

16°

↗︎

35°

16 km/h

5am

☀️

16°

↗︎

38°

14 km/h

6am

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16°

↗︎

34°

13 km/h

7am

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17°

↗︎

31°

15 km/h

8am

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18°

↗︎

32°

18 km/h

9am

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19°

↗︎

38°

17 km/h

10am

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20°

↗︎

46°

17 km/h

11am

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20°

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70°

17 km/h

12pm

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20°

↗︎

62°

21 km/h

1pm

🌧️

20°

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72°

24 km/h

2pm

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20°

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67°

28 km/h

3pm

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20°

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66°

27 km/h

4pm

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20°

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64°

26 km/h

5pm

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21°

↗︎

61°

25 km/h

6pm

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20°

↗︎

56°

25 km/h

7pm

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20°

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47°

23 km/h

8pm

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19°

↗︎

43°

21 km/h

9pm

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19°

↗︎

38°

19 km/h

10pm

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19°

↗︎

29°

20 km/h

11pm

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19°

↗︎

29°

21 km/h

Hourly Swell

Steady ~0.7 m E

12am

0.8 m

@ 7 s

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Slight

chop

1am

0.8 m

@ 7 s

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Slight

chop

2am

0.8 m

@ 7 s

→︎

Slight

chop

3am

0.8 m

@ 6 s

→︎

Slight

chop

4am

0.9 m

@ 6 s

→︎

Slight

chop

5am

0.9 m

@ 6 s

→︎

Slight

chop

6am

0.9 m

@ 6 s

→︎

Slight

chop

7am

0.8 m

@ 6 s

→︎

Slight

chop

8am

0.8 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

9am

0.8 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

0.8 m

@ 6 s

→︎

Slight

chop

2pm

0.8 m

@ 6 s

→︎

Slight

chop

3pm

0.8 m

@ 6 s

→︎

Slight

chop

4pm

0.8 m

@ 6 s

→︎

Slight

chop

5pm

0.8 m

@ 6 s

→︎

Slight

chop

6pm

0.8 m

@ 6 s

→︎

Slight

chop

7pm

0.8 m

@ 6 s

→︎

Slight

chop

8pm

0.8 m

@ 6 s

→︎

Slight

chop

9pm

0.8 m

@ 6 s

→︎

Slight

chop

10pm

0.8 m

@ 6 s

→︎

Slight

chop

11pm

0.7 m

@ 6 s

→︎

Slight

chop

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 21 km/h NE (62°).

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 am → 10:00 am

Good

7:00 pm → 9:00 pm

Good

2:00 am → 3:00 am

Good

11:30 pm → 12:00 am

30m

First light

5:41 am

Last light

7:32 pm

Sunrise

6:06 am

Sunset

7:07 pm

Moonrise

1:10 pm

Moonset

2:32 am

High tide

4:40 am

Low tide

9:50 am

High tide

4:27 pm

Low tide

11:20 pm

Nearby Spots

Species at This Spot

Keep Tabs on Lemon Tree Passage Public Wharf (Henderson Park)

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