Malabar (Long Bay ledges)

Long Bay is the deep notch in the Malabar coastline, and its inner northern ledges sit tucked inside the bay where the open Tasman swell has already lost most of its punch by the time it reaches the rock. That shelter is the whole appeal — these ledges keep producing bream, luderick, squid and the odd kingfish through nor'easters that wash the exposed platforms further north clean off the menu. The water along the rock holds bait year-round, which is why it has a long-standing reputation as a reliable live-bait spot as much as a fishing one. The catch is the Long Bay Intertidal Protected Area, which wraps this entire foreshore: you may fish it with a rod all day, but you may not gather so much as a nipper off it. It is rock fishing with the volume turned down, which is exactly why people keep coming back.

Locals fish tight to the rock and let the structure do the work. Trevally and luderick come on the falling tide and bream around the top of it, with float rigs drifting green weed or cabbage along the wash for blackfish and lightly weighted baits worked into the foam for bream. The kingfish session is a separate game — anglers berley up, take live yellowtail and slimies off the ledge on a bait jig, then swim them under a balloon or float for the resident kings that patrol the bay edge. Squid get worked over the weed and sand in the clearer water, best around the tide change. Low light at either end of the day is the standout window across all of it.

Yellowfin bream are the bread and butter year-round, fished into the wash and best around the top of the tide, at 25 cm and a bag of 10 shared with tarwhine. Luderick come on green weed through the cooler months from autumn into spring at 27 cm and a bag of 10, and silver trevally school up over the same stretch, easiest from May to September, at 30 cm on a bag of 10 shared across the trevallies. Yellowtail kingfish run the warmer half of the year, roughly November to April, taken on live bait drifted off the ledge, with a 65 cm minimum and a bag of 5. Southern calamari jig up over the weed in the cooler, clearer months, with no size limit and a bag of 20 shared across all squid and cuttlefish. Tailor and Australian salmon push through on the bait schools with the best of it on the cooler water — tailor 30 cm on a bag of 10, salmon with no minimum size at all on a bag of 5. Rock blackfish, the pigs, hang around the wash year-round at 30 cm and a bag of 10 for anyone fishing weed or cunjevoi brought in from outside the closure.

The bay is a shelter spot, so it earns its keep when the open rocks are unfishable — save it for the days a big nor'easter has shut everything else down rather than burning it on flat conditions when better-exposed ledges are firing. Luderick come on the falling tide here and bream around the top of it, so a session from the last of the incoming into the early run-out covers both. Live bait is half the local craft, and a livie tank or bait jig earns its place, because the bay's own yellowtail are the key to the kingfish. That habit survives the Long Bay Intertidal Protected Area, which runs from Boora Point south-west to Tupia Head and wraps this whole foreshore — yellowtail are fish, so a bait jig worked off the ledge is fine, but jagging or foul-hooking a fish anywhere other than through the mouth is an offence in NSW, and taking cunjevoi, crabs, worms, nippers, snails, urchins, pipis, mussels or oysters off these rocks is prohibited. Green weed for the luderick float is not on that list, but the cunjevoi is, so bring your cunje in with you. Keep berley going for the bigger fish, and do not clean fish on the ledge, because it pulls gulls and is poor form on a platform other people share.

Park near the North Malabar wastewater treatment plant at the northern arm of Long Bay, off Fishermans Road, where there is timed parking along the road and a car park by the boat ramp. From there it is a short walk down onto the inner ledges, well shorter than the trudge out to most exposed eastern-suburbs platforms. Check the NPWS Malabar Headland alerts before a Saturday or a listed weekday, because the park's eastern section beside the northern arm closes 8am to 5pm during ANZAC Rifle Range shoots and the gate at the Fishermans Road car park closes with it. Public toilets, showers, a playground and a wheelchair beach mat sit back at Cromwell Park behind Malabar Beach, a couple of minutes away. The ledges themselves are uneven rock and not mobility-friendly, and while the bay is calmer than the open coast it is still a rock platform rather than a spot to turn kids loose — keep young ones back from the edge and on the calmer beach instead. The closure covers the park's eastern section including the Boora Point walking track from 8am to 5pm every Saturday, on the first and third Sunday of each month and on listed weekday shoots through to January 2027; do not enter while red flags fly over the range, the 'rifle range in use' signs are up at the park entry or the gates are shut. The old range ground also carries closed areas and unexploded-ordnance restrictions, so stay on the marked tracks.

These ledges fish best when the open coast does not — the bay faces roughly southeast but the inner northern rock is shielded, so it holds up through nor'east winds and moderate swell that close the exposed platforms. The falling tide is the productive window for luderick and trevally, the top of the tide suits bream, and the tide change suits squid. It blows out when a big southeast or east swell wraps straight into the bay, or when heavy rain dirties the water and drops the squid and bream right off. On a clean, settled day with a run-out tide and low light, it is as reliable as eastern-suburbs land-based fishing gets.

Malabar is in the Randwick council area — 24 rock-fishing deaths since 2001 — which is declared under the Rock Fishing Safety Act 2016, so a lifejacket is compulsory on swell-exposed rock 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 one on every ledge rather than guessing which qualifies. The bay is sheltered, not safe: a wrapping south-east swell can surge across the lower ledges without warning. Check the swell and tide forecasts, watch for ten minutes before committing, stay off wet, weedy rock, never turn your back on the water, and leave if the swell rises. Wear cleats and light clothing you can swim in, never fish alone, and tell someone when you'll be back. If you are washed in, swim away from the rocks rather than climbing out, float, signal and have your mate call 000, and know your way back up.

Yes. Malabar sits inside the Randwick 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. Going without risks a $100 on-the-spot fine. The Randwick coast is the number one danger spot in the state, with 24 rock-fishing deaths since 2001, so it is worth wearing regardless of exactly where the boundary falls. Some Randwick council facilities run lifejacket loan trials, so it is worth asking around before you buy one.

Yellowfin bream and silver trevally are the staples, with luderick on green weed and southern calamari over the weed through the cooler months. Yellowtail kingfish run the warmer half of the year on live bait, and tailor, Australian salmon and rock blackfish show up too. The whole foreshore sits inside the Long Bay Intertidal Protected Area, so line fishing is fine but you cannot gather cunjevoi, nippers, worms or shellfish off the rocks. A NSW Recreational Fishing Fee is required to fish anywhere in NSW, including from the rocks here.

The inner northern ledges shine when a nor'easter has blown out the open coast, because the bay stays sheltered while exposed platforms wash out. The falling tide is the key window for luderick and trevally, bream favour the top of the tide, and low light at dawn or dusk lifts the whole bite. Cooler months suit luderick, squid, tailor and salmon, while the warmer months bring the kingfish. Bream are there all year.

Park near the North Malabar wastewater treatment plant at the northern arm of Long Bay, off Fishermans Road, where there is timed parking along the road and a car park by the boat ramp. It is a short walk down onto the ledges. Toilets, showers and a playground are back at Cromwell Park behind Malabar Beach, a couple of minutes away.

It is more sheltered, which is its whole appeal, but sheltered is not the same as safe. A wrapping south-east swell can still surge across the lower ledges, the rock is slippery, and Randwick is a declared lifejacket area, so wear one. Watch the sea before stepping down, stay off low ledges in any swell, and do not fish alone.