What fish can you catch at Merewether Beach and the rock platforms?

Off the beach gutters: Australian salmon and tailor on metals and pilchards, plus yellowfin bream and sand whiting on worms and pipis. Off the rock platforms behind the ocean baths: black drummer (rock blackfish), luderick, bream and squid, with the protected blue groper in the heavy washes. A NSW Recreational Fishing Fee is required to fish anywhere in NSW, salt or fresh.

Do you need a lifejacket to rock fish at Merewether?

Wear one. A lifejacket is strongly recommended on any swell-washed rock or wall here — adults AS 4758 level 50S or greater, under-12s level 100. Given people have been swept from Newcastle platforms in seas that looked manageable from the car park, treat it as standard kit on every session.

When is the best time to fish Merewether?

Dawn, dusk and overcast days outfish bright midday everywhere here. The beach gutters fire on a rising tide with a moderate 1–2m swell, peaking for salmon and tailor from April to September. The rock washes fish best on a clean, green flooding tide with the swell under about 1.5m.

Can you keep a blue groper caught at Merewether?

No. The Eastern Blue Groper is a no-take, release-only species across NSW, and the line fishing prohibition was continued for a further three years from 1 March 2025, so it runs to 1 March 2028. If you hook the resident groper in the washes, release it unharmed and avoid the baits that single them out. Significant fines apply for taking one.

Where do you park to fish Merewether?

Use the three-tiered car park along Henderson Parade beside the ocean baths, which puts you a short walk from both the beach gutters and the rock platforms. It fills quickly on warm weekends, so arrive early. The baths pavilion and surf club have toilets and showers, though the baths are closed all day every Thursday for cleaning, and there are cafes up the hill for food and coffee.

Bite Compass

Bite Forecast

Merewether Beach & Rock Platforms

Thu 29 Oct 2026 · Australia/Sydney

Forecast updated 1:03pm AEDT

Bite Alert

←

29 Oct

tap to pick date

→

Today Tomorrow Sat 31 Oct

📍 Merewether Beach & Rock Platforms

waning gibbous · 91%

Weather: Sunny Wind: S 165° · 12 km/h Swell: 1.6 m @ 8 s S Water: 18.7 °C Pressure: 1022.6 hPa → steady Faces south-east · Offshore: W, NW, N · Onshore: E, SE, S · Forecast wind: onshore

★★★☆☆

Medium Fish Activity

Email me when a High bite day is coming Free

▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 5:30 am

Solunar Between windows

Time of day Dawn

Tide Moving

Wind NW 10 km/h

Moon waning gibbous all day

Water temp 18.7 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day Timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 5:31 am Last light 7:42 pm

Low 4:33 am High 11:09 am Low 5:53 pm

Drag or use arrow keys to explore

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

2:00 am → 7:00 am

Good

6:30 pm → 8:30 pm

Good

11:00 pm → 12:00 am

Good

2:30 pm → 4:00 pm

1h 30m

First light

5:31 am

Last light

7:42 pm

Sunrise

5:57 am

Sunset

7:16 pm

Moonrise

11:05 pm

Moonset

7:43 am

Low tide

4:33 am

High tide

11:09 am

Low tide

5:53 pm

High tide

11:56 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☀️

15°

↖︎

296°

7 km/h

1am

☀️

14°

↖︎

306°

9 km/h

2am

☀️

14°

↖︎

304°

10 km/h

3am

☀️

13°

↖︎

308°

11 km/h

4am

☀️

13°

↖︎

308°

11 km/h

5am

☀️

13°

↖︎

304°

10 km/h

6am

☀️

13°

↖︎

309°

9 km/h

7am

☀️

14°

↖︎

308°

9 km/h

8am

☀️

16°

↖︎

308°

7 km/h

9am

☀️

19°

←︎

285°

4 km/h

10am

☀️

20°

↓︎

191°

5 km/h

11am

☀️

20°

↓︎

165°

9 km/h

12pm

☀️

20°

↓︎

165°

12 km/h

1pm

☀️

21°

↘︎

154°

11 km/h

2pm

☀️

21°

↘︎

140°

12 km/h

3pm

☀️

21°

↘︎

136°

14 km/h

4pm

☀️

21°

↘︎

127°

15 km/h

5pm

☀️

20°

↘︎

113°

15 km/h

6pm

☀️

20°

→︎

106°

16 km/h

7pm

☀️

19°

↘︎

119°

15 km/h

8pm

☀️

19°

↘︎

119°

12 km/h

9pm

☀️

18°

→︎

110°

8 km/h

10pm

☀️

18°

→︎

94°

7 km/h

11pm

☀️

18°

→︎

94°

8 km/h

Hourly Swell

Building 1.0 → 1.8 m S

12am

1.0 m

@ 5 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

1am

1.1 m

@ 6 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

2am

1.1 m

@ 6 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

3am

1.1 m

@ 6 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

4am

1.1 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

5am

1.1 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

6am

1.2 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

7am

1.2 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

8am

1.2 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

9am

1.3 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

10am

1.4 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

11am

1.5 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

12pm

1.6 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

1pm

1.6 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

2pm

1.7 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

3pm

1.7 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

4pm

1.7 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

5pm

1.7 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

6pm

1.7 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

7pm

1.7 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

8pm

1.7 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

9pm

1.8 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

10pm

1.8 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

11pm

1.8 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

Water Temp (°C)

↗ warming — up 0.4° over the last 3 days

Mon

26 Oct

18.3°

Tue

27 Oct

18.2°

Wed

28 Oct

18.3°

Thu

29 Oct

18.7°

Fri

30 Oct

18.9°

Sat

31 Oct

18.9°

Sun

1 Nov

19.0°

Mon

2 Nov

19.6°

Tue

3 Nov

19.7°

Wed

4 Nov

19.8°

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 12 km/h S (165°).

Wind map data: ECMWF HRES (operational), updated every 6 hours. Not for navigation.

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

2:00 am → 7:00 am

Good

6:30 pm → 8:30 pm

Good

11:00 pm → 12:00 am

Good

2:30 pm → 4:00 pm

1h 30m

First light

5:31 am

Last light

7:42 pm

Sunrise

5:57 am

Sunset

7:16 pm

Moonrise

11:05 pm

Moonset

7:43 am

Low tide

4:33 am

High tide

11:09 am

Low tide

5:53 pm

High tide

11:56 pm

Nearby Spots

Species at This Spot

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