What fish can you catch from the Nelson Bay breakwall?

Yellowfin bream and luderick are the mainstays, with snapper, mulloway, yellowtail kingfish, dusky flathead, silver trevally, squid and the occasional black drummer or blue groper. Bream bite year-round, luderick run through winter, and kingfish and squid show through summer. Blue groper is a no-take, release-only species in NSW and line fishing for it is prohibited, so anything that comes up goes straight back.

When is the best time to catch luderick at Nelson Bay breakwall?

Late May through winter is prime, and the run can hang on into spring. Float-fish weed or ocean cabbage and work the drift around the bottom 1.5 hours of the tide either side of low water. The breakwall's winter luderick fishing is rated among the most consistent in Port Stephens.

Do you need a fishing licence to fish the Nelson Bay breakwall?

Yes. A NSW Recreational Fishing Fee is required to fish anywhere in NSW, including land-based spots like the breakwall, unless you hold an exemption. You can buy a fee online or from local tackle shops, and you must carry proof while fishing.

Do you have to wear a lifejacket to fish the Nelson Bay breakwall?

Port Stephens Council's map marks a series of declared high-risk rock fishing locations along the ocean coast between Birubi Point and Tomaree Head. Fishing with rod, line or handline from naturally occurring rock exposed to ocean swell in those places requires an appropriate lifejacket under the Rock Fishing Safety Act 2016, the duty covers anyone helping you and children under 12 in your care, and a $100 on-the-spot fine applies. Wear one on the outside face of the breakwall whenever there is any swell running — the water does not care which side of a legal line you are standing on.

Is there parking and toilets at the Nelson Bay breakwall?

Yes. There's free parking along Teramby Road and Victoria Parade and in the Donald Street carpark, all a short flat walk from the wall. The foreshore precinct has public toilets, fish-cleaning tables with running water, picnic tables, BBQs and a playground, with cafes and a tackle shop nearby in the Nelson Bay CBD.

Bite Compass

Bite Forecast

Nelson Bay Breakwall

Tue 27 Oct 2026 · Australia/Sydney

Forecast updated Tue 27 Oct, 11:14pm AEDT

Bite Alert

←

27 Oct

tap to pick date

→

Today Tomorrow Sat 31 Oct

📍 Nelson Bay Breakwall

full · 99%

Weather: Cloudy Wind: NE 23° · 16 km/h Swell: 0.8 m @ 8 s S Water: 19.1 °C Pressure: 1018.6 hPa → steady Faces north · Offshore: SE, S, SW · Onshore: NW, N, NE · Forecast wind: onshore

★★★☆☆

Medium Fish Activity

Email me when a High bite day is coming Free

▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 6:00 am

Solunar Minor window

Time of day Dawn

Tide Strong flow

Wind E 6 km/h

Moon full all day

Water temp 19.1 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day Timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 5:32 am Last light 7:38 pm

Low 2:54 am High 9:21 am Low 3:49 pm High 9:53 pm

Drag or use arrow keys to explore

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

5:00 am → 7:00 am

Good

7:00 pm → 10:00 pm

Good

12:00 am → 2:00 am

Good

12:30 pm → 2:00 pm

1h 30m

First light

5:32 am

Last light

7:38 pm

Sunrise

5:58 am

Sunset

7:13 pm

Moonrise

8:39 pm

Moonset

6:05 am

Low tide

2:54 am

High tide

9:21 am

Low tide

3:49 pm

High tide

9:53 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☁️

18°

↘︎

126°

12 km/h

1am

🌧️

17°

→︎

102°

8 km/h

2am

🌧️

16°

→︎

91°

8 km/h

3am

☁️

16°

→︎

87°

6 km/h

4am

☁️

16°

↗︎

61°

3 km/h

5am

☁️

16°

→︎

97°

6 km/h

6am

☁️

16°

→︎

77°

6 km/h

7am

☁️

17°

↗︎

49°

7 km/h

8am

☁️

18°

↗︎

28°

7 km/h

9am

☁️

19°

↗︎

37°

8 km/h

10am

🌧️

19°

↗︎

44°

10 km/h

11am

☁️

19°

↗︎

58°

11 km/h

12pm

☁️

20°

↗︎

55°

13 km/h

1pm

☁️

20°

↗︎

46°

15 km/h

2pm

☁️

21°

↗︎

43°

16 km/h

3pm

☁️

21°

↗︎

42°

16 km/h

4pm

🌧️

20°

↗︎

54°

15 km/h

5pm

🌧️

20°

↗︎

54°

16 km/h

6pm

☁️

19°

↗︎

49°

17 km/h

7pm

☀️

19°

↗︎

46°

18 km/h

8pm

☀️

18°

↗︎

38°

17 km/h

9pm

☁️

18°

↗︎

27°

17 km/h

10pm

☁️

17°

↑︎

19°

16 km/h

11pm

☁️

17°

↗︎

23°

16 km/h

Hourly Swell

Easing 1.3 → 0.8 m S

12am

1.3 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

1am

1.3 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

2am

1.3 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

3am

1.2 m

@ 6 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

4am

1.2 m

@ 6 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

5am

1.2 m

@ 6 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

6am

1.2 m

@ 6 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

7am

1.2 m

@ 6 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

8am

1.1 m

@ 6 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

9am

1.1 m

@ 6 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

10am

1.1 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

11am

1.1 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

12pm

1.1 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

1pm

1.1 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

2pm

1.0 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

3pm

1.0 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

4pm

1.0 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Slight

chop

5pm

1.0 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Slight

chop

6pm

0.9 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Slight

chop

7pm

0.9 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Slight

chop

8pm

0.9 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Slight

chop

9pm

0.9 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Slight

chop

10pm

0.9 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Slight

chop

11pm

0.8 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Slight

chop

Water Temp (°C)

↗ warming — up 0.5° over the last 3 days

Sat

24 Oct

18.6°

Sun

25 Oct

18.9°

Mon

26 Oct

19.2°

Tue

27 Oct

19.1°

Wed

28 Oct

19.2°

Thu

29 Oct

19.5°

Fri

30 Oct

20.0°

Sat

31 Oct

20.0°

Sun

1 Nov

20.2°

Mon

2 Nov

20.4°

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 16 km/h NE (23°).

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 → 7:00 am

Good

7:00 pm → 10:00 pm

Good

12:00 am → 2:00 am

Good

12:30 pm → 2:00 pm

1h 30m

First light

5:32 am

Last light

7:38 pm

Sunrise

5:58 am

Sunset

7:13 pm

Moonrise

8:39 pm

Moonset

6:05 am

Low tide

2:54 am

High tide

9:21 am

Low tide

3:49 pm

High tide

9:53 pm

Nearby Spots

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