What fish can you catch at Palm Beach wharf in Pittwater?

Mostly bread-and-butter estuary fish: yellowfin bream and dusky flathead year-round, southern calamari over the nearby weed beds, and sand whiting on the summer flats. The deeper channel out front pushes through tailor, in schools to around 45cm, plus bonito, the odd kingfish underneath them, and a chance mulloway after dark. A NSW recreational fishing fee is required to fish anywhere in NSW, including here.

Is Palm Beach wharf good for fishing with kids?

Yes. The wharf is flat and railed, parking and toilets are metres away at Pittwater Park, and there's a playground and picnic area on hand. Bream and small flathead keep rods bending, and squid jigging over the weed is a good way to keep kids interested. Just mind the gap at the deck edge and keep clear when a ferry is loading.

What's the best bait for bream and flathead at Palm Beach?

For bream, fresh prawns, mullet gut and pilchard work well, and they fire after rain washes food through the system. For flathead, fish pilchard or squid baits and 3–5in soft plastic paddletails on the run-out tide along the weed edges. Light fluorocarbon leader of 6–12lb helps in the clear estuary water.

Do you need a fishing licence to fish at Palm Beach wharf?

You need to pay the NSW Recreational Fishing Fee, which covers you to fish anywhere in NSW including estuary wharves like this one. There's no separate licence — carry proof of payment while you fish. Check the bag and size limits before keeping anything: dusky flathead sit in a 36–70cm slot with a bag of 5, and a mulloway has to be 70cm, with a bag of one per person and two per boat when two or more people are aboard.

When is the best time to fish Palm Beach wharf?

Early morning and the hour after sunset are best — quieter foot and ferry traffic and a better bite. Work the run-out tide for flathead off the weed and the rising tide for squid and whiting when the water is cleaner. Autumn into winter is when tailor show in the channel, and December into April is the bonito window.

Bite Compass

Bite Forecast

Palm Beach Wharf (Pittwater)

Sat 31 Oct 2026 · Australia/Sydney

Forecast updated 1:11am AEDT

Bite Alert

←

31 Oct

Today

tap to pick date

→

Today Tomorrow Sat 7 Nov

📍 Palm Beach Wharf (Pittwater)

waning gibbous · 75%

Weather: Sunny Wind: N 357° · 11 km/h Swell: 0.8 m @ 7 s E Water: 19.4 °C Pressure: 1019.6 hPa Sheltered water: wind direction matters less here

★★★★☆

High Fish Activity

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▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 5:30 am

Solunar Major window

Time of day Dawn

Tide Turning

Wind N 8 km/h

Moon waning gibbous all day

Water temp 19.4 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Now

Day Timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 5:30 am Last light 7:47 pm

High 12:44 am Low 6:06 am High 12:49 pm Low 8:00 pm

Drag or use arrow keys to explore

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

4:00 am → 7:30 am

3h 30m

Good

4:30 pm → 9:00 pm

4h 30m

Good

12:00 am → 1:30 am

1h 30m

Good

10:00 am → 10:30 am

30m

First light

5:30 am

Last light

7:47 pm

Sunrise

5:56 am

Sunset

7:21 pm

Moonrise

12:11 am

Moonset

9:54 am

High tide

12:44 am

Low tide

6:06 am

High tide

12:49 pm

Low tide

8:00 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☁️

18°

↑︎

16°

15 km/h

1am

☁️

17°

↑︎

357°

11 km/h

Now

☀️

17°

↑︎

350°

10 km/h

3am

☁️

16°

↑︎

355°

7 km/h

4am

☁️

15°

↖︎

329°

7 km/h

5am

☁️

15°

↑︎

4°

8 km/h

6am

☁️

15°

↑︎

2°

10 km/h

7am

☁️

16°

↑︎

359°

10 km/h

8am

☁️

19°

↑︎

8°

8 km/h

9am

☀️

22°

↑︎

22°

9 km/h

10am

☀️

25°

↑︎

17°

11 km/h

11am

☀️

26°

↗︎

39°

16 km/h

12pm

☀️

26°

↗︎

49°

20 km/h

1pm

🌧️

25°

↗︎

49°

20 km/h

2pm

🌧️

26°

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26°

22 km/h

3pm

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24°

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46°

23 km/h

4pm

🌧️

25°

↗︎

44°

21 km/h

5pm

🌧️

24°

↗︎

36°

18 km/h

6pm

🌧️

23°

↗︎

30°

18 km/h

7pm

🌧️

22°

↗︎

29°

13 km/h

8pm

🌧️

21°

↑︎

350°

4 km/h

9pm

☀️

20°

↑︎

350°

10 km/h

10pm

☀️

20°

↖︎

321°

18 km/h

11pm

🌧️

19°

←︎

291°

16 km/h

Hourly Swell

Steady ~0.9 m NE

12am

0.8 m

@ 7 s

→︎

Slight

chop

1am

0.8 m

@ 7 s

→︎

Slight

chop

Now

0.8 m

@ 7 s

→︎

Slight

chop

3am

0.8 m

@ 6 s

→︎

Slight

chop

4am

0.8 m

@ 6 s

→︎

Slight

chop

5am

0.8 m

@ 6 s

→︎

Slight

chop

6am

0.8 m

@ 6 s

→︎

Slight

chop

7am

0.8 m

@ 6 s

→︎

Slight

chop

8am

0.8 m

@ 6 s

→︎

Slight

chop

9am

0.7 m

@ 6 s

→︎

Slight

chop

10am

0.7 m

@ 6 s

→︎

Slight

chop

11am

0.7 m

@ 6 s

→︎

Slight

chop

12pm

0.7 m

@ 6 s

→︎

Slight

chop

1pm

0.7 m

@ 6 s

→︎

Slight

chop

2pm

0.7 m

@ 6 s

→︎

Slight

chop

3pm

0.7 m

@ 6 s

→︎

Slight

chop

4pm

0.7 m

@ 6 s

→︎

Slight

chop

5pm

0.7 m

@ 6 s

→︎

Slight

chop

6pm

0.7 m

@ 6 s

→︎

Slight

chop

7pm

0.8 m

@ 5 s

→︎

Slight

chop

8pm

0.8 m

@ 5 s

↗︎

Slight

chop

9pm

0.8 m

@ 5 s

↗︎

Slight

chop

10pm

0.8 m

@ 5 s

↗︎

Slight

chop

11pm

0.9 m

@ 5 s

↗︎

Slight

chop

Water Temp (°C)

↗ warming — up 0.9° over the last 3 days

Wed

28 Oct

18.5°

Thu

29 Oct

18.7°

Fri

30 Oct

19.5°

Sat

31 Oct

19.4°

Sun

1 Nov

19.5°

Mon

2 Nov

19.6°

Tue

3 Nov

19.7°

Wed

4 Nov

19.9°

Thu

5 Nov

19.6°

Fri

6 Nov

19.5°

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 11 km/h N (357°).

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

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

4:00 am → 7:30 am

3h 30m

Good

4:30 pm → 9:00 pm

4h 30m

Good

12:00 am → 1:30 am

1h 30m

Good

10:00 am → 10:30 am

30m

First light

5:30 am

Last light

7:47 pm

Sunrise

5:56 am

Sunset

7:21 pm

Moonrise

12:11 am

Moonset

9:54 am

High tide

12:44 am

Low tide

6:06 am

High tide

12:49 pm

Low tide

8:00 pm

Nearby Spots

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