What fish can you catch at Parsley Bay Vaucluse?

Mostly bread-and-butter species: yellowfin bream and dusky flathead through the warmer months, with silver trevally and luderick (blackfish) more common in the cooler months. Leatherjacket, sand whiting and squid show up too, and the occasional yellowtail kingfish or jewfish is taken. You need a NSW Recreational Fishing Fee to fish here, like anywhere in NSW.

Can you fish off the jetty at Parsley Bay?

Yes — anglers fish the jetty on the harbour side, past the swimming net, where the bottom drops into a sand-and-weed edge that holds bream, flathead and trevally. Inside the netted enclosure is for swimmers, so cast from the outer end and keep lines clear of people in the water, especially in summer.

Is there parking at Parsley Bay Reserve?

The reserve car park and Horler Avenue vehicle access have been closed for Sydney Water's pump station works since May 2024, with reopening scheduled for late 2026, so park on the streets up top and walk in. Sydney Water nominates Hopetoun Avenue, Fitzwilliam Road and The Crescent as the pedestrian routes into the reserve, and Horler Avenue stays open to pedestrians and prams; it is a walk of around 10 to 15 minutes on concrete paths through the gully and across the suspension bridge. Buses run along the ridge above the reserve.

What is the size limit for flathead at Parsley Bay?

Dusky flathead in NSW have a slot limit of 36 to 70cm — you can keep fish within that range, with a bag limit of 5 and 10 in possession, and anything under 36cm or over 70cm must be released, as the big ones are the breeding females. It is worth checking the current NSW DPIRD limits before you keep a fish.

When is the best time to fish Parsley Bay?

A run-in tide around dawn or dusk is best, since the bay is shallow and the rising water brings fish in over the flats. Summer is the broad peak for bream and flathead; the cooler months favour trevally and luderick. Early or late sessions also dodge the swimmers and picnic crowds that fill the reserve in summer.

Bite Compass

Bite Forecast

Parsley Bay (Vaucluse)

Sat 31 Oct 2026 · Australia/Sydney

Forecast updated 11:19am AEDT

Bite Alert

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31 Oct

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Today Tomorrow Sat 31 Oct

📍 Parsley Bay (Vaucluse)

waning gibbous · 75%

Weather: Cloudy Wind: NE 36° · 13 km/h Swell: 0.7 m @ 9 s SE Water: 19.2 °C Pressure: 1014.0 hPa ↓ falling Sheltered water: wind direction matters less here

★★★☆☆

Medium 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 5 km/h

Moon waning gibbous all day

Water temp 19.2 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day Timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 5:29 am Last light 7:47 pm

High 12:45 am Low 6:11 am High 12:51 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

7:00 pm → 9:00 pm

Good

4:30 pm → 6:00 pm

1h 30m

Good

12:00 am → 1:30 am

1h 30m

First light

5:29 am

Last light

7:47 pm

Sunrise

5:55 am

Sunset

7:21 pm

Moonrise

12:12 am

Moonset

9:53 am

High tide

12:45 am

Low tide

6:11 am

High tide

12:51 pm

Low tide

8:00 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☁️

18°

↑︎

15°

12 km/h

1am

☁️

18°

↑︎

9°

11 km/h

2am

☀️

17°

↑︎

4°

8 km/h

3am

☁️

16°

↑︎

356°

7 km/h

4am

☀️

16°

↑︎

348°

8 km/h

5am

☁️

15°

↑︎

358°

5 km/h

6am

☀️

15°

↑︎

18°

9 km/h

7am

☁️

16°

↑︎

18°

9 km/h

8am

☁️

18°

↑︎

9°

9 km/h

9am

☁️

21°

↑︎

13°

7 km/h

10am

☁️

23°

↑︎

14°

9 km/h

11am

☁️

24°

↑︎

21°

11 km/h

12pm

☁️

25°

↗︎

36°

13 km/h

1pm

☁️

24°

↗︎

34°

14 km/h

2pm

🌧️

24°

↗︎

36°

13 km/h

3pm

🌧️

24°

↗︎

45°

16 km/h

4pm

🌧️

25°

↗︎

38°

21 km/h

5pm

🌧️

24°

↗︎

23°

23 km/h

6pm

🌧️

23°

↑︎

18°

22 km/h

7pm

🌧️

22°

↑︎

12°

19 km/h

8pm

🌧️

22°

↑︎

4°

17 km/h

9pm

🌧️

21°

↑︎

356°

16 km/h

10pm

🌧️

21°

↑︎

346°

15 km/h

11pm

🌧️

21°

↖︎

337°

15 km/h

Hourly Swell

Steady ~0.8 m E

12am

0.8 m

@ 11 s

↓︎

Slight

ground

1am

0.8 m

@ 11 s

↓︎

Slight

ground

2am

0.8 m

@ 11 s

↓︎

Slight

ground

3am

0.8 m

@ 11 s

↓︎

Slight

ground

4am

0.8 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Slight

ground

5am

0.8 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Slight

6am

0.8 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Slight

7am

0.8 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Slight

8am

0.8 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Slight

9am

0.7 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Slight

10am

0.7 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Slight

ground

11am

0.7 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Slight

12pm

0.7 m

@ 9 s

↘︎

Slight

1pm

0.7 m

@ 8 s

→︎

Slight

chop

2pm

0.7 m

@ 7 s

↗︎

Slight

chop

3pm

0.6 m

@ 7 s

↗︎

Slight

chop

4pm

0.6 m

@ 7 s

→︎

Slight

chop

5pm

0.6 m

@ 7 s

→︎

Slight

chop

6pm

0.7 m

@ 7 s

→︎

Slight

chop

7pm

0.8 m

@ 6 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

0.8 m

@ 5 s

↗︎

Slight

chop

Water Temp (°C)

→ steady around 19.2°

Wed

28 Oct

18.9°

Thu

29 Oct

19.1°

Fri

30 Oct

19.5°

Sat

31 Oct

19.2°

Sun

1 Nov

19.2°

Mon

2 Nov

19.6°

Tue

3 Nov

19.6°

Wed

4 Nov

19.6°

Thu

5 Nov

19.6°

Fri

6 Nov

19.5°

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 13 km/h NE (36°).

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

7:00 pm → 9:00 pm

Good

4:30 pm → 6:00 pm

1h 30m

Good

12:00 am → 1:30 am

1h 30m

First light

5:29 am

Last light

7:47 pm

Sunrise

5:55 am

Sunset

7:21 pm

Moonrise

12:12 am

Moonset

9:53 am

High tide

12:45 am

Low tide

6:11 am

High tide

12:51 pm

Low tide

8:00 pm

Nearby Spots

Species at This Spot

Keep Tabs on Parsley Bay (Vaucluse)

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