What fish can you catch at Pearl Beach NSW?

Off the sand it is mainly sand whiting (best October to April on beach worms), yellowfin bream year-round, and dusky flathead through the warmer months, with tailor and Australian salmon moving through in autumn and winter and the odd mulloway after dark. Bream and tailor also hold around the rocks at the southern end near Green Point. A NSW Recreational Fishing Fee is required to fish anywhere in NSW, salt or fresh.

Do you need a lifejacket to fish the rocks at Pearl Beach?

Yes, on the rocks. The Central Coast local government area is declared under the NSW Rock Fishing Safety Act 2016, and the law applies when you are fishing from rocks exposed to ocean swell — which covers the platforms at the southern end and around Green Point. An approved lifejacket is required: level 50S or greater for adults, level 100 for children under 12. A $100 on-the-spot fine applies, and anyone helping you or any child in your care must wear one too.

What is the best bait and tide for whiting at Pearl Beach?

Live beach worms gathered on the beach at low tide are the standout bait, fished on a small running sinker and a long-shank hook into the gutters. Work the rising tide into dawn or dusk — slack low is usually slow — and target the darker holes and the channels draining off the banks.

Is Pearl Beach good for fishing with kids?

The southern end is the family-friendly corner: it is sheltered and there is a tidal ocean rock pool to paddle in between casts. Light whiting and bream gear off the gentle gutters suits younger anglers. The beach is unpatrolled with no lifeguards, council lists no toilets or playground on the foreshore, so plan for that, and keep clear of the southern rock ledges in any swell — the lifejacket law applies if you do fish them.

What size do you need to keep flathead and whiting at Pearl Beach?

Under NSW rules dusky flathead must fall in a 36–70cm slot — anything over 70cm must be released — with a bag limit of 5 and 10 in possession. Sand whiting have a 27cm minimum inside a 20-fish bag shared across the whiting, and yellowfin bream a 25cm minimum with a bag of 10 shared with tarwhine. Confirm current limits before you keep a feed, and carry your Recreational Fishing Fee receipt — having a rod beside the water without one is itself the offence.

Bite Compass

Bite Forecast

Pearl Beach

Wed 16 Sep 2026 · Australia/Sydney

Save

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16 Sep

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Today Tomorrow Sat 19 Sep

📍 Pearl Beach

waxing crescent · 19%

Weather: Sunny Wind: S 176° · 20 km/h Swell: 1.2 m @ 8 s S Water: 18.3 °C Pressure: 1027.3 hPa ↓ falling

★★★☆☆

Medium Fish Activity

▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 6:00 pm

Solunar Between windows

Time of day Dusk

Tide Moving

Wind S 18 km/h

Moon waxing crescent all day

Water temp 18.3 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 5:28 am Last light 6:11 pm

Low 4:12 am High 10:50 am Low 5:23 pm High 11:08 pm

Drag or use arrow keys to explore

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

3:30 pm → 7:00 pm

3h 30m

Good

4:30 am → 6:30 am

First light

5:28 am

Last light

6:11 pm

Sunrise

5:53 am

Sunset

5:46 pm

Moonrise

8:18 am

Moonset

11:00 pm

Low tide

4:12 am

High tide

10:50 am

Low tide

5:23 pm

High tide

11:08 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☀️

13°

↓︎

188°

13 km/h

1am

☁️

12°

↙︎

209°

11 km/h

2am

☁️

12°

↙︎

213°

10 km/h

3am

☁️

12°

↙︎

222°

9 km/h

4am

☀️

11°

↙︎

240°

10 km/h

5am

☀️

10°

↙︎

239°

12 km/h

6am

☀️

10°

↙︎

237°

11 km/h

7am

☀️

11°

↙︎

229°

13 km/h

8am

☀️

12°

↙︎

221°

17 km/h

9am

☀️

13°

↙︎

208°

17 km/h

10am

☀️

15°

↓︎

192°

16 km/h

11am

☀️

15°

↓︎

185°

17 km/h

12pm

☀️

16°

↓︎

176°

20 km/h

1pm

☀️

16°

↓︎

175°

22 km/h

2pm

☀️

16°

↓︎

178°

23 km/h

3pm

☀️

15°

↓︎

180°

23 km/h

4pm

☀️

16°

↓︎

179°

24 km/h

5pm

☀️

15°

↓︎

178°

21 km/h

6pm

☀️

14°

↓︎

183°

18 km/h

7pm

☀️

13°

↓︎

184°

17 km/h

8pm

☀️

13°

↓︎

181°

20 km/h

9pm

☀️

14°

↓︎

187°

19 km/h

10pm

☀️

13°

↓︎

188°

16 km/h

11pm

☀️

13°

↓︎

197°

15 km/h

Hourly Swell

Building 0.7 → 1.4 m S

12am

0.7 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

1am

0.9 m

@ 6 s

↓︎

Slight

chop

2am

1.0 m

@ 6 s

↓︎

Slight

chop

3am

1.1 m

@ 6 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

4am

1.2 m

@ 6 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

5am

1.2 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

6am

1.2 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

7am

1.3 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

8am

1.3 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

9am

1.3 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

10am

1.3 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

11am

1.2 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

12pm

1.2 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

1pm

1.1 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

2pm

1.1 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

3pm

1.1 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

4pm

1.1 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

5pm

1.2 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

6pm

1.2 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

7pm

1.2 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

8pm

1.3 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

9pm

1.3 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

10pm

1.4 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

11pm

1.4 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

Water Temp (°C)

→ steady around 18.3°

Sun

13 Sep

18.4°

Mon

14 Sep

18.5°

Tue

15 Sep

18.5°

Wed

16 Sep

18.3°

Thu

17 Sep

18.1°

Fri

18 Sep

18.1°

Sat

19 Sep

18.3°

Sun

20 Sep

18.5°

Mon

21 Sep

18.6°

Tue

22 Sep

18.7°

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 20 km/h S (176°).

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

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

3:30 pm → 7:00 pm

3h 30m

Good

4:30 am → 6:30 am

First light

5:28 am

Last light

6:11 pm

Sunrise

5:53 am

Sunset

5:46 pm

Moonrise

8:18 am

Moonset

11:00 pm

Low tide

4:12 am

High tide

10:50 am

Low tide

5:23 pm

High tide

11:08 pm

Nearby spots

Species at this spot

Sand Whiting
Yellowfin Bream
Tailor
Australian Salmon
Dusky Flathead
Dart
Mulloway (Jewfish)