Red Point (Hill 60)

Red Point is the rocky headland at Hill 60, just south of Port Kembla harbour, and it is one of the Illawarra's most productive land-based rock marks. The platform sits hard against deep blue water with washy ledges, white-water gutters and current sweeping past the point — exactly the structure that pulls pelagics in close. Locals fish it for salmon, tailor, bonito and snapper through the year, and for kingfish when the East Australian Current pushes warm water down the coast. The same wash that holds the bait makes it lethal in swell: five people drowned fishing these rocks in the first seven weeks of 2021, three swept off in late January and two more in mid-February. It rewards anglers who read the ocean and punishes those who do not, and it is a serious headland rather than a casual cast.

Most of the work here is done with metal. Anglers spin slugs and stickbaits over the wash and along the current line for salmon, tailor and bonito, fishing the first and last hours of light when the surface bite fires. For kingfish the play is a live yellowtail or slimy mackerel float-lined or balloon-fished off the deeper ledges, or a fast-wound stickbait when fish show on top. Snapper and bream come to floated pilchard, cunje and prawn drifted into the foam and washed back along the ledge, while luderick anglers berley a corner with weed and fish green weed under a float in the calmer months. A rising tide with moderate run and a manageable swell sweeping the rocks is the window everyone waits for; dead-flat and heaving days both turn it off.

Australian salmon are the bread and butter through the cooler months, with the best runs from autumn into spring chasing schools of whitebait and pilchard — no minimum size in NSW, but a bag of only 5. Tailor turn up right through the year and chop hardest from autumn into winter at dawn and dusk, running to a 30cm minimum with a bag of 10, while bonito and the odd kingfish push through on warm currents from late spring into autumn. Snapper hold on the reefy ground year-round at 30cm with a bag of 10 and fire best on a fresh easterly wash, and rock blackfish — black drummer, 30cm and a bag of 10 — eat cunje and bread berley off the lower ledges whenever the white water is up. In the calmer corners, luderick run through the cooler half of the year at 27cm with a bag of 10 and silver trevally show up alongside them at 30cm with a bag of 10 across the trevallies. Kingfish are 65cm with a bag of 5 and bonito carry no size limit and a bag of 10. Expect mixed bags rather than one target species.

Watch a full set of waves before committing to any ledge, and never turn your back on the water — the bigger sets here arrive in groups and run well up the rock. Fish with a mate, tell someone your plan, and wear cleated boots or rock spikes; the platform is slick with weed and spray. The dawn and dusk light edges are worth more than any tide here, so arrive in the dark and be set up before first light. If a southerly swell is building or the bureau shows a 2m-plus reading, fish the Port Kembla breakwall or the harbour instead and come back when it drops.

Park at the Hill 60 lookout car park off Military Road, Port Kembla, where there is a sealed car park, the lookout and walking tracks cut into the headland. From the car park it is a short but steep walk down onto the ledges, with the lower fishing platforms reached by scrambling over rock — not a stroller or wheelchair proposition. Hill 60, also known as the Illowra Battery, is a declared Aboriginal Place, so stay on the formed tracks and leave the ground and the wartime structures as you find them. There are no toilets on the rocks, with the nearest facilities over at MM Beach and Fishermans Beach. Kids are far better suited to the protected sand at Fishermans Beach or the harbour breakwall than to the exposed ledges, which are no place for children when any swell is running.

This is a low-swell spot. It fishes best on a swell under about 1.5m with light to moderate west, north-west or north winds holding the platform clean, ideally on a rising tide into a high in the early morning. A fresh easterly or southerly swell stacks white water onto the ledges and makes the lower marks dangerous and unfishable; that is the day to walk away. Warm, blue water pushing in on the current switches on the pelagics, while a cold green push tends to favour the snapper and blackfish. If the wash is washing right over the platform, it is blown out — there is no safe version of fishing big swell here.

These rocks have a body count: five people drowned fishing here in the first seven weeks of 2021, three swept off in late January and two more in mid-February, and the headland is exposed to ocean swell that surges over the lower ledges without much warning. Wollongong is a declared rock-fishing area under the Rock Fishing Safety Act 2016 and the council's map shades the rock on both sides of this headland, so a lifejacket is compulsory when you fish with rod, line or handline from naturally occurring rock exposed to ocean swell here, and the duty covers anyone helping you and any child under 12 in your care: adults need AS 4758 level 50S or higher, under-12s level 100 or higher. Wear one anywhere on this headland rather than trying to read the map off the stone. An inflatable has to be professionally serviced every twelve months and cannot rely on oral inflation alone. Police enforce it with a $100 on-the-spot fine. The nearest angel ring is at Battery Point, Port Kembla, so work out your route to it before you climb down. Beyond the swell, the rock is slippery with weed and spray, the climb down is steep, and there are no railings on the fishing ledges themselves — cleated boots, a mate and a hard no on big-swell days are non-negotiable.

Yes. A paid NSW Recreational Fishing Fee is required to fish anywhere in NSW, salt or fresh, including from the rocks at Hill 60. It runs $7 for three days, $14 for a month, $35 for a year or $85 for three years, and you must carry proof while fishing. There are limited exemptions, including under-18s and Pensioner Concession Card holders, but most adult anglers need to pay it.

Yes. Wollongong is a declared area under the Rock Fishing Safety Act 2016 and the council's map shades the rock on both sides of this headland, so a lifejacket is compulsory when you fish with rod, line or handline from naturally occurring rock exposed to ocean swell here, whatever your age. Wear one anywhere on the headland rather than trying to work out where the shading stops. Adults need AS 4758 level 50S or higher and under-12s level 100 or higher, and the fine is $100 on the spot. Given five people drowned on these rocks in the first seven weeks of 2021, it is worth wearing one on merit rather than for the fine.

The headland produces Australian salmon, tailor, bonito, yellowtail kingfish, snapper and rock blackfish (black drummer) off the ocean ledges, plus luderick and silver trevally in the calmer corners. Salmon and tailor are the year-round mainstays, while bonito and kingfish run on warm summer-to-autumn currents. Check current NSW DPIRD limits before keeping anything — kingfish must be at least 65cm with a bag of 5, and Australian salmon have no minimum size at all in NSW but a bag of only 5.

Early morning and late evening on a rising tide, with a swell under about 1.5m and light west-to-north winds, are the prime windows. Summer dawns before the nor'easter gets up are the most reliable for surface-spinning bonito and kingfish, while autumn through spring is best for salmon. If there is a solid easterly or southerly swell running, fish the breakwall or harbour instead — the rock platform becomes genuinely dangerous.

The exposed rock ledges are not a beginner or kid spot — the climb down is steep, the rock is slippery and swell surges over the platform. Families are far better off at the protected sand of Fishermans Beach right below the headland or on the Port Kembla breakwall, both of which still produce fish. Anyone new to rock fishing should go with an experienced local, wear the lifejacket the law requires here, and never fish big seas.