Where is the best gutter to fish at Redhead Beach?

The known starting point is the gutter 100–200m south of the Redhead Surf Life Saving Club, where the bars carve a deep channel that holds bait and predators. Gutters shift with every swell, though, so scout the beach at low tide after a sea and fish the deepest channel you find on the run-in and high tide. You'll need a NSW Recreational Fishing Fee to fish here, even from the beach.

Can you catch jewfish (mulloway) at Redhead Beach?

Yes — Redhead is a recognised mulloway beach, best after dark from roughly March to September. Fish fresh squid heads, whole pilchards or live tailor at the gutter mouths as the tide drains baitfish through gaps in the bar. The legal minimum length in NSW is 70cm with a bag limit of 1 per person, plus a boat limit of 2 per boat per day when two or more people are aboard; anything shorter goes back.

Do you need a lifejacket to rock fish at Redhead?

Yes. Lake Macquarie City Council's map marks the Redhead headland platform as a declared high-risk rock fishing location, so a lifejacket is compulsory when you fish with rod, line or handline from naturally occurring rock exposed to ocean swell here. The duty covers anyone helping you and any child under 12 in your care, adults need AS 4758 level 50S or greater and under-12s level 100, and a $100 on-the-spot fine applies. Fish the bluff platform only in under 1m of swell, and treat the rocks here with real caution.

Where do you park to fish Redhead Beach?

The main car park is at the Redhead Surf Life Saving Club on Beach Road, with toilets, showers and a kiosk on site. A second access point to the south near the dog beach helps you avoid the crowd. From either, the signature gutter is a short walk down the sand, and the northern rock platform is a longer walk into Awabakal Nature Reserve.

When is the best time to fish Redhead Beach?

Dawn, dusk and night on a high or run-in tide are the prime windows, with offshore westerly winds flattening the surf and cleaning up the gutters. Tailor run all year, salmon push through June to September, whiting fire on calm summer mornings, and mulloway are an after-dark, cold-season target.

Bite Compass

Bite Forecast

Redhead Beach

Thu 17 Sep 2026 · Australia/Sydney

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17 Sep

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Today Tomorrow Sat 19 Sep

📍 Redhead Beach

waxing crescent · 28%

Weather: Rainy Wind: S 196° · 32 km/h Swell: 1.9 m @ 8 s SE Water: 18.9 °C Pressure: 1030.9 hPa → steady

★★★☆☆

Medium Fish Activity

▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 5:30 am

Solunar Between windows

Time of day Dawn

Tide Moving

Wind SW 26 km/h

Moon waxing crescent all day

Water temp 18.9 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 5:25 am Last light 6:10 pm

Low 4:48 am High 11:30 am Low 6:30 pm

Drag or use arrow keys to explore

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

5:00 am → 6:30 am

1h 30m

Good

4:00 pm → 7:30 pm

3h 30m

First light

5:25 am

Last light

6:10 pm

Sunrise

5:50 am

Sunset

5:46 pm

Moonrise

8:57 am

Moonset

11:56 pm

Low tide

4:48 am

High tide

11:30 am

Low tide

6:30 pm

High tide

11:47 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

🌧️

15°

↓︎

187°

33 km/h

1am

🌧️

14°

↓︎

189°

33 km/h

2am

🌧️

14°

↓︎

194°

32 km/h

3am

🌧️

13°

↓︎

199°

32 km/h

4am

🌧️

13°

↙︎

205°

30 km/h

5am

🌧️

12°

↙︎

214°

26 km/h

6am

🌧️

11°

↙︎

228°

22 km/h

7am

🌧️

11°

↙︎

236°

20 km/h

8am

🌧️

12°

↙︎

226°

22 km/h

9am

🌧️

13°

↙︎

212°

27 km/h

10am

🌧️

14°

↙︎

203°

32 km/h

11am

🌧️

15°

↓︎

199°

32 km/h

12pm

🌧️

15°

↓︎

196°

32 km/h

1pm

🌧️

15°

↓︎

194°

31 km/h

2pm

🌧️

15°

↓︎

192°

30 km/h

3pm

🌧️

15°

↓︎

191°

28 km/h

4pm

🌧️

16°

↓︎

190°

27 km/h

5pm

🌧️

15°

↓︎

190°

25 km/h

6pm

🌧️

15°

↓︎

191°

23 km/h

7pm

🌧️

15°

↓︎

190°

21 km/h

8pm

🌧️

15°

↓︎

185°

20 km/h

9pm

🌧️

15°

↓︎

179°

19 km/h

10pm

🌧️

15°

↓︎

175°

17 km/h

11pm

☁️

15°

↓︎

174°

15 km/h

Hourly Swell

Steady ~1.6 m S

12am

1.6 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

1am

1.7 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

2am

1.8 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

3am

2.0 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

4am

2.1 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Solid

chop

5am

2.0 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Solid

chop

6am

1.9 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

7am

1.8 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

8am

1.9 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

9am

1.9 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

10am

1.9 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

11am

1.9 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

12pm

1.9 m

@ 8 s

↘︎

Moderate

1pm

2.0 m

@ 8 s

↘︎

Moderate

2pm

1.9 m

@ 8 s

↘︎

Moderate

3pm

1.9 m

@ 8 s

↘︎

Moderate

4pm

1.9 m

@ 8 s

↘︎

Moderate

5pm

1.9 m

@ 8 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

6pm

1.9 m

@ 8 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

7pm

2.0 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

8pm

1.9 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

9pm

1.8 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

10pm

1.7 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

11pm

1.6 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

Water Temp (°C)

↘ cooling — down 0.5° over the last 3 days

Mon

14 Sep

19.4°

Tue

15 Sep

19.4°

Wed

16 Sep

19.2°

Thu

17 Sep

18.9°

Fri

18 Sep

18.9°

Sat

19 Sep

19.0°

Sun

20 Sep

19.0°

Mon

21 Sep

19.1°

Tue

22 Sep

19.1°

Wed

23 Sep

—

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 32 km/h S (196°).

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 → 6:30 am

1h 30m

Good

4:00 pm → 7:30 pm

3h 30m

First light

5:25 am

Last light

6:10 pm

Sunrise

5:50 am

Sunset

5:46 pm

Moonrise

8:57 am

Moonset

11:56 pm

Low tide

4:48 am

High tide

11:30 am

Low tide

6:30 pm

High tide

11:47 pm

Nearby spots

Species at this spot

Tailor
Australian Salmon
Mulloway (Jewfish)
Sand Whiting
Yellowfin Bream
Rock Blackfish
Luderick