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

Fri 18 Sep 2026 · Australia/Sydney

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18 Sep

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Today Tomorrow Sat 19 Sep

📍 Redhead Beach

first quarter · 38%

Weather: Sunny Wind: E 82° · 5 km/h Swell: 0.8 m @ 8 s S Water: 18.9 °C Pressure: 1027.2 hPa ↓ falling

★★★★☆

High Fish Activity

▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 6:00 pm

Solunar Major window

Time of day Dusk

Tide Moving

Wind NE 17 km/h

Moon first quarter all day

Water temp 18.9 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 5:24 am Last light 6:10 pm

Low 5:39 am High 12:30 pm Low 7:30 pm

Drag or use arrow keys to explore

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

4:30 pm → 9:00 pm

4h 30m

Good

5:00 am → 7:00 am

Good

9:30 am → 10:30 am

Good

12:30 pm → 2:00 pm

1h 30m

First light

5:24 am

Last light

6:10 pm

Sunrise

5:48 am

Sunset

5:46 pm

Moonrise

9:42 am

Moonset

12:50 am

Low tide

5:39 am

High tide

12:30 pm

Low tide

7:30 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☀️

12°

←︎

253°

7 km/h

1am

☀️

12°

←︎

253°

7 km/h

2am

☀️

12°

←︎

271°

8 km/h

3am

☀️

11°

←︎

287°

8 km/h

4am

☀️

11°

↖︎

296°

6 km/h

5am

☀️

10°

↖︎

312°

7 km/h

6am

☀️

10°

↖︎

324°

8 km/h

7am

☀️

10°

↖︎

330°

9 km/h

8am

☀️

12°

↖︎

334°

9 km/h

9am

☀️

15°

↑︎

338°

8 km/h

10am

☀️

18°

↑︎

347°

6 km/h

11am

☀️

19°

↑︎

21°

4 km/h

12pm

☀️

20°

→︎

82°

5 km/h

1pm

☀️

21°

→︎

97°

9 km/h

2pm

☀️

21°

→︎

92°

12 km/h

3pm

☀️

20°

→︎

83°

15 km/h

4pm

☀️

19°

→︎

76°

17 km/h

5pm

☁️

18°

↗︎

67°

18 km/h

6pm

☁️

18°

↗︎

56°

17 km/h

7pm

☁️

17°

↗︎

44°

16 km/h

8pm

☀️

16°

↗︎

31°

14 km/h

9pm

☀️

15°

↑︎

11°

11 km/h

10pm

☀️

14°

↑︎

349°

10 km/h

11pm

☀️

14°

↖︎

330°

10 km/h

Hourly Swell

Steady ~1.2 m S

12am

1.2 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

1am

1.1 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

2am

1.1 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

3am

1.0 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

4am

1.0 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Slight

chop

5am

0.9 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Slight

chop

6am

0.9 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Slight

chop

7am

0.8 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Slight

chop

8am

0.8 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Slight

chop

9am

0.8 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Slight

chop

10am

0.8 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Slight

chop

11am

0.8 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Slight

chop

12pm

0.8 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Slight

chop

1pm

0.8 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Slight

chop

2pm

0.9 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Slight

chop

3pm

0.9 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Slight

chop

4pm

1.0 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

5pm

1.0 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

6pm

1.0 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

7pm

1.0 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

8pm

1.1 m

@ 8 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

9pm

1.1 m

@ 8 s

↘︎

Moderate

10pm

1.2 m

@ 8 s

↘︎

Moderate

11pm

1.2 m

@ 8 s

↘︎

Moderate

Water Temp (°C)

↘ cooling — down 0.5° over the last 3 days

Tue

15 Sep

19.4°

Wed

16 Sep

19.2°

Thu

17 Sep

19.0°

Fri

18 Sep

18.9°

Sat

19 Sep

19.0°

Sun

20 Sep

19.1°

Mon

21 Sep

19.2°

Tue

22 Sep

19.2°

Wed

23 Sep

19.2°

Thu

24 Sep

—

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 5 km/h E (82°).

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

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

4:30 pm → 9:00 pm

4h 30m

Good

5:00 am → 7:00 am

Good

9:30 am → 10:30 am

Good

12:30 pm → 2:00 pm

1h 30m

First light

5:24 am

Last light

6:10 pm

Sunrise

5:48 am

Sunset

5:46 pm

Moonrise

9:42 am

Moonset

12:50 am

Low tide

5:39 am

High tide

12:30 pm

Low tide

7:30 pm

Nearby spots

Species at this spot

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