What fish can you catch at the Rip Bridge in Brisbane Water?

Dusky flathead are the main draw, especially from spring through autumn along the weed edges toward Half Tide Rocks. You will also find yellowfin bream and silver trevally year-round, sand whiting over the warmer months, luderick from autumn into winter, and mulloway (jewfish) on the deeper channel edges after dark. A NSW Recreational Fishing Fee is required to fish anywhere in NSW, including here, and the receipt has to be carried.

When is the best tide to fish the Rip Bridge?

Fish the slack and the first hour either side of the tide change. The current rips through the narrows on the make and the run-out, often too fast to hold bottom, so the workable windows are around the turn of the tide. Bigger tides on the new and full moon move the most bait and tend to switch the flathead and jewfish on.

Can you fish the Rip Bridge from the shore, or do you need a boat?

You can fish it land-based, from the Booker Bay wharves and the foreshore either side, which give access to the channel edges and weed beds — that stretch is well known for flathead on soft plastics. What you should not do is fish from the bridge deck: fishing from the deck of a Transport for NSW bridge is not permitted, and the footway here is narrow with live traffic beside it. A boat or kayak opens up more of the drop-offs around Half Tide Rocks and Paddy's Channel, but plenty of fish are caught from the bank.

What are the flathead size and bag limits at the Rip Bridge?

Dusky flathead in NSW must fall within a 36–70cm slot to be kept — anything over 70cm must be released, as those are the big breeding females. The bag limit is 5 per person with 10 in possession. Mulloway are 70cm with a bag of one. Check the current NSW rules before you go, and remember a NSW Recreational Fishing Fee is required to fish in NSW.

Is the Rip Bridge a good spot for kids and beginners?

The wharves and flat foreshore are easy to access, and the calm shallow margins around Booker Bay suit a beginner whiting-and-bream session. The catch is the current — the channel under and around the bridge runs hard, so keep kids well back from the edge and on the calmer margins rather than the fast water. Nippers can be pumped on the way in — the digging closure below the bridge covers the Ettalong shore and bans any method involving a spade or fork, but a nipper pump is expressly permitted.

Bite Compass

Bite Forecast

Rip Bridge (Brisbane Water)

Wed 21 Oct 2026 · Australia/Sydney

Forecast updated Wed 21 Oct, 11:08pm AEDT

Bite Alert

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21 Oct

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Today Tomorrow Sat 31 Oct

📍 Rip Bridge (Brisbane Water)

waxing gibbous · 73%

Weather: Rainy Wind: NE 58° · 7 km/h Swell: 0.8 m @ 5 s E Water: 19.8 °C Pressure: 1024.2 hPa → steady Sheltered water: wind direction matters less here

★★★☆☆

Medium Fish Activity

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▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 7:30 pm

Solunar Between windows

Time of day Dusk

Tide Moving

Wind NE 17 km/h

Moon waxing gibbous all day

Water temp 19.8 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day Timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 5:41 am Last light 7:37 pm

High 5:38 am Low 11:00 am High 5:16 pm

Drag or use arrow keys to explore

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

5:30 pm → 10:30 pm

Good

8:30 am → 12:00 pm

3h 30m

Good

5:30 am → 7:00 am

1h 30m

First light

5:41 am

Last light

7:37 pm

Sunrise

6:06 am

Sunset

7:12 pm

Moonrise

2:11 pm

Moonset

3:07 am

High tide

5:38 am

Low tide

11:00 am

High tide

5:16 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

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18°

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31°

15 km/h

1am

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18°

↑︎

17°

12 km/h

2am

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16°

↑︎

353°

7 km/h

3am

☁️

15°

↖︎

298°

3 km/h

4am

☁️

15°

←︎

270°

6 km/h

5am

☁️

15°

←︎

254°

3 km/h

6am

☁️

15°

←︎

253°

3 km/h

7am

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16°

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252°

4 km/h

8am

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19°

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90°

1 km/h

9am

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20°

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62°

10 km/h

10am

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21°

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62°

14 km/h

11am

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20°

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83°

13 km/h

12pm

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21°

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68°

13 km/h

1pm

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21°

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80°

17 km/h

2pm

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21°

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70°

19 km/h

3pm

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21°

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67°

18 km/h

4pm

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21°

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74°

18 km/h

5pm

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20°

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73°

16 km/h

6pm

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20°

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68°

17 km/h

7pm

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19°

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60°

17 km/h

8pm

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18°

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51°

16 km/h

9pm

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18°

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39°

15 km/h

10pm

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17°

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42°

16 km/h

11pm

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17°

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58°

7 km/h

Hourly Swell

Steady ~0.8 m E

12am

0.7 m

@ 5 s

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Slight

chop

1am

0.7 m

@ 4 s

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Slight

chop

2am

0.6 m

@ 4 s

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Slight

chop

3am

0.7 m

@ 4 s

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Slight

chop

4am

0.7 m

@ 4 s

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Slight

chop

5am

0.7 m

@ 5 s

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Slight

chop

6am

0.7 m

@ 5 s

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Slight

chop

7am

0.7 m

@ 5 s

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Slight

chop

8am

0.7 m

@ 5 s

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Slight

chop

9am

0.7 m

@ 5 s

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Slight

chop

10am

0.7 m

@ 5 s

→︎

Slight

chop

11am

0.6 m

@ 5 s

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Slight

chop

12pm

0.6 m

@ 5 s

→︎

Slight

chop

1pm

0.7 m

@ 5 s

→︎

Slight

chop

2pm

0.7 m

@ 6 s

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Slight

chop

3pm

0.7 m

@ 6 s

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Slight

chop

4pm

0.7 m

@ 6 s

→︎

Slight

chop

5pm

0.7 m

@ 6 s

→︎

Slight

chop

6pm

0.7 m

@ 6 s

→︎

Slight

chop

7pm

0.7 m

@ 5 s

→︎

Slight

chop

8pm

0.7 m

@ 5 s

→︎

Slight

chop

9pm

0.8 m

@ 5 s

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Slight

chop

10pm

0.8 m

@ 5 s

→︎

Slight

chop

11pm

0.8 m

@ 5 s

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Slight

chop

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 7 km/h NE (58°).

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

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

5:30 pm → 10:30 pm

Good

8:30 am → 12:00 pm

3h 30m

Good

5:30 am → 7:00 am

1h 30m

First light

5:41 am

Last light

7:37 pm

Sunrise

6:06 am

Sunset

7:12 pm

Moonrise

2:11 pm

Moonset

3:07 am

High tide

5:38 am

Low tide

11:00 am

High tide

5:16 pm

Nearby Spots

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