What fish can you catch at the Spit Bridge?

Dusky flathead are the main land-based target over the sand flats and channel edges, alongside yellowfin bream around the pylons and moorings, sand whiting on the summer flats, and silver trevally in the deeper water. Tailor, bonito and yellowtail kingfish push through on the warm-season run, Australian salmon show in the cooler months, and a mulloway is the after-dark prize. A NSW Recreational Fishing Fee is required to fish anywhere in NSW, including here.

What is the best tide for flathead at the Spit?

The run-out tide is the standout. As the water drains off the flats it pulls flathead, bream and whiting into the channel edges and drop-offs where they sit and ambush bait. Line the last of the run-out up with dawn or dusk and you have the best window the spot offers.

Is there a size limit on flathead at the Spit?

Yes. In NSW dusky flathead must be released if under 36cm or over 70cm — they sit in a 36–70cm slot — with a daily bag limit of 5 and 10 in possession. The bigger flathead on these flats are breeding females, so releasing the larger fish helps keep the fishery healthy regardless of the rule.

Where do you park to fish the Spit Bridge?

Spit West Reserve on the Mosman side, just south of the bridge, has a paid car park, public toilets, drinking water and a grassed foreshore that becomes a beach at low tide. Ellery's Punt Reserve on the north-eastern side also has road parking and a grassed bank, and it is the start of the Spit-to-Manly walk.

Do you need a lifejacket to fish at the Spit?

Wear one whenever you fish swell-washed rock or anywhere over deep water. The Spit is calm harbour bank rather than ocean ledge, so the hazard that actually catches people here is the current ripping through the bridge channel — keep a close eye on anyone small and stay back from the abrupt drop-off into the channel.

Bite Compass

Bite Forecast

The Spit (Middle Harbour)

Wed 16 Sep 2026 · Australia/Sydney

Save

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16 Sep

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Today Tomorrow Sat 19 Sep

📍 The Spit (Middle Harbour)

waxing crescent · 19%

Weather: Sunny Wind: S 190° · 28 km/h Swell: 1.2 m @ 9 s S Water: 18.0 °C Pressure: 1027.5 hPa → steady

★★☆☆☆

Low Fish Activity

▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 5:30 am

Solunar Between windows

Time of day Dawn

Tide Moving

Wind SW 18 km/h

Moon waxing crescent all day

Water temp 18.0 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 5:29 am Last light 6:11 pm

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

Drag or use arrow keys to explore

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

4:30 am → 6:30 am

Good

5:30 pm → 7:00 pm

1h 30m

First light

5:29 am

Last light

6:11 pm

Sunrise

5:53 am

Sunset

5:47 pm

Moonrise

8:18 am

Moonset

11:01 pm

Low tide

4:12 am

High tide

10:50 am

Low tide

5:23 pm

High tide

11:10 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☀️

13°

↓︎

195°

20 km/h

1am

☁️

12°

↙︎

209°

18 km/h

2am

☁️

12°

↙︎

220°

14 km/h

3am

☁️

11°

↙︎

231°

13 km/h

4am

☀️

11°

↙︎

241°

14 km/h

5am

☀️

11°

↙︎

218°

18 km/h

6am

☀️

10°

↙︎

228°

19 km/h

7am

☀️

10°

↙︎

233°

18 km/h

8am

☀️

11°

↙︎

236°

17 km/h

9am

☀️

13°

↙︎

207°

23 km/h

10am

☀️

14°

↓︎

198°

25 km/h

11am

☀️

14°

↓︎

195°

26 km/h

12pm

☀️

15°

↓︎

190°

28 km/h

1pm

☀️

15°

↓︎

189°

30 km/h

2pm

☀️

15°

↓︎

189°

30 km/h

3pm

☀️

15°

↓︎

193°

30 km/h

4pm

☀️

14°

↓︎

190°

31 km/h

5pm

☀️

14°

↓︎

190°

30 km/h

6pm

☀️

14°

↓︎

191°

28 km/h

7pm

☀️

14°

↓︎

192°

27 km/h

8pm

☀️

14°

↓︎

192°

26 km/h

9pm

☀️

14°

↓︎

192°

25 km/h

10pm

☀️

14°

↓︎

193°

25 km/h

11pm

☀️

13°

↓︎

195°

24 km/h

Hourly Swell

Building 0.8 → 1.4 m S

12am

0.8 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

1am

1.0 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Slight

chop

2am

1.0 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

3am

1.0 m

@ 6 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

4am

1.0 m

@ 6 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

5am

1.1 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

1.4 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

10am

1.4 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

11am

1.3 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

12pm

1.2 m

@ 9 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

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

5pm

1.1 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

6pm

1.2 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

7pm

1.3 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

8pm

1.3 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

9pm

1.3 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

10pm

1.3 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

11pm

1.4 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

Water Temp (°C)

→ steady around 18.0°

Sun

13 Sep

18.0°

Mon

14 Sep

18.2°

Tue

15 Sep

18.3°

Wed

16 Sep

18.0°

Thu

17 Sep

17.7°

Fri

18 Sep

17.8°

Sat

19 Sep

17.9°

Sun

20 Sep

18.1°

Mon

21 Sep

18.1°

Tue

22 Sep

18.2°

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 28 km/h S (190°).

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 am → 6:30 am

Good

5:30 pm → 7:00 pm

1h 30m

First light

5:29 am

Last light

6:11 pm

Sunrise

5:53 am

Sunset

5:47 pm

Moonrise

8:18 am

Moonset

11:01 pm

Low tide

4:12 am

High tide

10:50 am

Low tide

5:23 pm

High tide

11:10 pm

Nearby spots

Species at this spot

Dusky Flathead
Yellowfin Bream
Sand Whiting
Silver Trevally
Southern Calamari (Squid)
Yellowtail Kingfish
Tailor
Luderick