What fish can you catch at Wally's Wharf Dolans Bay?

Yellowfin bream are the year-round mainstay around the moorings and pylons, with sand whiting over the flats in the warmer months, roughly October to April, dusky flathead from spring into autumn, luderick along the weed and wharf in winter, and silver trevally around the moorings. Yakkas school right off the wharf and make good live bait. Note that Shiprock Aquatic Reserve starts about 300 m south at the end of Shiprock Road, and it is a no-take reserve where no fishing by any method is allowed. A NSW Recreational Fishing Fee is required to fish anywhere in NSW, including from this wharf.

Is there parking and a toilet at Wally's Wharf?

Yes. There are toilets on site and street parking along Port Hacking Road South, but parking is limited and fills quickly on weekends when the boat ramp is busy, with a steep walk down to the water. Weekday mornings are the easier and quieter time to get a spot.

What's the best tide for fishing Dolans Bay?

The run-out tide is the standout. As the water falls it pulls bait off the shallow flats and past the wharf and moorings, switching on the bream, whiting and luderick. The dead-low slack in this shallow bay can shut the bite off, so fish the moving water and target early morning or late afternoon.

What size flathead can you keep at Port Hacking?

Dusky flathead in NSW have a 36 to 70 cm slot limit — fish must be at least 36 cm and any over 70 cm must be released, because those big females are the key breeders. The daily bag is 5 and the possession limit is 10. Yellowfin bream are 25 cm on a bag of 10 shared with tarwhine, sand whiting 27 cm on a bag of 20 shared across the whiting, luderick 27 cm on a bag of 10 and silver trevally 30 cm on a bag of 10. A NSW Recreational Fishing Fee is required to fish in NSW.

Is Wally's Wharf a good spot for kids and beginners?

It is one of the more family-friendly options on Port Hacking. The bay is sheltered and shallow, the floating pontoon gives flat step-on access at the water, there are toilets on site, and yakkas and small bream keep young anglers busy. Just keep lines and kids clear of the live boat ramp and watch for oyster growth on the pylons and chains.

Bite Compass

Bite Forecast

Wally's Wharf (Dolans Bay)

Fri 18 Sep 2026 · Australia/Sydney

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18 Sep

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Today Tomorrow Sat 19 Sep

📍 Wally's Wharf (Dolans Bay)

first quarter · 38%

Weather: Sunny Wind: NE 40° · 10 km/h Swell: 1.2 m @ 8 s S Water: 17.8 °C Pressure: 1029.0 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 12 km/h

Moon first quarter all day

Water temp 17.8 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 5:26 am Last light 6:13 pm

High 12:00 am Low 5:39 am High 12:37 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 → 8:00 pm

3h 30m

Good

5:00 am → 7:00 am

First light

5:26 am

Last light

6:13 pm

Sunrise

5:51 am

Sunset

5:48 pm

Moonrise

9:41 am

Moonset

12:56 am

High tide

12:00 am

Low tide

5:39 am

High tide

12:37 pm

Low tide

7:30 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☀️

9°

←︎

255°

9 km/h

1am

☀️

8°

←︎

260°

10 km/h

2am

☀️

8°

←︎

263°

10 km/h

3am

☀️

8°

←︎

266°

10 km/h

4am

☀️

8°

←︎

270°

9 km/h

5am

☀️

8°

←︎

274°

10 km/h

6am

☀️

9°

←︎

278°

10 km/h

7am

☀️

10°

←︎

285°

10 km/h

8am

☀️

12°

↖︎

300°

9 km/h

9am

☀️

15°

↖︎

323°

9 km/h

10am

☀️

17°

↑︎

346°

9 km/h

11am

☀️

19°

↑︎

12°

8 km/h

12pm

☀️

20°

↗︎

40°

10 km/h

1pm

☀️

20°

↗︎

54°

12 km/h

2pm

☀️

20°

↗︎

56°

13 km/h

3pm

☀️

19°

↗︎

54°

14 km/h

4pm

☀️

18°

↗︎

52°

14 km/h

5pm

☀️

18°

↗︎

52°

13 km/h

6pm

☀️

16°

↗︎

51°

12 km/h

7pm

☀️

15°

↗︎

47°

10 km/h

8pm

☀️

15°

↗︎

28°

8 km/h

9pm

☀️

14°

↑︎

356°

7 km/h

10pm

☀️

13°

↖︎

330°

8 km/h

11pm

☀️

12°

↖︎

314°

8 km/h

Hourly Swell

Easing 1.9 → 1.0 m S

12am

1.9 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

1am

1.8 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

2am

1.7 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

3am

1.6 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

4am

1.6 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

5am

1.5 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

6am

1.4 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

7am

1.3 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

8am

1.3 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

9am

1.3 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

10am

1.4 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

11am

1.3 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

12pm

1.2 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

1pm

1.2 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

2pm

1.2 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

3pm

1.2 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

4pm

1.2 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

5pm

1.2 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

6pm

1.2 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

7pm

1.2 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

8pm

1.1 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

9pm

1.1 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

10pm

1.0 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

11pm

1.0 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

Water Temp (°C)

→ steady around 17.8°

Tue

15 Sep

18.0°

Wed

16 Sep

17.8°

Thu

17 Sep

17.7°

Fri

18 Sep

17.8°

Sat

19 Sep

18.0°

Sun

20 Sep

18.1°

Mon

21 Sep

18.1°

Tue

22 Sep

18.1°

Wed

23 Sep

—

Thu

24 Sep

—

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 10 km/h NE (40°).

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 → 8:00 pm

3h 30m

Good

5:00 am → 7:00 am

First light

5:26 am

Last light

6:13 pm

Sunrise

5:51 am

Sunset

5:48 pm

Moonrise

9:41 am

Moonset

12:56 am

High tide

12:00 am

Low tide

5:39 am

High tide

12:37 pm

Low tide

7:30 pm

Nearby spots

Species at this spot

Yellowfin Bream
Sand Whiting
Dusky Flathead
Luderick
Silver Trevally
Tailor