What fish can you catch off Yacaaba Headland?

The open southern ledges over the entrance produce tailor, snapper, mulloway (jewfish) and rock blackfish (black drummer), while the sheltered boulders on the harbour side hold yellowfin bream and luderick. The ocean-facing eastern ledges are inside the Cabbage Tree Island Sanctuary Zone and closed to fishing by any method. Tailor are the most reliable target and are about most of the year, with the autumn and winter run the standout, and the headland has a genuine reputation for jewfish on live bait after dark — mulloway are 70cm minimum with a bag of 1 per person. A NSW Recreational Fishing Fee is required to fish anywhere in NSW, including off the rocks here.

How do you get to the Yacaaba Headland fishing rocks?

Park at the Tea Gardens Hawks Nest Surf Life Saving Club car park on Beach Road, Hawks Nest, then walk about 3km south along Bennetts Beach to the base of the headland. The fishing ledges are at the base and are reached off the beach, not via the steep summit walking track, which has been closed beyond a viewing point since October 2024. Toilets and showers are at the surf club car park, and the headland itself is inside Myall Lakes National Park.

Can you fish the front ledges at Yacaaba Headland?

No. The Cabbage Tree Island Sanctuary Zone extends west from Cabbage Tree Island to the Yacaaba Head shoreline, and its western boundary is the headland's own ocean-facing rock — from the south-east corner at 32°42.082′S, around the eastern point, north to the headland’s north-east corner. Sanctuary zones are no-take by any method, so those east-facing ledges are closed to fishing full stop. Fish the boulders at the base where Bennetts Beach runs out, the south-facing ledges over the entrance channel below that corner, or the harbour-side shoreline, and check the Port Stephens–Great Lakes Marine Park zoning map or the FishSmart NSW app if you are unsure which side of the point you are standing on.

Do you need a lifejacket to rock fish at Yacaaba Headland?

Wear one. A lifejacket is strongly recommended on any swell-washed rock or wall here — adults AS 4758 level 50S or greater, under-12s level 100. The swell, the depth and the slick rock give no second chances on these ledges, so a lifejacket and cleated boots are standard kit for everyone who fishes them.

When is the best time to fish Yacaaba for jewfish?

Jewfish hold at the base of the rock and under the ledge overhangs, and the start of the run-in tide into dusk and dark is the prime window. They're a year-round chance but peak from late summer into autumn. A live yellowtail or fresh squid head fished tight to the wash is the standout bait.

Where do you fish Yacaaba when there's a big swell?

Swing to the boulders on the sheltered inside of the headland — a southerly swell that blows out the exposed southern ledges actually fires the bream and luderick fishing on the harbour side. If the whole headland is unworkable, the gutters along Bennetts Beach or the calm estuary at Moira Parade wharf are safer fallbacks.

Bite Compass

Bite Forecast

Yacaaba Headland

Sun 20 Sep 2026 · Australia/Sydney

Save

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20 Sep

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Today Tomorrow Sat 19 Sep

📍 Yacaaba Headland

first quarter · 59%

Weather: Sunny Wind: NW 328° · 4 km/h Swell: 0.5 m @ 8 s S Water: 19.0 °C Pressure: 1021.0 hPa ↓ falling

★★★★☆

High Fish Activity

▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 6:30 pm

Solunar Major window

Time of day Dusk

Tide Moving

Wind E 13 km/h

Moon first quarter all day

Water temp 19.0 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 5:19 am Last light 6:10 pm

High 2:42 am Low 7:50 am High 2:53 pm Low 9:53 pm

Drag or use arrow keys to explore

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

5:30 pm → 8:30 pm

Good

4:30 am → 6:30 am

Good

3:00 pm → 4:00 pm

Good

11:00 am → 11:30 am

30m

First light

5:19 am

Last light

6:10 pm

Sunrise

5:44 am

Sunset

5:46 pm

Moonrise

11:26 am

Moonset

1:37 am

High tide

2:42 am

Low tide

7:50 am

High tide

2:53 pm

Low tide

9:53 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☀️

12°

↖︎

323°

8 km/h

1am

☀️

12°

↖︎

303°

9 km/h

2am

☀️

12°

←︎

288°

10 km/h

3am

☀️

12°

←︎

279°

12 km/h

4am

☀️

13°

←︎

275°

13 km/h

5am

☀️

14°

←︎

274°

14 km/h

6am

☀️

17°

←︎

276°

14 km/h

7am

☀️

19°

←︎

278°

13 km/h

8am

☀️

22°

←︎

282°

13 km/h

9am

☀️

24°

←︎

287°

12 km/h

10am

☀️

26°

←︎

292°

10 km/h

11am

☀️

26°

↖︎

300°

7 km/h

12pm

☀️

26°

↖︎

328°

4 km/h

1pm

☀️

25°

↗︎

31°

4 km/h

2pm

☀️

24°

↗︎

63°

7 km/h

3pm

☀️

23°

→︎

73°

11 km/h

4pm

☀️

22°

→︎

77°

13 km/h

5pm

☀️

21°

→︎

79°

14 km/h

6pm

☀️

20°

→︎

80°

13 km/h

7pm

☀️

19°

→︎

81°

12 km/h

8pm

☀️

18°

→︎

81°

11 km/h

9pm

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17°

→︎

81°

9 km/h

10pm

☀️

16°

→︎

80°

7 km/h

11pm

☀️

15°

→︎

75°

5 km/h

Hourly Swell

Easing 0.8 → 0.3 m S

12am

0.8 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

1am

0.8 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

2am

0.7 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

3am

0.7 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

4am

0.7 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

5am

0.7 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

6am

0.7 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

7am

0.6 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

8am

0.6 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

9am

0.6 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

10am

0.6 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

11am

0.5 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

12pm

0.5 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Calm

1pm

0.4 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Calm

chop

2pm

0.4 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Calm

chop

3pm

0.4 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Calm

chop

4pm

0.4 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Calm

chop

5pm

0.4 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Calm

chop

6pm

0.4 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Calm

chop

7pm

0.4 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Calm

chop

8pm

0.3 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Calm

9pm

0.3 m

@ 9 s

↘︎

Calm

10pm

0.3 m

@ 9 s

↘︎

Calm

11pm

0.3 m

@ 9 s

↘︎

Calm

Water Temp (°C)

↗ warming — up 0.4° over the last 3 days

Thu

17 Sep

18.6°

Fri

18 Sep

18.6°

Sat

19 Sep

18.8°

Sun

20 Sep

19.0°

Mon

21 Sep

19.2°

Tue

22 Sep

19.4°

Wed

23 Sep

—

Thu

24 Sep

—

Fri

25 Sep

—

Sat

26 Sep

—

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 4 km/h NW (328°).

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 → 8:30 pm

Good

4:30 am → 6:30 am

Good

3:00 pm → 4:00 pm

Good

11:00 am → 11:30 am

30m

First light

5:19 am

Last light

6:10 pm

Sunrise

5:44 am

Sunset

5:46 pm

Moonrise

11:26 am

Moonset

1:37 am

High tide

2:42 am

Low tide

7:50 am

High tide

2:53 pm

Low tide

9:53 pm

Nearby spots

Species at this spot

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