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

Tue 22 Sep 2026 · Australia/Sydney

Save

←

22 Sep

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Today Tomorrow Sat 19 Sep

📍 Yacaaba Headland

waxing gibbous · 78%

Weather: Rainy Wind: E 105° · 8 km/h Swell: 0.9 m @ 12 s S Water: 19.6 °C Pressure: 1025.9 hPa → steady

★★★★☆

High Fish Activity

▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 5:30 am

Solunar Between windows

Time of day Dawn

Tide Moving

Wind SE 9 km/h

Moon waxing gibbous all day

Water temp 19.6 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 5:17 am Last light 6:11 pm

High 4:39 am Low 10:06 am High 4:35 pm Low 11:25 pm

Drag or use arrow keys to explore

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

4:30 am → 7:00 am

2h 30m

Good

4:30 pm → 10:00 pm

5h 30m

Good

9:30 am → 11:00 am

1h 30m

Good

1:00 pm → 2:00 pm

First light

5:17 am

Last light

6:11 pm

Sunrise

5:41 am

Sunset

5:47 pm

Moonrise

1:23 pm

Moonset

3:00 am

High tide

4:39 am

Low tide

10:06 am

High tide

4:35 pm

Low tide

11:25 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☀️

18°

↘︎

148°

12 km/h

1am

☀️

17°

↘︎

146°

12 km/h

2am

☀️

17°

↘︎

142°

11 km/h

3am

☀️

17°

↘︎

139°

10 km/h

4am

☀️

18°

↘︎

135°

10 km/h

5am

🌧️

18°

↘︎

131°

9 km/h

6am

🌧️

18°

↘︎

125°

9 km/h

7am

🌧️

19°

↘︎

119°

8 km/h

8am

🌧️

20°

→︎

110°

7 km/h

9am

🌧️

20°

→︎

103°

7 km/h

10am

🌧️

20°

→︎

100°

7 km/h

11am

🌧️

20°

→︎

101°

8 km/h

12pm

🌧️

20°

→︎

105°

8 km/h

1pm

🌧️

19°

→︎

111°

9 km/h

2pm

🌧️

19°

↘︎

115°

10 km/h

3pm

🌧️

18°

↘︎

117°

11 km/h

4pm

🌧️

18°

↘︎

116°

12 km/h

5pm

🌧️

18°

→︎

112°

12 km/h

6pm

🌧️

17°

→︎

107°

13 km/h

7pm

🌧️

17°

→︎

100°

14 km/h

8pm

🌧️

17°

→︎

94°

15 km/h

9pm

🌧️

17°

→︎

89°

15 km/h

10pm

🌧️

16°

→︎

85°

15 km/h

11pm

🌧️

16°

→︎

82°

15 km/h

Hourly Swell

Building 0.6 → 1.0 m S

12am

0.6 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Slight

chop

1am

0.7 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Slight

chop

2am

0.7 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Slight

chop

3am

0.8 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Slight

chop

4am

0.9 m

@ 6 s

↓︎

Slight

chop

5am

0.9 m

@ 6 s

↓︎

Slight

chop

6am

0.8 m

@ 6 s

↓︎

Slight

chop

7am

0.8 m

@ 6 s

↓︎

Slight

chop

8am

0.8 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Slight

chop

9am

0.9 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Slight

ground

10am

0.9 m

@ 12 s

↓︎

Slight

ground

11am

0.9 m

@ 12 s

↓︎

Slight

ground

12pm

0.9 m

@ 12 s

↓︎

Slight

ground

1pm

0.9 m

@ 12 s

↓︎

Slight

ground

2pm

0.9 m

@ 12 s

↓︎

Slight

ground

3pm

0.9 m

@ 11 s

↓︎

Slight

ground

4pm

0.9 m

@ 11 s

↓︎

Slight

ground

5pm

0.9 m

@ 12 s

↓︎

Slight

ground

6pm

0.8 m

@ 13 s

↓︎

Slight

ground

7pm

0.8 m

@ 13 s

↓︎

Slight

ground

8pm

0.9 m

@ 12 s

↓︎

Slight

ground

9pm

0.9 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

10pm

1.0 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

11pm

1.0 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

Water Temp (°C)

↗ warming — up 0.7° over the last 3 days

Sat

19 Sep

18.9°

Sun

20 Sep

19.1°

Mon

21 Sep

19.2°

Tue

22 Sep

19.6°

Wed

23 Sep

19.8°

Thu

24 Sep

19.7°

Fri

25 Sep

—

Sat

26 Sep

—

Sun

27 Sep

—

Mon

28 Sep

—

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 8 km/h E (105°).

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 → 7:00 am

2h 30m

Good

4:30 pm → 10:00 pm

5h 30m

Good

9:30 am → 11:00 am

1h 30m

Good

1:00 pm → 2:00 pm

First light

5:17 am

Last light

6:11 pm

Sunrise

5:41 am

Sunset

5:47 pm

Moonrise

1:23 pm

Moonset

3:00 am

High tide

4:39 am

Low tide

10:06 am

High tide

4:35 pm

Low tide

11:25 pm

Nearby spots

Species at this spot

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