Scarness Jetty
Summary for 23 Oct 2026
Bite Compass is showing a medium fish activity bite score on 23 Oct 2026. Wind is around NE at 18 km/h. Solunar feeding windows are listed below.
Scarness Jetty fishing times this week Scarness Jetty tide times
Feeding Windows
Local Knowledge
Scarness Jetty is a short jetty off the beach at Scarness, in the busy middle of the Hervey Bay Esplanade. Like its neighbour at Torquay it stands over sand flats, so it is a top-of-the-tide spot, but low tide here uncovers rock and rubble patches west of the jetty that hold bream and small reef fish. It suits a short session between a swim and a pub meal. The fish keep the same hours as the tide, not the cafes.
Around high tide, cast small baits onto the sand off the end for whiting and drop baits by the pylons for bream. As the tide drops, walk west along the beach and fish the edges of the rock patches with lightly weighted baits or small plastics for bream, then come back with the run-in tide. Flathead lie in the drainage gutters on the flats as the water runs off. Keep moving with the water's edge; a 3 m tide moves the fish a long way.
Sand whiting are 23 cm (combined possession 30) and yellowfin bream 25 cm (combined 30). Trumpeter (winter) whiting have no size limit and a possession limit of 50. Dusky flathead are 40–75 cm (5), and trevally have no size limit but a combined possession of 20.
Pialba Reef is a Great Sandy Marine Park green zone (marine national park) about 800 m north-west of the jetty — no fishing of any kind inside it, so don't follow the low-tide rocks out that way. The jetty itself sits in the general use zone, but the Great Sandy Strait conservation park (yellow) zone starts within casting range off the end: max 2 rods or handlines and 2 hooks in total per person. Scarness Jetty is one of the corners of the Hervey Bay recreational netting closure, so recreational fishers must not use or possess a net here, cast nets included.
Access & Conditions
The jetty is off the Esplanade at Scarness, with parking, toilets, parkland and shops across the road. It is a short, flat walk to the jetty. The rock patches to the west are reached along the beach at low tide.
Hervey Bay's tides are big — a spring tide moves more than three metres — so plan around the tide clock first. The beach faces north and is sheltered from southerlies; north-easterlies chop up the water and cloud the flats. Calm winter days give the clearest water.
Marine stingers, including Irukandji, are a risk in Hervey Bay waters, especially November to May — cover up if you wade, and carry vinegar. The low-tide rocks are slippery and the incoming tide refills the flats quickly; head back before it does. Shuffle your feet on the sand for stingrays.
Gear & Rigs
A light 2–3 kg spin rod with 6 lb line covers it: running sinker rigs with size 4–6 long-shank hooks for whiting, and a lightly weighted bait or 2–3 inch plastic for bream on the rocks. Peeled prawn, yabbies and worms are the baits. Old sneakers for the rocks and rubble.
Seasons
Sand whiting are best from October to March and winter whiting from about April to September. Bream peak in winter, and flathead from late winter into spring. Golden trevally cruise the flats most of the year.
If This Spot's Blown Out
Frequently Asked
Yes. It fishes best around high tide for whiting and bream. Recreational nets are banned here, and the Pialba Reef green zone to the north-west is no-take.
Pialba Reef, about 800 m north-west of the jetty, is a marine national park (green) zone in Great Sandy Marine Park. No fishing of any kind is allowed inside it.
The two hours either side of high tide for the jetty, and the run-out for the rock patches to the west.