The Sydney winter fishery is not a quieter summer. It is a different species pool. Tailor and Australian salmon take over the dawn-metal slot that summer kingfish held. Drummer and luderick replace squid jigging on the rock platforms. John dory comes onto the deeper Middle Harbour bays. Mulloway thin out in number and thicken in size around the new moon. Snapper move from the wider shelf onto the inshore reefs. This guide is the eight species that carry the winter calendar in Sydney, the platforms they hold on, and the verbatim NSW DPIRD bag and size numbers for each.
From May through September the Sydney inshore catch record reshuffles. The pelagic species that defined the summer — yellowtail kingfish in the mooring fields, bonito on the FADs, mahi mahi on the wider shelf — drop off as the East Australian Current weakens and inshore water cools from a February peak around 23 degrees Celsius to an August trough around 17 degrees. The species that fill the gap are cold-water specialists or sub-tropical migrants on a southerly winter run. The day a Sydney angler stops chasing summer kings and starts chasing winter tailor is roughly the day inshore water drops below 19 degrees. That happens, on average, in the last week of May.
Two patterns carry most of the winter calendar. The open-coast pattern is tailor and Australian salmon on dawn metals from the Tasman-facing ledges, with drummer and luderick on cunjevoi and cabbage weed when the wash is up. The harbour pattern is john dory in the deeper bays of upper Middle Harbour and mulloway off the Clontarf Drop-Off on a new-moon run-in. Snapper sits across both — boat anglers find them on the inshore reefs while shore anglers pick them off the ocean rocks at first light. Each species below sits inside one of those patterns, reads off its own forecast inputs and carries its own bag-and-size rule under NSW DPIRD.
The Sydney winter does not behave as a single block. May is a shoulder month with autumn species still in play. June and July are the cold-water core. August is the trough for water temperature. September starts the return of pelagics from the north. The species that peak in each month are not the same.
Tailor and Australian salmon running together on the dawn metals. Late-autumn snapper still showing on the inshore reefs. Inshore water still near 19 degrees in the first week then dropping through the month. East-coast lows possible — a single low can wipe the open coast for a week.
Drummer switching on with the colder water. Tailor at peak schooling density along the open-coast platforms. Luderick moving onto the rock washes. King-tide window mid-month elevates the wash on every ocean platform.
John dory arriving in Bantry and Sugarloaf. Drummer at peak on cunjevoi baits. Mulloway on the new moon off Clontarf. Coldest water of the year, often below 17 degrees by late month.
Luderick at peak in the harbour wash. Drummer still strong on the Tasman ledges. Snapper on the Sow and Pigs and the inshore reefs outside the Heads. Stable high-pressure days with light westerlies are the standout weather window.
Snapper still moving inshore on the inshore reefs. Tailor tapering toward the end of the month. First juvenile kingfish showing around moorings in late September. Water creeping back through 18 degrees. The pivot point of the year.
The pattern most weeks is one species at peak on the ocean rocks and a different species at peak in the inner harbour. June through August, a Sydney angler with one morning a week to fish picks the platform based on swell rather than tide — open coast in light easterly groundswell, harbour or sheltered Middle Harbour in heavy southerly swell. The companion tides and swell guide explains the read.
Tailor (Pomatomus saltatrix) is the species that defines the Sydney winter for most rock and beach anglers. The fish school densely along the open coast from late April through August, pushing inshore at dawn and dusk to chase whitebait and small slimy mackerel. They are the cousin of the bluefish on the United States Atlantic coast and they fight in the same hard, head-shaking pattern. Three-kilogram fish are routine off the Sydney rocks in June and July. Five-kilogram fish are caught most weeks. The biggest fish — locally called greenbacks — push above seven kilograms and are typically taken on whole pilchard at dawn from the more exposed Tasman ledges.
The open coast is the prime tailor water. The Fairfax-accessible ledges below North Head, Hornby Lighthouse on South Head, the Gap Bluff platforms, the Mistral Point and Magic Point ledges at Maroubra, and Cape Solander at the south of Botany Bay are the textbook stops. The inner harbour also fishes well — Washaway Beach in North Harbour is, in long-standing local accounts, one of the most reliable tailor stops in the harbour. The Spit Bridge fishes for tailor on the run-out at dawn and dusk. Schools push through The Heads on a strong tide flush and the wash at the foot of Hornby Light is a known concentration point on a clean morning.
The default open-coast set-up is a 9 to 10 foot rock rod rated 12 to 15 kilograms, paired with a 6000 to 8000 size spinning reel loaded with 30 to 40 pound braid. The leader is 30 to 40 pound monofilament, around two metres. The lure is a 30 to 60 gram metal slug — the Surecatch Knight pattern is the local default. The Spanyid Raider and the Halco Twisty also fish well. Whole pilchards rigged on a set of 4/0 ganged hooks is the bait alternative and remains the standard at the Spit Bridge and on the inner-harbour wash. The cast is long. The retrieve is fast. The bite typically comes in the first 30 seconds of the retrieve as the lure clears the wash.
Earlier guidance referencing a bag of 20 and a sub-limit of 5 fish over 35 centimetres is out of date. The current 10-bag, 20-possession, 30-centimetre rule has been in force since the 2024-25 guide was issued. Tailor under 30 centimetres are released. Fish that are clearly above the bag and possession limit must not be taken.
Australian salmon (Arripis trutta) most often shares a school with tailor on the Sydney winter dawn. A 50-gram slug worked across an open-coast platform at first light catches both species on alternating retrieves. Salmon run larger on average than tailor in Sydney waters. A typical winter fish is four to five kilograms. Eight-kilogram fish are recorded each winter from the more exposed Tasman ledges. The fight is harder than the tailor on a comparable rod. The runs are longer and the hook sets deeper.
Australian salmon is not closely related to the northern-hemisphere Atlantic salmon — it is in the family Arripidae. The flesh is dark and strong-flavoured and is generally treated as a sport rather than a table fish. Bled immediately and rested on ice it is acceptable on the grill, but most Sydney rock anglers release.
The same ocean rocks that hold tailor hold salmon. The open coast from Hornby and Gap Bluff at the south through Maroubra and Cape Solander is the prime water. Inside the harbour the fish push as far as the Spit Bridge on a strong tide flush. Long Reef holds them on the headland — note that Long Reef is inside an aquatic reserve where line fishing for finfish is allowed but no collection of cunjevoi, bait or marine plants is permitted. Sutherland Point at the south end of Botany Bay produces salmon on the run-out tide.
The rod and reel set-up for salmon is the same as for tailor — a 9 to 10 foot rock rod with 30 to 40 pound braid. Salmon take a metal slug worked fast across the surface and they take a slow-retrieved soft plastic on a 1/2 ounce jighead. The bite often comes deeper in the water column than tailor — letting the slug sink for five seconds before retrieving picks up the salmon that have refused a faster-worked lure. Whole pilchards rigged on ganged hooks fish for both species. The salmon tends to take the bait further down the trace than the tailor does, so a wire trace is generally avoided — the tailor that bite the wire will still hold long enough to land on the heavier mono.
The bag of five is across both species in the Arripis genus combined. Western Australian salmon, the closely related southern species, is not commonly encountered in Sydney waters but is counted in the same bag if taken.
Rock blackfish or drummer (Girella elevata) is the species that defines the Sydney winter rock platform from the wash-fishing side. The fish hold tight to vertical rock structure in the wash zone, where cunjevoi grows below the low-tide mark. The bite is on whole cunje — the rubbery red invertebrate that lines the rocks — pinched onto a 2/0 suicide hook on a short trace and floated into the wash. The fish hits hard and runs immediately for the structure. The fight is short and dirty. Three-kilogram drummer are routine. Five-kilogram fish are caught each winter from the more exposed ledges.
The ocean rocks from Hornby Light at the south through the Fairfax ledges below North Head are the prime water. Maroubra's Mistral Point and Magic Point produce drummer through the winter. The Tamarama-to-Bronte rocks inside the Bronte-Coogee Aquatic Reserve fish well — line fishing for finfish is allowed but cunjevoi cannot be collected inside the reserve and must be brought from outside. The same rule applies to Long Reef Aquatic Reserve at the north. Cabbage Tree Bay at Shelly Beach is a no-take sanctuary and drummer there cannot be fished at all.
Inside the harbour the species is less consistent. The Spring Cove ledges at North Head and Cannae Point produce drummer through winter on swell-pushed water. Spring Cove sits inside the Manly Little Penguin Critical Habitat with anchoring restrictions in Area A sunset to sunrise during the May to February breeding window. The four-knot speed limit applies year-round.
The drummer rod is heavier than the tailor rod — a 10 to 11 foot rock rod rated 15 to 24 kilograms paired with an Alvey side-cast loaded with 15 to 24 pound monofilament. The trace is two metres of 30 to 40 pound mono with a small running ball sinker just above the hook. The bait is whole cunjevoi — split the rubbery outer skin to expose the orange flesh and fold it over a 2/0 suicide hook so the hook point is buried. The burley is sand mixed with two loaves of bread and chopped cabbage weed, packed into shells and dropped into the wash. The bite is held on a tight line. The strike is fast and the first run is met with locked-up drag.
The cunje rule is separate from the species rule. Across the Sydney Harbour Intertidal Protected Area the collection of cunjevoi is prohibited. The same applies inside every Sydney aquatic reserve. Cunjevoi may be collected only from open-coast rock platforms outside an IPA or aquatic reserve, and only in volumes for personal use. The standard practice is to collect cunje on the day from a non-restricted platform and walk it to the fishing ledge.
Luderick (Girella tricuspidata), commonly called blackfish in Sydney, is the other classic winter rock and harbour species. Luderick are vegetarian — they feed on green cabbage weed and sea lettuce that grow on the rocks and pylons of the inner harbour and the ocean wash. The technique is a quill float rigged above a small hook baited with cabbage weed, drifted along the edge of a rock platform or under a bridge pylon. The bite is a subtle dip of the float. Lifting on the dip sets the hook in the corner of the jaw.
Luderick fish two distinct water types in Sydney. The first is the ocean rock wash — Hornby Light, South Head, the Fairfax ledges, Bronte and the rocks inside the Bronte-Coogee Aquatic Reserve all produce winter luderick. The second is the inner-harbour pylon — Roseville Bridge, the Spit Bridge, Parsley Bay's footbridge, Clifton Gardens' jetty, and the rock edges at Bottle and Glass Point produce luderick on the high-tide turn. The pylon water tends to fish best on the change at high tide. The ocean wash fishes best when a small swell is running and pushing weed into the wash zone.
The luderick rod is a long light float rod — 12 to 13 foot, rated 2 to 4 kilograms, with a centrepin or threadline reel loaded with 8 to 12 pound monofilament. The float is a stem-and-quill design balanced to suspend a single split-shot. The hook is a long-shank fine-wire size 8 or 10. The bait is fresh green cabbage weed — picked from a non-restricted rock platform on the day, threaded onto the hook so a fingernail-sized piece dangles below. The float is drifted into the wash or along the pylon at a depth set just above the bottom. Burley is two handfuls of bread soaked in saltwater and tossed into the drift line.
The weed-collection rule mirrors the cunjevoi rule. No collection of marine plants is permitted inside Sydney Harbour IPA or inside any aquatic reserve. Weed for the float bait must be picked from open-coast rock outside a restricted area. Some anglers culture cabbage weed in a saltwater bucket between sessions, which avoids the daily collection problem.
John dory (Zeus faber) is the species most associated with the cold-water deep bays of upper Middle Harbour. The fish is a slow-water predator. It hunts by stalking a small live baitfish and inhaling it through a protrusible mouth at close range. In Sydney the species peaks from July through September in the deeper Middle Harbour bays, the channel water between Bradleys Head and the Sow and Pigs, and the wider edge of the inshore reefs outside the Heads.
The textbook winter dory water is Bantry Bay's south-eastern shoreline, Sugarloaf Bay's points and the section locally called The Steps, and the Clontarf Drop-Off where the bottom falls from 15 to 70 feet over a 50-metre run. Reef Beach below North Head holds dory on the deeper edge. Inside the harbour the Sow and Pigs reef between Bradleys Head and Hornby Light produces winter dory on the high-tide turn. The species is also caught around the Bottle and Glass Point edges in winter.
The dory rig is a paternoster — a dropper loop holding a small live yakka or pinky off the bottom, with a sinker on the running end heavy enough to hold the bottom in current. The leader is 12 to 15 pound mono on a 3000 to 4000 size reel and a 7-foot rod. The bait is a 10 to 15 centimetre live yakka caught from a nearby pylon on a bait jig. The boat or shore angler holds station above the structure and drops the rig to the bottom. The bite is patient water — long waits between takes. The bite is a slow steady pull rather than a snap. Striking is done by lifting smoothly — the protrusible mouth of the dory tears on a hard strike.
The species sits within the Sydney Harbour dioxin consumption advice. East of the Sydney Harbour Bridge the 150-gram-per-person-per-month combined seafood limit applies. West of the Bridge the catch-and-release rule applies. The bays where winter dory hold — Bantry, Sugarloaf, Clontarf — sit east of the Bridge but inside Sydney Harbour, so the 150-gram limit is the operative rule. A 30-centimetre dory weighs roughly 400 grams. One fish exceeds the monthly limit per person.
Mulloway (Argyrosomus japonicus), the species also called jewfish in Sydney, runs a different winter pattern from the summer one. The summer fishery is volume — fish move through the estuaries and into the harbour on the warm-humid evenings around the new moon. The winter fishery is quality — fewer fish in the catch but the average size runs larger. The standout Sydney winter mulloway water is the Clontarf Drop-Off in upper Middle Harbour. The window is the run-in tide at night around the new moon.
The Clontarf Drop-Off is the marquee land-based and boat winter mulloway mark in the harbour. The bottom falls from 15 to 70 feet over a 50-metre run, concentrating fish on the tide change. The Spit Bridge holds fish on a live squid at night. The deep holes around Roseville Bridge produce mulloway through the colder months. The Bradleys Head wall and the Sow and Pigs reef also hold fish on the run-in. Outside the harbour, the deep gutters at Maroubra and the channel water inside Botany Bay produce winter mulloway.
The mulloway rig is a 10-pound braid main line on a 4000 to 6000 reel with a 25-pound fluorocarbon leader running two metres to a 5/0 to 7/0 octopus hook. The bait is a live squid floated under a balloon on the run-in tide, or a fresh-killed squid head fished hard on the bottom in the deeper holes. A live yellowtail or slimy mackerel works as an alternative. The boat angler anchors up-current of the drop-off and lets the bait drift back. The shore angler casts from the beach onto the edge of the drop and waits. The bite is unmistakeable — a long, heavy pull rather than a rapid take.
The new-moon window is the operative variable. The dark phase of the moon paired with a run-in tide hitting the drop-off after dark accounts for a disproportionate share of the winter mulloway catch in Sydney inshore waters. The full moon is much quieter for trophy fish.
The 70-centimetre minimum and 1-per-day rule was tightened from the previous 45-centimetre, 2-fish rule and reflects population status. The species is slow-growing and a 70-centimetre fish is roughly five years old. Fish under 70 centimetres must be released. The same dioxin consumption advice applies to mulloway taken inside Sydney Harbour east of the Bridge — 150 grams per person per month, less for pregnant and breastfeeding women and for children under six.
Yellowtail kingfish (Seriola lalandi) is the species that anglers most often pivot away from in the Sydney winter. The summer fishery is the marquee one — resident harbour fish in the mooring fields at Clarke and Shark Islands, surface action on Halco Roosta poppers at dawn, metre-plus fish on live squid at the Heads. From late April through September that pattern thins out. The big summer-run pelagic fish move further north or deeper. Smaller resident harbour fish remain present in the inner mooring fields year-round and the occasional metre-plus rat surfaces at the Heads through winter, but consistent harbour kingfish water is rare from June through August.
An angler chasing summer kingfish on the dawn surface pattern in the harbour should switch the equivalent winter morning to either the dawn-metal pattern for tailor and salmon on the ocean rocks, or to the float-and-weed pattern for luderick on a sheltered pylon. The same 9 to 10 foot rock rod that handled the king session handles the tailor session — only the lure size changes. The same dawn time slot at the Heads still fishes — only the target species is different. The juvenile kingfish, locally called rats, start showing in the mooring fields from late September. That is the cue to switch back. The Sow and Pigs reef and the Bottle and Glass corner are the first places to see them.
The 65-centimetre rule and the 5-bag both held over the 2024-25 review. Fish under 65 centimetres are released. The species sits inside the Sydney Harbour dioxin advice for any fish caught east of the Bridge. West of the Bridge is catch and release.
Pink snapper (Chrysophrys auratus) is the autumn-into-winter shoulder species in Sydney. The fish moves from the wider continental shelf onto the inshore reefs as water cools. The standout winter snapper water is the inshore reef line just outside the Heads — Long Reef wide, Bondi wide, East Reef wide and the wider edge of the Sow and Pigs. The shore catch is concentrated on the ocean platforms from Hornby Light at the harbour mouth to Cape Solander at Botany Bay. The average fish is 1 to 2 kilograms. Three-kilogram-plus fish — locally called knobbies on account of the cranial hump that develops on older males — are caught each winter from the more exposed platforms.
The boat fishery sits on the inshore reefs from Long Reef in the north through to Cape Solander in the south, with the Sow and Pigs reef inside the harbour producing snapper alongside. The shore fishery sits on the open-coast rock platforms — Hornby Light and the Fairfax ledges produce winter snapper at the harbour mouth. Maroubra's Mistral and Magic Point ledges and Cape Solander at Botany Bay produce the rest. Long Reef Aquatic Reserve permits line fishing for finfish from the headland but no bait or invertebrate collection inside the reserve boundary.
The shore snapper rig is a soft plastic on a light jighead — a 4 to 5 inch curl-tail or paddle-tail on a 1/4 to 1/2 ounce jighead — fished on 15 to 20 pound braid with a 20 to 25 pound fluorocarbon leader. The retrieve is slow with long pauses and the bite often comes on the drop. Fresh squid head on a 4/0 octopus hook on a paternoster also fishes. The bite window is generally the first hour of daylight and the last hour before dark.
The 30-centimetre minimum and 10-per-day limit are unchanged in the 2024-25 review. Snapper taken from inside the harbour fall under the dioxin advice. Snapper taken from the ocean platforms or the offshore reefs are not subject to the harbour-specific consumption limit.
Most of the Sydney winter catch is taken on one of three rigs. A rock-fisher who carries the gear for all three is set up for every species in this guide.
A 30 to 60 gram metal slug on a 9 to 10 foot rock rod rated 12 to 15 kilograms. The reel is a 6000 to 8000 spinning reel with 30 to 40 pound braid. The leader is 30 to 40 pound mono running roughly two metres to a snap swivel. The lure is a Surecatch Knight or equivalent — Spanyid Raider and Halco Twisty are similar. The retrieve is fast and straight. Tailor and salmon take both the surface skip and the sinking back half of the cast.
The float rig fishes for luderick on the inner-harbour pylon water and for drummer on the ocean wash. The luderick set-up is a 12 to 13 foot light float rod with 8 to 12 pound mono on a centrepin or threadline. The drummer set-up is a heavier 10 to 11 foot rock rod with 15 to 24 pound mono on an Alvey side-cast. The float is a stem-and-quill balanced to a single split-shot. The luderick hook is a size 8 to 10 long-shank on cabbage weed. The drummer hook is a 2/0 suicide on cunjevoi. The depth is set just above the bottom or the wash zone. The strike on luderick is a smooth lift off a float dip. The strike on drummer is a hard pull-down met with locked drag.
The paternoster fishes for john dory in the deeper Middle Harbour bays and adapts for mulloway on the harbour drop-offs. The dory rod is a 7-foot medium-heavy spinning rod on 10 to 15 pound braid. The mulloway rod is a longer 10-foot shore rod on 10 to 20 pound braid. The rig is a dropper loop holding a live yakka or pinky off the bottom, sinker on the running end heavy enough to hold in current. The dory hook is a 4/0 to 5/0 octopus. The mulloway hook is a 5/0 to 7/0. The strike is slow and smooth — both species tear on a hard strike. Swapping the live yakka for a live squid switches the rig from a dory presentation to a mulloway presentation.
The cross-reference below maps each winter species to the platforms it holds on. Each row references one species. Full spot detail for every platform is in the Sydney harbour fishing guide. Aquatic-reserve and consumption-advice overlays are in the aquatic reserves guide.
| Species | Primary Sydney platforms | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Tailor | Fairfax (North Head), Hornby Light, Gap Bluff, Maroubra, Cape Solander, Spit Bridge, Washaway Beach | Dawn metals open coast; pilchards inner harbour |
| Australian salmon | Fairfax, Hornby Light, Gap Bluff, Maroubra, Long Reef headland, Sutherland Point | Same metals as tailor; often interleaved |
| Drummer | Hornby Light, Fairfax, Gap Bluff, Maroubra (Mistral, Magic), Bronte-Coogee rocks, Spring Cove | Cunje + burley. Cabbage Tree Bay no-take |
| Luderick | Roseville Bridge, Spit Bridge, Parsley Bay footbridge, Clifton Gardens, Bottle and Glass, Hornby wash | Float + weed. Inner-harbour pylons + ocean wash |
| John dory | Bantry Bay, Sugarloaf Bay, Clontarf Drop-Off, Sow and Pigs, Reef Beach edge | Paternoster + live yakka. Cold water Jul-Sep |
| Mulloway | Clontarf Drop-Off, Spit Bridge, Roseville Bridge holes, Bradleys Head, Maroubra gutters | New moon + run-in tide at night |
| Yellowtail kingfish | Quiet winter — pivot to tailor or luderick | Resident fish present; consistent water rare |
| Snapper | Hornby Light, Fairfax, Maroubra, Cape Solander, Long Reef wide, Sow and Pigs, Bondi wide | Soft plastics dawn; squid head paternoster |
The platform names above are not all open to keeping every species — some are inside aquatic reserves with collection restrictions or fishing prohibitions, and some sit inside the Sydney Harbour dioxin advisory area east of the Bridge. The aquatic reserves guide covers every reserve boundary with the verbatim rule text.
Most of the species in this guide are taken from rock platforms. Drummer is a rock-platform specialist. Luderick fishes from the ocean wash. Tailor and salmon fish from the open-coast ledges. Snapper from the shore is a rock-platform proposition. The Sydney winter is also when the swell on the open coast is at its most variable — east-coast lows, southerly busters and long-period easterly groundswells can each turn a fishable Friday afternoon into a dangerous Saturday morning. The Rock Fishing Safety Act 2016 applies in every declared LGA whether or not the bite is on. An AS 4758 Level 50S lifejacket is mandatory in Randwick, Northern Beaches, Mosman, Waverley, Sutherland Shire and the other declared zones. The legal frame, the gear standard and the LGA map are in the Sydney rock-fishing safety guide. The forecast read that turns a swell into a go-or-no-go is in the Sydney tides and swell guide. The rule that anchors the winter is the simple one — wear the jacket regardless of how the platform looks at the carpark.
The questions readers and members ask most often about this guide.
The Sydney forecast page scores every hour of the next 14 days for the platforms you fish — bite probability paired with access probability, all sitting under the BOM and MHL overlay. Save your winter rocks and the matrix fills in.
Open Sydney forecastEvery bag, size and possession number above is from the NSW DPIRD 2024-25 Recreational Saltwater Fishing Guide PDF, verified against the document in May 2026. Aquatic-reserve and intertidal-protected-area rules are sourced from the NSW DPI marine-protected-areas pages. Local platform behaviour is consistent with long-standing Sydney rock and harbour-fishing practice and is cross-referenced to the flagship harbour guide.
Last verified: 2026-05-20. Bag and size limits change. The current NSW DPI saltwater bag and size limits page is the operative reference for any session — confirm before keeping a fish. The lifejacket law applies on every declared Sydney rock platform regardless of which species is in scope.