Recreational fishing
Most of the Marine Park is open to recreational fishing. There is something for every fishing enthusiast - offshore, estuary, rock or beach fishing.
Map of Batemans Marine Park
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Offshore
Within the park, Montague Island:
- is home to large yellowfin tuna, albacore, marlin and kingfish
- has excellent bottom fishing for species such as snapper, morwong, redfish, pigfish, gummy sharks and tiger and sand flathead.
Find out about fish aggregating devices (FADs) in the area.
Estuary
The many pristine estuaries provide brilliant bait, lure and fly fishing for mulloway, bream, flathead, luderick, flounder, mullet and garfish. You can pump nippers in some estuaries and find good spots for recreational prawning and setting traps for blue swimmer crabs.
Rocks and beaches
The beaches provide good fishing for common species such as salmon, tailor, flathead, whiting, bream and mulloway.
- during summer, anglers spin and collect live bait from rock platforms for bonito, various tuna, and kingfish;
- winter sees good catches of tailor and salmon from the rocks;
- catch other species such as bream, drummer and groper all year round.
Several charter fishers operate in the park; visit www.visitnsw.com for more information.
What you need to know
Before going fishing, download the FishSmart NSW app pick up a copy of the Batemans Marine Park User Guide (PDF, 2029.36 KB) and Zoning Map (PDF, 3368.99 KB) online or from your local bait and tackle shops, tourist centre, from the Marine Park office or on your mobile device.
- Some species are protected from fishing and collecting in habitat protection zones. Check out which species you can take in habitat protection zones of Batemans Marine Park.
- Spearfishing is not allowed in sanctuary zones and is restricted in some other areas by NSW Department of Primary Industries.
- You can transit through sanctuary zones with stowed fishing gear, but make sure fishing lines aren't baited and no part of the line is immersed in the water.
- If you have fishing gear on your boat when you stop in a sanctuary zone for a picnic or a break, you must have your fishing gear in an unrigged state. That means no part of the fishing line is attached to any hook, artificial lure, artificial fly, swivel or other piece of fishing tackle (other than the reel the fishing line was spooled on).
- NSW fishing rules and regulations, including bag and size limits apply when fishing in marine parks. Most people fishing in NSW waters need to pay the NSW recreational fishing fee.
- Make sure you fish safely.
