Byron Bay spearfishing forecast — wind, swell, visibility, tides & live cameras

• yellowtail kingfishmin 65 cm
  Seriola lalandi · 3–40 m · legal
  ⚠️ Sizes/limits and licences vary BY STATE (NSW/VIC require a Recreational Fishing Licence; QLD/WA/SA/TAS/NT usually don't). Check your state's fisheries.
• snappermin 30 cm
  Chrysophrys auratus · 5–40 m · legal
  ⚠️ Sizes/limits and licences vary BY STATE (NSW/VIC require a Recreational Fishing Licence; QLD/WA/SA/TAS/NT usually don't). Check your state's fisheries.
• dusky flatheadmin 36 cm
  Platycephalus fuscus · 1–20 m · legal
• luderick (blackfish)min 27 cm
  Girella tricuspidata · 0–12 m · legal
• silver trevallymin 30 cm
  Pseudocaranx georgianus · 3–30 m · legal
• samsonfish
  Seriola hippos · 5–40 m · legal
• West Australian dhufishmin 50 cm
  Glaucosoma hebraicum · 8–40 m · ⚠️ closed season/limit
  ⚠️ WA: demersal closure (west-coast bioregion) until spring 2027 — check before you go; tight limits.
• morwong
  Nemadactylus / Cheilodactylus · 5–30 m · legal

• ✓Rules and licences vary BY STATE. NSW and VIC require a Recreational Fishing Licence (NSW ~AUD 35/yr); QLD/WA/SA/TAS/NT need no general recreational licence (WA has the boat RFBL). Spearfishing is banned in ALL inland waters.
• ✓Marine National Park / Sanctuary zones — full no-take (incl. GBR green/pink zones in QLD): no fishing, no spearfishing. No taking fish on scuba (QLD/NT expressly ban it); rock lobster may not be speared. Stay ≥150 m from people (NT), don't load the speargun out of the water.

• ⛔ 🚫 Eastern blue groper (NSW state fish) — protected from spearing since 1969. Potato cod, Queensland (giant) groper, humphead Maori wrasse, barramundi cod — no-take.
• ⛔ 🚫 Grey nurse shark, black cod (Epinephelus daemelii), great white shark, whale shark, seahorses/seadragons — fully protected.
• ⛔ 🚫 Rock lobster may NOT be taken by spear (statewide gear rule). Spearfishing is banned in all inland waters and in Marine National Park / Sanctuary zones (full no-take) — check the zone map.

Rules change and vary BY STATE. Before heading out, check with your state's fisheries (NSW DPI, Fisheries QLD, VFA, DPIRD WA, PIRSA, NRE Tas, NT Fisheries) and the marine-park zoning map.

• Sets: watch the wave trains ≥15 min before entering; Hmax ≈ 2×Hs, the wash can run 50 m past the foam line. A lull >10 min with period >12 s = a big set «overdue», do NOT enter; enter right after a full set passes and re-check at minute 30.
• Exit FIRST: find your exit AND a backup before entering. On a rocky/boulder shore a 0.5 m rise in swell can make the exit impossible — getting pinned/unable to climb out is the main killer.
• Headland rip: prominent points often have a permanent topographic rip regardless of the model — locate it, enter/exit on the windward side, never swim against it.
• Cold: wetsuit per the SST chip; the first shiver = a metabolic surge and a drop in breath-hold → get out at the first steady shiver. Cap the session at 45–60 min below 15 °C.
• Solo discipline: buoy up; tell someone the spot and exit time; conservative breath-hold (never push it in cold/murky/surfy water); visibility <3 m — don't enter.
• Afternoon wind: on many coasts the wind builds from midday — plan to be out of the water by midday; the chop builds — get out.
• UV 11:00–15:00 (UVI ≥6): sunscreen and cover up on the surface interval.
• Solo is a fundamental risk (hypoxic blackout with no buddy). Any doubt = No-go.