Lake Tabourie
Estuary · Brackish water · in New South Wales
A coastal lake south of Ulladulla, one of the area's four recreational fishing havens, which the department lists for dusky flathead, bream, whiting, estuary perch, luderick and mullet.
FishingHQ describes what this place is, not whether you may fish it. Access, permits and who to ask.
What you can catch here
Documented at this place, grouped by how you would be fishing, with how strongly the sources support each one. This is what has been written down, not a forecast, and being listed is never permission to fish.
From the shore · 3
Dusky flatheadRegular local target1 placeLake TabourieOver estuaryPhoto: Sylke Rohrlach from Sydney, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0; resized and trimmed to fit; shared under the same licence
Estuary perchRegular local target1 placeLake TabourieOver estuaryPhoto: Bryce Watts-Parker, via iNaturalist, CC BY; resized
- LuderickRegular local target1 placeLake TabourieOver estuary
From a boat · 3
Dusky flatheadRegular local target1 placeLake TabourieOver estuaryPhoto: Sylke Rohrlach from Sydney, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0; resized and trimmed to fit; shared under the same licence
Estuary perchRegular local target1 placeLake TabourieOver estuaryPhoto: Bryce Watts-Parker, via iNaturalist, CC BY; resized
- LuderickRegular local target1 placeLake TabourieOver estuary
From a kayak · 3
Dusky flatheadRegular local target1 placeLake TabourieOver estuaryPhoto: Sylke Rohrlach from Sydney, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0; resized and trimmed to fit; shared under the same licence
Estuary perchRegular local target1 placeLake TabourieOver estuaryPhoto: Bryce Watts-Parker, via iNaturalist, CC BY; resized
- LuderickRegular local target1 placeLake TabourieOver estuary
What these strengths mean
- Regular local target
- Fishing sources describe this as a normal local target here, not merely as caught.
- How breadth is counted
- A fish documented at six marks is shown as six marks: breadth never raises the strength on its own. A fishery account describes the fishing; a recorded catch reports one specific catch. How evidence is weighed.
Fish documented nearby, not here
Nothing below has been documented at Lake Tabourie itself. Each one has been documented at a named place on the same ground, and the places are listed with it. Treat this as what the water around here holds rather than as a catch list for this mark.
Widely documented on this ground
Documented at three or more neighbouring places, fished a way this place is also fished. That is a pattern about the ground rather than about any one mark, and it is the closest this site comes to saying you will probably meet a fish somewhere nothing has been written about.
From a boat
- Australasian snapper — documented at Jervis Bay; Longnose Point; Plantation Point
- Yellowtail kingfish — documented at Jervis Bay; Point Perpendicular; Longnose Point
Also documented at neighbouring places
One or two accounts each, on the ground around here. Enough to know the fish is caught in these waters; not enough to say anything about this place.
From a boat
- Sand flathead — documented at Jervis Bay
- Kahawai — documented at Jervis Bay; Longnose Point
From the shore
- Kahawai — documented at Jervis Bay
Named only as a group
The guide for Lake Tabourie also names these fish by a name that covers more than one species here. It does not say which, so none is attached to this place.
- bream — could be Black bream or Yellowfin bream. Black bream and yellowfin bream overlap in south-east Australia and hybridise in Victoria; the working difference is the colour of the pelvic and anal fins.
- whiting — could be Sand whiting, King George whiting or Yellowfin whiting. The NSW department's Great Lakes guide says its whiting are sand or yellowfin whiting, and the Victorian bays' are King George whiting; "whiting" alone does not say which.
- mullet — could be Yellow-eye mullet or Sea mullet. Both occur in south-east Australian estuaries: on the Hopkins the Victorian agency names yellow eye mullet as a key fish and sea mullet as an occasional one, and "mullet" alone does not say which.
How people fish it
Practised here: Sea fishing.
Methods the sources name for this ground. Each one is explained in full on its own page.
Baits and lures for these fish
The baits and lures each of the fish above is commonly taken on, from that fish’s own page. This is what works for the fish, not a report of what people use on this particular water — local knowledge and the conditions on the day still decide.
Lures
- Soft plastics — for Dusky flathead
The ground and the water
- The ground
- A coastal lake south of Ulladulla, one of the area's four recreational fishing havens, which the department lists for dusky flathead, bream, whiting, estuary perch, luderick and mullet.
Through the year
The department gives no months for this lake.
Rules and access
Particular to this water: A recreational fishing haven, as the department lists it. The department lists no ramp for this lake. A listed ramp is not a statement that launching is allowed today. The department asks that big flathead be landed in a large knotless net, kept in the water until the camera and mat are ready, held by the lower jaw with a wet glove and supported, never lifted by lip grips, and released.
Beyond what is stated above, FishingHQ does not know the current access position here. New South Wales requires its recreational fishing fee to be paid in all its waters, with exemptions the state lists. Marine parks and aquatic reserves have zones where fishing is not allowed or only some methods are, much of the shore is an intertidal protected area where shellfish and other invertebrates may not be taken, the state publishes advice against eating fish from some waters, and wearing a lifejacket is the law when rock fishing in declared council areas. Bag and size limits change. Check the current position with the NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development before going. This water is tidal and transitional, so the freshwater regime may also apply above the tidal limit: FishingHQ does not know the current access position here. The New South Wales fishing fee applies in fresh water too, trout rivers and streams have a closed season and some are lure and fly only, and much of the high country is national park. All of it changes. Check the current position with the NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development before going.
Who holds the answer:
- The NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, which collects the fishing fee and publishes the rules, closures and marine park zoning.
- The council, port or land manager, where the shore or wharf is theirs.
- The NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, which publishes the freshwater rules and trout seasons.
- The National Parks and Wildlife Service, where the water is inside a national park.
- The NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, which sets the recreational fishing fee and its exemptions and publishes the rules, closures, marine park zoning and freshwater seasons.
- Service NSW, the state's service through which the licence is bought.
- The council, port or land manager, for wharves, parks, reserves and other land it owns or leases, which carry rules of their own.
- The NSW Food Authority, for advice on eating fish from waters with a contamination advisory, including Sydney Harbour.
- The National Parks and Wildlife Service, where the water or shore is inside a national park such as Kosciuszko.
- The managers of Booderee National Park, on Jervis Bay's southern shore, which is Commonwealth land with its own fishing rules.
- The NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development: collects the fishing fee and publishes the bag and size limits, closures and zoning for this water.
Nearby fishing
Other publicly documented places within about 40 km, by distance. Positions are approximate public geography and are never exact marks.
- Burrill Lake — 5–10 km · Estuary
- Narrawallee Inlet — 10–25 km · Estuary
- Lake Conjola — 10–25 km · Estuary
Sources for this place
- Go Fishing — Ulladulla — NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, 2024 (Government fisheries body)Relied on for: The department's Ulladulla guide: this recreational fishing haven, the fish it lists here, the flathead methods and seasons, and the ramps it lists.States this directlyPassage read and verified
- Recreational fishing fee — NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (Government fisheries body)Relied on for: That the NSW recreational fishing fee must be paid, and a receipt carried, when fishing in any NSW water.States this directlyPassage read and verified
How FishingHQ labels evidence is explained in the evidence policy. Last reviewed 2026-10-23.
Before you go
- Fish documented here
- 9 at this place itself. See them.
- Getting there
- Not recorded. FishingHQ holds no sourced description of the way in.
- Rules particular to this water
- A recreational fishing haven, as the department lists it. The department lists no ramp for this lake. A listed ramp is not a statement that launching is allowed today. The department asks that big flathead be landed in a large knotless net, kept in the water until the camera and mat are ready, held by the lower jaw with a wet glove and supported, never lifted by lip grips, and released. Dated 2024: NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development and NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development. Whether it still applies is not established. Applies to: Lake Tabourie.
Nothing here is watched for change. Sources and who to ask.
- Hazards particular to this place
- None recorded for this place; the hazards of the wider coast or water still apply.
Check before you travel
- Whether you may fish here, and whether a licence or permit is needed — start with the NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development.
- The tide times and the forecast for the day you go.
- Anything recorded here was true when it was read; it is not watched for change.