Samson fish
Excellent
Prime. Knife jigs and big plastics worked over the reef edges and the bait schools.
Bunbury Fishing Report
Updated Mon, 9 Nov 2026 from live weather and tide data
Koombana Bay, the Leschenault Estuary and the Cut: Bunbury fishes a harbour, an estuary and a coast from the middle of town.
4/5
Good. Solid day ahead.Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
Next tide
High 6:06 pm model
Air / High
15 °C / 20 °C
Wind
SSE 19 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Bunbury has the water in the comfortable band where most of its fish feed through the day. Today brings cloud cover, wind SSE around 19 km/h, steady pressure near 1021 hPa and a high of 21 °C. Tides: high 6:06 pm, low 3:30 am and 6:00 am and 8:30 pm: the moving water either side of each change is when this place feeds. Water sits around 19 °C for the season (estimated). With the new moon, the solunar majors run 11:20 PM-1:20 AM and 10:56 AM-12:56 PM: the windows to build the day around.
King George whiting
Excellent
Peak season. Berley lightly, fish the sand holes on the making tide, and stay mobile: whiting are where the bait is, not where they were last week.
Southern calamari
Excellent
Prime. Drift the weed edges casting jigs, or a baited jig under a float from the piers.
West Australian dhufish
Closed today
Boat-based fishing for demersal scalefish in the West Coast bioregion is closed until spring 2027; DPIRD has published no reopening date. Land-based line fishing is allowed, except spearfishing for dhufish.
Tailor
Good
Rock ledges and beach gutters on the rising tide; metals cast and retrieved fast, or a whole pilchard drifted through the wash.
Blue swimmer crab
Closed today
Reopens 1 Dec 2026. All waters, including rivers, estuaries, man-made waterways and Cockburn Sound, from the Swan and Canning rivers to Rich Road, Minninup Beach (15 km south of Bunbury) are closed to all crab fishing from 1 September to 30 November.
Tie on: Soft plastic on a 1/4 oz jighead · Small hardbody, shallow diver · Squid jig, size 3.0 · Fresh pipi or worm on a small hook. Prime windows: 11:20 PM-1:20 AM, 10:56 AM-12:56 PM, 4:16 AM-5:16 AM. Similar at 23 °C. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.
Before you go
Western Australia requires a fishing licence for most fishing, from A$40.00. Western Australia fishing licence: cost, rules and where to buy →
Chasing west australian dhufish here? Check the size and bag limits with DPIRD WA before you keep anything; the West Australian dhufish page has the seasons and the tactics.
Fishing times for Bunbury today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:11), sunset (18:51), the moon and today's score, with the modelled tide changes in the panel below. Tap a bar to see why.
Bite planner
Solunar majors 11:20 PM-1:20 AM and 10:56 AM-12:56 PM; minor 4:16 AM-5:16 AM. New Moon, 0% lit.
Water and weather
A modelled tide curve for these coordinates and the forecast for the day.
Tides (modelled)
Modelled sea level curve from Open-Meteo Marine for these coordinates, datum mean sea level. Fish the moving water either side of each change.
A model, not the official prediction: times can drift by tens of minutes inside bays and estuaries. Check the Bureau of Meteorology tide predictions for the exact times before you rely on them.
Mon
LOW3:30 am-0.30 m
LOW6:00 am-0.32 m
HIGH6:06 pm0.28 m
LOW8:30 pm0.24 m
Tue
LOW4:18 am-0.40 m
HIGH6:30 am-0.38 m
HIGH7:00 pm0.28 m
LOW8:00 pm0.27 m
HIGH8:50 pm0.28 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp15 °C
High / Low20 °C / 10 °C
WindSSE 19 km/h, gusts 38 km/h
Pressure1021.4 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain71% cloud, 2%
Sunrise / Sunset05:11 / 18:51
MoonNew Moon, 0%
Water temp (seasonal)~19 °C est.
Why the tide matters here: tides and fishing in Australia.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Bunbury
Today is the pick of the week on Bunbury, at 4 out of 5.
Best day this week: today, 9 Nov — good at 4/5, steady pressure, neither help nor hindrance.
Today, 9 Nov — Good
Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
- Solunar majors
- 11:20 PM-1:20 AM and 10:56 AM-12:56 PM
- Minor period
- 4:16 AM-5:16 AM
- Sun
- 05:11 to 18:51
- Moon
- New Moon, 0% lit
- Sky and wind
- Overcast, 23 km/h
- Rain chance
- 2%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
Species guide
The species that matter on Bunbury: seasons written for the southern year, and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.
West Australian dhufish
Year-round demersal fishery with a closed season on the West Coast; check DPIRD
Closed Boat-based fishing for demersal scalefish in the West Coast bioregion is closed until spring 2027; DPIRD has published no reopening date. Land-based line fishing is allowed, except spearfishing for dhufish. Rule as read from DPIRD WA on 2026-09-23.
WA's prize demersal. Lives on limestone reef and lumps in 20 to 100 metres from Kalbarri to Augusta; slow-growing and tightly managed.
Samson fish
Best: summer and autumn off WA
The big amberjack of the west: bruising fights on jigs over the deep reef and around the offshore aggregations in summer. Prime. Knife jigs and big plastics worked over the reef edges and the bait schools.
King George whiting
Best: December to May in SA; spring and summer in Port Phillip
The table fish of the south. Feeds over sand patches between weed and reef in 2 to 10 metres, mostly by day, mostly on the moving tide. Peak season. Berley lightly, fish the sand holes on the making tide, and stay mobile: whiting are where the bait is, not where they were last week.
Southern calamari
Spring and autumn peaks in the southern bays
Southern calamari over weed and sand in 2 to 10 metres of the bays and gulfs; a jig fishery at dawn, dusk and under the jetty lights. Prime. Drift the weed edges casting jigs, or a baited jig under a float from the piers.
Tailor
Autumn and winter on the east coast; the run reaches K'gari (Fraser Island) in late winter, where the east beach from Waddy Point to Indian Head is closed to all fin fish from 1 August to 29 September
The surf and rock fish of the east coast, running north in autumn and winter. Fast, toothy and best at dawn, dusk and into the dark. Rock ledges and beach gutters on the rising tide; metals cast and retrieved fast, or a whole pilchard drifted through the wash.
Blue swimmer crab
December to May in the Perth and South West estuaries; closed 1 September to 30 November from the Swan River to Minninup Beach
Closed now Reopens 1 Dec 2026. All waters, including rivers, estuaries, man-made waterways and Cockburn Sound, from the Swan and Canning rivers to Rich Road, Minninup Beach (15 km south of Bunbury) are closed to all crab fishing from 1 September to 30 November. Rule as read from DPIRD Western Australia on 2026-09-29.
Blue manna crab to West Australians: it lives in sheltered estuaries and inshore bays, hides under the sand by day and moves about at night. DPIRD sets a 127 mm minimum across the carapace spikes, and undersize crabs and egg-carrying (berried) females must go straight back.
When to come: the Bunbury calendar
Activity by species and month for the southern year, and how the water warms and cools. Tap any cell.
Species activity by month
1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted. January is midsummer here.
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
West Australian dhufish
Samson fish
King George whiting
Southern calamari
Tailor
Blue swimmer crab
SlowPeak
Water temperature through the year
Typical surface temperature for this water type in degrees Celsius; today is around 19 °C (estimated, not a reading).
Angler reports
Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. Nothing here is copied from a shop or a charter. The water log below tracks each day automatically.
No angler reports yetBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Bunbury today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataSun, Nov 8
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Southern calamari led the card at excellent. High of 22 °C, wind to 31 km/h.
Sat, Nov 7
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Samson fish led the card at excellent. High of 22 °C, wind to 23 km/h.
Fri, Nov 6
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Southern calamari led the card at excellent. High of 24 °C, wind to 26 km/h.
Before you go
Licence
Western Australian recreational fishing licences, from A$40.00, the same for residents and visitors. Details and where to buy →
Regulations
Size and bag limits, closed seasons and marine park zones are set by DPIRD WA and change: confirm the current rules on the agency page linked from the Western Australia licence page before you keep anything.
Access
Line fishing from the shore is not among Western Australia’s licensed activities, but fishing from a boat needs the boat licence and the crab and demersal rules apply; our Western Australia licence page has the fees.
About this water
Bunbury is a coastal town in Western Australia, Australia, covered from the Western Australia reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Bunbury: the full guide
Bunbury and its water
Bunbury is the port city of Western Australia’s south-west, on Koombana Bay with the Leschenault Estuary behind it, and its fishing is the bay, the estuary, the Cut that joins them and the coast of beaches and reef that runs south toward Busselton. The Leschenault is a long, shallow estuary fed by the Collie and Preston rivers, the Cut is a rock-walled channel to the sea, the harbour has breakwaters, and Back Beach and the reef platforms give the ocean side. Many people look Bunbury up for the tide, and this page shows a modelled curve for these coordinates, labelled as a model, with the Bureau of Meteorology prediction linked. The Bunbury report is scored for the city’s own coordinates.
Species by season
Bream fish the estuary and the rivers all year around the snags and the walls, flathead and whiting the estuary sand in the warmer months, and blue swimmer crabs the estuary through summer and autumn; the Perth and South West crab closure runs from 1 September to 30 November and reaches past Bunbury. Tailor and herring are the beach and jetty fish, tailor best at dusk in the warmer months; Australian salmon run the beaches in the cooler months; mulloway are the night fish of the Cut and the estuary; and squid work the weed off the breakwaters. The offshore reef is dhufish and pink snapper ground, but boat fishing for demersal species in the West Coast bioregion is closed until spring 2027.
Reading this report here
The sea breeze runs this coast in summer, so the wind row decides whether the afternoon is worth it; a strong south-westerly makes the ocean side rough and the estuary the place to be. Pressure and sky build the score and the planner shows the day; the tide panel matters most at the Cut, which runs hard, and in the estuary, which follows slowly, so use the curve for the direction and the official prediction for the minute.
Licences and access
Line fishing from the shore is not among Western Australia’s licensed activities, but fishing from a boat needs the boat licence and the crab and demersal rules apply; our Western Australia licence page has the fees. The harbour walls, the Cut, the estuary foreshores and the beaches are public, and the Department of Transport lists a public ramp at Casuarina Boat Harbour and another on the Leschenault Estuary.
Common questions
Do I need a licence to fish in Bunbury?
Not for line fishing from the shore at Bunbury; anyone fishing from a boat needs the A$40 boat licence, which covers everyone aboard.
Is fishing good at Bunbury right now?
Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
Nearby waters
Where this page's numbers come from
- Tide curve (modelled)
- Open-Meteo Marine, sea level height including tides
- Open-Meteo forecast model
- https://open-meteo.com/
- Moon and solunar windows
- Calculated on this site
- Pages checked
- The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on How our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.