Samson fish
Excellent
Prime. Knife jigs and big plastics worked over the reef edges and the bait schools.
Busselton Fishing Report
Updated Mon, 9 Nov 2026 from live weather and tide data
Geographe Bay and Busselton Jetty, which its operator calls the longest timber-piled jetty in the Southern Hemisphere: whiting, squid and herring in the calm, and the Capes coast around the corner.
4/5
Good. Solid day ahead.Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
Next tide
High 6:10 pm model
Air / High
16 °C / 20 °C
Wind
S 22 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Busselton sits in the warm band: moving baits, moving tides and fish on the edges. Today brings cloud cover, wind S around 21 km/h, steady pressure near 1021 hPa and a high of 20 °C. Tides: high 4:50 am and 6:10 pm, low 4:00 am and 6:00 am and 7:30 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 11:21 PM-1:21 AM and 10:57 AM-12:57 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
Slow
Work the drop nets along the channel edges on the moving tide: no more than 10 nets per person or per boat, each no wider than 1.5 metres. The legal methods are by hand, drop net, rigid scoop net, blunt wire hook or diving; crab rakes are banned.
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: 11:21 PM-1:21 AM, 10:57 AM-12:57 PM, 4:17 AM-5:17 AM. Similar at 22 °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 Busselton today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:11), sunset (18:53), 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 11:21 PM-1:21 AM and 10:57 AM-12:57 PM; minor 4:17 AM-5:17 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
LOW4:00 am-0.31 m
HIGH4:50 am-0.30 m
LOW6:00 am-0.32 m
HIGH6:10 pm0.25 m
LOW7:30 pm0.23 m
Tue
LOW4:30 am-0.39 m
HIGH6:50 pm0.30 m
LOW8:30 pm0.28 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp16 °C
High / Low20 °C / 12 °C
WindS 22 km/h, gusts 40 km/h
Pressure1020.8 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain72% cloud, 2%
Sunrise / Sunset05:11 / 18:53
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 Busselton
Today is the pick of the week on Busselton, 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
- 11:21 PM-1:21 AM and 10:57 AM-12:57 PM
- Minor period
- 4:17 AM-5:17 AM
- Sun
- 05:11 to 18:53
- Moon
- New Moon, 0% lit
- Sky and wind
- Overcast, 24 km/h
- Rain chance
- 2%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
Species guide
The species that matter on Busselton: 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
Open all year Geographe Bay is south of the Swan River–Minninup closure and has no crab closed season; the daily bag is 10 crabs, of which no more than 5 may be female. 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. Work the drop nets along the channel edges on the moving tide: no more than 10 nets per person or per boat, each no wider than 1.5 metres. The legal methods are by hand, drop net, rigid scoop net, blunt wire hook or diving; crab rakes are banned.
When to come: the Busselton 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 Busselton today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataSun, Nov 8
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 23 °C, wind to 24 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 23 °C, wind to 23 km/h.
Fri, Nov 6
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 24 °C, wind to 24 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; fishing from a boat needs the boat licence, and the abalone and rock lobster fisheries of the cape have their own; our Western Australia page has the fees.
About this water
Busselton is a coastal town in Western Australia, Australia, covered from the Western Australia reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Busselton: the full guide
Busselton and Geographe Bay
Busselton sits on Geographe Bay in Western Australia’s south-west, a wide, shallow, north-facing bay sheltered by Cape Naturaliste from the Indian Ocean swell, and its fishing is defined by Busselton Jetty, which runs 1.841 kilometres out over the seagrass and the sand. Around it are the bay’s beaches from Wonnerup to Dunsborough, the Vasse and Wonnerup estuaries, and, beyond the cape, the surf and rock coast of the Margaret River region. The jetty is shared with walkers, the jetty train, divers and snorkellers, and its operator reminds anglers that it is not the authority for fishing rules: DPIRD is.
Species by season
Herring and whiting are the jetty and beach fish through the year, the whiting over the sand in the warmer months; squid work the seagrass and the jetty lights in spring and autumn; tailor fish the beaches and the jetty at dusk in the warmer months; and Australian salmon run the beaches and the cape in autumn and winter. The jetty’s own list of common catches adds yellowfin whiting, silver trevally, western king wrasse, samsonfish, yellowtail kingfish and seasonal pink snapper. The deeper bay would be dhufish and pink snapper water for the boats, but boat-based demersal fishing in the West Coast bioregion is closed until spring 2027.
Reading this report here
Geographe Bay faces north, so a south-westerly is offshore and calm inside the bay while a northerly or a north-westerly roughs it up: the wind row tells you which. The summer sea breeze ends the afternoon on the jetty. Pressure and sky build the score and the planner shows the day; the tide panel is a modelled curve for these coordinates, labelled as a model, and tides here are small, so it is the direction of the flow that helps, with the Bureau of Meteorology for the times.
Licences and access
Line fishing from the shore is not among Western Australia’s licensed activities; fishing from a boat needs the boat licence, and the abalone and rock lobster fisheries of the cape have their own; our Western Australia page has the fees. On the jetty the City of Busselton’s local law allows two lines and four drop nets per person, wire trace is prohibited in the surrounding waters, and fishing stops at the steel gates about 1.6 kilometres out, where the Busselton Jetty sanctuary zone begins. The beaches are open, and the Department of Transport lists public ramps at the town beach, Dunsborough and Port Geographe Marina.
Common questions
What can I catch from Busselton Jetty?
Herring, King George and yellowfin whiting, squid, silver trevally and wrasse through the year, samsonfish and kingfish at times, and pink snapper in season, according to the jetty’s own fishing page. Fishing is not allowed past the sanctuary gates near the underwater observatory.
Do I need a licence to fish in Busselton?
Not from the jetty or the beach: shore line fishing is unlicensed in Western Australia. A boat needs the boat licence, and rock lobster and abalone need their own.
Is fishing good at Busselton 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.