Southern calamari
Excellent
Prime. Drift the weed edges casting jigs, or a baited jig under a float from the piers.
Dunsborough Fishing Report
Updated Mon, 9 Nov 2026 from live weather and tide data
Geographe Bay’s western corner: the Dunsborough beaches, the Quindalup ramp and Cape Naturaliste, with whiting, herring, squid, salmon and the reef beyond the cape.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Next tide
High 7:50 pm model
Air / High
13 °C / 20 °C
Wind
S 25 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Dunsborough is fishing in its best temperature window, with the bite spread across the day. Today brings cloud cover, wind S around 26 km/h, steady pressure near 1022 hPa and a high of 19 °C. Tides: high 7:50 pm, low 5:30 am: 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 11:22 PM-1:22 AM and 10:58 AM-12:58 PM: the windows to build the day around.
King George whiting
Good
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.
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
Fair
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: 11:22 PM-1:22 AM, 10:58 AM-12:58 PM, 4:18 AM-5:18 AM. Warmer 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 Dunsborough today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:12), sunset (18:54), 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 11:22 PM-1:22 AM and 10:58 AM-12:58 PM; minor 4:18 AM-5:18 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
LOW5:30 am-0.30 m
HIGH7:50 pm0.30 m
Tue
LOW6:30 am-0.38 m
HIGH8:30 pm0.32 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp13 °C
High / Low20 °C / 12 °C
WindS 25 km/h, gusts 47 km/h
Pressure1022.2 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain80% cloud, 2%
Sunrise / Sunset05:12 / 18:54
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 Dunsborough
The best day on Dunsborough this week looks like Tuesday 10 Nov, at 4 out of 5, against 3 today.
Best day this week: Tuesday, 10 Nov — good at 4/5, rising pressure behind a front, typically the slowest.
Today, 9 Nov — Fair
A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
- Solunar majors
- 11:22 PM-1:22 AM and 10:58 AM-12:58 PM
- Minor period
- 4:18 AM-5:18 AM
- Sun
- 05:12 to 18:54
- Moon
- New Moon, 0% lit
- Sky and wind
- Overcast, 26 km/h
- Rain chance
- 2%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
Species guide
The species that matter on Dunsborough: 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 Dunsborough 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 Dunsborough 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 20 °C, wind to 26 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 21 °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 23 °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 at Dunsborough is not among Western Australia’s licensed activities; fishing from a powered boat needs the Recreational Fishing from Boat Licence; our Western Australia page has the fees.
About this water
Dunsborough is a coastal town in Western Australia, Australia, covered from the Western Australia reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Dunsborough: the full guide
Dunsborough and the cape
Dunsborough is the town in the western corner of Geographe Bay south-west of Busselton, with the sheltered beaches and the weed of the bay, the Quindalup ramp, Meelup and Eagle Bay toward the cape, Cape Naturaliste and its lighthouse at the corner and the Indian Ocean coast of Sugarloaf and Yallingup beyond it. It is a bay town with an ocean cape behind it, and the report on this page is scored for the town’s coordinates. Busselton, along the bay, has its own page.
Species and seasons
Whiting fish the bay sand and the weed edges all year and are the town’s fish; herring and garfish fish the beaches and the weed; squid work the weed and are the bay’s everyday catch; Australian salmon run the cape and the ocean beaches in autumn, and the bay’s beaches with them; tailor run the beaches in the cooler months; dhufish, pink snapper and baldchin groper live on the reef off the cape, but boat fishing for them is closed in the West Coast bioregion until spring 2027; and the cape’s platforms give salmon, skippy and sweep. Squid and whiting keep the boats busy while the demersal closure lasts.
Where to fish it
The Dunsborough town beach and the weed beds either side of the Quindalup ramp are the whiting, herring and squid water for wading and small boats on the calm mornings, and Meelup and Eagle Bay toward the cape are the whiting and salmon sand; the Cape Naturaliste platforms at Bunker Bay and Sugarloaf Rock are the exposed rocks for salmon and skippy. The ramp is at Quindalup.
Reading this report here
The bay faces north and is sheltered from the south-westerly that closes the ocean coast, so the wind row decides which; a northerly chops the bay. The summer sea breeze comes in most afternoons. The tide panel is a modelled curve for the coordinates of Dunsborough, labelled as a model, small on this coast. Pressure and sky build the score at Dunsborough; the planner shows the day.
Licence, access and rules
Line fishing from the shore at Dunsborough is not among Western Australia’s licensed activities; fishing from a powered boat needs the Recreational Fishing from Boat Licence; our Western Australia page has the fees. The beaches, the cape tracks and the ramp at Quindalup are public; the Ngari Capes Marine Park zoning, the DPIRD limits and the West Coast demersal closure are in the sources.
Common questions
What can I catch at Dunsborough?
Whiting on the bay sand, herring and squid over the weed, salmon off the cape in autumn, tailor on the beaches in the cooler months, and no boat fishing for dhufish or snapper until spring 2027.
Do I need a licence at Dunsborough?
Not for the beaches and the cape; boats with a motor need the Recreational Fishing from Boat Licence.
Is fishing good at Dunsborough right now?
Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
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.