Samson fish
Excellent
Prime. Knife jigs and big plastics worked over the reef edges and the bait schools.
Esperance Fishing Report
Updated Mon, 9 Nov 2026 from live weather and tide data
White beaches, granite headlands and the Recherche Archipelago: Esperance fishes for salmon, herring, whiting and reef species on the far south coast.
4/5
Good. Solid day ahead.Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
Next tide
Low 2:42 pm model
Air / High
15 °C / 18 °C
Wind
SSE 19 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Esperance 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, falling pressure near 1022 hPa and a high of 18 °C. Tides: high 10:30 am and 9:50 pm, low 5:00 am and 2:42 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 10:30 AM-12:30 PM and 10:51 PM-12:51 AM: 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
Good
Fish the deeper reef in 40 metres and more; big baits, heavy leaders, and release any fish you are not keeping with a release weight.
Tailor
Good
Rock ledges and beach gutters on the rising tide; metals cast and retrieved fast, or a whole pilchard drifted through the wash.
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: 10:30 AM-12:30 PM, 10:51 PM-12:51 AM, 3:49 AM-4:49 AM. Similar at 16 °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 Esperance today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (04:45), sunset (18:27), 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 10:30 AM-12:30 PM and 10:51 PM-12:51 AM; minor 3:49 AM-4:49 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
LOW5:00 am-0.27 m
HIGH10:30 am-0.03 m
LOW2:42 pm-0.14 m
HIGH9:50 pm0.50 m
Tue
LOW5:30 am-0.32 m
HIGH10:50 am-0.12 m
LOW2:54 pm-0.23 m
HIGH10:10 pm0.44 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp15 °C
High / Low18 °C / 14 °C
WindSSE 19 km/h, gusts 46 km/h
Pressure1022.3 hPa, falling
Sky / Rain79% cloud, 97%
Sunrise / Sunset04:45 / 18:27
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 Esperance
Today is the pick of the week on Esperance, at 4 out of 5.
Best day this week: today, 9 Nov — good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.
Today, 9 Nov — Good
Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
- Solunar majors
- 10:30 AM-12:30 PM and 10:51 PM-12:51 AM
- Minor period
- 3:49 AM-4:49 AM
- Sun
- 04:45 to 18:27
- Moon
- New Moon, 0% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 24 km/h
- Rain chance
- 97%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
Species guide
The species that matter on Esperance: 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
WA's prize demersal. Lives on limestone reef and lumps in 20 to 100 metres from Kalbarri to Augusta; slow-growing and tightly managed. Fish the deeper reef in 40 metres and more; big baits, heavy leaders, and release any fish you are not keeping with a release weight.
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.
When to come: the Esperance 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
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 Esperance 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 20 °C, wind to 16 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 20 °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 17 °C, wind to 31 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
Shore anglers with a line need no licence in Western Australia; fishing from a powered boat needs the boat licence, and abalone and rock lobster have licences of their own; our Western Australia page has the fees.
About this water
Esperance is a coastal town in Western Australia, Australia, covered from the Western Australia reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Esperance: the full guide
Esperance and its coast
Esperance is the port of Western Australia’s far south coast, facing the islands of the Recherche Archipelago across Esperance Bay, with the town jetty and the town beach in front, the granite headlands and white beaches of Cape Le Grand and Twilight Beach either side, and the Bandy Creek boat harbour to the east. It is a Southern Ocean town and the fishing follows: salmon on the beaches, herring and whiting from the jetty and the sand, squid over the weed, and the reef species around the islands for the boats when the swell allows. Esperance’s own coordinates are what this page’s report is scored for.
Species and seasons
Western Australian salmon are the fish the coast is known for, running the beaches from Twilight to Cape Le Grand in autumn and winter; DPIRD sets a minimum of 300 millimetres and a daily bag of four. Herring and skippy are the everyday jetty and beach fish; King George whiting feed over the sand and weed of the bay and the island lees from spring to autumn; and squid hunt the weed off the jetty and the harbour in spring and autumn. Tailor must also be at least 300 millimetres. The reefs and islands give pink snapper, queen snapper, harlequin fish and the other demersal species to the boats, under the South Coast bioregion limits, which allow a mixed demersal bag of four and one dhufish a day. Bream live in Bandy Creek and the estuaries east of the town.
Reading this report here
On this coast the wind row stands in for the swell: a south-westerly brings it into the bay and closes the beaches and the granite, and a northerly flattens the bay and makes the jetty and the beaches fishable. For Esperance the score takes in pressure and sky, and the planner points to the days when the swell drops. The tide panel is a modelled curve for these coordinates, labelled as a model, with small tides, so it is the direction that helps and the Bureau of Meteorology that has the times. The granite headlands are dangerous in any swell.
Licences and access
Shore anglers with a line need no licence in Western Australia; fishing from a powered boat needs the boat licence, and abalone and rock lobster have licences of their own; our Western Australia page has the fees. Wire traces are banned around the Esperance jetty under the DPIRD rules. The jetty, the town beaches and the national park beaches are public, and boats launch from the Bandy Creek boat harbour; the DPIRD limits and marine protected area rules are on the pages in the sources.
Common questions
When do the salmon run in Esperance?
Western Australian salmon run the Esperance beaches in autumn and winter; DPIRD’s limit is four a day at 300 millimetres or more, and the species card rates the month.
Can I use a wire trace on the Esperance jetty?
No. DPIRD bans wire traces in a buffer around the Esperance jetty; use heavy monofilament or fluorocarbon leader instead.
Is fishing good at Esperance 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.