Southern calamari
Excellent
Prime. Drift the weed edges casting jigs, or a baited jig under a float from the piers.
Kalbarri Fishing Report
Updated Mon, 9 Nov 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Murchison River mouth and the cliffs: tailor and mulloway on the beaches, whiting and bream in the river, and mackerel and dhufish for the ledge fishers on the cliffs.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Next tide
High 11:30 am model
Air / High
18 °C / 26 °C
Wind
S 26 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Kalbarri has the water in the comfortable band where most of its fish feed through the day. Today brings clear skies, wind S around 26 km/h, steady pressure near 1016 hPa and a high of 26 °C. Tides: high 11:30 am and 8:30 pm, low 4:30 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 11:26 PM-1:26 AM and 11:02 AM-1:02 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.
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: 11:26 PM-1:26 AM, 11:02 AM-1:02 PM, 4:34 AM-5:34 AM. Warmer at 30 °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 Kalbarri today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:26), sunset (18:47), 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 11:26 PM-1:26 AM and 11:02 AM-1:02 PM; minor 4:34 AM-5:34 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
LOW4:30 am-0.21 m
HIGH11:30 am0.06 m
HIGH8:30 pm0.49 m
Tue
LOW5:15 am-0.21 m
HIGH12:30 pm0.14 m
HIGH8:30 pm0.61 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp18 °C
High / Low26 °C / 16 °C
WindS 26 km/h, gusts 53 km/h
Pressure1015.5 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain4% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset05:26 / 18:47
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 Kalbarri
The best day on Kalbarri this week looks like Wednesday 11 Nov, at 4 out of 5, against 3 today.
Best day this week: Wednesday, 11 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
- 11:26 PM-1:26 AM and 11:02 AM-1:02 PM
- Minor period
- 4:34 AM-5:34 AM
- Sun
- 05:26 to 18:47
- Moon
- New Moon, 0% lit
- Sky and wind
- Overcast, 29 km/h
- Rain chance
- 0%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
Species guide
The species that matter on Kalbarri: 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.
When to come: the Kalbarri 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 Kalbarri 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 26 °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 25 °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 26 °C, wind to 23 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 Kalbarri 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
Kalbarri is a coastal town in Western Australia, Australia, covered from the Western Australia reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Kalbarri: the full guide
Kalbarri and the Murchison
Kalbarri is the town at the mouth of the Murchison River on the Coral Coast north of Geraldton, with the river’s estuary and flats running back into the gorges of the national park, the bar at the mouth, the beaches of Chinamans and Blue Holes below the town, the coastal cliffs running south to Red Bluff and the reef and the deep water off them. It is a river-mouth town under cliffs, and the report on this page is scored for the town’s coordinates. Geraldton has its own page.
Species and seasons
Tailor run the beaches and the river mouth in the cooler months and are the town’s fish; mulloway are the night fish of the mouth and the beaches; whiting fish the river flats and the beaches in summer; bream fish the river’s snags and the walls; Spanish mackerel run the cliffs and the reef from summer into autumn; dhufish, pink snapper and baldchin groper live on the reef, but DPIRD has closed boat fishing for demersals in the West Coast bioregion until spring 2027, while land-based anglers may still take them outside spawning closures; and the cliffs give tailor, mackerel and the odd samson fish for the ledge fishers. Kalbarri sits at the northern end of the West Coast bioregion, which DPIRD runs to the Zuytdorp Cliffs.
Where to fish it
The Murchison River from the town jetties up to the Chinamans flats is the bream, whiting and mulloway water, fished on the run-in and at night, and the mouth and the bar are the tailor and mulloway marks; Chinamans and Blue Holes beaches south of the town are the tailor sand at dawn, and the cliff ledges at Red Bluff and Pot Alley are the exposed rocks for mackerel and tailor. The ramps are on the river at the town.
Reading this report here
The coast faces west and a south-westerly builds the sea and closes the bar and the cliffs, while an easterly off the land flattens it, with the summer sea breeze coming in most afternoons; the wind row tells you which. The tide panel is a modelled curve for the coordinates of Kalbarri, labelled as a model, small on this coast, and the river mouth runs on it. Pressure and sky build the score at Kalbarri; the planner shows the day. The cliff ledges take the full swell: fish them on a calm day, keep back from the edge and wear a lifejacket.
Licence, access and rules
Line fishing from the shore at Kalbarri 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 river, the beaches and the cliff tracks are public, with ramps on the river; the DPIRD limits, the West Coast demersal closure and the national park rules are in the sources.
Common questions
What can I catch at Kalbarri?
Tailor on the beaches in the cooler months, mulloway at the mouth at night, whiting and bream in the river, mackerel off the cliffs from summer, and dhufish from the cliffs for land-based anglers, with boat demersal fishing closed until spring 2027.
Do I need a licence at Kalbarri?
Not from the shore: DPIRD requires no licence for shore-based line fishing, but a powered boat needs a Recreational Fishing from Boat Licence held by someone on board.
Is fishing good at Kalbarri 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.