Southern calamari
Excellent
Spring and autumn are the seasons: the weed beds on the rising tide, slow sinking jigs.
Rottnest Island Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
Perth’s island: the jetties and bays of Rottnest, the reef and the sanctuary zones, with herring, whiting, squid, tailor and the samson fish of the deep.
2/5
Slow. The wind owns today.47 km/h gusts make boat control the real battle.
Next tide
Low 2:50 pm model
Air / High
16 °C / 19 °C
Wind
SE 42 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Rottnest Island is in its cool-water rhythm: slower presentations and the warmest hours of the day. Today brings clear skies, wind SE around 42 km/h, steady pressure near 1026 hPa and a high of 19 °C. Tides: high 8:00 am and 8:15 pm, low 1:45 am and 2:50 pm: the moving water either side of each change is when this place feeds. Water sits around 17 °C for the season (estimated). With the full moon, the solunar majors run 10:25 AM-12:25 PM and 10:25 PM-12:25 AM: the windows to build the day around.
Tailor
Excellent
The main run. Fish the gutters and headlands into the evening; ganged pilchards, metals, and a wire-free trace only if you accept the bite-offs.
West Australian dhufish
Good
A good time on the mid-depth reef on the calm days; jigs and baits, slow.
Tie on: Blade or vibe, slow hops · Lightly weighted plastic · Whole pilchard or squid on the bottom · Suspending hardbody. Prime windows: 10:25 AM-12:25 PM, 10:25 PM-12:25 AM, 4:55 AM-5:55 AM. Similar at 18 °C with likely rain: fish ahead of the front. 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 Rottnest Island today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (06:04), sunset (18:15), 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 10:25 AM-12:25 PM and 10:25 PM-12:25 AM; minor 4:55 AM-5:55 AM. Full Moon, 99% 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.
Fri
LOW1:45 am0.06 m
HIGH8:00 am0.25 m
LOW2:50 pm-0.06 m
HIGH8:15 pm0.10 m
Sat
LOW2:30 am-0.10 m
HIGH9:10 am0.13 m
LOW2:30 pm-0.06 m
HIGH9:15 pm0.21 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp16 °C
High / Low19 °C / 15 °C
WindSE 42 km/h, gusts 55 km/h
Pressure1025.9 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain21% cloud, 39%
Sunrise / Sunset06:04 / 18:15
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~17 °C est.
Why the tide matters here: tides and fishing in Australia.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Rottnest Island
The best day on Rottnest Island this week looks like Thursday 1 Oct, at 4 out of 5, against 2 today. Every day is scored by the same engine as the report above: pressure trend first, then wind, sky and season. Pick a species and the plan for that day changes with it.
Best day this week: Thursday, 1 Oct — good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.
Today, 25 Sept — Tough
47 km/h gusts make boat control the real battle.
- Solunar majors
- 10:25 AM-12:25 PM and 10:25 PM-12:25 AM
- Minor period
- 4:55 AM-5:55 AM
- Sun
- 06:04 to 18:15
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 47 km/h
- Rain chance
- 39%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Rottnest Island: 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. A good time on the mid-depth reef on the calm days; jigs and baits, slow.
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. Fewer fish, deeper; jig the wrecks and the deeper lumps on the calm days.
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. Deeper sand patches and the middle of the day; slower bites, bigger fish.
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. Spring and autumn are the seasons: the weed beds on the rising tide, slow sinking jigs.
Tailor
Autumn and winter on the east coast; August to September on Fraser Island
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. The main run. Fish the gutters and headlands into the evening; ganged pilchards, metals, and a wire-free trace only if you accept the bite-offs.
When to come: the Rottnest Island 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 17 °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 Rottnest Island today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataThu, Sep 24
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Southern calamari led the card at excellent. High of 18 °C, wind to 27 km/h.
Wed, Sep 23
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Southern calamari led the card at excellent. High of 18 °C, wind to 21 km/h.
Tue, Sep 22
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Southern calamari led the card at excellent. High of 18 °C, wind to 27 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 Rottnest Island is not among Western Australia’s licensed activities; fishing from a boat needs the boat licence; our Western Australia page has the fees.
About this water
Rottnest Island is a coastal town in Western Australia, Australia, covered from the Western Australia reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Rottnest Island: the full guide
Rottnest Island and its bays
Rottnest Island is the island off Fremantle, half an hour by ferry from the mainland, with the settlement and the main jetty at Thomson Bay, the bays and beaches around the island from the Basin to Salmon Bay, the reef and the limestone platforms, the Rottnest Island Marine Reserve with its sanctuary zones and the deep water of the trench off the west end. It is an island of bays and jetties, and the report on this page is scored for the island’s coordinates. Fremantle and Perth have their own pages.
Species and seasons
Herring and garfish fish the jetties and the bays all year and are the island’s everyday fish; whiting fish the bay sand; squid work the jetty weed and the lights; tailor run the beaches and the platforms in the cooler months; Australian salmon run the west end in autumn; samson fish and yellowtail kingfish fish the deep water off the west end in summer for the boats; dhufish and pink snapper fish the reef under the West Coast demersal closure; and the bays have sanctuary zones where fishing is banned, with the rules on the island. Skippy and sweep fill the platforms.
Where to fish it
The Thomson Bay main jetty and the Army jetty are the walk-on marks for herring, garfish and squid, fished at night under the lights and on the outer ends at dawn, and the bays of the north shore from the Basin to Geordie Bay are the whiting and squid water outside the sanctuary zones; the west end’s platforms at Cape Vlamingh are the exposed rocks for salmon and tailor. The ferry lands at Thomson Bay, and boats moor in the bays.
Reading this report here
The island has a bay for every wind: a south-westerly roughs the western bays and leaves Thomson Bay fishable, and an easterly the reverse; the wind row tells you which. The tide panel is a modelled curve for the coordinates of Rottnest Island, labelled as a model, small on this coast. Pressure and sky build the score at Rottnest Island; the planner shows the day.
Licence, access and rules
Line fishing from the shore at Rottnest Island is not among Western Australia’s licensed activities; fishing from a boat needs the boat licence; our Western Australia page has the fees. The jetties, the bays and the platforms are public, with the ferry from Fremantle and the island’s own rules; the marine reserve zoning, with its sanctuary zones, the DPIRD limits and the West Coast demersal closure are in the sources.
Common questions
Can I fish on Rottnest Island?
Yes, outside the marine reserve’s sanctuary zones, from the jetties, the bays and the platforms; the zoning map is linked in the sources.
Do I need a licence on Rottnest Island?
Not for line fishing from the shore; fishing from a boat needs the Western Australian boat licence.
Is fishing good at Rottnest Island right now?
Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Slow. The wind owns today. 47 km/h gusts make boat control the real battle.
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
- 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.