What can you catch at Duke of Orleans Bay and Wharton Beach?

Australian salmon most of the year off Wharton Beach, with herring, skippy, snook, garfish and squid off the island rocks in the bay, King George and sand whiting over the sand and seagrass, and flathead on the drop-offs. Gummy sharks show after dark and western blue groper hold the headland rocks.

Do you need a 4WD to fish Wharton Beach?

Not to get there — the car parks at both Wharton Beach and the Duke of Orleans Bay foreshore are reachable in a 2WD, and you can walk onto the sand from there. You only need a 4WD to drive on the beach itself, and that's soft-sand work all the way: drop tyre pressures and follow the harder sand low on the tide.

When is the best time for salmon at Wharton Beach?

Salmon hang around the Esperance coast most of the year, unlike the short autumn run further west. The run is best from February to May, with the weeks around Easter the classic peak. Clear water helps — walk the beach and look for the dark schools before casting.

Where do you actually fish at Duke of Orleans Bay?

The locals' spot is the small island at the end of the narrow sand strip on the bay side — most of the land-based fishing is done from its rock, for herring, skippy, snook, garfish and squid. Wharton Beach handles the salmon and surf side, and the sheltered bay corners cover whiting and calm-day sessions. Watch the tide on the strip so you don't get cut off.

How far is Duke of Orleans Bay from Esperance?

About 85km east — just over an hour's drive via Fisheries Road and Condingup. The Duke of Orleans Bay Caravan Park at Wharton townsite is the base for staying out there; otherwise it's a comfortable day trip from Esperance. Stock up on bait, fuel and supplies in town before heading out.

Bite Compass

Bite Forecast

Duke of Orleans Bay / Wharton Beach (Condingup)

Mon 19 Oct 2026 · Australia/Perth

Forecast updated 12:01am AWST

Save

Change Spot

←

19 Oct

tap to pick date

→

Today Tomorrow Sat 24 Oct

📍 Duke of Orleans Bay / Wharton Beach (Condingup)

first quarter · 54%

Weather: Cloudy Wind: SW 228° · 17 km/h Swell: 1.2 m @ 7 s SW Water: 17.9 °C Pressure: 1019.7 hPa → steady Faces east · Offshore: SW, W, NW · Onshore: NE, E, SE · Forecast wind: offshore

★★★★☆

High Fish Activity

▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 6:30 pm

Solunar Major window

Time of day Dusk

Tide Moving

Wind S 12 km/h

Moon first quarter all day

Water temp 17.9 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day Timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 4:38 am Last light 6:31 pm

High 1:30 am Low 4:00 pm

Drag or use arrow keys to explore

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

5:30 pm → 8:00 pm

2h 30m

Good

4:30 am → 6:30 am

Good

11:00 am → 12:00 pm

First light

4:38 am

Last light

6:31 pm

Sunrise

5:03 am

Sunset

6:06 pm

Moonrise

11:11 am

Moonset

1:00 am

High tide

1:30 am

Low tide

4:00 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☀️

15°

↙︎

244°

17 km/h

1am

☀️

15°

↙︎

243°

20 km/h

2am

☀️

15°

↙︎

241°

23 km/h

3am

☀️

15°

↙︎

243°

22 km/h

4am

☀️

15°

↙︎

244°

21 km/h

5am

☁️

15°

↙︎

246°

21 km/h

6am

☁️

16°

↙︎

246°

21 km/h

7am

☁️

16°

↙︎

242°

24 km/h

8am

☁️

17°

↙︎

243°

20 km/h

9am

☁️

17°

↙︎

245°

19 km/h

10am

☁️

18°

↙︎

247°

17 km/h

11am

☁️

18°

↙︎

233°

18 km/h

12pm

☁️

18°

↙︎

228°

17 km/h

1pm

☁️

18°

↙︎

228°

18 km/h

2pm

☁️

18°

↙︎

214°

20 km/h

3pm

☀️

17°

↙︎

203°

20 km/h

4pm

☀️

17°

↓︎

195°

18 km/h

5pm

☀️

16°

↓︎

184°

15 km/h

6pm

☀️

15°

↓︎

173°

12 km/h

7pm

☀️

15°

↘︎

151°

11 km/h

8pm

☀️

15°

↘︎

142°

10 km/h

9pm

☀️

14°

↘︎

121°

9 km/h

10pm

☀️

14°

→︎

92°

11 km/h

11pm

☀️

14°

→︎

70°

10 km/h

Hourly Swell

Steady ~1.1 m SW

12am

0.8 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Slight

1am

0.8 m

@ 7 s

↙︎

Slight

chop

2am

0.8 m

@ 6 s

↙︎

Slight

chop

3am

0.8 m

@ 6 s

↙︎

Slight

chop

4am

0.9 m

@ 6 s

↙︎

Slight

chop

5am

0.9 m

@ 7 s

↙︎

Slight

chop

6am

0.9 m

@ 6 s

↙︎

Slight

chop

7am

1.0 m

@ 6 s

↙︎

Slight

chop

8am

1.0 m

@ 6 s

↙︎

Moderate

chop

9am

1.1 m

@ 6 s

↙︎

Moderate

chop

10am

1.2 m

@ 7 s

↙︎

Moderate

chop

11am

1.3 m

@ 7 s

↙︎

Moderate

chop

12pm

1.2 m

@ 7 s

↙︎

Moderate

chop

1pm

1.2 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Moderate

chop

2pm

1.2 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Moderate

chop

3pm

1.2 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Moderate

chop

4pm

1.2 m

@ 7 s

↙︎

Moderate

chop

5pm

1.2 m

@ 7 s

↙︎

Moderate

chop

6pm

1.1 m

@ 7 s

↙︎

Moderate

chop

7pm

1.1 m

@ 7 s

↙︎

Moderate

chop

8pm

1.1 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Moderate

chop

9pm

1.1 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Moderate

chop

10pm

1.1 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Moderate

chop

11pm

1.1 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Moderate

chop

Water Temp (°C)

→ steady around 17.9°

Fri

16 Oct

17.7°

Sat

17 Oct

17.9°

Sun

18 Oct

17.9°

Mon

19 Oct

17.9°

Tue

20 Oct

18.1°

Wed

21 Oct

18.0°

Thu

22 Oct

17.9°

Fri

23 Oct

17.8°

Sat

24 Oct

17.8°

Sun

25 Oct

17.6°

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 17 km/h SW (228°).

Wind map data: ECMWF HRES (operational), updated every 6 hours. Not for navigation.

Open in the full fishing map →

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

5:30 pm → 8:00 pm

2h 30m

Good

4:30 am → 6:30 am

Good

11:00 am → 12:00 pm

First light

4:38 am

Last light

6:31 pm

Sunrise

5:03 am

Sunset

6:06 pm

Moonrise

11:11 am

Moonset

1:00 am

High tide

1:30 am

Low tide

4:00 pm

Species at This Spot

Keep Tabs on Duke of Orleans Bay / Wharton Beach (Condingup)

Get an email when the bite score here hits High, and stop refreshing this page. Free account, takes a minute.

Alert Me When It's High Save This Spot

Weekly Bite Forecast

Duke of Orleans Bay / Wharton Beach (Condingup) + nearby Perth spots. Thursday 6pm — top windows, conditions, what's biting.

Free. Unsubscribe any time.