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 12 Oct 2026 · Australia/Perth

Forecast updated Thu 15 Oct, 4:52pm AWST

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📍 Duke of Orleans Bay / Wharton Beach (Condingup)

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Weather: Cloudy Wind: SE 156° · 7 km/h Swell: 1.6 m @ 9 s SW Water: 17.4 °C Pressure: 1026.2 hPa → steady Faces east · Offshore: SW, W, NW · Onshore: NE, E, SE · Forecast wind: onshore

★★★☆☆

Medium Fish Activity

▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 5:00 am

Solunar Minor window

Time of day Dawn

Tide Turning

Wind S 10 km/h

Moon new all day

Water temp 17.4 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day Timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 4:47 am Last light 6:25 pm

Low 5:13 am High 10:30 am Low 3:47 pm High 10:23 pm

Drag or use arrow keys to explore

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

4:00 am → 6:30 am

2h 30m

Good

5:30 pm → 8:30 pm

Good

11:30 am → 2:00 pm

2h 30m

Good

12:00 am → 1:30 am

1h 30m

First light

4:47 am

Last light

6:25 pm

Sunrise

5:12 am

Sunset

6:00 pm

Moonrise

5:40 am

Moonset

7:46 pm

Low tide

5:13 am

High tide

10:30 am

Low tide

3:47 pm

High tide

10:23 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☁️

13°

↓︎

197°

13 km/h

1am

☁️

13°

↓︎

194°

13 km/h

2am

☁️

13°

↓︎

195°

12 km/h

3am

☁️

12°

↓︎

194°

11 km/h

4am

☁️

13°

↓︎

189°

9 km/h

5am

☁️

13°

↓︎

183°

10 km/h

6am

☁️

13°

↓︎

172°

10 km/h

7am

☁️

13°

↓︎

160°

9 km/h

8am

☁️

14°

↘︎

139°

5 km/h

9am

☁️

15°

↘︎

140°

4 km/h

10am

☁️

15°

↘︎

145°

5 km/h

11am

☁️

15°

↘︎

152°

5 km/h

12pm

☁️

15°

↘︎

156°

7 km/h

1pm

☁️

15°

↓︎

165°

9 km/h

2pm

☀️

15°

↓︎

168°

11 km/h

3pm

☀️

15°

↓︎

168°

11 km/h

4pm

☀️

15°

↓︎

165°

12 km/h

5pm

☀️

15°

↓︎

161°

11 km/h

6pm

☀️

14°

↘︎

156°

10 km/h

7pm

☀️

13°

↘︎

156°

10 km/h

8pm

☀️

13°

↘︎

144°

13 km/h

9pm

☀️

13°

↘︎

138°

12 km/h

10pm

☀️

13°

↘︎

119°

10 km/h

11pm

☀️

12°

→︎

95°

8 km/h

Hourly Swell

Easing 2.0 → 1.5 m SW

12am

2.0 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

1am

2.2 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

2am

2.4 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

3am

2.2 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

4am

1.9 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Moderate

5am

1.6 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Moderate

6am

1.7 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Moderate

7am

1.7 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Moderate

8am

1.7 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Moderate

9am

1.7 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Moderate

10am

1.6 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Moderate

11am

1.6 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Moderate

12pm

1.6 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Moderate

1pm

1.6 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Moderate

2pm

1.5 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Moderate

3pm

1.4 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Moderate

4pm

1.3 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

5pm

1.1 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

6pm

1.1 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

7pm

1.1 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

8pm

1.1 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

9pm

1.2 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Moderate

10pm

1.4 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Moderate

11pm

1.5 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Moderate

Water Temp (°C)

→ steady around 17.3°

Fri

9 Oct

17.3°

Sat

10 Oct

17.3°

Sun

11 Oct

17.3°

Mon

12 Oct

17.3°

Tue

13 Oct

17.3°

Wed

14 Oct

17.3°

Thu

15 Oct

17.6°

Fri

16 Oct

17.7°

Sat

17 Oct

17.9°

Sun

18 Oct

17.9°

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 7 km/h SE (156°).

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

4:00 am → 6:30 am

2h 30m

Good

5:30 pm → 8:30 pm

Good

11:30 am → 2:00 pm

2h 30m

Good

12:00 am → 1:30 am

1h 30m

First light

4:47 am

Last light

6:25 pm

Sunrise

5:12 am

Sunset

6:00 pm

Moonrise

5:40 am

Moonset

7:46 pm

Low tide

5:13 am

High tide

10:30 am

Low tide

3:47 pm

High tide

10:23 pm

Species at This Spot

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