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)

Fri 23 Oct 2026 · Australia/Perth

Forecast updated 12:01am AWST

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Today Tomorrow Sat 24 Oct

📍 Duke of Orleans Bay / Wharton Beach (Condingup)

waxing gibbous · 90%

Weather: Cloudy Wind: S 174° · 11 km/h Swell: 1.5 m @ 9 s SW Water: 17.8 °C Pressure: 1024.1 hPa → steady Faces east · Offshore: SW, W, NW · Onshore: NE, E, SE · Forecast wind: cross-shore

★★★☆☆

Medium Fish Activity

▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 6:30 pm

Solunar Between windows

Time of day Dusk

Tide Moving

Wind SE 11 km/h

Moon waxing gibbous all day

Water temp 17.8 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day Timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 4:33 am Last light 6:35 pm

Low 3:20 am High 9:15 am Low 3:23 pm High 9:40 pm

Drag or use arrow keys to explore

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

5:30 pm → 7:30 pm

Good

8:30 am → 10:30 am

Good

3:30 am → 6:00 am

2h 30m

Good

9:00 pm → 10:30 pm

1h 30m

First light

4:33 am

Last light

6:35 pm

Sunrise

4:59 am

Sunset

6:09 pm

Moonrise

3:13 pm

Moonset

3:00 am

Low tide

3:20 am

High tide

9:15 am

Low tide

3:23 pm

High tide

9:40 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☁️

14°

↙︎

216°

25 km/h

1am

☁️

14°

↙︎

215°

24 km/h

2am

☁️

14°

↙︎

214°

23 km/h

3am

☁️

14°

↙︎

213°

22 km/h

4am

☁️

14°

↙︎

210°

20 km/h

5am

☁️

14°

↙︎

206°

19 km/h

6am

☁️

14°

↓︎

202°

17 km/h

7am

☁️

14°

↓︎

198°

15 km/h

8am

☁️

15°

↓︎

193°

14 km/h

9am

☁️

15°

↓︎

189°

13 km/h

10am

☁️

15°

↓︎

184°

12 km/h

11am

☁️

15°

↓︎

180°

11 km/h

12pm

☁️

15°

↓︎

174°

11 km/h

1pm

☁️

15°

↓︎

168°

10 km/h

2pm

☁️

15°

↓︎

161°

10 km/h

3pm

☁️

15°

↘︎

152°

9 km/h

4pm

☁️

15°

↘︎

143°

10 km/h

5pm

☁️

15°

↘︎

134°

10 km/h

6pm

☁️

14°

↘︎

127°

11 km/h

7pm

☀️

14°

↘︎

119°

11 km/h

8pm

☀️

14°

→︎

112°

11 km/h

9pm

☀️

13°

→︎

103°

11 km/h

10pm

☀️

13°

→︎

90°

11 km/h

11pm

☀️

12°

→︎

76°

11 km/h

Hourly Swell

Steady ~1.3 m SW

12am

1.1 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

1am

1.1 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

2am

1.2 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

3am

1.3 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

4am

1.5 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Moderate

5am

1.6 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Moderate

6am

1.6 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Moderate

7am

1.6 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Moderate

8am

1.6 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Moderate

9am

1.5 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Moderate

10am

1.5 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Moderate

11am

1.5 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Moderate

12pm

1.5 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Moderate

1pm

1.5 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Moderate

2pm

1.4 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Moderate

3pm

1.4 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Moderate

4pm

1.4 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Moderate

5pm

1.4 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Moderate

6pm

1.4 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Moderate

7pm

1.3 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Moderate

8pm

1.3 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Moderate

9pm

1.3 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Moderate

10pm

1.3 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Moderate

11pm

1.3 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Moderate

Water Temp (°C)

→ steady around 17.8°

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°

Mon

26 Oct

17.5°

Tue

27 Oct

—

Wed

28 Oct

—

Thu

29 Oct

—

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 11 km/h S (174°).

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 → 7:30 pm

Good

8:30 am → 10:30 am

Good

3:30 am → 6:00 am

2h 30m

Good

9:00 pm → 10:30 pm

1h 30m

First light

4:33 am

Last light

6:35 pm

Sunrise

4:59 am

Sunset

6:09 pm

Moonrise

3:13 pm

Moonset

3:00 am

Low tide

3:20 am

High tide

9:15 am

Low tide

3:23 pm

High tide

9:40 pm

Species at This Spot

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