Dunsborough (Geographe Bay / Old Dunsborough)

Dunsborough sits at the sheltered south-west corner of Geographe Bay, where the prevailing SW swell wraps around Cape Naturaliste and arrives as something between a slop and a ripple. The Old Dunsborough Beach foreshore and boat ramp are the working land-based area now that the original Dunsborough Jetty is long gone. East and west of the foreshore sit a string of bay-side fisheries — Castle Bay, Meelup, Eagle Bay and the rockier Curtis Bay — that fish in weather the surf coast can't handle.

From the Old Dunsborough Beach and ramp area: paternoster rigs with small baits over the sand and weed for King George whiting, sand whiting and flathead, with squid jigs around the ramp and weed edges at dawn or dusk. Castle Bay and Curtis Bay have rockier fringes that hold herring, skippy and snook on light spin gear, with the odd tailor and salmon when the autumn run pushes through. Meelup and Eagle Bay are the calm-water spots — wade-fishing the shallow sand for whiting and flathead works through summer. Surface lures over the flats at first light on a glass-out morning produce the better KGW sessions.

King George whiting, sand whiting and yellowfin whiting on the summer flats (Oct–Apr), herring and skippy year-round, squid year-round with spring and late-summer peaks, flathead, garfish and snook off the bay-side weed lines, tailor and Australian salmon as autumn bonuses when the schools push past the cape.

Easterly mornings produce the cleanest water on the bay side; once the seabreeze fills in after lunch the sand stirs and the whiting bite drops off. The Old Dunsborough boat ramp area gets crowded with families on weekends and through summer — fish dawn or dusk to avoid back-casting into swimmers. Buy bait and ice in town before heading out; the foreshore has no shop. Take spent line home — the bay shallows snag birds easily.

Sealed access via Caves Road and Cape Naturaliste Road, with the Old Dunsborough Beach and boat ramp car park signposted off Geographe Bay Road. Toilets and showers at the foreshore reserve. Castle Bay, Meelup and Eagle Bay each have sealed car parks and short walks to the sand. Curtis Bay is a 1km walk in from Dunsborough on the cape coastal trail. Mobility access is reasonable at the Old Dunsborough foreshore and Meelup; the rockier sections are not. The drive from Perth is around 3 hours.

Geographe Bay's geography means Dunsborough fishes in conditions that close down the Yallingup or Margaret River side. Cape Naturaliste blocks most of the SW swell, so the bay-side foreshores are usually workable even when the surf coast is unfishable. Easterly mornings are calmest and produce the cleanest water; afternoon NW–SW seabreezes blow up most days from October through March. Water clarity is generally good in summer and degrades after winter storms. The Leeuwin Current keeps water temperatures milder than the Perth metro through winter.

Stingrays cruise the shallow sand flats, especially on warm days — shuffle when wading. The bay-side rocks at Castle Bay and Curtis Bay are slippery and take cross-swell on bigger SW days. White sharks transit the wider south-west and there have been fatalities along this coastline; the bay shelter doesn't make it shark-free. Ngari Capes Marine Park covers the cape and bay with sanctuary zones that prohibit fishing — verify zoning on the DBCA visitor guide before fishing anywhere unfamiliar. Boat traffic in and out of the Old Dunsborough ramp is heavy on summer weekends; keep lines clear of the channel.

No — the original timber jetty is long gone. The working land-based area is the Old Dunsborough Beach foreshore and boat ramp. There are no plans we're aware of for a replacement structure; the bay is fished from the sand, the ramp wall and the rockier ends at Castle Bay and Curtis Bay.

October through April on the sand and weed flats, with the cleanest sessions on calm easterly mornings before the seabreeze fills in. Surface lures at first light produce the better sessions; otherwise paternosters with prawn, pipi or mussel baits over weed edges. The bay-wide flats from Old Dunsborough through to Busselton hold KGW through summer.

Yes — Ngari Capes Marine Park covers Geographe Bay and Cape Naturaliste with several no-take sanctuary zones and shore-based-only recreation zones. Check the DBCA Marine Park visitor guide before fishing anywhere unfamiliar; boundaries are signed but verify before each session.

Around 3 hours via the Forrest Highway and Bussell Highway. Long-weekend trips are common; the bay rewards multi-day visits because Geographe Bay flats, the rockier cape and the surf coast at Yallingup all fish in different conditions.