When does the Margaret River sandbar open?

The bar usually breaks with sustained winter rainfall — typically June or July through to spring — and closes again as summer flow drops. The mouth fishery for mulloway and tailor is most consistent when the bar is open and the tidal exchange is running. Check the state of the bar before committing; the lower river above a closed bar still fishes well for black bream.

Can I catch black bream in Margaret River?

Yes — the lower brackish river above the bar holds bream year-round, with the better sessions on small soft plastics, hardbody minnows or prawn baits worked along snags and rocky banks at dawn and dusk. Late summer and autumn before the bar opens are the prime months. The river fishes catch-and-release-friendly; bream stocks here aren't large.

Is fishing safe at Surfers Point?

The rock platforms at Surfers Point and Riverlea are honest exposed-coast ledges — fishable in moderate swell with grippy footwear, dangerous in heavy swell. The wider Margaret River region has a known white shark population and a history of incidents. Check Sharksmart and the swell forecast before each session, never fish low ledges in big seas, and never alone after dark.

How long is the drive from Perth?

Around 3.5 hours via the Forrest Highway, Bussell Highway and Caves Road into Prevelly. Multi-day trips are the norm; combining Margaret River Mouth with Gracetown to the north and Hamelin Bay or Augusta to the south covers the south-west coast's main land-based fisheries in a single weekend.

Bite Compass

Bite Forecast

Margaret River Mouth (Prevelly)

Sat 08 Aug 2026 · Australia/Perth

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8 Aug

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Today Tomorrow Sat 8 Aug

📍 Margaret River Mouth (Prevelly)

waning crescent · 27%

Weather: Rainy Wind: SW 214° · 38 km/h Swell: 7.1 m @ 13 s SW Water: 18.4 °C

★★☆☆☆

Low Fish Activity

▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 6:00 pm

Solunar Between windows

Time of day Dusk

Tide Moving

Wind SW 30 km/h

Moon waning crescent all day

Water temp 18.4 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

6:00 pm → 8:30 pm

2h 30m

Good

7:00 am → 8:00 am

First light

6:40 am

Last light

6:10 pm

Sunrise

7:06 am

Sunset

5:45 pm

Moonrise

2:56 am

Moonset

12:34 pm

High tide

3:30 am

Low tide

3:30 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

🌧️

12°

↙︎

246°

46 km/h

1am

🌧️

11°

↙︎

244°

46 km/h

2am

🌧️

12°

↙︎

242°

47 km/h

3am

🌧️

10°

↙︎

236°

45 km/h

4am

🌧️

10°

↙︎

232°

44 km/h

5am

🌧️

9°

↙︎

229°

40 km/h

6am

🌧️

9°

↙︎

224°

43 km/h

7am

🌧️

8°

↙︎

223°

42 km/h

8am

🌧️

9°

↙︎

224°

41 km/h

9am

🌧️

10°

↙︎

221°

41 km/h

10am

🌧️

11°

↙︎

219°

40 km/h

11am

🌧️

12°

↙︎

216°

38 km/h

12pm

🌧️

13°

↙︎

214°

38 km/h

1pm

🌧️

13°

↙︎

211°

37 km/h

2pm

🌧️

13°

↙︎

210°

36 km/h

3pm

🌧️

13°

↙︎

209°

35 km/h

4pm

🌧️

12°

↙︎

210°

33 km/h

5pm

🌧️

12°

↙︎

210°

32 km/h

6pm

☁️

12°

↙︎

210°

30 km/h

7pm

☁️

12°

↙︎

209°

28 km/h

8pm

☁️

12°

↙︎

209°

26 km/h

9pm

☁️

13°

↙︎

210°

25 km/h

10pm

☁️

13°

↙︎

210°

24 km/h

11pm

☁️

13°

↙︎

211°

23 km/h

Water Temp (°C)

→ steady around 18.4°

Wed

5 Aug

18.7°

Thu

6 Aug

18.7°

Fri

7 Aug

18.7°

Sat

8 Aug

18.4°

Sun

9 Aug

18.5°

Mon

10 Aug

18.5°

Tue

11 Aug

18.4°

Wed

12 Aug

18.5°

Thu

13 Aug

18.4°

Fri

14 Aug

—

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 38 km/h SW (214°).

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

Open in the full fishing map (beta) →

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

6:00 pm → 8:30 pm

2h 30m

Good

7:00 am → 8:00 am

First light

6:40 am

Last light

6:10 pm

Sunrise

7:06 am

Sunset

5:45 pm

Moonrise

2:56 am

Moonset

12:34 pm

High tide

3:30 am

Low tide

3:30 pm

Nearby spots

Species at this spot

Weekly Bite Forecast

Margaret River Mouth (Prevelly) + nearby Perth spots. Thursday 6pm — top windows, conditions, what's biting.

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