What can you catch in the Murchison River at Kalbarri?

The estuary holds black bream, yellowfin whiting and small tailor along the foreshore and jetties, with soapy mulloway near the mouth and bigger jewfish pushing upstream at times. Blue swimmer crabs enter the river in summer, and the odd giant herring strays this far south in the warmest months — it sits below its usual Shark Bay-and-north range, so treat it as a bonus rather than a target. Pink snapper come from the ocean rock ledges rather than the river itself; note that Kalbarri sits at the northern edge of the West Coast Bioregion, where boat-based demersal fishing is closed until spring 2027, so pink snapper and other demersals must not be targeted from a private boat at all, not even catch-and-release — only licensed charters holding West Coast demersal quota tags are exempt. Land-based take off the rock ledges continues year-round (bag 2) outside spawning closures. Verify current rules with DPIRD.

Is the Murchison River mouth safe to fish?

The river mouth platform fishes well for mulloway and tailor, but the mouth is exposed to ocean swell and the bar is unpredictable — it can go from calm to dangerous quickly. Check conditions before you fish it and contact Kalbarri Volunteer Marine Rescue on the riverfront if you are unsure. The sheltered town foreshore and jetties are the safer, family-friendly option.

Do I need a boat to fish the Murchison at Kalbarri?

No. The town foreshore, jetties and river-mouth platform all fish well from the bank for bream, whiting, tailor and mulloway, with sealed parking and toilets close by. A boat opens up more of the river and the offshore grounds, but the land-based estuary fishery is one of the most accessible in the Mid West.

Bite Compass

Bite Forecast

Murchison River (Kalbarri)

Thu 05 Nov 2026 · Australia/Perth

Forecast updated 6:01am AWST

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📍 Murchison River (Kalbarri)

waning crescent · 23%

Weather: Sunny Wind: S 163° · 11 km/h Swell: 1.1 m @ 10 s SW Water: 20.8 °C Pressure: 1016.2 hPa → steady Faces several ways: wind direction isn't scored here

★★★☆☆

Medium Fish Activity

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▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 9:00 pm

Solunar Major window

Time of day Night

Tide Moving

Wind S 14 km/h

Moon waning crescent all day

Water temp 20.8 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Now

Day Timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 5:04 am Last light 7:09 pm

Low 1:45 am High 7:15 am Low 10:00 am High 7:36 pm

Drag or use arrow keys to explore

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

6:30 pm → 10:30 pm

Good

4:30 am → 6:30 am

Good

7:30 am → 10:30 am

Good

2:00 am → 3:00 am

First light

5:04 am

Last light

7:09 pm

Sunrise

5:29 am

Sunset

6:45 pm

Moonrise

2:51 am

Moonset

3:05 pm

Low tide

1:45 am

High tide

7:15 am

Low tide

10:00 am

High tide

7:36 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☀️

20°

↓︎

176°

17 km/h

1am

☀️

19°

↓︎

169°

16 km/h

2am

☀️

18°

↓︎

170°

13 km/h

3am

☀️

18°

↓︎

173°

12 km/h

4am

☀️

17°

↓︎

171°

11 km/h

5am

☀️

17°

↓︎

169°

11 km/h

6am

☀️

17°

↓︎

163°

11 km/h

Now

☀️

20°

↓︎

169°

11 km/h

8am

☀️

24°

↓︎

182°

10 km/h

9am

☀️

27°

↓︎

200°

10 km/h

10am

☀️

29°

↙︎

220°

14 km/h

11am

☀️

29°

↙︎

223°

19 km/h

12pm

☀️

29°

↙︎

220°

23 km/h

1pm

☀️

29°

↙︎

215°

22 km/h

2pm

☀️

29°

↙︎

211°

24 km/h

3pm

☀️

28°

↙︎

205°

25 km/h

4pm

☁️

27°

↓︎

199°

24 km/h

5pm

☀️

25°

↓︎

195°

24 km/h

6pm

☁️

23°

↓︎

189°

22 km/h

7pm

☀️

20°

↓︎

186°

21 km/h

8pm

☁️

20°

↓︎

182°

19 km/h

9pm

☀️

19°

↓︎

185°

14 km/h

10pm

☁️

19°

↓︎

188°

15 km/h

11pm

☁️

19°

↓︎

187°

16 km/h

Hourly Swell

Building 1.0 → 1.3 m SW

12am

1.0 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Slight

1am

1.0 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Moderate

2am

1.1 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Moderate

3am

1.1 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Moderate

4am

1.1 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Moderate

5am

1.1 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Moderate

6am

1.1 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Moderate

Now

1.1 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Moderate

8am

1.1 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Moderate

9am

1.1 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Moderate

10am

1.2 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Moderate

11am

1.2 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Moderate

12pm

1.2 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Moderate

1pm

1.2 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Moderate

2pm

1.2 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Moderate

3pm

1.2 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Moderate

4pm

1.2 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Moderate

5pm

1.2 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Moderate

6pm

1.2 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Moderate

7pm

1.2 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

8pm

1.2 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

9pm

1.2 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

10pm

1.3 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Moderate

11pm

1.3 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Moderate

Water Temp (°C)

→ steady around 20.8°

Mon

2 Nov

20.9°

Tue

3 Nov

20.8°

Wed

4 Nov

20.8°

Thu

5 Nov

20.8°

Fri

6 Nov

20.9°

Sat

7 Nov

21.0°

Sun

8 Nov

21.0°

Mon

9 Nov

20.9°

Tue

10 Nov

20.9°

Wed

11 Nov

21.2°

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 11 km/h S (163°).

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

6:30 pm → 10:30 pm

Good

4:30 am → 6:30 am

Good

7:30 am → 10:30 am

Good

2:00 am → 3:00 am

First light

5:04 am

Last light

7:09 pm

Sunrise

5:29 am

Sunset

6:45 pm

Moonrise

2:51 am

Moonset

3:05 pm

Low tide

1:45 am

High tide

7:15 am

Low tide

10:00 am

High tide

7:36 pm

Nearby Spots

Kalbarri (Murchison River Mouth / Wittecarra / Coastal Cliffs) 0.0 km

Species at This Spot

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