Peaceful Bay

Peaceful Bay is a holiday settlement on a west-facing bay behind a headland, about 450km from Perth and sitting between Walpole and Denmark. The bay is the sheltered half and the reason the place exists, but the fishing people actually talk about happens either side of it — 4WD beaches running out past Rame Head, Soft Beach and Gropher Bay, and rock platforms from Point Irwin west toward Conspicuous Cliff. A few kilometres north-east behind the settlement sits Irwin Inlet, described as over 1,000 hectares of paperbark-lined light-tackle estuary, and it does not care what the Southern Ocean is doing. There is no boat ramp, the small jetty is a launching aid rather than a fishing platform, and commercial salmon crews camp on this beach for several months of the year. A town called Peaceful Bay with no concrete ramp and a beach full of professional netters is a fair summary of the whole south coast.

From the sand this is the standard south coast salmon drill — find a gutter, watch the birds, and throw metal at anything that boils. The autumn schools come through hunting pilchards and herring, and a quick, erratic retrieve outfishes a slow one by a distance. Evenings are the local window for tailor, squid and mulloway off the beach and the closer platforms. Out on the rock platforms toward Conspicuous Cliff the target list climbs a class to samson fish, pink snapper, dhufish, groper, bonito and tuna, though most of that is boat and deep-platform water rather than something you pick up off the sand. Irwin Inlet is the light-tackle escape valve, fished from a kayak or a very small tinnie for bream, flathead, cobbler, whiting and flounder.

Australian salmon are the headline from March to May, at a 300mm minimum and four a day. Herring and tailor hold through the year, with herring carrying no size limit and a bag of 20, and tailor 300mm with a bag of 8 of which only two may be over 500mm. Mulloway sit on the local list without a season attached to them, so a jewie here is a bonus rather than a plan — 500mm minimum, two a day. Irwin Inlet gives up black bream at 250mm and six a day, flathead at 300mm and eight, and estuary cobbler at 430mm and eight, alongside flounder and whiting on the same light gear. Whiting other than King George carry no minimum size at all and a bag of 30, which is more than anyone needs. Squid come off the shallow ground in the evening inside a combined squid, cuttlefish and octopus bag of 15, and if a blue groper turns up off the rocks it is 500mm and exactly one fish per day.

Fish the mornings. That is the local advice for both lighter wind and a better bite, and it beats backing the afternoon on this coast. The caravan park general store carries bait and tackle and it is the only shop in town, so top up on arrival rather than at first light. When the ocean side is unworkable, put the kayak into Irwin Inlet instead of driving 45km east to Denmark. Let tyre pressures down before the Rame Head track rather than after you are buried in it, and take the sand as you find it — it changes day to day and gets much softer away from the main wheel tracks.

Peaceful Bay Road runs sealed off the South Coast Highway, though the settlement's own streets are largely unpaved once you are in. There is no concrete boat ramp — launching is off firm sand with a 4WD, and there is a bitumen boat-trailer parking area above the beach at the Sea Rescue site. The caravan park has toilets and a general store selling bait, tackle and basics, and that is the extent of the shopping, so bring food from home because what is here is limited and expensive. Treat the whole settlement as unsealed and soft rather than wheelchair-friendly, with the beach in front of the caravan park the easiest walk-on for a family. Beaches either side are 4WD-only and the Rame Head track is signed for low tyre pressures. There is no park entry fee to reach the bay, the Bibbulmun Track runs through the settlement, and the Valley of the Giants Tree Top Walk is about 25 minutes away at 38m above the forest floor if the swell writes off the fishing.

The bay faces west behind a headland, which makes it markedly more sheltered than anything either side and is the whole reason the settlement, the netters and the small-boat launchers are here. Prevailing south-westerly swell and wind are partly blocked, and it is a strong easterly or a big southerly swell wrapping the headland that shuts the place down. The open beaches out toward Rame Head, Soft Beach and Gropher Bay, and the platforms running west to Conspicuous Cliff, take the full Southern Ocean and blow out first. Irwin Inlet is the all-weather fallback and fishes on light tackle regardless of what the coast is doing. Mornings run lighter on wind and are the recommended session. This is a micro-tidal, largely diurnal coast, and swell and wind direction settle the day well ahead of tide height.

The rock platforms either side of the bay are exposed to large swells and are the serious risk here — this is the same Southern Ocean regime that has killed rock fishers 100km east at Salmon Holes. The platforms carry no gazetted life-jacket requirement, yet a flotation device is what everyone advises for rock fishing here, and the sand is both safer and usually more productive. The Irwin Inlet mouth deserves real caution during tidal flow and in wet conditions. Soft sand away from the main wheel tracks bogs vehicles routinely, and the settlement runs to one small general store, so arrive with what you need. Winters here are cold with frequent rainfall between May and September.

No. Launching is off firm, protected beach sand and a 4WD is the sensible tool for it, with a small jetty at the water's edge that assists launch and retrieval rather than serving as a fishing platform. There is a bitumen boat-trailer parking area above the beach at the Peaceful Bay Sea Rescue site. Anything bigger than a small trailer boat is a Denmark or Walpole proposition.

Australian salmon from March to May are the drawcard, backed by herring and tailor through the year and mulloway and squid in the evenings. Irwin Inlet, a few kilometres north-east behind the settlement, fishes on light tackle for black bream, flathead, whiting, cobbler and flounder. The rock platforms toward Point Irwin and Conspicuous Cliff hold bigger fish again — samson fish, pink snapper, dhufish and blue groper — but that is deep-platform and boat water rather than sand fishing.

Yes, and it is the reason a trip here still works when the ocean is unfishable. The inlet is described as covering over 1,000 hectares and is lined with paperbarks, and it fishes for black bream, flathead, whiting, cobbler and flounder on light tackle. Only small tinnies and kayaks should venture onto it. Take care near the inlet mouth during tidal flow and in wet conditions.

Yes, the beaches either side of the bay are 4WD-drivable, with named sand tracks running to Rame Head, The Gap and Soft Beach and a signed car park at Gropher Bay. The Rame Head track is signposted for low tyre pressures. The sand changes day to day and gets extremely soft the further you go from where most people drive, so let pressures down before you commit rather than after.

The caravan park has toilets and a general store that carries bait, tackle, essentials and newspapers. That is the whole retail offering — food is limited and expensive, so bring supplies with you. There is no park entry fee to reach the bay itself, and the nearest big attraction on a blown-out day is the Valley of the Giants Tree Top Walk, about 25 minutes away and 38m up.