Can you really catch trout in WA?

Yes — the south-west forest streams around Pemberton are the heart of the WA trout fishery. DPIRD stocks rainbow and brown trout into specific waters including the upper Donnelly, Warren tributaries and Lefroy Brook, and a small brook-trout population persists in the colder headwaters. It is the only meaningful freshwater trout fishery in the state.

Do I need a separate licence for trout?

Yes — but it is the general South-West Freshwater Angling Licence, not a trout-specific one, and it covers trout, redfin perch and freshwater cobbler alike in waters south of Greenough. It is separate from the marine recreational rules that cover most of the rest of this site. There is no closed season for trout; the daily bag is 4 trout and cobbler combined, with a 300mm minimum size on trout.

How do I fish the Donnelly River mouth?

The mouth is 11km downstream of Donnelly Boat Landing and most reliably accessed by small boat or kayak from there. The surf beach at the mouth fires for Australian salmon and tailor through autumn on ganged-hook mulies and metals, and mulloway on whole baits after dark. Direct vehicle access to the beach itself is limited and seasonally restricted.

What's the best time of year to fish around Pemberton?

Spring and early summer for trout in the forest streams, autumn for salmon and tailor at the Donnelly mouth, and year-round for black bream in the lower Donnelly and Warren. Mid-winter is cold and wet but holds bream for those who like quiet water; mid-summer needs care around fire restrictions and forest closures.

Bite Compass

Bite Forecast

Pemberton / Donnelly River

Sun 11 Oct 2026 · Australia/Perth

Forecast updated Sun 11 Oct, 10:43pm AWST

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11 Oct

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Today Tomorrow Sat 17 Oct

📍 Pemberton / Donnelly River

new · 0%

Weather: Cloudy Wind: E 104° · 4 km/h Water: 17.1 °C Pressure: 1020.0 hPa → steady Sheltered water: wind direction matters less here

★★★☆☆

Medium Fish Activity

▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 7:00 pm

Solunar Minor window

Time of day Dusk

Tide Moving

Wind S 8 km/h

Moon new all day

Water temp 17.1 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 5:14 am Last light 6:51 pm

Low 5:15 am High 11:00 am Low 2:30 pm High 9:54 pm

Drag or use arrow keys to explore

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

6:00 pm → 8:00 pm

Good

4:30 am → 6:30 am

Good

12:00 am → 1:30 am

1h 30m

Good

11:30 am → 1:00 pm

1h 30m

First light

5:14 am

Last light

6:51 pm

Sunrise

5:39 am

Sunset

6:26 pm

Moonrise

5:36 am

Moonset

7:12 pm

Low tide

5:15 am

High tide

11:00 am

Low tide

2:30 pm

High tide

9:54 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

🌧️

9°

↓︎

201°

15 km/h

1am

🌧️

9°

↙︎

207°

11 km/h

2am

☁️

9°

↙︎

209°

10 km/h

3am

☁️

9°

↙︎

203°

10 km/h

4am

☁️

8°

↓︎

196°

9 km/h

5am

☀️

7°

↓︎

193°

8 km/h

6am

☀️

6°

↓︎

187°

8 km/h

7am

☀️

9°

↓︎

170°

9 km/h

8am

☁️

11°

↓︎

174°

8 km/h

9am

☁️

11°

↓︎

187°

13 km/h

10am

☁️

11°

↓︎

187°

12 km/h

11am

☁️

12°

↓︎

190°

11 km/h

12pm

☁️

13°

↓︎

196°

11 km/h

1pm

☁️

13°

↓︎

196°

10 km/h

2pm

☁️

13°

↓︎

192°

10 km/h

3pm

☁️

12°

↓︎

186°

10 km/h

4pm

☁️

12°

↓︎

183°

9 km/h

5pm

☁️

12°

↓︎

178°

9 km/h

6pm

☁️

11°

↓︎

177°

7 km/h

7pm

☁️

9°

↓︎

176°

8 km/h

8pm

☀️

9°

↓︎

163°

8 km/h

9pm

☀️

9°

↘︎

141°

6 km/h

10pm

☀️

8°

↘︎

119°

5 km/h

11pm

☀️

7°

→︎

104°

4 km/h

Water Temp (°C)

↘ cooling — down 0.5° over the last 3 days

Thu

8 Oct

17.6°

Fri

9 Oct

17.3°

Sat

10 Oct

17.3°

Sun

11 Oct

17.1°

Mon

12 Oct

17.1°

Tue

13 Oct

17.2°

Wed

14 Oct

17.3°

Thu

15 Oct

17.4°

Fri

16 Oct

17.4°

Sat

17 Oct

17.5°

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 4 km/h E (104°).

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

6:00 pm → 8:00 pm

Good

4:30 am → 6:30 am

Good

12:00 am → 1:30 am

1h 30m

Good

11:30 am → 1:00 pm

1h 30m

First light

5:14 am

Last light

6:51 pm

Sunrise

5:39 am

Sunset

6:26 pm

Moonrise

5:36 am

Moonset

7:12 pm

Low tide

5:15 am

High tide

11:00 am

Low tide

2:30 pm

High tide

9:54 pm

Nearby spots

Big Brook Dam (Pemberton) 3.8 km

Species at this spot

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