Do you need a 4WD to get to Poison Creek?

Yes. A four-wheel drive is necessary to access the beach at Poison Creek, and the local fishing guide lists the spot simply as 4WD access only. The department's own wording for the campgrounds, Thomas River aside, is high-clearance 4WD with low-range gears only. Once you are down on the beach the sand is hard-packed and easy to travel along.

Is Poison Creek good for salmon?

It is what the place is known for. Poison Creek sits in a relatively sheltered bay between Cape Arid and Cape Pasley and produces salmon reported at 2–5kg regularly, averaging 5–8kg through the local November to February peak. The method is to drive the hard-packed sand until you find schools travelling close to shore in the deeper gutters, then cast metal slugs, sinking stickbaits or poppers at them.

Where can you camp near Poison Creek?

Jorndee Creek campground is the nearest, reached by a 1.6km soft sand track off Poison Creek Road, with nine well-sheltered and private sites. Camping in Cape Arid National Park is first in, first served with no bookings, across six designated areas: Yokinup Mia Mia, Belinup, Thomas Fishery, Seal Creek, Jorndee Creek and Mount Ragged. Poison Creek Road, with Jorndee Creek and Seal Creek, closes after wet weather, and a DBCA Park Alert has had all three closed since 27 September 2026, while the Thomas Fishery Track is closed after flooding, so check DBCA Park Alerts before you go. Do not expect drinking water or fuel, and carry the department's remote-area kit — ample water, food, first aid, tools, spare parts and recovery gear.

How much is entry to Cape Arid National Park?

Standard park entry fees apply, currently $17.00 for a standard vehicle carrying 12 or fewer occupants, $8.00 per person for a large vehicle carrying more than 12, and $10.00 for a motorcycle, with concession rates available and a park pass covering entry. Camping fees are separate and are not published on the park page. No dogs or other pets are allowed in the park, and 1080 baits are laid throughout it.

Will the South Coast Marine Park close fishing at Poison Creek?

South Coast Marine Park zoning comes into operation in late 2026, and Cape Arid falls inside it. About 85 per cent of the mainland coast immediately adjacent to the proposed marine parks stays available for shore-based fishing where recreational fishing has historically happened, and the boundaries of some sanctuary zones have been offset to about 200m from the mainland high water mark, the distance varying with the coastline, so that fishing from and close to shore continues. Read the department's zoning map before a trip; the zoning is what will decide it.

Bite Compass

Bite Forecast

Poison Creek (Cape Arid)

Sun 18 Oct 2026 · Australia/Perth

Forecast updated Sun 18 Oct, 10:01pm AWST

Save

Change Spot

←

18 Oct

tap to pick date

→

Today Tomorrow Sat 24 Oct

📍 Poison Creek (Cape Arid)

first quarter · 44%

Weather: Sunny Wind: SW 245° · 14 km/h Swell: 0.8 m @ 6 s SW Water: 18.3 °C Pressure: 1009.9 hPa → steady Faces south-east · Offshore: W, NW, N · Onshore: E, SE, S · Forecast wind: cross-shore

★★★★☆

High Fish Activity

▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 5:00 am

Solunar Major window

Time of day Dawn

Tide Moving

Wind NW 9 km/h

Moon first quarter all day

Water temp 18.3 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day Timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 4:36 am Last light 6:27 pm

High 1:20 am Low 4:40 pm

Drag or use arrow keys to explore

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

4:00 am → 6:30 am

2h 30m

Good

5:00 pm → 7:30 pm

2h 30m

First light

4:36 am

Last light

6:27 pm

Sunrise

5:01 am

Sunset

6:02 pm

Moonrise

10:09 am

Moonset

12:17 am

High tide

1:20 am

Low tide

4:40 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☀️

16°

→︎

85°

9 km/h

1am

☀️

16°

→︎

77°

8 km/h

2am

☀️

15°

↑︎

20°

5 km/h

3am

☁️

16°

↑︎

9°

10 km/h

4am

☀️

16°

↑︎

340°

9 km/h

5am

☀️

16°

↖︎

317°

9 km/h

6am

🌧️

17°

↖︎

294°

11 km/h

7am

🌧️

18°

←︎

275°

11 km/h

8am

🌧️

21°

↖︎

294°

9 km/h

9am

☀️

24°

←︎

267°

15 km/h

10am

☀️

23°

↙︎

244°

19 km/h

11am

☀️

21°

↙︎

243°

25 km/h

12pm

☀️

21°

←︎

252°

26 km/h

1pm

☀️

21°

←︎

252°

27 km/h

2pm

☀️

21°

↙︎

243°

25 km/h

3pm

☀️

20°

↙︎

234°

23 km/h

4pm

☀️

19°

↙︎

228°

21 km/h

5pm

☁️

18°

↙︎

226°

20 km/h

6pm

☀️

16°

↙︎

228°

14 km/h

7pm

☀️

16°

↙︎

236°

14 km/h

8pm

☀️

16°

↙︎

239°

14 km/h

9pm

☀️

15°

↙︎

237°

15 km/h

10pm

☀️

15°

↙︎

245°

14 km/h

11pm

☀️

15°

←︎

253°

12 km/h

Hourly Swell

Steady ~0.8 m SW

12am

0.6 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Slight

1am

0.6 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Slight

2am

0.6 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Slight

3am

0.6 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Slight

4am

0.7 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Slight

5am

0.7 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Slight

6am

0.7 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Slight

7am

0.7 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Slight

8am

0.7 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Slight

9am

0.7 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Slight

10am

0.8 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Slight

11am

0.8 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Slight

12pm

0.8 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Slight

1pm

0.8 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Slight

2pm

0.8 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Slight

3pm

0.8 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Slight

4pm

0.8 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Slight

chop

5pm

0.8 m

@ 7 s

↙︎

Slight

chop

6pm

0.8 m

@ 6 s

↙︎

Slight

chop

7pm

0.8 m

@ 5 s

↙︎

Slight

chop

8pm

0.8 m

@ 5 s

↙︎

Slight

chop

9pm

0.8 m

@ 5 s

↙︎

Slight

chop

10pm

0.8 m

@ 6 s

↙︎

Slight

chop

11pm

0.8 m

@ 7 s

↙︎

Slight

chop

Water Temp (°C)

↗ warming — up 0.9° over the last 3 days

Thu

15 Oct

17.4°

Fri

16 Oct

17.6°

Sat

17 Oct

18.1°

Sun

18 Oct

18.3°

Mon

19 Oct

17.8°

Tue

20 Oct

18.0°

Wed

21 Oct

18.3°

Thu

22 Oct

18.3°

Fri

23 Oct

17.9°

Sat

24 Oct

17.6°

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 14 km/h SW (245°).

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

4:00 am → 6:30 am

2h 30m

Good

5:00 pm → 7:30 pm

2h 30m

First light

4:36 am

Last light

6:27 pm

Sunrise

5:01 am

Sunset

6:02 pm

Moonrise

10:09 am

Moonset

12:17 am

High tide

1:20 am

Low tide

4:40 pm

Species at This Spot

Keep Tabs on Poison Creek (Cape Arid)

Get an email when the bite score here hits High, and stop refreshing this page. Free account, takes a minute.

Alert Me When It's High Save This Spot

Weekly Bite Forecast

Poison Creek (Cape Arid) + nearby Perth spots. Thursday 6pm — top windows, conditions, what's biting.

Free. Unsubscribe any time.