Can I bring my fishing gear on the Rottnest ferry?

Yes — most operators allow rod tubes and tackle bags. Check size and weight limits with your specific operator. Bait can usually be brought; some operators have restrictions, so verify before you board.

Where are the best Rottnest fishing spots?

Thomson Bay (jetties, family-friendly, herring), Geordie Bay (reef edges, mixed species), Ricey Beach and the Radar Reef platform (tailor and squid on the ledges — Cathedral Rocks itself sits inside the West End sanctuary zone and is closed to shore fishing), Little Armstrong Bay (KGW in shallow water, rod and line only, from the signposted shore sections of the sanctuary zone), south-side beaches (autumn salmon migration). Outside the Radar Reef platform and the signposted Armstrong Bay shore, stay out of the sanctuary zones — and there is no fishing at Little Salmon Bay.

What can't I fish at Rottnest?

Kingston (Thomson Bay shipwrecks), Parker Point and Green Island sanctuary zones are fully no-fishing; in the West End Demersal zone shore fishing is allowed only on the Radar Reef platform, and in Armstrong Bay only from the signposted shore sections, rod and line only. There is no fishing at Little Salmon Bay. The Basin, Little Parakeet Bay and Pinky Beach are evening fishing only. No spear fishing, no nets, no taking of marine life from inter-tidal zones outside permitted areas.

Do I need a fishing licence for Rottnest?

No fishing licence required for shore-based recreational fishing. Bag and size limits set by DPIRD apply. Boat-based recreational demersal fishing in the West Coast Bioregion is closed until spring 2027, but that closure doesn't apply to land-based fishers — shore anglers keep a 2-fish mixed demersal bag year-round, and pink snapper can be both of them. Land-based spearfishing for dhufish is the one exception and stays banned. Check Rottnest Island Authority for any island-specific rules.

Bite Compass

Bite Forecast

Rottnest Island (Shore Fishing)

Thu 08 Oct 2026 · Australia/Perth

Forecast updated Sun 11 Oct, 3:04pm AWST

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8 Oct

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📍 Rottnest Island (Shore Fishing)

waning crescent · 11%

Weather: Cloudy Wind: W 250° · 40 km/h Swell: 1.8 m @ 11 s SW Water: 18.7 °C Pressure: 1011.8 hPa → steady Faces several ways: wind direction isn't scored here

★★☆☆☆

Low Fish Activity

▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 10:30 am

Solunar Major window

Time of day Morning

Tide Moving

Wind SW 35 km/h

Moon waning crescent all day

Water temp 18.7 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day Timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 5:22 am Last light 6:48 pm

Low 12:50 am High 7:15 am Low 2:00 pm High 8:10 pm

Drag or use arrow keys to explore

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

First light

5:22 am

Last light

6:48 pm

Sunrise

5:46 am

Sunset

6:24 pm

Moonrise

4:15 am

Moonset

4:06 pm

Low tide

12:50 am

High tide

7:15 am

Low tide

2:00 pm

High tide

8:10 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☀️

19°

←︎

285°

33 km/h

1am

☀️

19°

←︎

281°

34 km/h

2am

🌧️

18°

←︎

283°

38 km/h

3am

🌧️

18°

←︎

289°

43 km/h

4am

🌧️

17°

←︎

271°

44 km/h

5am

🌧️

17°

↙︎

234°

42 km/h

6am

🌧️

17°

↙︎

237°

44 km/h

7am

🌧️

16°

↙︎

239°

42 km/h

8am

🌧️

17°

↙︎

232°

43 km/h

9am

☀️

17°

↙︎

227°

37 km/h

10am

☁️

16°

↙︎

236°

35 km/h

11am

☁️

16°

↙︎

247°

38 km/h

12pm

☁️

17°

←︎

250°

40 km/h

1pm

☁️

16°

←︎

251°

42 km/h

2pm

🌧️

17°

←︎

258°

38 km/h

3pm

🌧️

17°

←︎

262°

41 km/h

4pm

🌧️

17°

←︎

260°

47 km/h

5pm

🌧️

17°

←︎

263°

44 km/h

6pm

🌧️

17°

←︎

252°

44 km/h

7pm

🌧️

17°

↙︎

247°

44 km/h

8pm

🌧️

17°

↙︎

234°

44 km/h

9pm

🌧️

17°

↙︎

226°

40 km/h

10pm

🌧️

16°

↙︎

221°

37 km/h

11pm

🌧️

16°

↙︎

220°

32 km/h

Hourly Swell

Building 2.0 → 3.0 m SW

12am

2.0 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

1am

2.0 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

2am

2.0 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

3am

1.9 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

4am

1.9 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

5am

1.8 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

6am

1.7 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

7am

1.7 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

8am

1.6 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

9am

1.7 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

10am

1.7 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

11am

1.7 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

12pm

1.8 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

1pm

1.9 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

2pm

1.9 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

3pm

2.0 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

4pm

2.0 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

5pm

2.1 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

6pm

2.1 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

7pm

2.2 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

8pm

2.3 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

9pm

2.6 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

10pm

2.8 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

11pm

3.0 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Heavy

Water Temp (°C)

→ steady around 18.7°

Mon

5 Oct

18.7°

Tue

6 Oct

18.7°

Wed

7 Oct

18.7°

Thu

8 Oct

18.7°

Fri

9 Oct

18.7°

Sat

10 Oct

18.9°

Sun

11 Oct

18.8°

Mon

12 Oct

18.6°

Tue

13 Oct

18.6°

Wed

14 Oct

18.6°

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 40 km/h W (250°).

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.

First light

5:22 am

Last light

6:48 pm

Sunrise

5:46 am

Sunset

6:24 pm

Moonrise

4:15 am

Moonset

4:06 pm

Low tide

12:50 am

High tide

7:15 am

Low tide

2:00 pm

High tide

8:10 pm

Nearby Spots

Species at This Spot

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