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)

Sat 17 Oct 2026 · Australia/Perth

Forecast updated 6:01pm AWST

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📍 Rottnest Island (Shore Fishing)

first quarter · 33%

Weather: Cloudy Wind: W 282° · 20 km/h Swell: 2.6 m @ 11 s SW Water: 19.3 °C Pressure: 1015.0 hPa → steady Faces several ways: wind direction isn't scored here

★★★★☆

High Fish Activity

▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 5:30 am

Solunar Major window

Time of day Dawn

Tide Moving

Wind W 10 km/h

Moon first quarter all day

Water temp 19.3 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Now

Day Timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 5:11 am Last light 6:55 pm

Low 12:00 pm

Drag or use arrow keys to explore

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

4:00 am → 7:00 am

Good

4:30 pm → 8:00 pm

3h 30m

First light

5:11 am

Last light

6:55 pm

Sunrise

5:36 am

Sunset

6:30 pm

Moonrise

9:50 am

Moonset

—

Low tide

12:00 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☀️

19°

←︎

265°

12 km/h

1am

☀️

19°

←︎

262°

14 km/h

2am

☀️

18°

←︎

265°

12 km/h

3am

☀️

18°

←︎

274°

12 km/h

4am

☀️

19°

←︎

277°

11 km/h

5am

☀️

19°

←︎

289°

10 km/h

6am

☀️

19°

↖︎

331°

7 km/h

7am

☀️

18°

↑︎

18°

11 km/h

8am

☁️

17°

↗︎

23°

16 km/h

9am

☁️

17°

↑︎

15°

19 km/h

10am

☀️

17°

↑︎

7°

20 km/h

11am

☀️

18°

↑︎

358°

20 km/h

12pm

☀️

18°

↑︎

349°

18 km/h

1pm

☀️

19°

↑︎

339°

16 km/h

2pm

☀️

19°

↖︎

321°

16 km/h

3pm

☀️

19°

↖︎

315°

17 km/h

4pm

☀️

19°

↖︎

309°

17 km/h

5pm

☀️

20°

←︎

291°

20 km/h

Now

☁️

20°

←︎

282°

20 km/h

7pm

☁️

20°

←︎

291°

23 km/h

8pm

☀️

20°

↖︎

296°

24 km/h

9pm

☀️

20°

↖︎

297°

24 km/h

10pm

☀️

20°

↖︎

304°

29 km/h

11pm

☀️

20°

↖︎

309°

30 km/h

Hourly Swell

Building 2.0 → 2.8 m SW

12am

2.0 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Solid

1am

2.1 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Solid

2am

2.1 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

3am

2.1 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

4am

2.1 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

5am

2.2 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

6am

2.2 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

7am

2.2 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

8am

2.2 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

9am

2.3 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

10am

2.3 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

11am

2.3 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

12pm

2.3 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

1pm

2.4 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

2pm

2.4 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

3pm

2.5 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

4pm

2.5 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

5pm

2.6 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

Now

2.6 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

7pm

2.7 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

8pm

2.7 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

9pm

2.8 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

10pm

2.8 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

11pm

2.8 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

Water Temp (°C)

↗ warming — up 0.7° over the last 3 days

Wed

14 Oct

18.6°

Thu

15 Oct

18.8°

Fri

16 Oct

19.1°

Sat

17 Oct

19.3°

Sun

18 Oct

19.3°

Mon

19 Oct

19.4°

Tue

20 Oct

19.3°

Wed

21 Oct

19.3°

Thu

22 Oct

19.3°

Fri

23 Oct

19.2°

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 20 km/h W (282°).

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 → 7:00 am

Good

4:30 pm → 8:00 pm

3h 30m

First light

5:11 am

Last light

6:55 pm

Sunrise

5:36 am

Sunset

6:30 pm

Moonrise

9:50 am

Moonset

—

Low tide

12:00 pm

Nearby Spots

Species at This Spot

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