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)

Wed 14 Oct 2026 · Australia/Perth

Forecast updated 2:04pm AWST

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📍 Rottnest Island (Shore Fishing)

waxing crescent · 9%

Weather: Cloudy Wind: NW 294° · 23 km/h Swell: 1.0 m @ 10 s SW Water: 18.6 °C Pressure: 1011.4 hPa ↓ falling Faces several ways: wind direction isn't scored here

★★☆☆☆

Low Fish Activity

▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 6:30 pm

Solunar Between windows

Time of day Dusk

Tide Moving

Wind W 32 km/h

Moon waxing crescent all day

Water temp 18.6 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Now

Day Timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 5:15 am Last light 6:53 pm

Low 7:00 am High 10:10 pm

Drag or use arrow keys to explore

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

6:30 pm → 7:30 pm

Good

10:00 pm → 10:30 pm

30m

Good

2:30 pm → 3:30 pm

Good

2:30 am → 3:30 am

First light

5:15 am

Last light

6:53 pm

Sunrise

5:39 am

Sunset

6:28 pm

Moonrise

7:24 am

Moonset

10:11 pm

Low tide

7:00 am

High tide

10:10 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☁️

20°

↗︎

65°

34 km/h

1am

☁️

20°

↗︎

64°

34 km/h

2am

☁️

19°

→︎

68°

37 km/h

3am

☁️

19°

→︎

71°

31 km/h

4am

☁️

18°

→︎

69°

30 km/h

5am

☁️

18°

↗︎

63°

32 km/h

6am

☁️

18°

↗︎

59°

34 km/h

7am

☁️

18°

↗︎

60°

34 km/h

8am

☁️

18°

↗︎

55°

32 km/h

9am

☀️

19°

↗︎

48°

34 km/h

10am

☀️

21°

↗︎

40°

31 km/h

11am

☁️

22°

↗︎

35°

27 km/h

12pm

☁️

22°

↑︎

12°

19 km/h

1pm

☁️

21°

↖︎

335°

16 km/h

Now

☁️

21°

↖︎

294°

23 km/h

3pm

☁️

20°

←︎

281°

32 km/h

4pm

☁️

21°

←︎

291°

36 km/h

5pm

☁️

20°

←︎

279°

39 km/h

6pm

🌧️

20°

←︎

279°

32 km/h

7pm

🌧️

19°

←︎

265°

21 km/h

8pm

🌧️

19°

↑︎

352°

10 km/h

9pm

🌧️

19°

↖︎

313°

13 km/h

10pm

🌧️

18°

↖︎

312°

16 km/h

11pm

🌧️

18°

↖︎

330°

22 km/h

Hourly Swell

Easing 1.5 → 0.8 m SW

12am

1.5 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

1am

1.4 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

2am

1.4 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

3am

1.3 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

4am

1.3 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

5am

1.3 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

6am

1.3 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

7am

1.2 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

8am

1.2 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

9am

1.2 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

10am

1.1 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

11am

1.1 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

12pm

1.1 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

1pm

1.0 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

Now

1.0 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

3pm

1.0 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

4pm

1.0 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

5pm

0.9 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

6pm

0.9 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Slight

7pm

0.8 m

@ 7 s

←︎

Slight

chop

8pm

0.8 m

@ 7 s

←︎

Slight

chop

9pm

0.8 m

@ 7 s

←︎

Slight

chop

10pm

0.8 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Slight

11pm

0.8 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

Water Temp (°C)

→ steady around 18.6°

Sun

11 Oct

18.8°

Mon

12 Oct

18.6°

Tue

13 Oct

18.6°

Wed

14 Oct

18.6°

Thu

15 Oct

18.8°

Fri

16 Oct

18.9°

Sat

17 Oct

19.2°

Sun

18 Oct

19.3°

Mon

19 Oct

19.4°

Tue

20 Oct

19.3°

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 23 km/h NW (294°).

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

6:30 pm → 7:30 pm

Good

10:00 pm → 10:30 pm

30m

Good

2:30 pm → 3:30 pm

Good

2:30 am → 3:30 am

First light

5:15 am

Last light

6:53 pm

Sunrise

5:39 am

Sunset

6:28 pm

Moonrise

7:24 am

Moonset

10:11 pm

Low tide

7:00 am

High tide

10:10 pm

Nearby Spots

Species at This Spot

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