Do you have to wear a life jacket at Salmon Holes?

Yes — it is legally mandatory for anyone going onto the rocks at Salmon Holes, whether you are fishing or not. It must be a Type 1 jacket: AS 4758 or ISO 12402 at level 100, 150 or 275, or AS 1512. Infringements are issued for not wearing one, with a modified penalty of $200. The requirement began as a trial in 2019 and was made permanent, and compliance is high — 432 of 449 rock fishers observed during the trial were wearing one. It has not made the rocks safe: a man was swept off them in April 2025 and never found.

Why is Salmon Holes so dangerous?

It faces south directly into the Southern Ocean with no shelter, so large unexpected waves — king waves — sweep the rock platform on days that look calm from the car park. The rock everybody fishes slopes toward the water and is slippery when wet. At least thirteen people have died there. The beach catches salmon during the run too, and it is the sane choice.

When is the salmon run at Salmon Holes?

March to May, with the autumn schools moving along the south coast. Herring and skippy hold year-round, and bronze whalers follow the salmon in behind the schools. Autumn also brings some of the year's biggest swells, so check the swell forecast before leaving Albany rather than just the wind.

How hard is the walk into Salmon Holes?

Substantial. A long, steep set of stairs and a sand track drop from the car park to the beach, and the climb back out carrying gear is harder than the descent. There are no toilets at Salmon Holes — the nearest are at Frenchman Bay, 3.6km by road — and National Park entry fees apply. It is not mobility-accessible and not a good spot to bring young children.

Bite Compass

Bite Forecast

Salmon Holes (Torndirrup)

Sat 17 Oct 2026 · Australia/Perth

Forecast updated 12:02am AWST

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📍 Salmon Holes (Torndirrup)

first quarter · 33%

Weather: Sunny Wind: NW 333° · 10 km/h Swell: 1.6 m @ 8 s W Water: 18.1 °C Pressure: 1014.8 hPa Faces south-east · Offshore: W, NW, N · Onshore: E, SE, S · Forecast wind: offshore

★★★★☆

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 10 km/h

Moon first quarter all day

Water temp 18.1 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Now

Day Timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 4:57 am Last light 6:49 pm

Low 2:40 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 → 8:00 pm

First light

4:57 am

Last light

6:49 pm

Sunrise

5:23 am

Sunset

6:24 pm

Moonrise

9:30 am

Moonset

—

Low tide

2:40 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☀️

13°

↖︎

333°

10 km/h

Now

☀️

13°

↖︎

329°

11 km/h

2am

☀️

13°

↖︎

333°

11 km/h

3am

☀️

12°

↖︎

334°

10 km/h

4am

☀️

12°

↖︎

334°

10 km/h

5am

☀️

11°

↖︎

327°

10 km/h

6am

☀️

12°

↖︎

321°

11 km/h

7am

☀️

14°

↖︎

329°

9 km/h

8am

☀️

17°

↖︎

323°

9 km/h

9am

☀️

19°

↖︎

306°

7 km/h

10am

☁️

21°

←︎

276°

3 km/h

11am

☁️

21°

↓︎

162°

4 km/h

12pm

☁️

20°

↘︎

152°

8 km/h

1pm

🌧️

20°

↘︎

154°

10 km/h

2pm

☀️

19°

↘︎

152°

14 km/h

3pm

🌧️

18°

↘︎

157°

12 km/h

4pm

☀️

19°

↘︎

156°

9 km/h

5pm

☁️

18°

↘︎

140°

12 km/h

6pm

☁️

17°

↘︎

121°

10 km/h

7pm

☁️

16°

→︎

105°

8 km/h

8pm

☁️

15°

→︎

79°

8 km/h

9pm

☁️

15°

↗︎

46°

10 km/h

10pm

☀️

15°

↗︎

44°

12 km/h

11pm

☁️

15°

↗︎

28°

12 km/h

Hourly Swell

Building 1.6 → 2.3 m SW

12am

1.6 m

@ 8 s

←︎

Moderate

Now

1.6 m

@ 8 s

←︎

Moderate

2am

1.6 m

@ 8 s

←︎

Moderate

3am

1.6 m

@ 8 s

←︎

Moderate

4am

1.6 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Moderate

5am

1.6 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Moderate

6am

1.6 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Moderate

7am

1.6 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

8am

1.5 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

9am

1.6 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

10am

1.6 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

11am

1.7 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

12pm

1.9 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

1pm

2.0 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

2pm

2.2 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

3pm

2.2 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

4pm

2.3 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

5pm

2.3 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

6pm

2.3 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

7pm

2.3 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

8pm

2.3 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

9pm

2.3 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

10pm

2.3 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

11pm

2.3 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

Water Temp (°C)

→ steady around 18.1°

Wed

14 Oct

17.8°

Thu

15 Oct

17.7°

Fri

16 Oct

18.0°

Sat

17 Oct

18.1°

Sun

18 Oct

17.9°

Mon

19 Oct

17.8°

Tue

20 Oct

17.9°

Wed

21 Oct

17.9°

Thu

22 Oct

17.9°

Fri

23 Oct

17.9°

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 10 km/h NW (333°).

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 → 8:00 pm

First light

4:57 am

Last light

6:49 pm

Sunrise

5:23 am

Sunset

6:24 pm

Moonrise

9:30 am

Moonset

—

Low tide

2:40 pm

Nearby Spots

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