Two Peoples Bay (Albany)

Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve is open, fishing is a listed permitted activity inside it, and standard park entry fees apply at the gate. That matters because this is the bolt-hole: a shallow, sheltered, granite-framed bay facing east and south-east, about 35km east of Albany by road, that keeps fishing on the days a southerly swell has shut down Nanarup, Salmon Holes and the whole Torndirrup coast. The distinguishing catch is King George whiting off the sand, which is a fish most Western Australians associate with a boat. Little Beach, inside the same reserve, is one of the most photographed beaches in the state and is specifically described as a fishing spot, which means on a fine summer weekend you fish beside a car park full of people all taking the same photograph. It is also serious conservation country — Gilbert's potoroo and the noisy scrub-bird were both rediscovered here — which is why there is a gate, a fee and a flat no-dogs rule.

Keep the whiting work light: small baits on fine gear, fished patiently over the weed edges and clean patches in the shallow bay rather than blasted as far as the rod will throw. Squid come off that same shallow ground on a jig worked slowly over weed. Herring, skippy and flathead fill in around them and take small baits and lures anywhere along the sand. If salmon schools do push through in autumn, that is the moment to switch to metals and hard bodies — 70g and 55g slices and a big minnow — but treat it as an opportunity rather than the plan, because this is not a headline salmon beach the way Nanarup and Cheynes are. Small boats launch off the sand on calm days only, and that is what opens up pink snapper, queen snapper, samson fish and tuna out wider.

King George whiting are the page's fish and the reason to come: 280mm minimum, bag 12, taken from the shore in a shallow weedy bay. Herring have no size limit and a bag of 20, skippy are 250mm with a bag of eight, and flathead are 300mm with a bag of eight. Squid, cuttlefish and octopus share a combined bag of 15 with no size limit. Australian salmon come through in autumn at 300mm and four a day, though modestly by south coast standards. Western blue groper are a genuine possibility off granite anywhere along this coast, at 500mm minimum and a single fish a day. Anglers routinely file one under baldchin groper or bluebone, and it is neither.

Come here when the swell forecast has ruined everywhere else, because that is what this bay is for. Fish light and slow for the whiting rather than treating it like a surf beach, and work the weed edges instead of the open sand. No pets are allowed anywhere in the reserve, inside the car and in the car parks included, and a day trip has been ruined by less. The visitor centre opens 10:00am to 4:00pm over summer and at other times only when staff are around, so do not build a plan around it being open.

Sealed road access from Albany, about 35km by road, with easy going for all vehicles once you are on it. You can drive Nanarup Beach east toward the reserve in a 4WD, but the reserve itself is entered by that sealed road rather than off the sand. Park entry fees apply and are currently $17.00 for a standard vehicle carrying 12 or fewer occupants, $10.00 concession, $8.00 per person for a large vehicle and $10.00 for a motorcycle, with a WA Parks Pass covering entry. There is a visitor centre with seasonal hours, and the listed activities are bushwalking, canoeing and kayaking, fishing, scuba diving, snorkelling and swimming. No dogs or other pets are allowed in the reserve at all. DBCA publishes no facilities list for the reserve, so assume no toilets outside the visitor centre's hours, no accessible parking and no camping, and use Albany as the base.

The bay faces east and south-east and sits behind granite headlands, which makes it markedly more sheltered than the south-facing beaches to the west of it. That is the whole proposition — when a southerly swell closes out Nanarup and the Torndirrup coast, this is where the day gets rescued. It is shallow and clear, so it fishes best on the smaller, calmer days and goes dirty and unfishable in a hurry once swell wraps in. Easterlies are what hurt it, being the one direction it is open to. Little Beach is the first water in the reserve to become dangerous when the swell builds and the last to look it. Tide height barely registers on this micro-tidal coast, and wind and swell direction settle the session.

The reserve's own visitor warning is that coastal risks in this area are significant, and that is the granite rather than the bay beach. This is the same stretch of coast that killed an 18-year-old rock fishing near Casey's Beach, between Gull Rock and Nanarup, on 26 April 2015 — one of the 21 rock-fishing deaths Western Australia had recorded since 2002 by that date. Two Peoples Bay is not a gazetted mandatory life-jacket site; a flotation device remains the standard rock-fishing advice, and the beach is the easier and safer option. Little Beach is a granite pocket beach with no protection from a big southerly and the swell there can get large without much warning. Launching a small boat off the sand is a calm-conditions-only exercise. The department carries a statewide notice that H5 bird flu has been detected in Western Australia, and it asks visitors anywhere to report sick or dead wildlife to the emergency hotline. Anything posted at the gate applies over what is written here.

Yes. Fishing is one of the listed permitted activities for the reserve, alongside bushwalking, kayaking, diving, snorkelling and swimming, and Little Beach inside the reserve is specifically described as a fishing spot. Standard park entry fees apply at the gate. No dogs or other pets are allowed anywhere in the reserve, including inside your car.

Standard park entry fees apply, currently $17.00 for a standard vehicle carrying 12 or fewer occupants and $10.00 concession. A large vehicle carrying more than 12 occupants is $8.00 per person, or $3.50 concession, and a motorcycle is $10.00 with no concession rate. A WA Parks Pass covers entry. Fees are reviewed annually, so treat those as current rather than permanent.

It is the bay's local reputation and the main reason to fish here rather than the surf beaches nearby. The bay is shallow, weedy and sheltered, which is the ground KGW like, and shore-caught whiting is unusual enough in Western Australia to be worth the drive. Fish light and slow over the weed edges rather than casting long. King George whiting are 280mm minimum with a bag of 12.

No. No dogs or other pets are allowed anywhere in Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve, and that includes leaving them in the car or in the car park. This is one of the last places in Western Australia where Gilbert's potoroo and the noisy scrub-bird survive, which is the reason for the rule. Nanarup Beach, 12km west along the coast, is outside the reserve.

It is the best option near Albany when a southerly swell has shut down the south-facing beaches, because the bay faces east and south-east behind granite headlands. That protection is not absolute — Little Beach in particular can get large swell depending on the weather, and it looks calm right up until it is not. An easterly is the wind that spoils it. The bay is shallow and clear, so it also goes dirty quickly once the swell does wrap in.