Is the Nornalup Inlet really that good for bream?

Yes. Nornalup has a long-standing reputation as one of the better black-bream estuaries in Western Australia, with quality fish around Newdegate Island, the Frankland River mouth and the deeper snag lines. Light gear, small presentations and clean casts to structure are the local approach.

Can I drive a boat through the bar to the open sea?

Sometimes, depending on swell, recent storms and the current shape of the bar. The opening is shallow and shifts, and it is not a casual passage — locals who know the bar pick their windows carefully and most visitors fish the inlets instead. If you have not crossed it before, treat the bar as a hazard rather than an option.

Does the West Coast demersal closure apply at Walpole?

No. Walpole sits in the South Coast Bioregion, which has its own bag and size structure for demersal scalefish and is not subject to the West Coast boat-based closure that runs to spring 2027. Verify the current South Coast Bioregion rules with DPIRD before targeting any demersal species.

When do salmon hit Mandalay Beach?

The autumn migration window through this part of the south coast is best from February to May, and salmon are about in smaller numbers the rest of the year. Time the run with a settled forecast — Mandalay is fully exposed and washes out in any sizeable swell, so the fishable days inside the run are the ones that matter.

Bite Compass

Bite Forecast

Walpole / Nornalup Inlet (Coalmine Beach / Mandalay Beach)

Wed 28 Oct 2026 · Australia/Perth

Forecast updated Wed 28 Oct, 10:05pm AWST

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📍 Walpole / Nornalup Inlet (Coalmine Beach / Mandalay Beach)

waning gibbous · 95%

Weather: Sunny Wind: E 71° · 16 km/h Swell: 1.4 m @ 11 s SW Water: 17.9 °C Pressure: 1018.5 hPa ↓ falling Sheltered water: wind direction matters less here

★★★☆☆

Medium Fish Activity

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▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 5:00 am

Solunar Between windows

Time of day Dawn

Tide Moving

Wind E 13 km/h

Moon waning gibbous all day

Water temp 17.9 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day Timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 4:49 am Last light 7:05 pm

Low 7:30 am

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

6:30 pm → 8:00 pm

1h 30m

Good

12:30 am → 2:30 am

Good

9:00 pm → 10:00 pm

First light

4:49 am

Last light

7:05 pm

Sunrise

5:15 am

Sunset

6:38 pm

Moonrise

9:29 pm

Moonset

6:09 am

Low tide

7:30 am

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☀️

12°

→︎

78°

14 km/h

1am

☀️

12°

→︎

72°

13 km/h

2am

☀️

11°

↗︎

66°

12 km/h

3am

☀️

10°

↗︎

64°

11 km/h

4am

☀️

10°

↗︎

66°

12 km/h

5am

☀️

10°

→︎

69°

13 km/h

6am

☀️

11°

→︎

70°

13 km/h

7am

☀️

13°

→︎

74°

12 km/h

8am

☀️

16°

→︎

81°

15 km/h

9am

☀️

18°

→︎

84°

17 km/h

10am

☀️

20°

→︎

91°

16 km/h

11am

☀️

21°

→︎

99°

16 km/h

12pm

☀️

22°

→︎

107°

17 km/h

1pm

☀️

22°

↘︎

119°

20 km/h

2pm

☀️

20°

↘︎

123°

24 km/h

3pm

☀️

19°

↘︎

122°

25 km/h

4pm

☀️

19°

↘︎

118°

25 km/h

5pm

☀️

18°

→︎

112°

24 km/h

6pm

☀️

16°

→︎

102°

21 km/h

7pm

☀️

15°

→︎

92°

19 km/h

8pm

☀️

14°

→︎

84°

18 km/h

9pm

☀️

14°

→︎

76°

17 km/h

10pm

☀️

13°

→︎

71°

16 km/h

11pm

☁️

12°

↗︎

65°

15 km/h

Hourly Swell

Steady ~1.4 m SW

12am

1.3 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Moderate

chop

1am

1.3 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Moderate

chop

2am

1.2 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Moderate

chop

3am

1.2 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Moderate

chop

4am

1.2 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Moderate

chop

5am

1.2 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Moderate

chop

6am

1.2 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Moderate

chop

7am

1.1 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Moderate

chop

8am

1.1 m

@ 7 s

↙︎

Moderate

chop

9am

1.1 m

@ 7 s

↙︎

Moderate

chop

10am

1.0 m

@ 7 s

↙︎

Moderate

chop

11am

1.0 m

@ 7 s

↙︎

Slight

chop

12pm

1.0 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Slight

1pm

1.0 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

2pm

1.0 m

@ 12 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

3pm

1.1 m

@ 12 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

4pm

1.2 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

5pm

1.3 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

6pm

1.3 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

7pm

1.3 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

8pm

1.3 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

9pm

1.3 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

10pm

1.4 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

11pm

1.4 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 16 km/h E (71°).

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

6:30 pm → 8:00 pm

1h 30m

Good

12:30 am → 2:30 am

Good

9:00 pm → 10:00 pm

First light

4:49 am

Last light

7:05 pm

Sunrise

5:15 am

Sunset

6:38 pm

Moonrise

9:29 pm

Moonset

6:09 am

Low tide

7:30 am

Nearby Spots

Peaceful Bay 19.6 km

Species at This Spot

Keep Tabs on Walpole / Nornalup Inlet (Coalmine Beach / Mandalay Beach)

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