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)

Mon 12 Oct 2026 · Australia/Perth

Forecast updated Mon 12 Oct, 10:01pm AWST

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

new · 1%

Weather: Cloudy Wind: E 99° · 11 km/h Swell: 3.0 m @ 10 s SW Water: 17.6 °C Pressure: 1027.0 hPa → steady Sheltered water: wind direction matters less here

★★★☆☆

Medium Fish Activity

▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 6:30 pm

Solunar Between windows

Time of day Dusk

Tide Moving

Wind SE 11 km/h

Moon new all day

Water temp 17.6 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 5:09 am Last light 6:50 pm

Low 6:00 am High 11:30 am Low 1:30 pm High 10:00 pm

Drag or use arrow keys to explore

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

6:00 pm → 8:30 pm

2h 30m

Good

11:30 am → 2:00 pm

2h 30m

Good

5:00 am → 6:30 am

1h 30m

Good

12:30 am → 2:00 am

1h 30m

First light

5:09 am

Last light

6:50 pm

Sunrise

5:35 am

Sunset

6:24 pm

Moonrise

6:02 am

Moonset

8:13 pm

Low tide

6:00 am

High tide

11:30 am

Low tide

1:30 pm

High tide

10:00 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☁️

10°

↓︎

202°

4 km/h

1am

☁️

10°

↓︎

187°

6 km/h

2am

☁️

10°

↙︎

210°

1 km/h

3am

☁️

9°

↙︎

203°

1 km/h

4am

☁️

9°

↓︎

198°

2 km/h

5am

☁️

9°

↓︎

190°

2 km/h

6am

☁️

10°

↓︎

180°

2 km/h

7am

☁️

11°

↓︎

164°

4 km/h

8am

☁️

13°

↘︎

157°

6 km/h

9am

☁️

13°

↘︎

151°

6 km/h

10am

☁️

13°

↘︎

142°

6 km/h

11am

☁️

14°

↘︎

141°

6 km/h

12pm

☁️

14°

↘︎

150°

7 km/h

1pm

☁️

14°

↘︎

155°

8 km/h

2pm

☁️

15°

↘︎

153°

8 km/h

3pm

☁️

14°

↘︎

153°

9 km/h

4pm

☁️

14°

↘︎

148°

10 km/h

5pm

☀️

14°

↘︎

136°

10 km/h

6pm

☀️

12°

↘︎

136°

11 km/h

7pm

☀️

11°

↘︎

137°

12 km/h

8pm

☀️

11°

↘︎

124°

12 km/h

9pm

☀️

11°

↘︎

115°

12 km/h

10pm

☀️

10°

→︎

99°

11 km/h

11pm

☀️

9°

→︎

71°

10 km/h

Hourly Swell

Easing 3.8 → 3.0 m SW

12am

3.8 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Heavy

ground

1am

3.8 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Heavy

ground

2am

3.8 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Heavy

ground

3am

3.7 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Heavy

ground

4am

3.7 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Heavy

ground

5am

3.7 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Heavy

ground

6am

3.6 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Heavy

ground

7am

3.6 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Heavy

ground

8am

3.5 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Heavy

ground

9am

3.5 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Heavy

ground

10am

3.4 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Heavy

ground

11am

3.4 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Heavy

ground

12pm

3.3 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Heavy

ground

1pm

3.3 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Heavy

ground

2pm

3.2 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Heavy

ground

3pm

3.2 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Heavy

ground

4pm

3.1 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Heavy

5pm

3.1 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Heavy

6pm

3.1 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Heavy

7pm

3.1 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Heavy

8pm

3.1 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Heavy

9pm

3.0 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Heavy

10pm

3.0 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Heavy

11pm

3.0 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Heavy

Water Temp (°C)

→ steady around 17.6°

Fri

9 Oct

17.7°

Sat

10 Oct

17.6°

Sun

11 Oct

17.6°

Mon

12 Oct

17.6°

Tue

13 Oct

17.6°

Wed

14 Oct

17.6°

Thu

15 Oct

17.7°

Fri

16 Oct

17.8°

Sat

17 Oct

17.9°

Sun

18 Oct

18.0°

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 11 km/h E (99°).

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

6:00 pm → 8:30 pm

2h 30m

Good

11:30 am → 2:00 pm

2h 30m

Good

5:00 am → 6:30 am

1h 30m

Good

12:30 am → 2:00 am

1h 30m

First light

5:09 am

Last light

6:50 pm

Sunrise

5:35 am

Sunset

6:24 pm

Moonrise

6:02 am

Moonset

8:13 pm

Low tide

6:00 am

High tide

11:30 am

Low tide

1:30 pm

High tide

10:00 pm

Nearby spots

Peaceful Bay 19.6 km

Species at this spot

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