6 Top Family-Friendly Fishing Spots

Geographe Bay is a delightful spot to spend the afternoon fishing with the kids – not to mention a mere hop, skip and jump away from your holiday digs at Big 4 Beachlands.  It’s almost always calm, and protected from the persistent summer breeze.

During the summer months, whiting, herring, skippy, and blue swimmer crabs hang around the sand flats between Dunsborough and the Busselton Jetty, and squid can be found further out into the Bay.

Winter storms bring larger fish into the bay, and snapper have rumoured to have been caught from the beach here.

When looking for somewhere to fish here, you’re a little spoilt for choice.  All along Geographe Bay, just take a turn down one of the many beachside tracks, and you’re almost guaranteed to find a quiet stretch of beach to yourself.

Or, these accessible jetties provide a pleasant spot to fish in slightly deeper water.

• Busselton Jetty (which at 1.8km is the second longest jetty in the Southern Hemisphere, and has excellent wheelchair access and fishing platforms)
• Abbey Boat Ramp jetty
• Old Dunsborough Boat Ramp (also wheelchair accessible)

On the western side of Dunsborough, Castle Rock Bay, Point Picquet, Eagle Bay, and Bunker Bay offer similar conditions, though with a few more granite rocks mixed in to the scenery.  Australian Salmon can also be caught from the beach here, during the annual migration between March and May.

One of the most popular beaches in the Margaret River Region, Yallingup also offers a variety of family-friendly fishing options.  The inner tidal pools, located just below the main car park and facilities, are home to a calm lagoon.  This reef is a marine reserve where rod fishing is permitted, but other methods of collecting marine life are forbidden.

A little further to the north is the Granny’s Pool, the main fishing spot of this beach, where water rushes out from the lagoon.  It can be dangerous in mid to large swells, so is best fished on calm days with low swell and wind.  Here you’ll find small reef fish, and the usual species of herring, whiting, and, seasonally, salmon.

A stunning stretch of sand, this beach is vast, dramatic, and also hosts some excellent fishing.  The southern end of the beach, where you will see the tall sand dune, is the most friendly and accessible fishing spot.  It’s protected from large swells, and the incessant southerly breeze.

Once the heart of Western Australia’s timber trade, Hamelin Bay is also teeming with marine life!  The boat ramp here can get busy in summer, as many head out to fish the offshore reefs, but you can also catch plenty of fish from the beach.  It’s generally calm and sheltered here, and you can walk a little way up the beach to find your own secluded spot.

Augusta is the quintessential Western Australian seaside holiday town, and of course, that means excellent fishing. Try your luck in the river, where you can fish for silver bream or blue swimmer crabs from the jetty on the Blackwood River foreshore.

If it’s ocean species you’re after, have a go off the jetty at Flinders Bay, Western Australia’s original whaling settlement.  Larger pelagic fish can also be caught from the Augusta marina, though it can be rough here in larger swells.

If all else fails, try the local fish and chip shop. You won’t be disappointed.

For those with a boat and a keen sense of marine adventure, these boat ramps are conveniently located around the region.

• Quindalup
• Dunsborough
• Canal Rocks
• Gracetown
• Gnarabup
• Hamelin Bay
• Augusta