This study investigates the drivers of recreational fishing site choice and the effects of bag limits among boat-based and other fishers in Western Australia. A site choice model incorporating expected catch and other variables is estimated and used to assess the implications for angler welfare and fish harvest of different management strategies. The study reveals that site choice is determined by distance to fishing site, expected catch rate and coastal length. Fishing efforts (time spent and size of the party), fishing methods used (boat, target and bait), abundance of fish (stocks) and types of the fishing site are the most important factors determining catch rates. Site access values vary widely and for boat users the top four valuable fishing destinations are found to be Broom, Albany, West Kimberly and East Kimberly. The spill-over effects of bag limits on high value fish are found to be small while welfare losses associated with bag limits are highly skewed. The differences in site access values and the range of angler welfare loss estimates highlight the importance of empirical modelling to generate information valuable to policy-making.