Your Fishing Photos
If you want to see yourself or your kids feature in our weekly state-wide Fishing Reports, send your best fishing photos and a description to dan@recfishwest.org.au
Download iPhone or Android
Metro Catches
Picture: Metro Western Rock Lobster season is off to a cracking start (Photo courtesy of ilovefishing).
Divers and freedivers have had some good success with Rock lobster this past week, with the best catches coming from surprisingly close to shore. Those dropping pots continue to pick up twos and threes. Samson fish ranging from 10kg to an arm-stretching 30kg have been caught on jigs and baits in 40 to 60m of water northwest of Rottnest Island and at The Barges in 90m to 110m off West End. King George whiting have been found near The Windmills and within Cockburn Sound while sand whiting are thick in some of the sand holes off Fremantle, Cottesloe and City Beach. Squid remain in good numbers along the seagrass meadows off Fremantle Sailing Club and within Cockburn Sound and Warnbro Sound.
Tailor have been turning up briefly at first light at Leighton and Cottesloe while small mulloway are being caught in the evenings at Trigg Point. Tailor in the 40cm to 55cm range the odd bigger fish are still occupying the lower and middle reaches of the Swan River together with a few mature salmon. Flathead are starting to appear in better numbers along the shallower parts of the river including Chidley Point, Point Walter and Applecross. Some early season hauls of blue swimmer crabs came from the deeper areas of the Swan last week. Divers at The Coombe are picking up school and king prawns after dark. Expect mulloway to be frequenting the deeper waters of Mosman and Freshwater Bay during the ensuing weeks. Rock lobster
Current Management Puts Iconic Mandurah Fishery at Risk
Picture: Yellowfin whiting (Photo courtesy of Pete Berlinksi).
Almost everyone has a story about the time they went fishing in Mandurah. It is a part of being West Australian.
This highly valued waterway provides enjoyable, accessible and safe fishing experiences for locals and visitors alike. It has forever been a summertime escape for families wanting to get out and enjoy what Mandurah has to offer.
Click here for the full story.
Mandurah & Surrounds
Picture: A healthy black bream specimen; staple family friendly and boutique angler targets alike (Photo courtesy of @jmassamone).
MANDURAH
Black bream are on the bite in both the Murray and the Serpentine Rivers and a number of good sized fish have also come from the canals closer to Halls Head. The Cut is still the place for herring and tarwhine. A couple of average sized tailor have been caught but not in any numbers. Skippy are also making an appearance. In the estuary there are herring, tailor and a few small mulloway.
White Hills, Tim’s Thicket and Preston Beach have all produced a couple of mulloway in the last few weeks, although they are a little small at around 4 – 6 kg. As January approaches larger fish will start to frequent the beaches, particularly those to the north of Mandurah. Tailor up to 45 cm have also been caught from these beaches and the beaches either side of Mandurah are producing whiting, herring, garfish and tailor.
SECRET HARBOUR / PORT KENNEDY / WARNBRO / ROCKINGHAM / SAFETY BAY
Offshore around Coventry Reef there have been regular reports of herring, yellowtail kingfish, samson fish and tailor being caught. The beaches around Warnbro Sound have been producing tailor of an afternoon when the sea breeze kicks in, along with herring, skippy, garfish and sand whiting. An occasional mulloway has been taken late at night.
Point Peron has been producing garfish, tarwhine and herring, while the beaches around Port Kennedy and Secret Harbour have been producing some tailor. King George whiting have been taken from the beaches around Safety Bay and larger specimens have been taken offshore.
South West Catches
Picture: Southern Calamari are plentiful and abundant in the Geographe region of the South West like this specimen taken from the Busselton jetty (Photo courtesy of @jakesfihstagram).
Schools of southern bluefin tuna in the 4kg to 10kg range have started to appear off the west coast and within Geographe Bay. The bluefin, which have been responding well to trolled bibbed minnows and small skirted lures, were encountered off Three Bears, out from Cape Naturaliste and around Bunker and Eagle Bays.
King George whiting have been picked up in depths leading up to 15m in the bay. The seagrass beds off Quindalup are starting to produce some thumping squid. Herring, skippy and tarwhine are the main species being caught at the bays and headlands. There are still a few salmon turning up at Mitchells and Bunker Bay while tailor have been appearing early morning and dusk at Elmore Road. Blue swimmer crab stocks seem to be increasing off Dunsborough and Siesta Park.
Albany Catches
Picture: Whilst the metro demersal closure is active you can still head down to the south coast where Pink Snapper numbers are healthy and open to fishing all year round. (Photo courtesy of Andrew Jarvis).
It may have not been the official start of spring, however in comparison to the weather the first seven or so weeks dished up, this past week certainly felt like it. Boat fishers – and there were many – who ventured to the coral stretches off Cheynes Beach, Two Peoples Bay, Cosy Corner and Albany picked up good catches of mixed reef fish, which included pink, red and queen snapper and breaksea cod.
Samson fish were encountered in parts and these freight trains ranged anywhere from 10kg to a back-aching 40kg. Sambos of similar sizes have also been hooked from the shore at Emu Point. Surf fishing has been rather hit and miss with herring and sand whiting the most common catches along most of the local beaches. The Bremer Bay coast still has salmon turning up while the beaches east of there are featuring big skippy.
Mulloway to a metre and the odd bigger fish have started to turn up in the Kalgan River. Several black bream of more than a kilo were caught in the Kalgan during the recent kayak competition. The inshore waters have plenty of King George and sand whiting on offer. Catches of flathead are increasing along these parts, however squid catches seem to have dived this past fortnight.
Esperance Catches
Picture: An interesting perspective of a hooked Samson fish, named for their incredible strength, samson jigging is a popular sportfishing technique in the south of our state.
The boats that headed out beyond the islands during the week scored queen snapper to 10kg, plenty of nannygai and samson fish. The dinghy and small boat fishers did well on sand whiting and squid. More squid and some nice King George whiting have been picked up at the Taylor Street Jetty.
Bandy Creek Boat Harbour is worth a try with herring and a few King George coming from there recently. Salmon continue to turn up at Salmon Beach and Fourth Beach. Fourteen Mile and Rossiter have small mulloway and skippy on offer. Flathead to a superb 1.5kg, small mulloway and gummy shark have been picked up at Israelite Bay. Plenty of black bream to 40cm and the odd bigger fish have been caught on bait and lure at the lakes.
Geraldton Catches
Picture: Beach mulloway like this one taken by Rob are a worthy adversary along the mid west beaches of WA.
Tailor to 50cm have been turning up some mornings and evenings along the Flat Rocks to Greenough River mouth stretch. Bigger tailor continue to be caught on poppers and stick baits at the reefs at Separation Point and Southgates. The first and second points at Greenough are worth a visit with tailor, herring and pike on offer. Mulloway in the 8kg to 12kg range have been coming from the Greenough area.
The back of The Lives and the northern side of the marina are producing a mix of bread and butter species including whiting, skippy, herring and pike. Yellowfin whiting between 20cm and 30cm can be sought along the Drummonds to Coronation stretch. Tailor and mulloway have been coming from along there in the evenings. Dinghy and small boat fishers have been catching school mackerel and pike on trolled lures inshore.
Kalbarri Catches
Picture: Nice tailor like these are a common catch along our mid west WA beaches.
Surf fishers who have been putting in the time and effort along the northern beaches have been picking up good size mulloway. Kalbarri Land Based Fishing Tours’ Rob Tang has been putting his clients onto plenty of mulloway north of the river mouth during his outings this past week. Tailor catches have increased along the coast with mornings and evenings producing 40cm to 50cm fish at Red Bluff, Wittecarra, Siphons and Chinamans.
Bigger tailor and mulloway were caught at Wagoe during the weekend while there was a salmon caught there last Friday. Some nice yellowfin whiting have been picked up at Wittecarra as well as along the shallower areas of the Murchsion. Blue swimmer crabs can be sought in the lower parts of the river. Divers did well on rock lobster during the first couple of weeks of the season.
Exmouth Catches
Picture: Small yellowfin tuna are a plentiful target through the warmer months in the northern half of the state. (Photo courtesy of @Westernangler).
Billfish enthusiasts are starting to experience regular encounters of blue marlin out wide. The blue marlin are thought to be feeding on the big schools of 6kg to 10kg yellowfin tuna that have appeared in the deeper waters together with dolphin fish and wahoo. Smaller black and striped marlin have been found in depths starting at 50m while sailfish have also been located in similar areas as well as in the upper parts of the gulf.
Big packs of aggressive wahoo seem to be lurking around Helby Bank at the moment. Coronation and coral trout have been jigged along the west side at the back of the reef. Squid have been caught in good numbers with pink and green squid jigs working well. Big queenfish have started to show up around Learmonth Jetty and the surrounding beaches. There were also reports of large schools of queenfish spotted passing along the end of the cape for those keen to walk the beaches and cast a line. VLF Bay and the waters out from the Navy pier area are been holding shark mackerel for those prepared to chase them with lures.
Broome Catches
Picture: Queenfish like this beautiful specimen a common coastal capture in the northern half of our state.
Sport fishers continue to encounter fair numbers of sailfish and the odd black marlin north of Grey Shoals. Spanish mackerel have also been found in these waters while longtail and mack tuna have been appearing in a range of areas.
A customer of Tackle World Broome caught a nice feed of snapper and fingermark bream off Cable Beach earlier this week. Threadfin and bluenose salmon have been caught in good numbers from Cable Beach during the neap tides. The Town Beach is worth a try for queenfish and trevally on an incoming tide. Lures have been outperforming live baits on the barramundi in the local creeks.
Kununurra Catches
Picture: A nice creek barra caught by Jimmy on the old faithful hardbody minnow (Photo courtesy of Matt Cox).
With water temps in the Cambridge already sitting around the 31 degree mark the barramundi fishing has really started to crank up with some excellent build up fishing done at the mouths of most rivers and creeks where the big female breeders congregate before spawning. If you can locate a school of these big barramundi you should have no problems enticing them to take a trolled lure, the new suspending Classic Barra range seem to be working a treat, especially in the Guns N Roses and Banana colours. One boat of lucky anglers reported 10 barra from 85-102cm over a couple of days of fishing, with two of those over the magic meter mark.
There have been some good reports coming out of Lake Kununurra with some fish bigger becoming a more common catch, generally from the 60-80cm mark. Jigging soft plastics down around the base of the snags and along the weed beds has been most productive.
