Your Fishing Photos
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Picture: Fab from Fab Fishing & Tours with some quality King George caught on the South Coast, while remaining safe in his Crewsaver Crewfit life jacket (Photo courtesy of Fab Fishing & Tours).
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Metro Catches
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Reef fishing has been limited due to the demersal closure, however there have been a few crews who have been heading out and doing reasonably well on the species that are still on the menu. King George whiting have been caught in excellent numbers through the 10m to 30m depths south of Parker Point and near Stragglers. The sand holes located in reef areas between the mainland and Rottnest Island are still holding plenty of plump sand whiting. Small yellowtail kingfish have been responding well to live baits off West End and the northern side of Rottnest. Bigger kingfish were encountered within Cockburn Sound recently too.
Squid numbers have dwindled along the seagrass beds off Fremantle, however sizes are certainly bigger. Tailor have been a little hit and miss along most of the metropolitan coast. Surf fishers have been experiencing a brief tailor bite after sundown. Spots that have produced tailor have included South Beach, Leighton, Grant Street, Swanbourne Drain and Trigg Point. More tailor have been caught in the river with Applecross, Point Walter and Point Resolution producing fish to 50cm.
Mandurah & Surrounds
Picture: Flounder are being found in the shallow sandy patches between seagrass and sand flats around Rockingham as a welcome whiting bycatch.
MANDURAH
The beaches south of Mandurah are still producing a few nice tailor and mulloway. The Cut continues to provide some excellent fishing with big herring, tailor, King George Whiting, skippy, tarwhine and sand whiting being taken regularly. Many fishers who are wading the flats are taking good whiting on lures. Tailor are also scattered throughout the estuary with some good fish being taken between the bridges. Crab numbers in the estuary are increasing and there are enough legal sized crabs to enable dabbers or netters to get a good feed in a reasonable time.
The beaches to the north of Mandurah along the San Remo, Madora, Singleton section of the coast have been producing good fishing for the smaller species with plenty of herring, garfish and whiting being taken by people fishing during the day. An occasional mulloway has been taken during the evening.
SECRET HARBOUR / PORT KENNEDY / WARNBRO / ROCKINGHAM / SAFETY BAY
At the jetties, there are herring and squid and the odd mulloway being taken late at night. People fishing the beaches south of Becher Point are taking some good tailor of an evening with fish up to 45 cm. Beaches around Secret Harbour are also producing some good fishing for tailor.
Around Rockingham there are a few small whiting on the sand flats between the mainland and Penguin Island as well as the occasional flounder and some good sized flathead. Herring and garfish are being taken from the local beaches in the morning and a few sized tailor are being caught from the surf beaches.
South West Catches
Picture: Spanish mackerel have been caught on the odd occasion in the South West reigion as weather temperatures warm up for summer (Photo courtesy of Wade Kelly).
A customer of Dunsborough Outdoor Sportz caught a small southern bluefin tuna from his kayak while fishing near Canal Rocks last week. More southern bluefin, and other varieties of tuna and bonito, are expected to turn up off the west coast and within Geographe Bay during the coming weeks as the water temperatures increase.
Spanish mackerel and shark mackerel are also a chance of appearing again this summer season. The boats working the 5m to 15m depths off Siesta Park seem to be doing better on King George whiting than those hitting the waters off Quindalup. Yellowfin and sand whiting have been responding well to small stick baits and miniature poppers along the Geographe Bay sand flats. Surf fishers are picking up tailor some mornings and evenings at spots including Honeycombs, Mitchells and Elmore Road.
Albany Catches
Picture: A peculiar population of mulloway inhabit the river systems of Albany with populations said to never leave the estuary such as this tagged specimen (Photo courtesy of Alesandro Daniele).
Mulloway activity appears to have increased in the estuary systems located along the south coast with fishers enjoying some entertaining sessions on the prized fish. A 1.1m mulloway was among the bigger fish caught in the Kalgan River while the King River produced plenty of smaller fish around the 50cm mark. While baits accounted for the bigger mulloway, the smaller fish have been responding to a variety of hard-bodied and soft plastic lures.
Black bream enthusiasts have been using a range of methods, including hard-bodies and vibe-style lures, to catch fish to 45cm in both of the local systems. The Bremer and Pallinup rivers have also been fishing well for bream and certainly fishing better than the other systems east of Albany, which have lately been somewhat quieter than normal. The local beaches have mostly been providing herring and sand whiting. Salmon are occasionally turning up at Bluff Creek, Bremer Bay and Sand Patch with the latter spot also producing tailor early morning and around dusk. Big samson fish continue to be hooked and the occasional brute landed from the rocks at Emu Point.
Squid can be sought at the marina at night while the boats working the inshore waters of King George Sound and both harbours have also been picking fair catches of the cephalopods. The waning moon is thought to have reduced the number of King George caught this past week. Sand whiting, flathead and juvenile salmon were also present inshore. Several days were suitable for reef fishing this past week and those who ventured out scored dhufish, red, pink and queen snapper, big skippy and a few samson fish along the coral in 60m to 80m.
Esperance Catches
Picture: The south coast equivalent to coral trout, harlequin fish are an attractive, colourful fish with impressive teeth for catching prey (Photo courtesy of Tyson Lyons).
Dinghy and small boat fishers have been picking up some nice catches of sand whiting and squid while working the waters within a mile or so of the coast. A little farther out, harlequin fish and skippy have been found while crews in bigger boats have been coming home with good numbers of nannygai and queen snapper in 60m to 100m of water.
Samson fish have been encountered in various areas while yellowtail kingfish were found lurking on the edges of the drop offs. Shore-based fishers continue to catch plenty of herring and squid at the Taylor Street Jetty. There have also been quite a few garfish turning up at the end of the structure during recent weeks. Good quantities of herring and some nice skippy to half a kilo have been coming from Bandy Creek Boat Harbour. Salmon Beach, Fourth Beach, Eleven Mile, Roses, Alexander Bay and Poison Creek were among the spots to produce salmon at the weekend.
Geraldton Catches
Picture: Although slow going, nice tailor are still truning up at some of the beaches around Geraldton (Photo courtesy of Abrolhos Tackle).
The tailor run has not really started along the local beaches and some observers are of the view that this season’s summer trickle may not commence until after Christmas, which was normally the time tailor would turn up along the coast about a decade or so ago. A few small tailor have been appearing at the first and second points at Greenough some mornings and evenings. Choppers have been present at the back of the breakwater after dark and there have been a few fish around the 40cm mark caught at explosives.
Bigger tailor are occasionally turning up at Southgates and there has been the odd fish caught at Drummonds and the beaches north of there. A customer of Geraldton Sports landed a good size mulloway at Drummonds on Saturday evening. West Bank has been fishing reasonably well for mulloway to a metre. Herring and pike can be sought from the Pages to Explosives stretch. Spanish mackerel and tuna are expected to turn up along the back of Pensioners Bank in the coming weeks.
Kalbarri Catches
Picture: Yellowfin whiting are a common light tackle lure target, with good numbers around the sand flats of the Murchison.
The river mouth fished exceptionally well this past week with a 20kg mulloway and several 80cm-plus tailor among the fish to be caught from the popular shore-based spot. More mulloway, in the 5kg to 6kg range, were caught along beaches. Visiting fisher Mike Bird caught several tailor, mulloway and a King George whiting (unusual for these waters) at Wittecarra during a recent stay.
Black bream have been caught in better numbers in the middle and upper reaches of the Murchison. Yellowfin whiting can still be found along the sand flats. Blue swimmer and mud crabs are being picked up in drop nets. Balloon fishers are starting to see more spanish mackerel and tuna action at Wagoe.
Exmouth Catches
Picture: Nice rankin cod taken by Dylan on a jig. (Photo courtesy of Dylan Picken).
Billfish enthusiasts continue to encounter big blue marlin out wide while smaller black and striped marlin have been raised closer to the west side reef. Schools of dolphin fish and longtail tuna have also been found out wide together with the odd wahoo and bigger yellowfin tuna. Sailfish can be sought in the gulf together with longtail tuna.
Reef fishing has been a little quiet, but there were a few red emperor, rankin cod, coral trout and spangled emperor caught by a few who chased them this week. There are some nice queenfish and trevally being picked up at Old Bundegi and VLF Bay. Mangrove jack are being caught at the marina and there are some nice mud crabs in the Bay of Rest. Fly fishers are starting to see better numbers of bonefish and permit along the west coast and gulf flats.
Broome Catches
Picture: Tripletail are a sporadic catch around WAs north with sight fishing opportunities sometimes presenting themselves in shallow protected waters (Photo courtesy of Ash Hicks).
Spanish mackerel were found in good numbers in waters 30 nautical miles west northwest of town last week and there have been packs of half a dozen or so mackerel lurking off Gantheaume and Entrance Point at the peak of the tide.
Mulloway to 1.2m were caught in deeper areas of Roebuck Bay. Tripletail can be found hanging near the moorings there at times. Big schools of baitfish located in Roebuck Bay and off Cable Beach have been attracting queenfish and assortments of trevally. Barramundi and, increasing numbers, of mangrove jack are being caught on baits and lures in the local creeks.
