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 bronte@recfishwest.org.au
The latest reports indicate fishing in the Swan and Canning rivers is starting to pick up as hungry fish are regaining their orientation as clean salt water is beginning to fill the estuary system again after heavy fresh water flows. This is good news for those fishing Swanfish this weekend.
There is still time to register tomorrow at McCallum Park between 9am-5pm. Remember you don’t have to catch a fish to win big! Simply come to the weigh in on Sunday morning to be in the draw to win the Aristocraft and Watersnake boat and motor package (pictured).
For more on Swanfish, click here.
Metro Catches
Picture: The massive plume of freshwater runoff exiting from the mouth of the Swan River at Fremantle after the recent heavy rainfall. These events can have various effects including carrying silt and nutrients to nearshore environments and create some interesting opportunities for fishing, with huge amounts of bait present (Photo courtesy The West Australian).
Spanish mackerel have been found preying upon bait fish located at the edge of the clean and the murky water created by the recent flow of freshwater out of the Swan River. The mackerel that have ranged from 7kg to 18kg have been caught on trolled rigged garfish and bibbed minnows. Smaller school and shark mackerel have also been caught along the colour change while southern bluefin, striped and yellowfin tuna have been encountered out wider. Samson fish continue to be found at The Barges in 90m to 110m of water west and south-west of Rottnest Island. Dolphin fish are at the Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs) while blue marlin are a chance near the trench.
Tailor are turning up very briefly between the first light and sunrise period and from about an hour after sundown along the metropolitan beaches. Pat Telford scored some nice tailor to 50cm during a recent session at Grant Street one evening last week. A consistent stream of burley should get herring active at the southern and northern rock walls and jetties. Flathead seem to have been pushed towards the lower reaches of the Swan following the recent influx of freshwater.
Good News for Swanfish!
Fishing in the Swan River Estuary is reportedly picking up as the freshwater flows are subsiding and the salt water is making its way back into the system with the tides. Some good sessions have been reported with black bream hitting all sorts of lures at the Canning bridge and up the Canning River. Hungry fish should be feeding as the waters start to clear up and the disoriented bait species become easy targets. As the weather is set to warm up for the weekend this is good news for the Swanfish competition as families enjoy what remains of the summer sunshine.
Mandurah & Surrounds
Picture: King George whiting have been biting around inshore Mandurah the past week, including some good fish caught from the Cut (Photo courtesy of @pickos90).
MANDURAH
The Cut has been very productive over recent weeks with tailor, King George whiting, garfish and herring biting well. The jetty in front of the Jolly Frog has been producing tailor, skippy herring, flathead and crabs. Tailor are prolific on beaches to the north and south with Tim’s Thicket and Preston producing school mulloway and herring. One angler fishing to the south of Preston recently caught two good snapper from the beach, along with some nice tailor and other species.
A club holding a field day in the area landed 15 different species during their competition. The northern beaches have been producing tailor late afternoons and mulloway after dark. A few larger mulloway have been caught from the beaches at Madora and Singleton. There are still some good crabs about in the estuary although the fresh water run of has thinned out numbers, they are generally being taken in deep water. The bridges are also producing good fish with herring, tailor, and tarwhine.
SECRET HARBOUR / PORT KENNEDY / WARNBRO / ROCKINGHAM / SAFETY BAY
Reports indicate that fishers are taking tailor along the beaches around Rockingham along with herring, whiting and an occasional mulloway. People fishing the beaches near the grain silos through to Long Point indicate good catches of herring and tailor.
There are large amounts of blowies around the jetty during the day, but after dark there are a few tailor and herring. To avoid the blowies try using a small metal lure as they tend to leave them alone. They will quickly destroy soft plastic lures and that can become expensive for a nil return.
South West Catches
Picture: Nice pink snapper have been coming from both sides of Cape Naturaliste in the south-west (Photo courtesy of Alesandro Daniele).
The boats have been picking up dhufish and pink snapper off both sides of Cape Naturaliste. The dhuies and pinkies off the west coast, including areas out from Hamelin Bay, Gracetown and Canal Rocks, have been bigger than those caught off Dunsborough and Eagle Bay.
Tailor have appeared in better numbers along the surf beaches this past week and it should not be long now for salmon to turn up their droves. Herring and skippy can be caught from the bays and headlands while the sand flats near Quindalup are still producing plenty of yellowfin and sand whiting.
Download iPhone or Android
Geraldton Catches
Picture: This was shared by @draviationgeek on Everything Geraldton Facebook page.
“Three or four times per year, the Irwin River gets enough rain to actually reach the Indian Ocean. Most of the year it is just a lake. When there has been a large rainfall of approx 100mm in a couple of days it bursts and stains the ocean.” (Photo courtesy of Everything Geraldton).
Spanish mackerel have started to appear in good numbers with dozens of 8kg to 20kg fish caught along the back of Pensioners Bank and near the lumps off Coronation and Horrocks this past week. Reef fishing enthusiasts have been picking up fair catches of dhufish, coral trout and baldchin groper at African Reef and the ground between 10 and 15 miles northwest of the marina. The bigger boats that ventured to the Abrolhos Islands scored spanish and shark mackerel, yellowfin tuna, dhuies, coral trout and pink snapper.
Early mornings and evenings are producing tailor to 60cm, but averaging 40cm, along the Head Butts to Greenough stretch, Tarcoola, Southgates, Separation Point and between Drummonds and the Buller River mouth. The Greenough River broke through on Friday and mulloway are a good chance as the prized species generally are present when the system opens to the ocean. The upper reaches of the Greenough have been producing a few mangrove jack between 40cm and 50cm.
Kalbarri Catches
Picture: Finding bait may be your key to landing some of the nice cobia out of Kalbarri recently. Casting a sinking lure out past the schools and working back underneath the bait i (Photo courtesy of Travis French & Samantha Brumpton).
Paul Wheatfill caught a one-metre Spanish mackerel while targeting tailor at one of the local beaches last Tuesday. Paul also went on to catch a nice size mulloway that same day. Tailor have been appearing in numbers most mornings and evenings along the Red Bluff to Wittecarra stretch. The tailor at Back Beach and Chinamans have, on average, been bigger than those caught at other haunts. Wayne Dewar, of Kalbarri Sports and Dive, enjoyed a hot run of tailor at Port Gregory last Wednesday catching and releasing dozens of 35cm to 55cm fish between 3pm and 8.30pm.
The boats trolling for spanish mackerel and tuna experienced their better catches near Sand Patch and out from the coastal cliffs. Cobia have been found near the big bait balls located offshore and have been responding to an assortment of metal and soft plastic jigs. Some nice catches of dhufish, pink snapper and baldchin groper have been coming from the northern and southern waters. Expect mulloway to be frequenting the mouth of the Murchison following the recent flow of freshwater.
