5 May 2017 – Gascoyne Coast Fishing Report

Keep your eyes peeled for Recfishwest’s Tip of the week, see below!

Your Fishing Photos

Dhufish

Picture: Riley with his first dhufish caught off Jurien Bay, great job Riley!
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

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Tip of the week banner images courtesy of Shutterstock Ruggiero Scardigno, Smiltena & Garry L.

Exmouth Catches

Exmouth rankin cod

Picture: @Coitourdoors is loving his little Saltiga/Metal Witch combo on which he caught this rankin cod. Thanks for sharing!

Boats

Billfish enthusiasts have been using a variety of methods including trolled skirted lures, switch baits and fly to catch black marlin off the west coast. Dolphin fish and varieties of tuna have also been encountered out wide. Spanish mackerel have been caught in better numbers south of Tantabiddi. Good catches of red emperor, rankin cod, spangled emperor and goldband jobfish have been picked up in 60m to 120m of water. Poppers and stick baits have been working well on queenfish and trevally in VLF Bay.

Shore based

Spangled emperor and bluebone have started to be caught in better numbers along the west coast. VLF Bay and Oysters are producing big queenfish and some nice size giant and gold spotted trevally. Squid can be caught at the marina and Learmonth Jetty, especially during an incoming tide. Good numbers of blue swimmer crabs are being picked up in the gulf.

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Bream in Environet

Technical Rating: Novice

Often one of the last pieces of fishing gear to be considered for an outing is fish landing gear and in particular nets. Gaffs are used largely for landing fish whether from a boat or fishing from rocks but they rarely can be used with enough care and precision without seriously injuring fish. Gaffs are really only appropriate for fish which are to be kept for the table or for really large fish which cannot fit into a net. In that case they should be carefully hooked in the lower jaw or ideally left in the water if possible to unhook and release. For fish in the mid-range which cannot be lifted directly with the rod but are small enough to fit, a landing net should be used to reduce stress and damage to a fish which is to be released.

Australian salmon are a good example of a fish in this category, growing to significant size not to be lifted directly but a nice size to slip into a landing net. Not all landing nets are created equal with some cheaper versions causing more damage to a fish than good. Fine rope nets are stiff and have hard and sharp edges which are damaging to fish scales, slime, eyes and fins. A variety of knotless mesh nets are available using materials and designs which do not catch on delicate fish parts and are the ideal net to use for releasing fish.

If you liked this tip, check out our ‘Landing our Future’ article here.

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2017-05-05T19:49:18+08:00