12 May 2017 – West Coast Fishing Report

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Your Fishing Photos

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South West Catches

South west squid

Picture: Nice catch by Benjamin Lawless on Busselton Jetty over the weekend (Photo courtesy of Squid Hunters Western Australia).

Boats

Pink snapper have been caught in good numbers at the Four Mile, Eight Mile and Artificial Reef while dhufish were picked up in depths leading up to 40m of water off the west coast. King George whiting can be found in the 5m to 15m depths off Quindalup. Squid catches are improving along the seagrass beds extending from Eagle Bay to Siesta Park.

Shore based

Salmon continue to be caught in very good numbers right along the west coast and Geographe Bay. There are also herring about and there have been some tailor caught at Honeycombs, Mitchells and Elmore Road after dark.

Mandurah & Surrounds

Mandurah peel harvey estuary

Picture: The Peel-Harvey Estuary is a great place to go fishing for tailor and herring (Photo courtesy Tony Tropiano).

MANDURAH

Herring and a few salmon have been taken from the southern beaches along with a few small to medium sized mulloway. Close to Mandurah, there are a few tarwhine and skippy around the ocean end of The Cut. There are also a few tailor being caught in the same area. Inside The Cut there are still herring, whiting and an occasional small salmon being taken along with an odd tailor. In both the Murray and Serpentine rivers, bream are a little more active. There have been a few bream taken from some of the more popular locations throughout the lower end of the river system.

During the day there have been a few herring, yellowtail and tailor being taken from the estuary. Beaches to the north of the town continue to produce herring, garfish and whiting, generally of a morning. There have been a few mulloway taken by anglers fishing well into the night. Tailor have been spasmodic and are being caught during the late afternoon and evening

SECRET HARBOUR / PORT KENNEDY / WARNBRO / ROCKINGHAM / SAFETY BAY

People fishing through this area report good catches of herring and some big garfish. Squid are also being taken from locations throughout the region. Small boat anglers fishing out in front of the jetties at Rockingham have been catching some King George whiting, squid and snook along the edges of the weed banks. Beach anglers fishing Becher Point and the Point Peron beaches have been getting a few small salmon and tailor.
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Metro Catches

Metro dolphin fish

Picture: Check out the beautiful colours of this dolphin fish! Good numbers of these fish have been appearing at the FADs the last few months (Photo courtesy of Brodie Sciberras).

Boats

Pink snapper in the 4kg to 8kg range are being found in dense schools along Five Fathom Bank and Three Mile Reef. Fishers who have been doing well on snapper have been catching most of their fish early morning and at sunset on unweighted fish baits including mulies, scaly mackerel and herring. Dhufish seem to be in relatively shallow water following reports of several caught in 12m to 17m of water this past week.

In saying that though, there were also some nice dhufish picked up between the 50m and 60m contours. Yellowtail kingfish have been encountered near Stragglers and West End while samson fish have been caught around the bombies located between Parker Point and Garden Island. Sand whiting are still being caught in excellent numbers in the shipping channel and squid remain present along the seagrass off Fremantle.

Shore based

Salmon catches are slowly improving at the beaches, however, the bigger schools that often appear along the metropolitan coast during this time of the year are yet to show up. Rockingham beaches have been producing the odd salmon and there have been a few 3kg to 7kg fish caught at Bathers Beach, the moles and along the Cottesloe to Swanbourne Drain stretch. Soft plastics are sometimes enticing the salmon when they are being fussy. A consistent stream of burley will help in catching a feed of herring.

Several pink snapper were caught from the beaches this past week, however those who landed the pinks refused to disclose even the general locations as to where the 65cm to 90cm fish were caught. Tailor have been biting at first light and there have been some nice 50cm to 70cm models caught among the mullet schools that are present along the coast. Soft plastics have been working well on black bream near Shelley Bridge.

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Top Water Lures: Poppers

Technical Rating: Intermediate

Top water fishing is at the forefront of exciting salt water sport fishing action. Top water lures particularly are varied in their size, weight, form and function, from poppers to stickbaits. There are basically two types of popper, blooping and pencil poppers, with other styles loosely falling into one of these two types or stickbaits. The most basic principal with poppers is they float, with a somewhat concave, cupped face and no diving bib.

Those with wide, round bodies and large concave faces are for “blooping” where a stroke of the rod causes a spray of water from the cupped face. They are designed for maximum splash and commotion on the surface, drawing predatory fish from deeper water to attack the surface.

Various forms of pencil popper retain a cupped face but in a much slimmer profile. Although there are some sinking models they are more of a stickbait than a popper in performance. Pencil poppers are designed to be either skipped along the surface in a high speed retrieve or in a slower “walk the dog” retrieve where winding in sync with a side to side rod action causes a constant zig-zag lure action on the surface.

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2017-05-12T22:03:25+08:00