Welcome to Recfishwest’s weekly fishing report, brought to you by Recfishwest’s fishing expert Joachim Azzopardi, Matt Cox for the latest in Kununurra, Stewart King for Freshwater fishing and thanks to John Curtis for his Mandurah & Surrounds report.

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

Picture: Brian Norton with his yellowfin tuna caught recently off Murian Islands, thanks for sharing!!

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

Kalbarri Catches

Picture: Spanish mackerel are still being caught north and south of the river mouth (Photo courtesy of Andre Oppløsninger).

Boats

The local charter boats have been putting their clients onto plenty of spangled emperor to a solid 6kg as well as other reef species including pink snapper, baldchin groper, coral trout and dhufish. Spanish mackerel are still being caught on rigged fish baits and bibbed minnows north and south of the river mouth. Schools of cobia have been encountered in a range of depths and areas.

Shore based

When conditions have allowed rock fishers to head to their favourite platform, the stone fishing enthusiasts have been picking up pink snapper, baldchin groper and jumbo tailor. More tailor have been coming from Wittecarra and Red Bluff early morning and evening while Chinamans has been producing tailor during all hours of the day. Oyster Creek and Frustrations have been better for tailor in the morning with the latter spot and the beaches north of there providing mulloway when the swell has been down. Yellowfin whiting have returned to the lower reaches of the Murchison together with black bream, which seem to have made their way downstream following the recent rain. The middle and upper reaches are fishing better for mulloway.

Geraldton Catches

Picture: Reef fishing enthusiasts who have been anchoring and burelying along the South West Bank and the lumps off Coronation have been doing reasonably well on coral trout. (Photo courtesy of @lannz04).

Boats

Reef fishing enthusiasts who have been anchoring and burelying along the South West Bank and the lumps off Coronation have been doing reasonably well on pink snapper to 8kg, baldchin groper to 3kg and coral trout. Plenty of sweetlip are also being caught at South West Bank. Dhufish have been hard work but there have been some 70cm to 80cm fish caught near the Abrolhos Islands. The seagrass beds off Pages and Greys Bay are producing good catches of squid.

Shore based

Tailor are starting to show up in better numbers as the popular surf fish tend to do each August. Tailor between 40cm and 50cm have been coming from the Flat Rocks to Greenough River mouth stretch this past week together with the odd mulloway to 80cm. Sand whiting and herring are the main species being caught from behind The Lives and the marina. Squid have been picked up at the marina at night.

South West Catches

Picture: Recfishwest Habitat Officer, Michael ‘Tropi’ Tropiano with his pinky. Make sure you tune into ABC 720 radio on Saturday mornings to hear some of Tropi’s fishing tips.

Boats

One of the best pink snapper seasons seen in Geographe Bay in several years is still occurring, however the weather has not allowed the boats to head out to target the 4kg to 12kg fish. There was a small break in the rough conditions on Saturday and those who ventured to the Four Mile and Eight Mile were rewarded with a few snapper. Anchoring and burleying has again proven to be the most effective method when targeting the pinks. Squid are still about the seagrass meadows off Quindalup and should actively strike at jigs again once the water clarity improves.

Shore based

There were a few pink snapper caught from the Busselton Jetty and Monaghan’s Corner during the week of rough conditions. The west coast beaches were off limits due to the seas and swell. A few who targeted bread and butter species in the bay picked up herring, skippy, tarwhine and flathead.

South West Freshwater

Picture: Do you love trout? Make sure you join us on September 2nd at Drakesbrook Weir and help us release thousands of trout back into WA waters.

With the weather being so wet and windy not many people have been tempted to wet a line. The good news is that water levels have risen in both rivers and dams. This is promising for the start of the new season, September 1. Your best bet for a fish close to Perth is still Logue Brook Dam, where a few fishers have had success recently with a couple of nice trout caught near the dam wall as well as just up from the boat ramp.

Families Wanted for Freshwater Fishing Fun!

WATFAA, as the main trout and freshwater fishing club in the Perth and South West region, is teaming up with Recfishwest to run Perth’s biggest family freshwater event.

The day will include:

• Trout Stocking

• Freshwater Fishing Clinic

• Fly Casting

• Freshwater Tackle & Rigging Information.

We feel this is a great idea and can only help promote freshwater fishing in the South West. The club has put together a team that is full of enthusiasm, excited to share their skills and will try and answer any fishing questions put to them.

Event details:

Saturday 2nd of September 2017
Starts at 10.00 am to 1.30 pm
Drakesbrook Weir, Waroona.

View the event flyer, here.

If you would like any further information, please email recfish@recfishwest.org.au

So why not head down and be a part of something special? Hope to see you there!

Mandurah & Surrounds

Picture: King George can be found in The Cut with a number of other bread and butter species (Photo courtesy of Jacko Jackson).

Mandurah

There are still quite a few tailor being taken from the White Hills and Tim’s Thicket section of beach. Some of these tailor quite a good size with many reported over a kilo in weight. The Dawesville Cut is still producing plenty of good fishing, including herring, robust garfish, King George whiting and skippy. There are also reports of tailor being caught earlier in the week. If you’re after a feed of crabs there are still a few in the deeper water in the river and another spot worth trying is in the canals.

There are reports of a few tailor, herring and sand whiting coming in from the northern beaches and there are still a few black bream around and it is suggested that anglers looking for them try the lower reaches of the river at the moment, as they appear to have moved down towards the bridges.

Secret Harbour/ Port Kennedy/ Warnbro/ Rockingham/ Safety Bay

Safety Bay Yacht Club and Rockingham Beach Jetty have been producing herring and squid. There are a few herring along most of the beaches. Squid are still being caught from the jetties as well as off-shore. Palm Beach Jetty is producing a few herring and skippy and there are a lot of squid also in the area. Fishing at night seems to be working well for anglers chasing mulloway. Anglers fishing from Kwinana Beach have found whiting, pilch and herring. The beaches around Secret Harbour have been producing good sand whiting.

Metro Catches

Picture: Adrian Donald with his land based pinky caught at North Mole (Photo courtesy of Perth & WA Fishing Reports).

Boats

There were limited opportunities for boat fishers to head offshore, but those who took advantage of the brief window of fairer conditions at the weekend achieved mixed results. The big swells prevented the boats from working the relatively shallow waters between Garden Island and Stragglers, which have been producing some nice pink snapper recently. Even parts of Five Fathom Bank were off limits because it was feathering. The 20m to 30m depths south of Rottnest Island produced mixed catches of snapper, breaksea cod and dhufish. Similar species were picked up in similar depths out from the northern marinas including Hillarys, Mindarie and Two Rocks. The ground in 50m to 60m of water off Rockingham seems to be producing bigger dhufish more consistently. Squid are still about the seagrass beds off Fremantle, but it may take for water clarity to improve before the tasty cephalopods to become active again. Arrow squid were recently caught off Garden Island. Sand whiting are mostly being caught in bigger numbers and sizes in the deeper sand holes in say 25m to 30m.

Shore based

Big numbers of pink snapper were picked up along the metropolitan rock walls during the recent storm periods. Apparently more than three dozen snapper were landed at South Mole one evening last week. Nearby North Mole has also been producing land-based pinks. Woodman Point also provided snapper catches as did Coogee Marina rock wall and the rocks at Hillarys Marina. Herring have been caught in good numbers from the rock walls, however robust garfish catches have slowed. There were a few more tailor caught at Swanbourne Drain, Floreat Groyne and Trigg Point when the conditions were suitable at the weekend. Expect gummy sharks to start turning up along the metropolitan beaches in numbers as the toothless creatures tend to do at this time of the year. A 30kg samson fish was landed near the Fremantle Traffic Bridge recently.