1 September 2017 – South Coast Fishing Report

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Welcome to Recfishwest’s weekly fishing report, brought to you by Recfishwest’s fishing expert Joachim Azzopardi and thanks to John Curtis for his Mandurah & Surrounds report.

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

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

Esperance Catches

Esperance queen snapper

Picture: Dinghy fishers who went out from Duke of Orleans Bay caught queen snapper, breaksea cod and squid.(Photo courtesy of Chris Dowling / Flickr. Fishes of Australia).

Boats

Dinghy and small boat fishers working the waters out from town have mostly been catching sand whiting and small squid in depths leading up to 15m. Dinghy fishers who went out from Duke of Orleans Bay caught queen snapper, breaksea cod and squid. One of the bigger boats that ventured to the shelf, when conditions permitted last week, picked up some big hapuka. Nannygai between 45cm and 50cm, samson fish, queen snapper and breaksea cod have been common near the islands.

Shore based

The Taylor Street Jetty has been fishing well for herring in the late afternoons and evenings, squid have been caught from the structure in quite good numbers. The Bandy Creek Boat Harbour has herring, small King George whiting and the odd black bream on offer. The Bream Lakes are producing black bream to 40cm, however the fish are still a tad finicky. Salmon continue to be caught right along the coast with Salmon Beach, Fourth Beach, Nine Mile, Fourteen Mile, Roses and Munglinup among the spots to produce the 3kg to 7kg torpedos this past week. Dunns has been producing mulloway and skippy as well as salmon while Alexander Bay had bigger skippy striking at the mulies that were intended for the salmon that were around.

Albany Catches

Albany samson fish

Picture: Reef fishing enthusiasts who took advantage of the calm conditions that presented and ventured to the 65m to 80m depths did well on samson fish.

Boats

Reef fishing enthusiasts who took advantage of the calm conditions that presented and ventured to the 65m to 80m depths did well on red, pink and queen snapper as well as breaksea cod, dhufish and samson fish. A couple of boats that made it as far as the shelf, and beyond, managed to deck hapuka and seven banded cod. King George whiting appear to be in reasonable numbers inshore with some boats striking their limits within a matter of minutes and others spending a good half a day to find the 35cm to 45cm fish. Nornalup Inlet has reportedly been starting to produce some nice catches of King George. Late August and early September are not ordinarily associated with good squid fishing inshore, however there still seems to be quite a few about, especially in the clearer areas.

Shore based

Wilsons Inlet opened last week and, while there were a few pink snapper caught. There have been schools regularly turning up at Shelleys and Nanarup with both locations also producing plenty of herring. Bornholm produced a few tailor as well as herring while bigger skippy are worth targeting at Bluff Creek and Cheynes Beach. Baits including river and coral prawns, and following the influx of freshwater, worms have been enticing black bream strikes in the King and Kalgan rivers. Hard-bodied and vibe-style lures are also producing a few bream.

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RECFISHWEST TIP OF THE WEEK

Tip of the week trout

Picture: The Fisheries Minister has announced a freshwater licence free weekend (2-3 September) so why not give it a go? You will love it!

TroutFest Tomorrow!

A reminder that Fisheries Minister Dave Kelly announced Western Australians can go freshwater fishing in the State’s South-West, licence-free this weekend (September 2-3, 2017).

The special weekend will celebrate the opening of the freshwater fishing season on September 1 and give people the chance to try their hand at freshwater fishing for free.

For those who have registered remember TroutFest is tomorrow at 10am at Drakesbrook Weir. If you would like more information on TroutFest, click here.

If you can’t make it to TroutFest do not worry! There are other fantastic freshwater fishing opportunities, visit our Freshwater Trout page for all you need to know about freshwater fishing including tips and tricks as well as locations.

2017-09-04T10:38:18+08:00