Juvenile Snapper Release
The release of the juvenile snapper grown out under the Snapper Guardians program from eggs recovered from Cockburn Sound late last year will take place next Saturday.
It will take place on the beach at Jervoise Bay, Woodman Point (adjacent to Cockburn Power Boat Club and to the west of it) on Saturday 6 February 10 am – 12 pm.
All anglers and Snapper Guardians are invited to come and help Recfishwest release thousands of juvenile snapper. More details can be found in our Snapper Guardians Project article. Don’t miss out!
Metro Catches
Pictured: Flathead
A couple of boats that ventured to the Rottnest Trench FADs (Fish Aggregating Devices) during the past week found plenty of small dolphinfish as well as the odd fish around 6kg. Wahoo have occasionally been encountered at the FADs and there have been heaps of striped and small southern bluefin schools spotted by the boats between West End and the 200m contour.
Samson fish to 30kg are thick at the barges. Small dhufish have been coming from 30m to 50m of water south west of Rottnest along with the odd pink snapper and breaksea cod. Black bream are worth trying at Ascot, Ron Courtney Island, Bassendean and Salters Point. Mulloway to 14kg are being caught at Mosman Bay and Freshwater Bay. Try the flats at Point Walter and Applecross for flathead and Claremont for giant herring.
COCKBURN SOUND
As of Monday February 1, fishers will be able to legally fish for pink snapper in Cockburn and Warnbro Sounds. There are reports of schools of fish showing up on sounders. A quiet drift over popular reefs and lumps should produce some good captures.
There are some fair to good sized king george whiting still being taken from the lower end of Cockburn Sound. Garden Island Causeway has fished well for herring and whiting during the week, along with a few tailor and squid. Boat anglers chasing a feed of squid have been doing quite well near Sulphur Bay on Garden Island and in Mangles Bay on the eastern side of the sound as well. Anglers fishing from both shore and boat in Cockburn Sound have caught tailor, herring and King George whiting. A few tailor can be found around the channel markers and there are pike everywhere. The groynes and jetties have had plenty of the usual herring and squid being caught.
KWINANA / WOODMAN POINT
Tailor, herring and blue mackerel are being caught from the Coogee Beaches. The old Ammunition Jetty is also producing some good fishing for a variety of species including tailor and herring. An occasional mulloway has been taken by anglers keeping baits off the bottom away from the rays and crabs.
Mandurah and Surrounds
Pictured: Tailor
MANDURAH
The Dawesville Cut is still a top spot for catching a feed at almost any time of the day as it continues to produce good fishing for species such as herring, whiting, skippy and tarwhine. The smaller species are biting freely during the day and tailor are turning up after dark. In the estuary on the sand flats, yellow-fin whiting and skippy have been biting well along with a few herring and smaller tailor. There are crabs in numbers in the estuary at Mandurah for both dabbers and drop netters. The beaches around Mandurah are producing herring, tarwhine and whiting during the day with tailor early morning and evening.
Big mulloway have been taken from the San Remo, Madora and Singleton beaches after dark. Most successful anglers are using a herring fillet or a whiting for bait. South of Mandurah is a similar story with larger tailor being caught around dusk and after dark from the beaches at Tim’s Thicket and White Hills. Rumours suggest that there have been some bigger tailor taken from these spots. There are also plenty of big whiting being taken from these beaches as well. Bream are still active in the Murray and Serpentine Rivers with some larger fish being taken above Murray Bend.
SECRET HARBOUR / PORT KENNEDY / ROCKINGHAM / SAFETY BAY
Anglers fishing for tailor are finding a few good fish along the Kwinana, Port Kennedy and Secret Harbour beaches. There are also plenty of whiting and blue mackerel around the Rockingham jetties. There have been reports of some very big mulloway being taken from these beaches. Yellow-fin whiting are being taken in Shoalwater Bay and Penguin Island causeway has been producing plenty of herring, whiting and tarwhine for anglers fishing the drop off into deeper water. Point Peron has been producing a few herring and garfish.
South West Catches
Pictured: Dhufish
The boats targeting King George whiting have been picking up 30 to 45cm fish along the Eagle Bay to Siesta Park stretch in approximately 12m of water. Pink snapper to 6kg have been caught along the Four Mile and Eight Mile while dhufish and breaksea cod seem to be around the 30 to 40m depths off Cowaramup Bay and Canal Rocks.
Samson fish and yellowtail kingfish are responding well to live baits along the drop offs out from Cape Naturaliste, however sharks have been problematic at times. Divers have reported spotting Spanish mackerel and tuna off the west coast and in Geographe Bay. Shore-based fishers continue to catch whiting on imitation worms and miniature poppers along the Quindalup sand flats. Herring numbers are increasing along both sides of the cape.
Remember, if you are going to fish off the rocks be sure to wear a life jacket. Please see our list of FREE loan life jacket locations in the footer of our website.
Albany Catches
Pictured: Red snapper
Red snapper of varying sizes are being found in dense schools in 110 to 120m of water. Grey banded cod, hapuka and blue eye trevalla were picked up in depths leading up to 500m, however the current has been hard to pick and making it difficult to hold bottom at times. A nice mix of reef fish including queen snapper, breaksea cod and samson fish have been coming from along the coral in 60 to 85m off Cheyne Beach, Albany and Denmark. Several crews reported catching gummy shark in a range of depths and areas.
Closer to shore, bag limits of King George whiting have been achieved in areas that have included King George Sound, Middleton Beach, Emu Point, Gull Rock, Caseys, Limestone Head and Goode Beach. Apparently early mornings and late afternoons have been the better times to target the Geordies, which have ranged from 30 to 45cm. Squid, sand whiting, snook and herring have also been caught through the inshore parts.
Herring stocks are increasing along the coast with many fishers reportedly picking up their bag limit, or close to it, of a dozen fish at the local beaches and the marina this past week. A couple of nice samson fish and queen snapper have been landed at the rocks at Cheyne and West Cape Howe. The occasional small school of salmon continues to turn up along the local beaches with bigger schools regularly passing by the Bremer Bay area. Mornings and evenings are producing a few tailor at Lowlands. Most of the rivers along the southern coast are very discoloured following the heavy rain and consequently the state of the systems would not be conducive to black bream fishing.
Esperance Catches
Pictured: Western Australian salmon
The Taylor Street jetty is fishing well for herring, squid, skippy, King George whiting, drummer and sweep while the James Street jetty has mostly been producing the two former species. Small schools of salmon and individual fish have been turning up at Fourth Beach and Salmon Beach. Stockyards has been yielding big herring, flathead, juvenile and adult salmon. A customer of Southern Sports and Tackle caught several mulloway at Rossiter Bay last Friday evening.
Dunns is worth a try, considering skippy, salmon, gummy shark and herring have been coming from there recently. Poison Creek has mulloway and tailor. Black bream to 40cm continue to be caught in the local lakes. The boats working the waters in close have been encountering small southern bluefin tuna, big herring, whiting, snook and squid. Big flathead, pink snapper, samson fish and nannygai have been coming from the ground near the islands.
Geraldton Catches
Pictured: Coral trout
Tailor and herring are the main species being caught by surf fishers at Flat Rocks and Lucys. Graham Maunder, of Geraldton Sports, caught a tailor a cast while fishing at West Bank about noon last Saturday. Very big herring and tailor are turning up in the mornings at Southgates. Tailor between 40 and 60cm and whiting ranging from small to medium size fish can be sought at Tarcoola. The Point Moore to the Fishermans Boat Harbour stretch has herring in the evenings and pike along the seagrass.
Small whiting, herring and chopper tailor have been coming from behind The Lives. Mulloway to 20kg have been caught regularly at the marina together with chopper tailor, whiting and pike. Herring have been turning up in excellent numbers between 6pm and 7.30pm at Drummonds along with some tailor. Kayak and dinghy fishers at Point Moore and Separation Point have been picking up some nice hauls of whiting to 30cm and squid.
Dhufish between 4 and 6kg and a few between 10 and 11kg have been caught near West Bank and through the ground leading up to the Abrolhos Islands. The coral trout being caught along the shallows have mostly been between 55 and 60cm with the odd fish nudging the 75cm mark. Sweet lip are reportedly in plague proportions along the flat coral, however many have been just under the legal size of 28cm. Longnose and spangled emperor and pink snapper have also been caught along the ground north and south of town. Dense bait schools that have been located off Drummonds for almost a month are attracting Spanish mackerel, longtail tuna and Watson’s leaping bonito. The southern end of the Abrolhos Islands near Turtle Dove is fishing well for Spanish mackerel and yellowfin tuna.
Kalbarri Catches
Pictured: Black bream (photo courtesy of @robbieleck_fishing)
Mulloway to 10kg have been regularly caught at Red Bluff while nearby Wittecarra Creek has been good in the mornings and evenings for tailor. Early mornings have been better for tailor at Frustrations and Oyster Creek. Yellowfin whiting to a respectable 35cm have been picked up along the beaches together with dart and small threadfin salmon. The middle and lower reaches of the Murchison River have black bream and estuary cod.The upper parts are still being occupied by giant herring.
Yellowfin whiting can be sought along the sand flats in front of the supermarket. The boats have been getting among fair numbers of pink snapper, baldchin groper and spangled emperor in 20 to 30m of water. Balloon fishers have been occasionally landing spanish mackerel at Wagoe while farther south, at Lucky Bay, chopper tailor have been biting in the mornings and evenings.
Exmouth Catches
Pictured: Golden trevally
Steve Chambers, of Broome Tackle World, caught black marlin, sailfish, dolphin fish and wahoo during a recent trip. Trolling bibbed minnows along the back of the reef on the west side has been worthwhile for spanish mackerel. Spangled emperor are a chance along the west coast beaches while yellowfin whiting can be sought at the town beaches.
Try Old Bundegi during an incoming tide for queenfish, small giant and golden trevally. Plenty of small queenfish, trevally and a few mangrove jack are hanging around the rock walls at the marina. Giant herring and big brassy trevally are turning up along the lower reaches of the gulf.
Broome Catches
Pictured: Barramundi
Barramundi enthusiasts report that much of the Fitzroy River is discoloured due to the recent rain. A few barra, mostly between 65 and 85cm, have been caught on live baits at areas that have been experiencing a tidal push including Telegraph Pool and Langis Crossing. Smaller barra have been picked up in the local creeks together with threadfin salmon, bluenose salmon and mangrove jack.
More threadies and bluenose are being caught in Roebuck Bay. Queenfish, golden and giant trevally can be targeted at the jetty, especially around the change of tide. The boats trolling rigged garfish and bibbed minnows off Entrance Point and Gantheaume Point are picking up spanish mackerel and varieties of tuna.
