Metro Catches
Pictured: Spanish mackerel (photo courtesy of Donna Rathbone)
Big schools of bonito are appearing close to some of the metropolitan rock walls, groynes and jetties and their presence has brought spanish mackerel within casting distance at times. An estimated 12kg mackerel was caught by a shore-based fisher at one of the northern marina rock walls last week and there have been several more caught by fishers on the rocks and jetties in Cockburn Sound recently. More mackerel have been caught by small boat and kayak fishers in the Sound as well as along the back of Five Fathom Bank, off Parker Point, near West End at Rottnest and along Three Mile Reef.
Big schools of southern bluefin tuna are being encountered between Fremantle and Rottnest Island and by boat fishers heading to the FADs (Fish Aggregating Devices). Closer to the devices, dolphin fish to a metre and the odd bigger fish are being caught on lures and baits such as herring and yellowtail. Yellowtail kingfish and samson fish continue to be caught near Rottnest and Stragglers. There are still pink snapper being picked up in the Sound and the nearby rocks and islands. Reef catches have been better off Mindarie and Two Rocks where bigger numbers of dhufish, baldchin groper, breaksea cod and skippy have been picked up. Tailor have once again been a little hit and miss along the metro beaches. Garfish and herring are turning up some mornings at South Mole, North Mole, Cottesloe Groyne and Hillarys Marina. The Fremantle Harbour is worth a visit during the start of autumn for mulloway and occasional pelagic species including longtail tuna, Spanish and shark mackerel.
Clean Up Peel Waterways
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Mandurah and Surrounds
Pictured: Black bream
MANDURAH
The northern beaches continue to produce good numbers of fish however the sizes of some tailor are a bit small. There have been reports of some very big mulloway being caught from these beaches over the last few weeks. Fish in excess of 20 kg have been taken. Whiting and herring can still be caught in the mornings with tailor late afternoons.
There are reports of plenty of herring, whiting and small tailor being caught at all the popular beach spots, The Cut and the beaches to the south of Mandurah. In the estuary, at the bridges there are herring, tarwhine and small tailor. There are also schools of white bait under the old traffic bridge late in the night and if you’re into this delicacy then there are some long cool nights in store while you try to dab them.
Crabs and prawns are still around but you’ll have to work hard for the larger ones. They are also plentiful in the estuary and both drop netters and dabbers are catching a feed. The Serpentine and Murray Rivers continue to fish well for black bream with fish to 1.5 kg reported around the Gordon Road Bridge and well up the Murray. They are also scattered throughout the lower areas of the estuary.
SECRET HARBOUR / PORT KENNEDY / ROCKINGHAM / SAFETY BAY
Anglers fishing in the Rockingham area are reporting good catches of herring, skippy and scaly mackerel, best fishing seems to be in the late afternoon. There are rumours around of bonito and even a few mackerel being caught from the local jetties. There have also been a few reasonable mulloway taken from the beaches and jetties after dark.
Tailor are also being taken from these southern surf beaches with many good fish in excess of 1.5 kg. The surf beaches around Port Kennedy and Secret Harbour are still producing tailor, skippy and tarwhine with rumours of some big tailor being taken from boats trolling just off shore during early evenings. Mulloway around 6 – 8 kg are also coming in from these beaches.
South West Catches
Pictured: Dhufish
An 18.5kg dhufish caught by a customer of Dunsborough Outdoor Sportz was one of the bigger dhuies picked up off the west coast last week. Pink snapper and breaksea cod have also been coming from the 20 to 40m depths off Cowaramup Bay and Canal Rocks.
Spanish mackerel continue to be encountered off the tip of Cape Naturaliste and off the west coast. While a couple of mackerel were caught on trolled bibbed minnows during the past week, divers speared most of the 8 to 18kg fish that were picked up. Big schools of small southern bluefin tuna have been found in depths starting at 15m. Squid catches have been improving along the seagrass beds between Eagle Bay and Abbey Beach.
Albany Catches
Pictured: Samson fish
The boats that ventured out during the past week came across some nice schools of pink snapper in the 5 to 6kg range in the shallows and out deeper. The edge of the shelf was fairly good for red snapper while the coral produced mixed bags of breaksea cod, queen snapper, samson fish, small, but legal size, dhufish and gummy shark. Leatherjackets were unfortunately present in some areas. Good catches of red snapper were also reported east and west of town while a couple of lucky boats also picked up hapuku in relatively shallow depths.
Bag limits of King George whiting have been achieved by a lot of the smaller boats working the, now cleaner, waters of King George Sound, Cheynes Beach and Cosy Corner. Squid catches are also starting to improve in these parts. The boats trolling minnows off Bald Head and near the islands have been doing well on bonito and small southern bluefin tuna. Oyster Harbour may be worth a visit following reports of yellowfin whiting, juvenile salmon and herring in good numbers. Salmon may have commenced their annual run along the South Coast following reports of schools at Cheynes Beach, Fosters and Reef Beach.
A couple of 5kg salmon were also caught at Shelleys during the week. Herring, skippy, tarwhine and sand whiting have also been caught at the popular beaches with the former bread and butter species in abundance at West Cape Howe. A 46cm black bream as caught in the King River during an incoming tide late one evening last week. Nornalup Inlet and Wilson Inlet are holding good numbers of yellowfin whiting.
Esperance Catches
Pictured: Queen snapper
Salmon have been regularly turning up at Fourth Beach, Salmon Beach, Roses Beach and Poison Creek, however the 4 to 7kg have not been within casting distance all of the time. A group of customers of Southern Sports and Tackle caught two gummy sharks, during a recent session. Stockyards is worth a visit with big herring, juvenile salmon, flathead and skippy on offer.
The Taylor Street Jetty is producing skippy, herring squid and the odd King George whiting. Bigger King George whiting are being found at the Bandy Creek Boat Harbour together with herring. A couple of mulloway were caught at Fourth Beach and Thomas River last week. The boats that have been working the waters in the bay have been doing well on big herring, sand whiting, squid and small southern bluefin tuna. More bluefin have also been encountered out wide with one boat reporting there to be tonnes upon tonnes of bluefin approximately 40 miles out. A good mix of nannygai to 3.5kg, samson fish, breaksea cod and queen snapper have been caught along the ground past the islands.
Geraldton Catches
Pictured: Coral trout
Tailor have been turning up some mornings and evenings south of Flat Rocks together with small school-size mulloway. The Lucys to West Bank stretch has been producing choppers, a few herring, whiting and school shark. Southgates and Tarcoola have weed strewn along the shoreline, however those who have been fishing the gaps between the weed have been picking up a few average size whiting. Tailor between 30 and 55cm are occasionally being picked up along the reefs near Point Moore and behind The Lives. The beaches north of Drummonds are fishing well for big herring, which have been coming on the bite about noon.
Several pink snapper have been caught from the beaches near Horrocks. The boats that have been targeting demersal species near the Abrolhos Islands have reported the 35 to 40m depths north of Wallabi Group to be fishing better for pink snapper, baldchin groper, coral trout and estuary cod than similar depths off Southern Group. Spanish mackerel have also been picked up in better numbers in the northern waters. The shallow parts in close to islands are holding plenty of squid featuring tubes close to 30cm. The small boat and dinghy fishers who hit the waters close town caught longtail and yellowfin tuna near the channel markers and south of Point Moore. Spanish mackerel between 90cm and 1.2m have been caught in similar areas and seem to be willing to strike at lures.
Kalbarri Catches
Pictured: Giant herring
Spanish mackerel seem to have finally turned up in better numbers off the cast following reports of catches north and south of the river mouth during the week. Steve Wiseman caught three fish on trolled minnows on Saturday morning. Tailor are yet to show up in their typical summer numbers along the coast with just the odd fish caught every now and then at spots such as Red Bluff, Wittecarra Creek, Siphons and Chinamans.
Several mulloway around the 5kg mark have been caught along the beaches north and south of the river. Big mangrove jack continue to be caught at the jetties and pens together with black bream and estuary cod. Yellowfin whiting can be sought along the sand flats. Try the middle and upper reaches of the Murchison for giant herring.
Exmouth Catches
Pictured: Giant trevally
Crews who have been hitting up the gulf waters have reported there to be schools of longtail tuna about. Metal lures cast at the edge of the schools and retrieved flat out is an exciting method for targeting the speedsters. The tuna action is also being experienced off the west coast where quite a few yellowfin and striped tuna are being encountered.
Sport fishing enthusiasts have been hooking some nice giant trevally and the occasional red bass along the back of the west side reef. Whiting are starting to show up again along the coast, especially the gulf beaches. The marina is providing some entertaining light tackle sessions with quite a few small trevally, queenfish and estuary cod about.
Broome Catches
Pictured: Red emperor
Threadfin salmon are about in very good numbers in Roebuck Bay with fishers in small boats, and some along the shore, picking up fish around 90cm on lures and baits. More threadies have been caught in Dampier Creek along with a few barramundi, which have also been coming from the lower reaches of the Fitzroy, Willie Creek and undisclosed locations in Roebuck Bay.
A couple of the bigger boats that pushed offshore during the windy conditions last week managed to haul in some nice red emperor and black snapper. Those who stuck to the more protected waters did reasonably well on bluebone and estuary cod around the bombies, mulloway along the drop offs and tripletail near the moorings.
Fish and Survive!
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