Metro Catches
Pictured: Skippy
A big salmon school encountered about 10 nautical miles south of Rottnest Island may suggest that the metropolitan salmon run is imminent. Several salmon were caught from the northern and southern rock walls during the week and there were the odd 3 to 7kg fish picked up from the beaches. Bonito are still about and responding to bibbed minnows and unweighted baits, however numbers have dropped somewhat. The boats that ventured to the FADs off Rottnest caught dolphin fish to a metre and plenty of southern bluefin tuna in the 3 to 6kg range. Justin Chillino managed to pick up a mixed bag of reef fish including nannygai, big skippy and breaksea cod off Rottnest last week.
Squid are still about in good numbers with bag limits of the popular cephalopods coming from the seagrass meadows within Cockburn Sound, and within a mile or two of Hillarys Marina. Shore-based squid enthusiasts have also been doing well in the mornings and evenings at the Ammo Jetty, Woodman Point, Capo D’Orlando Drive, Mews Road and both moles in Fremantle. Local fisher Ivan has been landing up to four mulloway between 50 and 70cm and a session together with the odd wobbegong shark at Ocean Reef Marina. Bigger mulloway are occasionally being caught behind the E-Shed and in the deeper parts of Mosman and Freshwater Bay. Some nice catches of black bream have been coming from between The Causeway and Garratt Road Bridge.
Mandurah and Surrounds
Pictured: Blue swimmer crab (blue manna)
MANDURAH
The Dawesville Cut is still producing plenty of herring and there have been some good sized garfish taken here. The occasional larger tailor is still being taken from the seaward end of The Cut and there are plenty of good sized yellowfin whiting around. There are a few skippy and tarwhine being caught from the middle sections of the cut and several undersized salmon have also been caught at either end last week.
There are some good tailor and mulloway coming in from the beaches north of the town. Locations such as San Remo, Singleton and Madora are producing good all round fishing at dawn and dusk. The southern beaches are producing herring and whiting during the day with tailor early morning and evening. Larger tailor are being caught around dusk and after dark. In the estuary, fishers are still taking some good tailor. Scoopers and drop netters are still taking plenty of crabs. Bream fishing is still quietly consistent and bream specialists are getting some good fish a little further upstream.
SECRET HARBOUR / PORT KENNEDY / ROCKINGHAM / SAFETY BAY
Fishers fishing the Port Kennedy and Secret Harbour beaches and the beaches to the south, are still catching some very good tailor, particularly during the late afternoon. There have also been a lot of fish just around legal size taken during the morning. There is also a few skippy and tarwhine, along with an occasional small mulloway. There have been a few flathead and larger sand whiting coming in from the Penguin Island sandbar.
South West Catches
Pictured: Breaksea cod (photo courtesy of @ph4tty)
Surf fishers have been getting among quite a few salmon along the west coast as well as Geographe Bay. Hamelin Bay reportedly had a few big schools pass through during the week while Injidup and Smiths Beach have been regularly graced with smaller schools and individual fish. Bunker Bay and Eagle Bay were among the spots to produce salmon for bait and lure fishers in the bay.
Herring are about in good numbers between the capes and through Geographe Bay while bigger skippy have started to turn up at the headlands and reef areas. Squid catches are improving along the seagrass beds between Eagle Bay and Abbey Beach and there have been better numbers of blue manna crabs caught lately. The boats have been doing fairly well on dhufish and breaksea cod off the west coast. The Four Mile and Eight Mile reefs are producing pink snapper early morning and in the evening.
Albany Catches
Pictured: Western Australian salmon
Salmon have started to turn up in better numbers along the coast with schools appearing more frequently at the local beaches as well as those east and west of town. Bonito and small southern bluefin tuna were also caught among the salmon at some locations. Sand Patch, Shelleys, Lowlands and Cosy Corner were among the other spots close to town that produced 4 to 7kg salmon. Bremer Bay is yet to be graced by the big schools and nearby Fosters Beach is still to see many salmon turn up. Cheyne Beach and Bluff Creek also remain on standby with salmon catches expected to improve during the full moon Easter period. While there has not been much on the salmon front, juvenile salmon seem to be making their presence felt right along the coast. Herring have also been about in pretty good numbers throughout while tarwhine and skippy are mostly being caught at the more remote spots.
Emu Point, the marina and Frenchmans are worth a try for squid. More squid and increasing numbers of cuttlefish are being picked up by the boats working the inshore waters of Gull Rock, Caseys, Limestone and Goode Beach. When the bigger boats have managed to head out, the crews have generally been doing well on pink, red and queen snapper, dhufish and samson fish. Bonito, striped and small southern bluefin tuna have also been encountered offshore, especially off Bald Head and near Mauds Reef and Breaksea Island. Black bream fishing has remained productive in the King and Kalgan Rivers. Several giant herring were caught at a couple of the systems between Walpole and Albany during the past week.
Catch Salmon and Return Home Safe this Easter
Pictured: Dunborough Outdoor Sportz – Free Loan Life Jacket Location
With the Easter long weekend approaching, Recfishwest are reminding people to take personal responsibility and stay safe when fishing this salmon season.
Make sure you follow these simple safety steps:
- Know the conditions
- Wear a life jacket
- Wear the correct footwear
- Wear suitable clothing
- Know how to swim
- Keep clear of the black rock
- Tell someone your plans.
Don’t forget, Recfishwest has Free Loan Life Jacket locations State-wide, check out the locations at the bottom of the website.
OR you can purchase your own slim line, Fisherman’s Safety Vest (pictured) for ONLY $89.95 delievered.
Visit www.fishandsurvive.com.au
Esperance Catches
Pictured: Western Australian salmon
More than 400 fishers aboard 117 boats participated in the recent Esperance Deep Sea Angling Classic. The heaviest samson fish weighed in came in at 27.5kg and the biggest King George whiting was a touch over 1.2kg. The crews who fished outside of the competition did well on nannygai around the 3kg mark, yellowtail kingfish and queen snapper. Southern bluefin tuna ranging from a miniature 25cm to a reasonable 13kg were reported to be everywhere on Saturday morning.
The smaller boats have been picking up good numbers of sand whiting and squid in close. Salmon have been showing up in better numbers with good catches at Salmon Beach, Fourth Beach, Eleven Mile and Roses during the past week. Small mulloway and big herring have been coming from the cliffs east of town. Big skippy are also starting to turn up along the eastern beaches. King George whiting, garfish, big herring and skippy can be sought at the Taylor Street Jetty and the port beach.
Geraldton Catches
Pictured: Dhufish
The boats that have been trolling along the back of Pensioners have been catching fair numbers of spanish mackerel and tuna. Bibbed minnows trolled along the top of Pensioners and soft plastic jigs worked on the bottom there have continued to work well on big coral trout. More trout and some nice dhufish have been coming from the ground near African Reef while the lumps off Coronation have been fishing well for sweetlip and baldchin groper.
Tailor have started to show up in better numbers along the coast with some surf fishers managing to pick up bag limits of 35 to 60cm fish at Southgates in the mornings. The first and second points at Greenough have also been providing tailor in the mornings while school-size mulloway have tended to show up along the beaches south of there in the evenings. Mulloway between 10 and 15kg have been turning fairly regularly at the back of the breakwater, Drummonds, Southgates and Dongara. Mangrove jack and estuary cod can be sought at the marina.
Kalbarri Catches
Pictured: Spanish mackerel
A customer of Kalbarri Sports and Dive caught several amberjack at Chinamans early afternoon on Saturday. Tailor to 55cm and the odd bigger fish have also been turning up at the popular river mouth spot some mornings and evenings. The Red Bluff to Wittecarra stretch and the beaches north of the river are also producing tailor, however not in the numbers that are typical for this part of the season.
Steve Eley landed four mangrove jack around the 50cm mark and two bream more than 40cm at the pens last Friday night. Good catches of blue manna and mud crabs have also been coming from the pens and jetties. Steve Wiseman managed to get onto some nice spanish mackerel on Saturday morning.
Exmouth Catches
Pictured: Spangled emperor
The gulf has been fishing well for an assortment of species that have included brassy trevally, queenfish, giant trevally, giant herring, estuary cod and coral trout to 7kg. Fly fishing enthusiasts have also been catching a few permit in the gulf waters. Shore-based fishers wandering the west coast in search of coastal predators are being rewarded with good numbers of trevally and queenfish.
Some nice spangled emperor around the kilo-mark are being picked up around the west coast accesses while small boat and kayak fishers spinning lures around the bombies between the shore and the outer reef line have been getting among bigger spanglies.
Broome Catches
Pictured: Barramundi
The boats that worked the waters of Roebuck Bay reported to have picked up good catches of threadfin and bluenose salmon together with fingermark bream and mulloway. More bluenose and threadies have also been coming from the local creeks, which are also producing a few barramundi and mangrove jack. Barramundi enthusiasts have been using live baits and lures to catch fish between 75 and 95cm in the Fitzroy River, especially at Langis Crossing and Telegraph Pool. An hour either side of the change in tide seems to be the optimum time to target queenfish and trevally at the jetty.
