Albany Catches
Pictured: Squid (photo courtesy of Albany Boating and Offshore Fishing Club)
There have been some very impressive salmon sessions experienced along the coast. A customer of Albany Rods and Tackle caught and released 28 salmon during a single outing while another fisher enjoyed releasing 21 salmon that he landed within a couple of hours. While just about any patch of water is likely to produce salmon at the moment, Sand Patch, Cables, Nanarup, Shelleys and Lowlands have been among the better performing haunts.
Plenty of herring have also been picked up along the beaches while some nice size skippy have been coming from Bluff Creek, Cheynes Beach and Sand Patch. There are still unusually big numbers of yellowtail kingfish being caught from the local rock platforms. The 15 to 25kg kingies have been coming from West Cape Howe, Cables and the stones at Cheynes. A few mulloway have been landed at Middleton Beach during the past fortnight. Plenty of leatherjacket have been caught at the marina together with squid and black bream. Mostly small black bream have been coming from the two local river systems. Mulloway to a metre, but most around the 50cm mark, have been found in the Kalgan.
The better catches of king george whiting have been coming from the ground near the islands and out from Limestone Head, however in saying that, there have still been some nice hauls had in the sound and both harbours. Squid catches have been better during an incoming tide. The boats have been doing reasonably well on dhufish, pink snapper, red snapper, samson fish and breaksea cod along the coral in 60 to 85m of water. Hapuka and blue eye trevalla are occasionally being caught at the shelf and beyond.
Remember if you are going to fish from the rocks, please wear a life jacket. See locations of FREE loan life jackets at the bottom of the report.
Esperance Catches
Pictured: Harlequin
A good mix of bread and butter species including herring, garfish, king george whiting and squid can be sought at the Taylor Street Jetty while Bandy Creek Boat Harbour is providing some nice king george at times. Salmon continue to be about in excellent numbers right along the coast with Salmon Beach, Fourth Beach, Roses and Stockyards among the better performing local spots. Alexander Bay and Thomas River are worth the drive for gummy shark, big skippy and salmon.
Flathead to 70cm have been picked up at Wylie Bay. The small boats are still doing well on squid and whiting. Southern bluefin tuna to 10kg have been appearing within a couple miles of the coast. Nannygai have been found in dense schools, but the 2 to 3kg fish have been fussy at times. Fair catches of queen snapper, big breaksea cod, samson fish and harlequin fish have been coming from the ground out wide. There has recently been a spate of tagged red snapper recaptures. These fish are being tagged as part of important research to track the movement and growth of these iconic south coast species. Please keep an eye out for tagged red snapper, if caught, you may keep the fish, but please call the number on the tag and provide information on the fish.
