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Recfishwest recently launched the first Smartphone Fishing App in WA, conveniently delivering the fishing rules to you at the touch of a button.
The Recfishwest App is free to download and will give all WA fishers the latest fishing rules in their pocket, even when they find themselves well outside of phone and internet reception.
To download for Android on Google Play click here or to download on Apple iTunes store click here, or simply search ‘Recfishwest’ to find the App. If you’re downloading the App on your iPad, make sure to change your settings to iPhone.
Metro Catches
(Picture: Luke Van Lathum with A Pink Snapper caught on a Halco 3″ Paddle Prawn in Blood Red. Courtesy: Halco Tackle Instagram)
Good numbers of pink snapper to an impressive 9kg were landed at the northern and southern rock walls during, and just following, the recent storms. Salmon were also caught from the rock walls with North Mole and South Mole among the platforms that produced better catches of the 3 to 7kg fish. Big schools of salmon also appeared near Palm Beach Jetty on Sunday and Monday. Beach fishing has been challenging due to the big swells and weed movement, however expect there to still to be salmon turning up along the metropolitan beaches.
Hillarys Marina has been fishing well for herring, especially when burley has been used. Squid are plentiful along the weed beds between South Mole and Carnac Island as well as the seagrass within Cockburn Sound and west of Hillarys. Cuttlefish of varying sizes are also being mixed in with the squid catches. A few who have been braving the cold mornings and hitting the western edge of Five Fathom Bank before sunrise have been experiencing some good pink snapper fishing. Anchoring and burleying has been the key to getting the pinkies around the boat.
The Canning River has been fishing well for black bream while there are still a few flathead turning up along the shallows of the lower reaches of the Swan. Some nice hauls of prawns are being had at East Fremantle and Rocky Bay following the recent rain.
Mandurah and Surrounds
(Picture: A Herring caught by the young fella during a recent Mandurah Offshore Fishing and Sailing Club Recfishwest Fishing Clinic)
Salmon can still be found terrorizing herring and bait fish in the Dawesville Cut this week, along with the rogue tailor or two. Good catches of whiting and herring are coming from the Mandurah and Rockingham beaches, with the odd Mulloway being taken at night, mainly at Secret Harbour.
Fishers willing to put the time and effort in for land based pink snapper have been rewarded with some great photos doing the rounds on social media of 60cm – 90cm fish being caught.
Rockingham Jetty has returned catches of quality salmon and pink snapper with the storms bringing the fish within casting distance. The odd herring is also coming up from the Jetty.
Squid fishers in Cockburn Sound may need to turn their attention elsewhere until this cold front moves on as the waters are pretty murky, turning off the squid for the time being, which is unfortunate as they were firing in the sea grass of the Sound.
South West Catches
(Picture: James looking good in his Crewsaver Life Jacket showing us his Dhufish)
The seasonal salmon migration has shown no signs of slowing down following reports of good catches along the west coast and Geographe beaches during the past week when the weather allowed. Herring are also plentiful along the west coast beaches and in the bay.
Squid are around in good numbers along the weed beds off Quindalup while the sandy areas nearby are holding some nice King George whiting.
The boats are picking up a few pink snapper in waters leading up to Four Mile Reef. Dhufish catches have been more consistent off the west coast while Naturaliste Reef has been producing the occasional yellowtail kingfish.
Albany Catches
(Picture: Nice small to medium Yellowtail Kingfish caught on a stick bait)
Conditions have been rather challenging due to the recent storms, however those who managed to head out before the rough weather hit and between the fronts found there to be good numbers of dhufish, breaksea cod, queen snapper, red snapper and small pink snapper along the coral and at the edge of the shelf. Most of the dhufish were of fairly good size and there was an unconfirmed report of a 20kg fish landed.
Schools of yellowtail kingfish between 10 and 20kg were encountered and there have been quite a few samson fish also around. King George whiting require some effort along the inshore waters of the sound and both harbours, which areas are also producing plenty of big sand whiting and squid. Salmon have continued to turn up along the coast by the tonne with Shelleys, Lowlands, Mutton Bird and Cables among the better performing haunts. Two Peoples Bay has also been good for the 3 to 7kg salmon as have Normans, Bettys, Bluff Creek, Cheynes and Sand Patch.
Herring have been in good numbers and there are some nice skippy coming from the areas that feature reef. Samson fish to 25kg and queen snapper to 7kg were caught locally when conditions permitted. There are plenty of bream being caught on baits and a few snared on soft plastics in both of the local river systems. The middle and upper reaches of both rivers are also being frequented by herring and juvenile salmon. Mulloway are mostly being found in the Kalgan.
Esperance Catches
(Picture: A nice 10kg Samson fish taken on jig)
The boats that headed out last Thursday just before conditions got ugly used soft plastic and knife jigs to catch nannygai between 2 and 2.5kg, big queen snapper, breaksea cod and samson fish. Plenty of squid around the kilo mark and a few bigger are being picked up in the bay together with sand whiting between 25 and 35cm.
Salmon can be found in just any patch of water with Blue Haven, Salmon Beach and Fourth Beach among the more reliable spots. Stockyards has herring, flathead and juvenile salmon on offer. Bandy Creek boat harbour is worth a try for King George whiting, herring and big garfish. The bream lakes have been producing fish to 35cm. The Taylor Street Jetty has lots of herring and squid.
Geraldton Catches
(Picture: Justin showing off his early morning Tailor)
Mulloway continue to be caught at the new marina with live baits working well on the fish that have mostly been in the 10 to 15kg range. A few skippy to 30cm, herring and yellowtail are being picked up behind The Lives along with a few chopper tailor, which have been turning up in the evenings.
The Nine Mile to Greenough River mouth stretch has been producing tailor between 35 and 50cm, small mulloway and sharks. Dhufish are occasionally being caught from the shore along this stretch, however the weed movement has been making it quite difficult to target the highly prized shore catch as well as many other species.
Early mornings and evenings have been the better times to target tailor and pike at the first and second points at Greenough. The boats have been doing reasonably well on dhufish, pink snapper and baldchin groper near African Reef and the lumps off Coronation.
Kalbarri Catches
(Picture: Brodie with a nice size Mulloway)
Surf fishers have been doing well on mulloway at Wittecarra, Frustrations and Chinamans. An 80cm tailor was caught at Chinamans last week and there have been fair catches of 35 to 50cm fish at Red Bluff, Siphons and Oysters early morning and around dusk. Wayne Dewar, of Kalbarri Sports and Dive, set out to target milkfish that were spotted by several anglers in the Murchison during the past month. Wayne did not manage to find the milkies but did end up coming home with a dozen diamond scale mullet.
Small mulloway have been caught in the middle and lower reaches of the system. Mud crabs have been picked up in good numbers near Dance Floor. Expect pink snapper and baldchin groper to be in close to the cliffs following the recent rough weather. It may take a while for conditions to settle before the Spanish mackerel and tuna show up in the 15 to 25m depths again.
Exmouth Catches
(Picture: Small Golden Trevally taken on the western beaches of Exmouth)
Boats targeting billfish off the west coast are encountering fair numbers of black marlin and sailfish as well as plenty of dolphin fish. There has been heaps of Spanish mackerel hooked along the back of the reef north and south of Tantabiddi and near the Muiron Islands. The 15 to 25m depths are where most of the mackerel are being hooked. Many of the mackerel however have been lost to sharks, which are also snatching plenty of the reef fish such as red emperor caught out wide.
A client aboard On Strike Charters landed a red emperor that looked as though it would have been close to 10kg had the sharks not taken a piece of it before it was landed. Shore-based fishers hitting the accesses along the west coast and near the tip of the cape are picking up a few spangled emperor, queenfish and small trevally. Fly fishers are continuing to catch bonefish and the odd permit. Try the seagrass beds in the gulf and near Tantabiddi for squid.
Tackleworld Exmouth provided us with the following: The queenfish are certainly showing up in bigger numbers along the coastal shoreline and are a great visual feeder. They respond well to fastly retrieved metals, as well as poppers and soft plastics. They usually travel in pairs or schools, which make the bite very aggressive as they compete for the food. The queenfish are not the best frozen, so we would suggest getting enough for a fresh feed and releasing others. We also always suggest using barbless single hooks because their gills form part of the lower jaw and retrieving barbed trebles from this area can be damaging to the fish.
Broome Catches
(Picture: Former Recfishwest staff member Ellen with her first Sailfish in Broome, well done Elle)
Local charter boat operators have been putting their clients onto good numbers of sailfish in the usual areas where the popular sportfish turn up including the grounds out from Barred Creek. According to the crews, the sails have been bigger than the usual 15 to 20kg fish that have turned up during previous seasons.
Spanish mackerel and longtail tuna have also been evident offshore. Disaster Rock is worth a visit with plenty of queenfish, trevally and mackerel hanging about there.
More queenfish have been showing up at the boat ramp near the port. Threadfin salmon between 75 and 90cm are responding well to baits and lures near Crab Creek. Barramundi enthusiasts have been finding 70 to 90cm fish in the middle reaches of the Fitzroy River.
