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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.
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Metro Catches
(Picture: Kyle and a few mates headed West off Rotto last week to jag some late season mahi mahi)
Pink snapper in the 4 to 9kg range continued to be caught by shore-based fishers at the southern and northern rock walls during, and just after, the recent storms. Those who regularly target snapper from the metropolitan rock walls recommend using whole baits such as yellowtail, mulies or squid and to cast as close to the foot of the rocks as possible without encountering snags. The rock walls where snapper are regularly caught include Coogee Marina, Woodman Point, South Mole, North Mole and Hillarys Marina.
The odd mulloway has also been caught from the rocks. Schools of salmon have been passing by these areas and have been inadvertently caught by those targeting snapper and mulloway. Other places to try for salmon include Cables, Cottesloe, Grant Street, Swanbourne, City Beach and Scarborough. Skippy around the kilo mark have been caught along Five Fathom Bank along with a few pink snapper, dhufish and breaksea cod. Squid are in excellent numbers along the weed beds within Warnbro Sound, Cockburn Sound and out from Fremantle.
Herring are starting to turn in better numbers along the coast, especially at the jetties, rock walls and groynes, and especially, when burley is introduced. Garfish and a few skippy are also appearing when burley is used. Some nice hauls of prawns have been picked up in the lower reaches of the Swan River following the recent rain.
Kyle Smith and his mates headed just West of our FADs and had a great session on dolphin fish. Using 4 pakula 6-8inch skirts with heaps of UV reflectors. The lads picked up a handful of fish and were stoked to land them this late in the season. Cheers for the post guys.
Mandurah and Surrounds
(Picture: Whiting on surface lures is normally a Summer fishing experience in Mandurah, but the odd one are still hitting the occasional lure)
MANDURAH:
Good sized salmon are still being taken from the beaches around Mandurah along with some good sized tailor. The southern beaches of Tim’s Thicket and White Hills are good angling options with many good fish being taken during the last week. Good numbers of pilch are also being taken from locations south of Mandurah.
Anglers fishing from the ocean end of the Dawesville Cut have been catching a few King George whiting, lots of herring and garfish, along with a few skippy. Salmon are still being taken from the Cut and the adjacent waters of the estuary. Larger salmon have been taken from the ocean end. There are a few big herring scattered around most popular spots around Mandurah and there are plenty of tarwhine and whiting being caught near the mouth of the estuary.
In the estuary, the Old Traffic Bridge is still a spot worth trying. Anglers this week have been taking some good-sized tailor, herring, skippy and some smallish tarwhine. There are still a few good crabs in the deep water and it is worth spending some time dabbing prawns from the bridge or from a boat moored just up from the bridge on a run out tide. The Cut is probably the best producing location for those dabbing from boats.
The Murray and Serpentine rivers have been producing some excellent catches of bream from most popular spots.
SECRET HARBOUR / PORT KENNEDY / ROCKINGHAM / SAFETY BAY:
Tailor are an option for anglers fishing this area at the moment with some big fish being taken close to the reefs. Poppers, bait cast mulies or garfish will do the trick.
Jetty anglers are catching good bags of garfish in the mornings. Penguin Island sandbar has been producing some excellent fishing with good catches of flathead and whiting.
Long Point, Point Perron and the Rockingham jetties have been producing consistent catches of yellowfin whiting, big herring, chopper tailor and skippy and tarwhine. Occasionally there have been some large salmon being taken from the beaches and jetties early morning and evening.
COCKBURN SOUND:
The southern reefs of Garden Island have been producing herring as well as large King George whiting. There are also some very good skippy coming in from the area. Plenty of wrasse are around as well as herring and garfish.
Cockburn Sound is still holding good numbers of big squid and getting a feed of these succulent cephalopods doesn’t require a lot of effort at all. Salmon and mulloway are also being taken in various locations at the bottom of the Sound as well as the upper sections. Pink snapper are another option for land based anglers at the moment with several good fish being landed during last week.
KWINANA / WOODMAN POINT:
Anglers fishing from both shore based and boat based locations have been catching pink snapper regularly. A couple of locations that keep on coming up in conversation are the ASI groyne and the Coogee rock walls. There are also regular reports of big tailor being caught from the Ammunition Jetty as well as the rock groynes.
There have also been a lot of large sand whiting taken from the jetty and as well, plenty of good sized squid have been landed at night. Scaly and slimy mackerel are also being taken in numbers from these platforms. Following the recent heavy seas and swells which stirred up the waters a bit and put the squid of the bite, they are now an option from these areas with some of them up around 30 cm in tube length.
Learn More About Fishing With Lures
Are you a bait fisher and want to get into lure fishing? Keep seeing photos of big dhuies, snapper or coral trout caught on soft plastics and jigs? Check out this short video giving a bit of insight into how to make the switch to fishing with lures.
Fishing with lures doesn’t have to be hard or scary, have a go and keep fishing them every time you go fishing. The next Recfishwest Tackle Tech tutorial will be on Mono line vs Braid. Stay tuned…
South West Catches
(Picture: A nice Herring taken on a 30g Halco Twistie with a single hook)
Several pink snapper were caught from the shore during, and just following, the recent rough weather. The Busselton Jetty, the rocks at Abbey Beach and Bunker Bay were among the spots where the 4 to 8kg snapper were landed.
More pink snapper have been coming from Four Mile Reef and Eight Mile Reef while dhufish and breaksea cod have been picked up in better numbers off the west coast. Salmon continue to appear along the west coast and Geographe Bay beaches in good numbers.
Hamelin Bay, Injidup, Smiths Beach, Bunker Bay, Point Picquet and Quindalup Jetty were among the spots that produced salmon and herring catches this past week. A good burley trail should get herring, skippy and tarwhine around prawn and squid baits at most of the headlands and protected bays.
Squid have been caught in better numbers along the seagrass meadows off Quindalup when the water has been clearer. A few tailor have been turning up early morning and on dusk along the west coast.
Albany Catches
(Picture: A lovely big Dhufish; but have been hard to come by with the weather conditions of recent weeks)
The boats that managed to head out when the conditions allowed picked up a good mix of red, pink and queen snapper along the coral in 60 to 80m of water together with a few dhufish and breaksea cod. Schools of samson fish and yellowtail kingfish have been encountered near the drop offs and there are still plenty of salmon being located in waters in excess of 30m deep.
King George whiting have required some work throughout the inshore waters, especially the bigger fish of more than 40cm. Sand whiting have been caught in excellent numbers in some areas. The seagrass beds off Middleton Beach, Gull Rock and Frenchmans are holding some big squid at the moment. Snook have been responding well to trolled minnows and metals between Limestone Head and Bald Head. Herring and juvenile salmon are abundant in Princess Royal Harbour.
Salmon catches have been consistent right along the coast with Nanarup, Shelleys and Lowlands among the better performing spots for the 3 to 7kg fish.
Herring have been a little on the quiet side, however tarwhine and skippy catches have improved.
Black bream enthusiasts report good catches of black bream between 30 and 40cm on soft plastics, hard-bodies and baits in the King and Kalgan. There have been rumours of a few fish landed that were up around the 40cm mark. A couple of mulloway were caught in the Kalgan last week. There are still plenty of juvenile salmon and herring in both of the local systems.
Esperance Catches
(Picture: The winter squid run has started. Fish the sea grass beds and look for clear water… and have fun in the tackle shop buying only 1 or 2 squid jigs!
Reef fishing enthusiasts did not manage to get out to their farther grounds due to the weather, however even within 10 miles of the coast they fared reasonably well with some nice hauls of nannygai to 2.5kg, breaksea cod and samson fish picked up.
The dinghy and small boat fishers who worked the bay caught big sand whiting and squid. More squid have been caught from the Taylor Street Jetty and near the Tanker Jetty. The Taylor Street structure is also providing a good mix of bread and butter species including herring, garfish and skippy.
Bandy Creek boat harbour has a few King George whiting, herring, small skippy and garfish on offer. Black bream between 35 and 40cm have been regularly caught at the bream lakes.
Salmon are still turning up along the coast in numbers with plenty of action at Blue Haven, Salmon Beach, Fourth Beach and Fourteen Mile this past week. Alexander Bay is worth a visit with gummy sharks, salmon and skippy between 1 and 2kg caught there recently. Dunns has also been producing similar size skippy as well as salmon and herring.
Geraldton Catches
(Picture: A small Baldchin Groper rigged up to a release weight to maximise its chances of survival)
The weather limited the amount of fishing enjoyed both onshore and offshore. The boats that hit up the African Reef area and the ground at South West Bank and out from Coronation did reasonably well on dhufish, pink snapper, coral trout and baldchin groper.
Dinghy fishers who stayed inside the reef caught squid, garfish and skippy. Mulloway in the 10 to 13kg range have been landed at the back of the breakwater, which has also been producing some nice skippy and chopper tailor.
Tailor between 35 and 50cm, the odd school-size mulloway, herring and a few pike been coming from the Flat Rocks to Greenough River mouth stretch. Bigger tailor have occasionally been caught near the reefs at Southgates and Separation Point.
Kalbarri Catches
(Picture: Mangrove Jack will take bait, soft plastics, diving minnows and top water stick baits just like this one did.)
The boats that have been targeting Spanish mackerel have been finding good numbers of 8 to 20kg fish straight out from the river mouth. In saying that though, there have been some good sessions had south towards Wagoe and north of town where anglers have had up to half a dozen mackerel hook ups in the space of an hour. One of the local boats caught 21 cobia (most of which were released) in waters north of the river mouth in less than an hour last Friday.
Some nice pink snapper and baldchin groper have been picked up not far out from the cliffs. Rock fishers have also been landing snapper and baldies from the southern platforms when conditions have permitted. Garfish and herring are being caught at Red Bluff and Jakes during the mornings when the wind has been light. Tailor to 60cm have been turning up at both spots as well as at Wittecarra, The Siphon and Chinamans.
Mulloway between 8 and 14kg have been caught mostly in the evenings and mostly from the coastal stretch north of town. Black bream and the occasional mangrove jack have been caught from the jetties and pens. Soapie mulloway have been coming from the middle and upper reaches of the Murchison.
Exmouth Catches
(Picture: Spanish Mackerel grow much bigger than the one pictured and are not always out of reach for fishers without boats)
Small black marlin continue to be encountered in the 50 to 200m depths together with wahoo, dolphin fish and yellowfin tuna. Spanish mackerel catches have been improving along the back of the reef line and there have been more fish turning up during recent weeks in the upper areas of the gulf.
Red emperor, rankin cod and spangled emperor were found in depths ranging from 60m to 110m off the west coast. Shore-based fishers spinning lures and working soft plastics along the west coast and near the tip of the cape are picking up a few spangled emperor, queenfish and small trevally.
Squid are abundant throughout the gulf and areas of the west side. Expect big giant trevally to start to turn up close to shore during the coming weeks.
Broome Catches
(Picture: Sailfish in their numbers at the moment in Broome)
Billfish numbers seem to have increased offshore following reports of several sailfish and small black marlin captures during the past week. The sails and small blacks have been rather fussy however while they feed on the stacks of small baitfish located in waters off Barred Creek and areas farther north.
Spanish mackerel in the 10 to 20kg range are also being encountered offshore together with schools of longtail tuna. The crews targeting reef fish have been picking up some nice snapper and bluebone in Roebuck Bay.
Threadfin salmon are also about the bay with the 80cm to 1.2m fish have been responding well to both baits and lures. Shore-based fishers have also been getting among the threadfin and bluenose salmon action along Cable Beach and the local creeks.
