Metro Catches
Pictured: A cracking Swan River Flathead caught on a Halco Laser Pro 45. Winter river Flathead catches are still common but try your luck up stream as they head up river during the colder months. Black Bream do the opposite and head down stream!
As anticipated, good numbers of pink snapper and mulloway were caught from the metropolitan rock walls and groynes during last weekend’s storm period and expect more of both species to turn up close to shore this weekend considering strong northerlies are forecast. Kaila Williams landed a superb mulloway estimated at 17kg from one of the metro rock walls at the weekend. Alex Carter was among dozens of shore-based anglers who got among the 3 to 9kg pink snapper at North Mole. Small samson fish were also reportedly caught from the rocks south of Fremantle during the past week. Remember if you are going to fish from the rocks, particularly in stormy weather make sure you are safe, aware of the dangers around you and always wear a life jacket.
Early morning lure fishers have been catching some nice tailor to 2.5kg and the odd salmon from the Cottesloe to Swanbourne stretch. The Scarborough to Trigg stretch has also had a few salmon appear lately. Boat fishers working the inshore reefs have been doing well on snapper and skippy. A superb 19.5kg dhufish was among plenty of smaller dhuies caught between Fremantle and Rottnest Island recently. Squid remain in excellent numbers through the seagrass meadows off Fremantle and within Cockburn and Warnbro Sounds. There have been reports of some nice flathead caught in both the upper and lower reaches of the Swan River. Dab netters continue to do well on prawns at East Fremantle.
Interesting Find!
Jetty, Set, Go! – Claughton Reserve Boat Ramp and Jetty
Today we’ll shine the spotlight on Claughton Reserve Jetty. Very accessible, playgrounds, public toilets, open parks and great fishing!
Read more about the Claughton Reserve Jetty and near by facilities here.
Mandurah and Surrounds
Picture: King George Whiting are plentiful at the moment and can even be caught using the same rigs as you would use to catch Dhuies or Snapper.
MANDURAH
The northern beaches are starting to produce a few fish with tailor, herring, whiting, and pilch being taken along the San Remo to Golden Bay section. There have been a few bream around Yunderup and a little further upstream in the Murray River and I would suggest that anglers check the areas around the mouths of the Serpentine and the Murray Rivers.
Most of the beaches both north and south of Mandurah have their fair share of weed, however there are spots where it has cleared allowing anglers to fish. The beaches at Preston, White Hills and Tim’s Thicket are producing plenty of herring, a few small mulloway and tailor. Large pilch are also being taken in numbers at times and size is improving. The Dawesville Cut is producing some big herring, King George whiting, pilch, tarwhine, garfish and yellowfin whiting on a regular basis. There are still a few salmon being taken in the area.
SECRET HARBOUR / PORT KENNEDY / ROCKINGHAM / SAFETY BAY / WARNBRO SOUND
Becher Point and Point Peron have been producing good catches of the smaller species during last week. Pilch have been featuring prominently in most bags of fish. Right along the southern metropolitan beaches there are plenty of herring being taken on a variety of baits and lures. Also there are plenty of yellowfin whiting. There are still reports of some reasonable tailor around Point Peron. Anglers fishing in Warnbro Sound are still catching snapper, some good-sized King George whiting and squid.
COCKBURN SOUND
The bottom end of Cockburn Sound is still fishing well for pink snapper with some good fish reported. There are plenty of squid around Carnac and Garden Islands, along with some good King George whiting, snapper, herring and whiting. The size of squid seems to have improved over the last few weeks with some good size ones being taken. In the southern end of the Sound there have been some big skippy taken from adjacent to the causeway.
COOGEE / WOODMAN POINT / KWINANA
Around the groynes there have been some good skippy and an occasional snapper being caught. The big news is the number of squid being caught. Anglers fishing from the Ammunition Jetty report good catches of pilch, garfish and herring and an occasional small mulloway and some good sized squid.
What is pilch? Pilch is another name for Yelloweye Mullet.
South West Catches
Picture: Recfishwest’s Reef Vision Volunteer Kevin took his son Max out to the South West Artificial Reefs (Bunbury modules) and not only put him onto his first Samson Fish but managed to get him hooked up to plenty more. Unweighted whole mullies were the pick and at one stage were onto a fish per drop. Well done Max and great pic! To learn more about the artificial reefs, click here.
Picture: How many sambos can you count as the baited camera drops to 17m between the artificial reef modules?
Toby Heyring landed an estimated 20kg mulloway and several pink snapper within Geographe Bay last week. More pinkies and some nice size dhufish have been caught wide of Cowaramup Bay. A consistent stream of burley should get herring around at most of the bays and headlands along both sides of Cape Naturaliste.
The Busselton Jetty is worth a try for pink snapper and mulloway during, and just following, a period of rough weather. Squid have been picked up in better numbers along the seagrass beds off Quindalup when the water has been clearer. Expect blue swimmer crabs to have entered Geographe Bay in numbers, as the popular crustaceans tend to do following a storm.
Albany Catches
Picture: The weather hasn’t been ideal of late but fishers who have got out have been rewarded with some great catches, like the salmon pictured which hit a 40g Raider metal lure.
The weather has been a little hard to pick, however those who managed to score a calmer morning or afternoon generally did well on reef fish along the coral. Big schools of pink snapper were found in 60 to 110m of water off Albany, Two Peoples Bay and Cheynes Beach. Big red snapper and some good size hapuka were picked up on the edge of the shelf and beyond while the shallower areas leading up to 60m of water have been producing very good catches of harlequin fish.
There appeared to be fewer King George whiting caught through the inshore waters compared to previous weeks. The bigger King George were once again caught near Michaelmas and Breaksea, however even these areas have been hard to access due to the recent rough weather. Squid are being picked up in better numbers when the water has been clearer. A few flathead continue to feature among the inshore catches. Salmon numbers have certainly dropped along the beaches with only the odd fish caught at the popular haunts including Cheynes, Nanarup, Cables, Bornholm and Shelleys.
Bag limits of herring are being achieved with minimal effort along most of the coast. The remote beaches are worth a visit with big skippy on offer at this time of the season. Reports of big pink snapper caught at the marina have been taken with a handful of salt. A few samson fish, however continue to hooked at the channel at Emu Point. Black bream enthusiasts report the rivers east of town to be fishing very well for fish to 40cm.
Esperance Catches
Picture: Brody Ogle with a nice Skippy caught on a hard body intended for bream in Bandy Creek Boat Harbour.
Big numbers of garfish, small herring, squid and King George whiting are regularly being caught at the Taylor Street Jetty. The Bandy Creek Boat Harbour has bigger King George to 36cm, heaps of herring and big garfish on offer most mornings and late afternoons. Interestingly, the garfish caught at Bandy Creek recently have been hooked on bottom rigs.
Salmon continue to be picked up at Salmon Beach and Fourth Beach. Blue Haven and Roses are producing salmon, skippy and big herring. Poison Creek has tailor between 2 and 3kg while the proven winter skippy holes at Dunns are fishing well at the moment. Thomas provided mixed catches of skippy, mulloway and a few salmon for those who ventured east last week. The boats that were able to head offshore during the past fortnight did reasonably well on breaksea cod, nannygai, harlequin and samson fish.
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Geraldton Catches
Picture: Michael Neubauer with this thumping Dhufish. After learning how to tell male and female Dhufish apart from our July 1 Fishing Report, can you identify what sex Michael’s Dhufish is? Check out the July 1 report here.
Geraldton Angling Club members caught at least half a dozen salmon during a recent meet at Nine Mile Beach. Tailor, herring and whiting were among the other species caught along the vast stretch. The Flat Rocks to Greenough River mouth stretch has been difficult to fish at times because of the big swells and weed movement, however a few who have been persevering have been rewarded with school-size mulloway, tailor to 65cm and herring.
Southgates and Separation Point would be worth trying for big winter tailor and, in the evenings, mulloway. A good mix of bread and butter species including herring, whiting, small skippy, yellowtail and chopper tailor can be sought at the back of The Lives and the marina rock wall. Try Drummonds and the beaches north of there following a period of rough weather for mulloway. Pink snapper and dhufish are occasionally caught near Bowes during the winter months. The boats that managed to head offshore when conditions permitted caught dhufish, coral trout, pink snapper and baldchin groper near African Reef and out from Coronation.
Kalbarri Catches
Picture: Garfish are not a highly targeted species but fishers who pursue a good Garfish get pretty excited when they’re found in their numbers.
Garfish have reappeared at Red Bluff with surf fishers picking up good catches using burley, blobs and gents most mornings, especially when the winds have been light. The garfish seem to have also brought about some bigger tailor to Red Bluff and adjacent beaches following reports of fish to 70cm landed from the shore this past week.
Several mulloway around the 10kg mark were caught near the jetties and pens located within the Murchison River during the past week. Expect fish of similar size and bigger to be lurking about the river mouth and beaches north and south of there considering the recent rough conditions. Oyster Reef and the coastal gorges would be worth trying for pink snapper when conditions permit. The middle and upper reaches of the river have been fishing fairly well for black bream, estuary cod and chopper tailor.
Exmouth Catches
Picture: Mangrove Jack are serious predators and the good news is they can be caught on both lures and bait, making them an exciting nearshore sportfish for all fishers!
Andrew Arundel landed two red emperor and a good size goldband snapper while fishing in approximately 80m of water south of Tantabiddi recently. Luke Hamon’s 180kg black marlin was among several billfish caught beyond the 100m contour during the past fortnight. Students enjoying the school holidays with a rod in hand at the marina have been picking up some nice yellowfin bream, queenfish, trevally and wrasse.
More bream, flathead, grunter, malabar cod and the odd sand bass have also been coming from the creeks south of Learmonth. Coral trout have been prevalent in the gulf and off the west side with many of the 55 to 75cm fish being caught on jigs. Youngster Jared Charsley caught a 75cm trout in the 15m depths of the gulf earlier this month on a handline.
Broome Catches
Picture: Check out Matt Cox’s Barramundi. Matt’s a regular contributor of photos to our Instagram page and catches some serious WA fish. Want your images to appear in our weekly reports? Send your best pics to bronte@recfishwest.org.au or #recfishwest on Instagram to keep us in the loop with your latest fishing experiences!
Sailfish continue to be encountered offshore together with a few small black marlin, plenty of spanish mackerel, mack tuna and a few longtail tuna. Reef fishing within Roebuck Bay and wider has been productive with plenty of bluebone, fingermark bream and bluelined emperor caught during the past week.
Threadfin salmon to 1.2m and smaller bluenose salmon are responding well to baits and lures within the bay and the local creeks. Barramundi have occasionally been caught in the Fitzroy River near Telegraph and Pelican Pool. Try Willie Creek for mangrove jack, queenfish and assortments of trevally.
