Your Fishing Photos
If you want to see yourself or your kids feature in our weekly state-wide Fishing Reports, send your best fishing photos and a description to bronte@recfishwest.org.au
Metro Catches
Picture: A few pelagics are making their way past the metro coast in the warm summer waters, amongst those are a few yellowfin tuna for some lucky fishers (Photo courtesy of @dan.coughlan).
Spanish mackerel numbers appear to be increasing off the metropolitan coast with several caught near Rottnest Island and Three Mile Reef during the past week. Expect a few spaniards to be patrolling close to shore following recent reports of mackerel sighted free jumping off North Mole. The Ammo Jetty, North Mole, Cottesloe Groyne, Swanbourne Beach and Yanchep Lagoon have all produced shore-based mackerel catches in the past. Schools of striped tuna have been encountered in 30m to 50m off Rottnest while the odd yellowfin tuna is also being caught.
This past week has seen some good tailor fishing experienced along the metropolitan beaches with Leighton, Cables, Dutch Inn Groyne, Grant Street, Floreat Groyne and Trigg Point among the spots to produce fish to 50cm. The Fremantle Harbour is worth a try for mulloway following the recent activity at the E-Shed while Mosman Bay and The Narrows may also be worth a shot for the prized species. Flathead are being picked up in excellent numbers in the Swan and Canning Rivers, which are also producing blue swimmer crabs.
Life’s Better With a Boat
For some, getting into boating can be a daunting and stressful prospect but the truth is, it doesn’t have to be! So the question to be asked, “Why do you see so many people in boats out enjoying the waters of WA?”
Want to know more? Head to our Boating for Beginners article now!
Mandurah & Surrounds
Picture: The Dawesville Cut in Mandurah is always providing some quality fishing for land based fishers and boaters passing or drifting through alike (Photo courtesy of Tony Tropiano).
MANDURAH
The smaller species are biting freely during the day and tailor are turning up after dark. In the estuary, skippy have been biting well, along with a few herring and smaller tailor. The beaches around Mandurah are producing herring, tarwhine and whiting during the day with tailor early morning and evening. Big mulloway have been taken from the San Remo, Madora and Singleton beaches after dark.
South of Mandurah, larger tailor are being caught around dusk and after dark from the beaches at Tim’s Thicket and White Hills. Rumours suggest that there have been some bigger tailor taken from these spots. The Dawesville Cut is still a top spot for catching a feed almost at any time of the day, as it continues to produce good fishing for species such as herring, whiting, skippy and tarwhine. Blue swimmer crabs are in numbers in the estuary at Mandurah for both scoopers and drop netters. Bream are still active in the Murray and Serpentine Rivers with some larger fish being taken above Murray Bend.
SECRET HARBOUR / PORT KENNEDY / WARNBRO / ROCKINGHAM / SAFETY BAY
People fishing for tailor are finding a few good fish along the Port Kennedy and Secret Harbour beaches. There are also some whiting and blue mackerel around the Rockingham jetties. There have been reports of some very big mulloway being taken from these beaches. Penguin Island causeway has been producing herring and tarwhine for people fishing the drop off into deeper water. Point Peron has been producing a few herring and garfish.
South West Catches
Picture: Dhufish are on the menu for spearfishers out of the south west lately (Photo courtesy of Nicholas Drummond).
Reef fishers have continued to catch breaksea cod off the west coast and pink snapper of mixed sizes within Geographe Bay. Spear fishers are also reporting good numbers of dhufish amongst the demersals caught on the west side of Cape Naturaliste. The seagrass meadows extending from Eagle Bay to the Busselton Jetty are still producing good catches of squid. Bag and boat limits of blue swimmer crabs are being picked up in the bay. Herring can be found between the capes as well as in Geographe Bay waters. Miniature poppers, small stick baits and artificial worms have been working well on whiting in the shallows around Quindalup. There are still salmon hanging around some of the beaches and some big tailor turning up at odd times.
Albany Catches
Picture: Land based western blue groper can be found by those who put in the time as was found out by Recfishwest’s Communications Officer Isaac Tancred. Compact fishing PFDs are essential for this style of fishing, get yours now at www.fishandsurvive.com.au
Local black bream enthusiasts have been finding it difficult to get past the hoards of small black bream in the King and Kalgan Rivers. This has also been the situation in the systems east and west of Albany. Fortunately, a solution has been found to target the bigger bream – 30cm to 40cm fish – and that has been to spin hard-bodied lures rather than baits, which are enticing mostly smaller fish.
Shore-based fishers have continued to catch salmon at Reef Beach and Bremer Bay, which were graced by big schools for most of the week. Smaller schools were also present at Bluff Creek and Cheynes Beach. Keen rock fishers had some good sessions on western blue groper east of town. Herring remain a reliable target at Sand Patch and Cables while sand whiting, flathead, tarwhine and skippy can be picked up at Nanarup, Mutton Bird and Shelleys. The marina and Emu Point have been fishing reasonably well for juvenile salmon, skippy and tarwhine. The channel at Emu Point produced some nice King George whiting last Saturday morning.
Boat fishers have also been getting stuck into some nice King George inshore, but some effort is required in locating the popular table species. Schools of small southern bluefin tuna have been encountered off Bald Head. The 65m to 80m depths off Two Peoples Bay, Cosy Corner and Cheynes has generally been fishing better for reef fish than the waters out from town. The common mix of red, pink and queen snapper, breaksea cod and dhufish were caught. Samson fish are in dense schools in some areas while other spots are plagued with leatherjackets. Hapuka and blue eye trevalla were caught at the edge of the shelf and deeper.
Esperance Catches
Picture: Yellowtail kingfish are being found by those exploring the islands on the edge of the archipelago and reefs further offshore (Photo courtesy of @ramagraamm).
Salmon are increasing in number along the coast with good catches experienced at Eleven Mile, Fourth Beach and Salmon Beach this past week. More salmon have been coming from Alexander Bay together with small mulloway and skippy. Poison Creek is worth a try for tailor early morning and on dusk. Surf fishers at Thomas have been catching mulloway and salmon.
A good mix of herring, squid, skippy and the odd King George whiting can be caught at the Taylor Street Jetty while the Bandy Creek Boat Harbour has mostly been providing catches of big herring. Small southern bluefin tuna have been turning up within the range of dinghy and small boat fishers. Whiting and squid can also be caught from the inshore areas. Yellowtail kingfish in the 8kg to 10kg range have been found offshore. The bigger kingies are expected to turn up in the coming weeks as the 15kg to 30kg fish tend to do each February and March.
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Geraldton Catches
Picture: Cuttlefish photo taken south of Geraldton at Flat Rocks in approximately 15m of water (Photo courtesy of Squid Hunters Western Australia).
Boat fishers have generally been doing well when conditions have allowed them to head offshore. Big numbers of sweetlip have been caught in areas that include the South West Bank area while baldchin groper and pink snapper catches have been better north of town. An 11.5kg dhufish was among several other dhuies caught off Coronation at the weekend. Schools of slimy mackerel and scaly mackerel are present through the 25m to 30m depths, but as of yet have not attracted many predators including mackerel and tuna. Inshore boaters are finding squid and the odd cuttlefish amongst the weed and seagrass.
The coast stretching from Flat Rocks to S-Bend has been rather weedy, however tailor, herring and pike have been caught along there, especially at The Slips, Clinches and Lucys. The first and second points at Greenough have been producing mulloway to a metre as well as tailor, herring and pike. Morning has been the better time to target tailor and big herring at Southgates and Glendenning Road. A nice mix of herring, tailor, whiting and pike can be caught at Point Moore and behind The Lives. Afternoons have been good at Point Moore for skippy. Big tailor have been turning up at Drummonds Cove and near the mouth of the Buller River.
Kalbarri Catches
Picture: Black bream are providing entertainment for fishers of all abilities inside the Murchison estuary particularly around the jetties (Photo courtesy of @harry_tropiano_fishing).
Dean Robins, of Kalbarri Sports and Dive, landed 11 spanish mackerel during two days last week. Dean was running rigged garfish and bibbed minnows in a range of depths. He found the garfish to entice more strikes and the bigger of the mackerel to be caught in the shallower waters. The boats that worked the waters north of the river mouth also encountered small yellowfin and longtail tuna.
Good catches of dhufish, pink snapper, baldchin groper and coral trout have been picked up north and south of town. Tailor appeared in good numbers along the beaches this past week with Oyster Reef and Chinamans producing the bigger fish. Wagoe and Frustrations produced a few mulloway while Jakes Bay is worth a try for yellowfin whiting. Black bream around the kilo mark have been caught near the jetty together with the odd mangrove jack. Blue swimmer and mud crab stocks remain healthy.
Exmouth Catches
Picture: Coral trout have been stand out catches for Exmouth fishers both found inside and on the west side of the Exmouth Gulf.
Billfish enthusiasts continue to encounter big numbers of blue, striped and black marlin off the west coast. Yellowfin tuna have been inadvertently caught on trolled skirted lures intended for marlin. Stick baits retrieved from bait balls have also accounted for some nice yellowfin. Spanish mackerel catches have been better south of Tantabiddi.
Good catches of coral trout have been coming from the gulf and the west side. Shore-based fishers have been doing well on queenfish and trevally using stick baits and poppers at Jansz and VLF Bay. An assortment of species including estuary cod, trevally, mangrove jack and squid has been keeping young fishers entertained at the marina. Whiting are being sought along Town Beach together with bream and the odd flathead.
Broome Catches
Picture: Golden trevally can be caught on light tackle around the beaches and creeks of Broome.
While the persistent rain has done no favours for recent fishing efforts, it is thought to be carving deep holes in the Fitzroy River, which are ideal habitat for barramundi. A couple of nice barra were caught at The Cuttings recently.
Smaller barra were picked up in the local creeks together with bluenose salmon, queenfish and trevally. Similar species have also been caught at Cable Beach and Roebuck Bay on lures and baits. The bigger boats that headed to the 30m to 50m depths caught snapper, coral trout, estuary cod.
