Keep your eyes peeled for Recfishwest’s Tip of the week, see below!
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
Broome Catches
Picture: A few barramundi are showing up around the local creeks (Photo courtesy of Mel Murphy).
Boats:
Broome Bluewater Charters put its first boatload of clients for the season onto some nice red emperor. The crews who have fishing within Roebuck Bay have been doing well on jewfish to a metre, cobia and trevally. Expect sailfish to start turning up in better numbers as the dry season progresses. Spanish and school mackerel are responding to rigged garfish and trolled bibbed minnows off Entrance and Gantheaume Point.
Shore-based:
Threadfin and bluenose salmon have been caught on baits and lures along Cable Beach and around Roebuck Bay. Both species have also been caught at the mouths of the local creeks as well as at the adjacent coastline. Several barramundi between 60cm and 80cm, and the odd bigger fish, have been recently caught in the Fitzroy River. Dampier and Crab creeks have also started to produce the occasional barra.
Exmouth Catches
Picture: A picturesque evening retrieving the boat from a beach launch; Exmouth is the ideal location for the trailer boat fisher with plenty of options (Photo courtesy of Toni Tropiano).
Boats:
Reef fishing has been productive with fair catches of red emperor, rankin cod and goldband jobfish being caught in the 50m to 100m depths. Billfish enthusiasts have continued to encounter black marlin between the 100m and 200m contour and there is still the odd striped and blue marlin being raised out wide. Longtail and yellowfin tuna have been turning up in a range of depths.
Shore-based:
Queenfish to a metre and varieties of trevally have been appearing along the coast near the tip of Norwest Cape. Big schools of garfish that have shown up at the marina have been attracting an assortment of predators including trevally, queenfish and school and spotted mackerel. Estuary cod and yellowfin bream have can also be caught there. Some nice catches of blue swimmer crabs are starting to be picked up in the gulf.
Kalbarri Catches
Picture: The all trusty herring is a staple for WA fishers with catches of this all-important schooling fish coming from around the Kalbarri coastal gorges.
Boats:
Reef fishers have been using a variety of methods to catch pink snapper, baldchin groper and red emperor in depths ranging from 30m to 50m. The boats that have been trolling have been picking up the odd spanish mackerel and tuna. Cobia between 10kg and 20kg have been showing up in a range of depths and areas.
Shore-based:
Tailor catches have been few and far between along the local beaches, however if it is any consolation for the lack in numbers, the fish that were caught this past week have been bigger than the 40cm to 50cm models that are commonly caught. Evenings have been producing mulloway to a metre at the river mouth while mornings have been the best time to target herring at Jakes and Red Bluff. An Australian salmon was reportedly landed north of the river mouth last week. Black bream and estuary cod are being regularly caught in the Murchison.
Geraldton Catches
Picture: Pink snapper are amongst the various reef fish coming from Geraldton the past week (Photo courtesy of Dwayne Jeffs).
Boats:
A nice mix of reef fish including sweetlip, pink snapper, coral trout and dhufish has been caught from the South West Bank area. More dhufish have been coming from African Reef. Spanish mackerel are mostly being caught in waters north of Drummonds Cove while schools of small longtail tuna have been turning up within a few miles of the marina.
Shore-based:
Herring and whiting are being caught behind The Lives and the bread and butter species’ presence is thought to be attracting the big mulloway that have also been caught from the structure. Blue swimmer crabs have also been picked from The Lives as well as at the Batavia Marina and the Fishermans Harbour. Big swells and loads of weed have been making things challenging along the local beaches as well as those north and south of town.
Esperance Catches
Picture: Esperance beaches are amongst the best in the world with some awesome fishing opportunities for species such as mulloway, salmon and skippy (Photo courtesy of @tylerhewson26).
Boats:
Nannygai to 2kg and big breaksea cod have been common out wide. Schools of samson fish in the 15kg to 30kg range have been found near the islands and beyond. The squid were bigger for the dinghy and small boat fishers this week. Plenty of sand whiting have also been coming from the inshore waters.
Shore-based:
Skippy to 45cm, King George whiting, black bream to 35cm and loads of herring are among the species being caught at Bandy Creek Boat Harbour. The Taylor Street Jetty also has plenty of herring on offer as well as King George, skippy and squid. The bigger schools of salmon that were still about as of a few weeks ago seem to have scattered with fish of less than a dozen at a time appearing at Salmon Beach, Fourth Beach and Stockyards. Gummy sharks, skippy and mulloway were picked up at Thomas last week while Poison Creek had salmon, tailor and mulloway.
Hook size and gauge
Technical Rating: Expert
Some of the most obvious features of a hook are both its size (gape) and thickness (gauge) and when used appropriately in combination can make all the difference in effectively hooking and landing fish. It sounds fairly straight forward but can get very technical and start to be applied with a great deal of precision.
When fishing with strip baits it is fairly obvious how large you want your hook to be as it needs to match the thickness of the bait (slightly larger). The same can be said for choosing a jig head to use with a soft plastic lure, the length and gape of the hook need to suit the size of the lure.
Picture: Various hook sizes and gauges can be chosen to suit the size of bait or lure as well as hook strength and penetration required for different line classes.
Once the size of hook has been chosen the technical part is choosing hook gauge or thickness. Many jig heads come with a hook size in standard or heavy gauge, usually denoted by a H next to the sizing. The heavy refers to a thick hook gauge for heavier fishing applications.
A good rule of thumb is that you should use the finest gauge hook you can get away with, meaning use the thinnest possible hook that won’t bend or break under the breaking strain of line you are using. This means that the hook point is as thin as possible and will have the greatest penetration and hook up rate. If you fish a heavy gauge hook you need to use more force to penetrate the hook and if you are fishing light line, you might not be able to drive the hook through.
In some instances you might be fishing a large bait or lure with light tackle so the hook gape will be large but the gauge will be fine. Alternatively you might be fishing heavier tackle for something feeding on small bait and lures or using a bridle rigging technique where the whole hook is exposed from the bait so you would use a small hook with a thick gauge for strength.
Picture: Small, thick hooks are used for bridle rigging whole fish baits (like the dead mullet pictured above) where the full hook is exposed but strength is needed. Hooks on topwater lures sometimes look excessive but the weight of the hook along with the strength needed to muscle powerful fish is needed to fish the lure effectively.
Going deeper, topwater lure fishing is the pinnacle of tactical and technical fishing often pushing gear to the limits with ultimate precision. Topwater lures such as stickbaits and poppers are often carefully balanced to draw the line between positive, neutral and negative buoyancy. The total weight of a hook will affect how the lure swims and how it balances overall, if it sits horizontal or vertical in the water column or anything in between. Hook size needs to be matched to the size of lure for hook exposure but size and gauge both add to the weight of the hook and ultimately how the lure balances at rest. To be most effective in this style of fishing, a combination of the size and buoyancy of the lure along with hook size and gauge need to be accounted for and matched appropriately with the line class for good penetration. Many lures of various sizes and weights may be required to tailor to each situation.
Visit Tackle HQ for in-store advice on all your hook sizing needs and specialist technical advice on jigging and topwater lure fishing with WA’s most comprehensive range of lures and tackle in store and online.
Albany Catches
Picture: An excellent landbased harlequin capture, Cowan wears his Crewsaver PFD to fish the unpredictable rocks on the WA south coast (Photo courtesy of Cowan Wise).
Boats:
King George Sound was reportedly full of salmon at the weekend and the early part of the week. Small boat and kayak fishers enjoyed some entertaining sessions trolling and retrieving an assortment of lures including bibbed minnows, stick baits and metals. King George whiting enthusiasts have been achieving bag and boat limits in the sound and both harbours at times. Reef fishers found plenty of pink snapper at the edge of the shelf. Red snapper were a little harder to come by while the ground in excess of 300m produced hapuka and blue eye trevalla for some. Dhufish ranging from 40cm to 60cm were found in good schools to the point that the normally sought after species were an annoyance. The Kalgan River fished well for mulloway at dusk while both of the local systems have been producing black bream in fair numbers for bait and lures fishers.
Shore-based:
Salmon seemed to have turned up along the beaches in better numbers this past week, however, most of the schools have again stayed out wide. Surf fishers at Shelley Beach caught and released dozens of 3kg to 8kg fish last Thursday and schools of two to three dozen fish have been regularly showing up within reach of a reasonable cast at Peaceful Bay. Cheyne Beach had salmon schools pass and there have been plenty of fish caught from nearby Tourist Rock during the past fortnight. Herring to 30cm are along the coast, and inshore waters, and there have been some nice catches of skippy and sand whiting from the local beaches as well as those east and west of town.
South West Catches
Picture: Salmon caught at Bunker Bay in Dunsborough. Remember #beachisbest this salmon season (Photo courtesy of Pete Berlinski and Salmon School Tracker 2017).
Boats:
A 17kg dhufish was among plenty of smaller dhuies caught off the west coast this past week. Pink snapper in the 65cm to 75cm range have been common in Geographe Bay. Squid have been picked up along the seagrass beds in up to 10m of water off Quindalup.
Shore-based:
Salmon appeared in perhaps their best numbers this past week with masses of 3kg to 8kg fish passing along the west coast beaches and bays and throughout Geographe Bay. Hamelin Bay and Injidup were popular spots to target the fish on the west coast while Bunker Bay, Eagle Bay and Point Picquet were among the haunts in the bay. Big herring and some nice size skippy are on both sides of the cape.
Mandurah & Surrounds
Picture: Expect salmon to be in metro and surrounding areas for the next two months. These fish are accessible making them great for both shore-based and boat fishers (Photo courtesy of Bray Johnston).
MANDURAH
As in the metropolitan area, garfish have been abundant in and around the Dawesville Cut. Size has been good and along with the garfish and herring. Salmon has also been taken from the ocean end of The Cut. They have not been huge but fish of 2.5 – 3.5 kg have been the norm. They have also been taken from the southern beaches of White Hills and Tim’s Thicket. People fishing from these beaches have also reported taking a few tailor, herring and good sized whiting. The estuary is fishing well for smaller species with good catches of tailor, herring, garfish, skippy, and tarwhine being caught. Squid have also been caught from the Old Traffic Bridge. There are still a few bream being taken in the Murray and Serpentine Rivers and fishers putting in the time are reaping the rewards with some big fish in the last week.
SECRET HARBOUR / PORT KENNEDY / WARNBRO / ROCKINGHAM / SAFETY BAY
In and around Rockingham, the jetties are producing herring, garfish and squid. Salmon are also around in numbers. A few tailor have been taken from the north side of the causeway by fishers trolling lures or mulies on lightly weighted lines. If fishers stop trolling and anchor up, there are some very good skippy that can be berleyed up. There have been good catches of herring and garfish from around Long Point, Penguin Island, Point Peron and Rockingham Beach. Whiting and squid are also being taken from these locations with an odd tailor of an evening. People fishing the Sound out from Safety Bay have reported catching some good King George whiting.
Metro Catches
Picture: We’ve been receiving some reports of uncharacteristic tropical fish caught just out of Perth the last week. Jack Burke landed a nice rankin cod out of Mindarie and Nick Unmack, Dan Bahen and Hamish Macintosh were fishing out of Rottnest when a nice red emperor surfaced. If you have any unusual catches, please share them with us! Send your photos to bronte@recfishwest.org.au
Boats:
Salmon schools continue to pass between Rottnest Island and the mainland and there seem to be a few fish taking up residence at Coventry Reef, near Garden Island, Carnac Island and The Mewstone. A customer of Anglers Fishing World, and a couple of mates, caught eight pink snapper and three dhufish by noon in 17m of water last Thursday. Most of the fish were released. A 55cm red emperor was caught north of Rottnest last week and this extraordinary capture follows a rankin cod that was also picked up off the metropolitan coast. Plump sand whiting can be found along the edge of the main shipping channel. Squid catches have been plentiful along the seagrass beds off Fremantle and within Cockburn and Warnbro Sound. There are still plenty of rock lobster being caught in relatively shallow water off Rottnest.
Shore-based:
A big school of salmon turned up at Floreat Drain about noon on Tuesday and there have been a few fish caught along the Cottesloe to Swanbourne stretch most mornings. Small salmon schools have been turning up near the Ammo Jetty and Woodman Point while the North and South Mole seem to have been graced with a consistent stream of 3kg to 7kg fish. Herring are still about in good numbers along most of the coast with the northern and southern rock walls and jetties as well as the beaches that feature reef producing good catches, especially when burley is introduced. Garfish can be caught at the Palm Beach Jetty, which has also recently been producing a few mulloway in the 15kg to 20kg range. Some nice catches of black bream to 38cm have been caught at Aquinas Bay and Fifth Avenue.
