Keep your eyes peeled for Recfishwest’s Tip of the week, see below!
Your Fishing Photos
Picture: We are pleased to announce that the 50th Angel Ring has been installed, thanks to all of our partners that help make fishing safer in WA.
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
Tip of the week banner images courtesy of Shutterstock RuggieroScardigno,Smiltena & Garry L.
Broome Catches
Picture: The boats that have been working the 10m to 20m depths have been picking up some nice catches of trevally.
Boats
Billfish enthusiasts have been encountering good numbers of sailfish off Cable Beach and near Disaster Rock. One crew reportedly found sailfish less than 400m from the shore off Willie Creek last week. Spanish mackerel ranging from 10kg to 25kg have been responding well to trolled rigged garfish and bibbed minnows off Cable Beach and out from Gantheaume Point. The boats that have been working the 10m to 20m depths have been picking up some nice catches of blue lined emperor, trevally and coral trout. Red emperor and saddletail seaperch have mostly been coming from the ground in excess of 30m of water.
Shore based
Barramundi catches have been increasing in the Fitzroy as the water clarity in the system improves. The local creeks are also starting to produce a few more barra together with bluenose salmon, and threadfin salmon. Big schools of baitfish that have turned up along Cable Beach and Roebuck Bay are attracting an assortment of predators including queenfish and threadfin salmon. Spanish mackerel are worth targeting from Gantheaume Point on a live garfish suspended under a float.
Exmouth Catches
Picture: Red emperors are recognisable for their red colouring and their darker red bands across their body. They can live for over 34 years and weigh up to 33kgs!
Boats
Spanish mackerel are being encountered off the west coast with good catches coming from the Helby Bank area. One boat managed to land 10 mackerel during a session last week. Yellowfin tuna in the 10kg to 25kg range have been turning up in depths beyond the 120m contour. Red emperor and rankin cod have been picked up in 30m to 60m of water while goldband snapper have been coming from the 90m to 120m depths.
Shore based
Squid catches have been improving from the marina and gulf beaches. The incoming tide period seems to be the best time to target the tasty cephalopods. Whiting are in good proportions along Town Beach and the lower areas of the gulf. Queenfish and assortments of trevally have been caught on stick baits and poppers at VLF Bay and nearby beaches.
Kalbarri Catches
Picture: Tailor are a popular shore based fish in Kalbarri, and are currently being caught from the northern beaches.
Boats
The boats that ventured to the ground between the 30m and 50m contours were rewarded with red emperor, dhufish and pink snapper. Soft plastic and metal jigs have been working well on baldchin groper, dhufish and snapper near the cliffs. Spanish mackerel are still about with better catches being experienced in waters south of town.
Shore based
A 15kg mulloway was landed at Chinamans last week and there were several fish between 6kg and 12kg caught from the beaches north of Frustrations. Pink snapper and big tailor have also been coming from the northern beaches while the former species are also a chance from the cliffs south of town. Early mornings have been good for herring and garfish at Red Bluff while the evenings there and at Wittecarra have been better for tailor averaging 40cm. Mangrove jack to 45cm were picked up in the Murchison near the jetties and pens while mulloway to 60cm have been fairly common in the middle reaches.
Geraldton Catches
Picture: Izee Sekodel with an impressive dhuie (Photo courtesy of Geraldton & Districts Offshore Fishing Club)
Boats
Dhufish to 11kg and baldchin groper have been caught near African Reef while the lumps west southwest of the marina have been producing pink snapper in the 55cm to 60cm range. Striped and small longtail tuna have been appearing in waters southwest and northwest of town. Dinghy and small boat fishers are starting to see more squid along the seagrass off Point Moore.
Shore based
Michael Triantopoulos, of Geraldton Sports, landed one of several dhufish in the 4kg to 8kg range to be caught from the beaches south of Greenough during the past week. Tailor have also been turning up along the beaches there, together with the odd mulloway. Yellowfin and sand whiting can be found in the clear patches between the seaweed while herring are being picked up thick and fast at the western end of Explosives. Mulloway to 20kg have been caught behind The Lives, however, a lot of time has been passing between strikes.
Esperance Catches
Picture: Fishers heading out to the west of town have been rewarded with some decent pink snapper catches.
Boats
Crews who ventured to the islands and beyond scored nannygai to 65cm, samson fish between 20kg and 30kg and breaksea cod. Better catches of pink snapper have been coming from the waters west of town. Dinghy and small boat fishers have been doing well on a variety of bread and butter species including garfish, snook, whiting and squid.
Shore based
Surf fishers at Alexander Bay have been catching skippy to an impressive 4.5kg. Thomas River has been fishing well for gummy sharks, skippy and salmon. More salmon, mulloway and skippy can be caught at Dunns while Stockyards has herring, flathead and skippy. Early mornings have proven to be the best time to target salmon along the local beaches including Salmon Beach, Fourth Beach and Eleven Mile. Mulloway have been turning up at Fourth Beach in the evenings. The Taylor Street Jetty has plenty of herring, garfish and squid on offer. Pink snapper to 50cm, black bream, skippy and herring can be picked up at the Bandy Creek Boat Harbour.
Albany Catches
Picture: Bait is the preferred method of catching King George whiting. Try bloodworms, occy and squid strips.
Boats
King George whiting enthusiasts, who have been prepared to put in the effort and find the fish, have been doing better than their counterparts who have persisted with familiar inshore areas. Reasonable catches of red, queen and pink snapper as well as dhufish and breaksea cod were picked up along the depths leading up to 90m. A couple of hapuka were scored out deeper, but there were seldom reports of other deeper-dwelling fish caught. Juvenile salmon, black bream, herring and mulloway were among the species caught in the King and Kalgan rivers.
Shore based
An estimated 60-tonne school of salmon that appeared at Bremer Bay last week suggests some of the migratory schools might have engaged in their back run. Bigger schools have been appearing along the Bluff Creek, Cheyne Beach and Nanarup beaches and there have been more fish caught at Cables, Lowlands and Shelley Beach during the past fortnight. Herring remain in good numbers right along the beaches and inshore waters with the more remote areas producing better numbers and bigger fish.
Surf fishers reported catching skippy to a kilo and the odd bigger fish at Sand Patch, Cables, Lowlands and Bluff Creek. Tourist Rock and the other platforms near Cheynes Beach have been fishing well for southern bluefin tuna to 12kg, bonito and salmon. Yellowtail kingfish and samson fish have been landed at West Cape Howe. Unfortunately, the squid fishery through King George Sound, the harbours and other inshore waters has not returned to the state the fishery was in during previous years.
Download iPhone or Android
South West Catches
Picture: Nice catch by Benjamin Lawless on Busselton Jetty over the weekend (Photo courtesy of Squid Hunters Western Australia).
Boats
Pink snapper have been caught in good numbers at the Four Mile, Eight Mile and Artificial Reef while dhufish were picked up in depths leading up to 40m of water off the west coast. King George whiting can be found in the 5m to 15m depths off Quindalup. Squid catches are improving along the seagrass beds extending from Eagle Bay to Siesta Park.
Shore based
Salmon continue to be caught in very good numbers right along the west coast and Geographe Bay. There are also herring about and there have been some tailor caught at Honeycombs, Mitchells and Elmore Road after dark.
Mandurah & Surrounds
Picture: The Peel-Harvey Estuary is a great place to go fishing for tailor and herring (Photo courtesy Tony Tropiano).
MANDURAH
Herring and a few salmon have been taken from the southern beaches along with a few small to medium sized mulloway. Close to Mandurah, there are a few tarwhine and skippy around the ocean end of The Cut. There are also a few tailor being caught in the same area. Inside The Cut there are still herring, whiting and an occasional small salmon being taken along with an odd tailor. In both the Murray and Serpentine rivers, bream are a little more active. There have been a few bream taken from some of the more popular locations throughout the lower end of the river system.
During the day there have been a few herring, yellowtail and tailor being taken from the estuary. Beaches to the north of the town continue to produce herring, garfish and whiting, generally of a morning. There have been a few mulloway taken by anglers fishing well into the night. Tailor have been spasmodic and are being caught during the late afternoon and evening
SECRET HARBOUR / PORT KENNEDY / WARNBRO / ROCKINGHAM / SAFETY BAY
People fishing through this area report good catches of herring and some big garfish. Squid are also being taken from locations throughout the region. Small boat anglers fishing out in front of the jetties at Rockingham have been catching some King George whiting, squid and snook along the edges of the weed banks. Beach anglers fishing Becher Point and the Point Peron beaches have been getting a few small salmon and tailor.
Metro Catches
Picture: Check out the beautiful colours of this dolphin fish! Good numbers of these fish have been appearing at the FADs the last few months (Photo courtesy of Brodie Sciberras).
Boats
Pink snapper in the 4kg to 8kg range are being found in dense schools along Five Fathom Bank and Three Mile Reef. Fishers who have been doing well on snapper have been catching most of their fish early morning and at sunset on unweighted fish baits including mulies, scaly mackerel and herring. Dhufish seem to be in relatively shallow water following reports of several caught in 12m to 17m of water this past week.
In saying that though, there were also some nice dhufish picked up between the 50m and 60m contours. Yellowtail kingfish have been encountered near Stragglers and West End while samson fish have been caught around the bombies located between Parker Point and Garden Island. Sand whiting are still being caught in excellent numbers in the shipping channel and squid remain present along the seagrass off Fremantle.
Shore based
Salmon catches are slowly improving at the beaches, however, the bigger schools that often appear along the metropolitan coast during this time of the year are yet to show up. Rockingham beaches have been producing the odd salmon and there have been a few 3kg to 7kg fish caught at Bathers Beach, the moles and along the Cottesloe to Swanbourne Drain stretch. Soft plastics are sometimes enticing the salmon when they are being fussy. A consistent stream of burley will help in catching a feed of herring.
Several pink snapper were caught from the beaches this past week, however those who landed the pinks refused to disclose even the general locations as to where the 65cm to 90cm fish were caught. Tailor have been biting at first light and there have been some nice 50cm to 70cm models caught among the mullet schools that are present along the coast. Soft plastics have been working well on black bream near Shelley Bridge.
Photo courtesy of Shutterstock_AleksKey
Top Water Lures: Poppers
Technical Rating: Intermediate
Top water fishing is at the forefront of exciting salt water sport fishing action. Top water lures particularly are varied in their size, weight, form and function, from poppers to stickbaits. There are basically two types of popper, blooping and pencil poppers, with other styles loosely falling into one of these two types or stickbaits. The most basic principal with poppers is they float, with a somewhat concave, cupped face and no diving bib.
Those with wide, round bodies and large concave faces are for “blooping” where a stroke of the rod causes a spray of water from the cupped face. They are designed for maximum splash and commotion on the surface, drawing predatory fish from deeper water to attack the surface.
Various forms of pencil popper retain a cupped face but in a much slimmer profile. Although there are some sinking models they are more of a stickbait than a popper in performance. Pencil poppers are designed to be either skipped along the surface in a high speed retrieve or in a slower “walk the dog” retrieve where winding in sync with a side to side rod action causes a constant zig-zag lure action on the surface.
