Welcome to Recfishwest’s weekly fishing report, brought to you by Recfishwest’s fishing expert Joachim Azzopardi, John Curtis for his Mandurah and Surrounds report and Matt Cox for the latest in Kununurra.
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
Kununurra Catches
Picture: Catching a barra sure does make you smile! Heading to Kununurra? Make sure you give the guys at Northbound Charters a call.
Lower Ord River
The last two weeks saw a spike in water temps rising up to 26 degrees which was fantastic for fishing. Good reports coming from the Ord with decent numbers of 60-85cm barramundi being caught in and around the snags, generally on the outgoing tide. On the back of that spike, the water temps have started to decrease slowing the fish up considerably.
Shore based
Walking the Dunham River has been producing fantastic numbers of 50-80cm barramundi. Best caught on gold bomber lures flicking around the shallows targeting the fish looking for the warmer water.
Broome Catches
Picture: Reef fishing has been productive with species like redthroat emperor, coral trout and rankin cod being caught approximately 15 nautical miles out.
Boats
The teams who competed in the recent Billfish Classic encountered bigger numbers of sailfish and small black marlin compared to last year’s event. Schools of longtail and mack tuna have also been found in a range of depths and areas while most of the spanish mackerel caught this week were picked up behind the rig tenders. Reef fishing has been productive approximately 15 nautical miles out where blue lined emperor, redthroat emperor, coral trout, bluebone and rankin cod have been caught in good numbers.
Shore based
Notwithstanding water temperatures in the Fitzroy River hovering around the 23C mark, there are still some barramundi being caught. Tackle World Broome’s Lyle Shields caught five barra in the Fitzroy during a single session last week. The local creeks have also been producing a few barra as well as threadfin and bluenose salmon. Whiting, queenfish and trevally are the main species being picked up along Cable Beach and Roebuck Bay.
Exmouth Catches
Picture: Check out this 15kg ruby snapper that was caught off Ningaloo station recently. Adam and his mate Nathan have been going to Coral Bay for more than 10 years and have always wanted to catch some Ruby’s, and now they have. Great job guys!!
Boats
Young fisher Daniel Charsley landed a superb 30.2kg Spanish mackerel on a stick bait last week. Reef fishing has been productive for the boats heading towards the Muiron Islands with red emperor, coral trout, spangled emperor and rankin cod being caught in 40m to 60m of water west of the islands. There are still black marlin and sailfish being caught in depths starting at 100m with the latter species expected to turn up in the upper areas of the gulf in numbers during the coming weeks.
Shore based
Ken Collings caught an impressive metre-plus queenfish on a soft plastic at Jansz last week. More queenfish have been turning in the gulf, especially at Bundegi and Old Bundegi. Squid remain in good numbers at the marina and the beaches farther south. There are whiting and yellowfin bream being caught along Town Beach.
Esperance Catches
Picture: Samson fish have been caught in 60m to 70m depths off Esperance (Photo courtesy of @castaways_adventures).
Boats
Dinghy and small boat fishers have been picking up blue spotted flathead, squid and lots of sand whiting within a mile of the coast. The 60m to 70m depths have been producing nannygai to 2.5kg, breaksea cod, queen snapper and samson fish. The waters west of town are producing better catches of pink snapper.
Shore based
The Taylor Street Jetty has been fishing well for herring, skippy, King George whiting and squid. Small pink snapper, most of which have been undersize, herring and a few King George have been coming from the Bandy Creek Boat Harbour. Salmon were caught from Fourth Beach, Salmon Beach, Nine Mile, Fourteen Mile, Roses, Thomas River and Alexander Bay during the past week. Dunns had skippy to 2kg as well as mulloway, juvenile and mature salmon and herring.
Albany Catches
Picture: Black bream enthusiasts have been doing really well on soft plastics in the King and Kalgan rivers.
Boats
Very few boats made it to the coral patches spread between the 65m and 90m depths due to the undesirable weather. The odd bigger boat that managed to sneak out to these waters for an hour or two when the conditions allowed managed some breaksea cod, pink and queen snapper, small dhufish and skippy.
The somewhat protected waters near Caseys, Goode Beach and Frenchmans Bay produced King George whiting, herring and skippy for some boats while others struggled to locate these bread and butter species. The crews who managed to bag of feed inshore were those who moved from spot to spot to find the fish.
Shore based
Yellowtail kingfish and samson fish are a chance from the stones during this part of season. Salmon were caught at Bremer Bay, Bluff Creek, Cheyne Beach and Nanarup last week. Herring are around in bigger sizes and better numbers at the more remote areas of coast. Bornholm has been producing the odd tailor and bigger tarwhine.
Small black bream of less than 30cm have dominated catches in the King and Kalgan rivers. There were a couple of fish of 40cm and bigger caught in systems believed to be the King and Kalgan last week. Black bream enthusiasts recommend fishing soft plastics on a lightly weighted jig head while the water remains discoloured.
Kalbarri Catches
Picture: Robbie Leck landed this impressive tailor which stretched out to 90cm and weighed 6kg at Oyster Reef on Friday morning.
Boats
When the boats have managed to head out, fair catches of pink snapper, dhufish and baldchin groper have been coming from the 10m to 20m depths near the cliffs and in 30m to 40m northwest of the river mouth. Cobia have been encountered, however, there has been no pattern in catches of the prehistoric looking species. Spanish mackerel are still about despite the cool water temperatures.
Shore based
Robbie Leck landed a superb tailor (pictured), which stretched out to 90cm and weighed 6kg at Oyster Reef on Friday morning. Smaller tailor have been caught at nearby Chinamans and Frustrations early morning and evening, as well as at the southern beaches including Wittecarra Creek and Siphons. Mulloway to 12kg have been caught in numbers through the lower reaches of the Murchison River. Kalbarri Sports and Dive’s Wayne Dewar has been doing well on black bream to 38cm up river.
Geraldton Catches
Picture: Bigger dhufish were found near African Reef, especially in the evenings (Photo courtesy of @chrisfishstagram).
Boats
Crews who dropped baits and jigs along the 30m to 40m depths south of Coronation picked up mixed catches of dhufish, pink snapper and baldchin groper. Bigger dhufish were found near African Reef, especially in the evenings. A 15kg dhufish was among several smaller dhuies caught at South West Bank about 9pm one evening last week. The boats that have been anchoring and burleying near Africans have been bringing in pink snapper in the 5kg to 7kg range.
Shore based
Some nice tailor have been caught on lures from the rock wall at the eastern end of The Lives. More tailor have been coming from the Flat Rocks to Greenough River mouth stretch while mulloway have mostly been coming from Drummonds Cove and the beaches north of there together with the odd pink snapper. Big yellowfin whiting are responding well to worms along the Pages Beach to Point Moore stretch. Squid and blue swimmer crabs can be caught at the Batavia Marina.
South West Catches
Picture: Next GEN Fishing Team member Max fishing for sambos and rocking his Crewsaver life jacket. Make sure if you’re fishing from the rocks you wear a life jacket!
Boats
When the boats have managed to head out to the Four Mile Reef located within Geographe Bay they have caught pink snapper, a few skippy and the odd samson fish. The 4kg to 9kg pinks have been caught in better numbers when a healthy stream of burley has been used. Squid continue to be caught in excellent numbers along the seagrass beds off Quindalup. Dhufish and breaksea cod are mostly being caught off Cowaramup Bay and Canal Rocks.
Shore based
Tailor have been caught on mulies and scaly mackerel early morning and evening at Mitchells, Yallingup Reef and Elmore Road. The rocky headlands extending from both sides of Cape Naturaliste are ideal locations to target the big numbers of bull herring that are about at the moment. Expect yellowtail kingfish and samson fish to start being caught from the rock platforms during the ensuing weeks.
Mandurah & Surrounds
Picture: You don’t need to find much structure to locate quality King George whiting like this one. Low relief broken ground is what you’re looking for on your sounder (Photo courtesy of @pjfishingwa).
Mandurah
Inclement weather has kept most anglers indoors this week, however, those brave enough to venture out have found some good fish. Tim’s Thicket to White Hills has been a little quiet but there were still a few reports of big tailor being taken along with some school and gummy sharks. The Dawesville Cut is still producing King George whiting, chopper tailor, herring and pilch. Squid are also being caught in reasonable numbers. Crabbers are still able to get a feed from the deep water and also in the Mary Street Lagoon.
Secret Harbour/Port Kennedy/Warnbro/Rockingham/Safety Bay
Anglers fishing from Kwinana Beach have found whiting, pilch and herring. Other locations in the region that have been turning on good whiting are the Penguin Island sand bar and Secret Harbour. Palm Beach jetty is producing a few herring and skippy and there are a lot of squid also in the area. Fishing at night seems to be working well for mulloway, with a 10 kg mulloway being landed by a local last week. Safety Bay Yacht Club and Rockingham Beach jetty have been producing herring and squid. There are a few herring along most of the beaches. There are still some juvenile salmon who missed the call to move east, hanging around Point Peron. Squid are still being caught from the jetties as well as offshore.
Metro Catches
Picture: How’s this for bream bycatch?! Caught on 4lb leader (Photo courtesy of @fisho_brad).
Boats
Schools of skippy to 2.5kg continue to be found along Five Fathom Bank and in 20m to 30m of water south and southwest of Parker Point. Good catches of dhufish have been coming from the Garden Island to Stragglers area. The boats that have been anchoring near the causeway at Garden Island have been picking up quite a few gummy sharks to 2m. Squid are still about in excellent numbers along the seagrass beds off Fremantle and within Cockburn, despite the rough conditions.
Shore based
The most encouraging news this week was the number of pink snapper that were caught from the northern and southern rock walls during the rough conditions. The snapper were expected to come in close to the rock walls including Hillarys Marina, North and South Mole and Woodman Point, but perhaps not in the numbers seen. Fishers reported periods where dozens of pink snapper were caught in the space of an hour with some of these fish coming in at close to 9kg.
Squid have also been coming from the rock walls during periods of calmer conditions. Herring have been turning up at Palm Beach Jetty and Woodman Point, especially when berley is introduced. Salmon have been caught from the beaches near Kwinana while mulloway are a chance along the new gutters and channels formed along the metropolitan coast.
Recfishwest Tip Of The Week
