Welcome to Recfishwest’s weekly fishing report, brought to you by Recfishwest’s fishing expert Joachim Azzopardi and thanks to John Curtis for his Mandurah & Surrounds report.

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: If you can find some clean bluewater offshore in Broome you can put yourself in with a shot with great eating pelagics like this cobia caught by Julia.

Boats

A 28kg Spanish mackerel was among plenty of smaller mackerel caught on trolled bibbed minnows and rigged garfish during the past week. Most of the mackerel have been caught in waters approximately 10 to 15 miles out. Sailfish and small black marlin continue to be caught off Barred Creek and out from James Price Point during the spring tides – a period not commonly associated with good billfish encounters. Expect even better catches of both billfish species during the next run of neaps. Reef fishing enthusiasts have been picking up fair catches of blue lined emperor, coral trout, cobia and saddletail seaperch within Roebuck Bay and wider.

Shore based

Big schools of baitfish within Roebuck Bay an at the mouths of the local creeks are attracting an assortment of predators including bluenose salmon, threadfin salmon, mulloway, queenfish and trevally. Barramundi between 55cm and 65cm and the odd fish to a metre have been caught in the upper reaches of the Fitzroy River. Mostly small barra have been coming from Roebuck Bay and Dampier Creek. There are still plenty of yellowfin whiting being caught along Cable Beach and Roebuck Bay.

Exmouth Catches

Picture: Fishers have been using squid to catch coral trout in 70m to 110m of water (Photo courtesy of Dylan Picken).

Boats

Daniel Charsley achieved a billfish grand slam comprising a blue marlin, a black marlin and a sailfish in the one day. Sisters Tara and Rowena Golding landed their first ever black marlin recently. Jake Fitz caught several pink snapper to 57cm on stick baits near the Muiron Islands. Jaimie Campbell and a few mates used squid to catch red emperor, saddletail seaperch, goldband jobfish and coral trout in 70m to 110m of water.

Shore based

Plenty of squid continue to be caught from Learmonth Jetty and the marina. There are loads of whiting along the gulf beaches. Spangled emperor and bluebone are occasionally being caught from the coast near the lighthouse. Try Old Bundegi during the low tide change for queenfish, trevally and giant herring.

Esperance Catches

Picture: An amazing photo of mature King George, not often do you get the opportunity to capture a shot like this!

Boats

Dinghy and small boat fishers have been doing well on King George whiting, sand whiting, flathead and squid within a few hundred metres of the coast. When the bigger boats have managed to head to the islands, and beyond, fair catches of nannygai to 2.5kg, breaksea cod, samson fish and queen snapper have been achieved.

Shore based

Garfish have been caught in bigger numbers at the Taylor Street Jetty, which is also fishing reasonably well for small herring and skippy. Pilch, or yellow-eyed mullet, have started to be caught at the Bandy Creek Boat Harbour together with undersize pink snapper, herring and black bream. Salmon have been caught at Salmon Beach, Fourth Beach, Roses, Fourteen Mile and Munglinup. The lagoon at Ten Mile Beach has been producing lots of flathead as well as salmon. Eleven Mile Beach has also been fishing well for salmon as well skippy to a kilo. Small mulloway, skippy and salmon were among the species caught at Dunns.

Albany Catches

Picture: The rivers that are yet to open to the ocean are very tannin coloured, but still fishing reasonably well for black bream on baits and brightly coloured soft plastics.(Photo courtesy of @fisho_brad).

Boats

The King George Sound and both harbours are rather discoloured following the recent rain and consequently the King George whiting require some searching in these waters. Squid catches have been better in the cleaner waters off Goode Beach and near Gull Rock. Very few made it out to the coral this past week, however expect the usual mix of reef fish including red, pink and queen snapper and breaksea cod to be fair numbers. The rivers that are yet to open to the ocean are very tannin coloured, but still fishing reasonably well for black bream on baits and brightly coloured soft plastics. Mulloway have been very quiet for the past three or four weeks.

Shore based

Opportunities to wet a line were limited for shore-based and offshore fishers due to the big swells and strong winds. A few intrepid fishers who set out to search for salmon following reports of 4kg to 6kg fish turning up along the coast in numbers managed to find schools of fish. Spots where the salmon were found this past week included Little Beach, Goode Beach, Frenchmans, Shelleys and Cosy Corner. Bigger schools have been regularly appearing along Bremer Bay while Bluff Creek and Cheynes Beach have also had some decent size schools at times. One fisher who visited the somewhat protected reef and rock areas near Denmark could not believe the number of tarwhine around. Some Denmark locals have labelled the abundance of tarwhine around the local beaches as the silver plague.

Fishers & Farmers to Work on Enhancing Fish & Marron Habitat in Albany

On the 26th of August, recreational fishers will be encouraged to take part in a planting day on the King River, Albany. The event will be the last component of the current Fish Friendly Farms project in Albany, and will involve planting native vegetation along the river banks on two private properties.

If you would like to be involved, or for more information, click here.

Kalbarri Catches

Picture: Baldy on the Halco Tackle Madeye 8″ Flick Stick in the irresistible pearl colour! (Photo courtesy of Curtis Waterman).

Boats

Before the rough weather set in there were Spanish mackerel being caught on trolled bibbed minnows. It may take some time for the water clarity to improve before similar numbers of mackerel are seen off the coast again. Reef fishing has generally been pretty good following the blows with lots of pink snapper, baldchin groper and the odd coral trout being caught from the 10m to 15m depths out from the cliffs and the same species as well as red emperor and dhufish coming from the ground between the 30m and 40m contour northwest of the river mouth.

Shore based

Big swells limited the amount of fishing performed along the beaches, however there were a few tailor caught at Red Bluff, Wittecarra and Chinamans. Storm garfish have reappeared at Jakes Bay and Red Bluff following the rough weather. There have been a few school-size and bigger mulloway coming from Oyster Reef and Frustrations. The beaches north of Frustrations would also be worth a try for mulloway and pink snapper. Pink snapper and baldchin groper have been picked up from the coastal gorges. Kalbarri Sports and Dive’s Wayne Dewar has been doing well on black bream to 35cm on bait in the upper reaches of the Murchison River. The lower reaches of the system are starting to produce more yellowfin whiting.

Geraldton Catches

Picture: Is there a better sound in the world than a screaming reel after a mackie chases down your lure?

Boats

Pink snapper mostly between 5kg and 7kg have been caught in fair numbers along the lumps 15 miles to 20 miles out north and south of the marina. Baldchin groper and sweetlip were also caught among the snapper, however dhufish have been difficult to find. The odd spaniard has been turning up for those trolling lures out around the Abrolhos. The seagrass beds inside the inshore reefs are still producing good squid catches for the dinghies and small boats.

Shore based

Good numbers of whiting have been caught from the sand areas between the seaweed piles at Southgates and Separation Point as well as behind The Lives. A few school-size mulloway have been landed at West Bank, however the weed there has been bad. During the rough weather, pink snapper between 3kg and 4kg have been caught from the rock walls of the harbour. There were also tailor to 75cm caught together with the snapper. Squid have been caught under the lights of the Batavia Marina in the evenings. Tailor are generally about in fair numbers during this time of the season, however fishers may need to wait for conditions to settle before targeting the popular surf species.

South West Catches

Picture: There are still a few skippy, tarwhine and tailor being caught at Bunker Bay when conditions have been suitable.

Boats

The west coast has been off limits for several days due to the huge seas and swells. The winds have also been whipping up some big seas in Geographe Bay for most part of the last week. Pink snapper have been caught in fair numbers near the Four Mile and Eight Mile. Once again, the anchor and burley method has proved to be very effective in bringing the 4kg to 9kg snapper to the boat. Squid fishing is generally good from mid August to early October and expect there to be plenty of action along the seagrass beds off Quindalup once the water clarity improves.

Shore based

Pink snapper have continued to be caught from Monaghan’s Corner, Busselton Jetty and a couple of other undisclosed shore-based Geographe Bay spots during the recent stormy weather. Squid are starting to be caught in bigger numbers from the jetties and rocky headlands located within Geographe Bay. Herring remain in excellent numbers and there are still a few skippy, tarwhine and tailor being caught at Bunker Bay and Castle Rock when conditions have been suitable.

Mandurah & Surrounds

Picture: The estuary has been producing skippy and an occasional small samson fish (Photo courtesy of Tony Tropiano).

Mandurah

It’s been mainly just herring and whiting in the Dawesville Cut along with a few tailor earlier in the week. Many of the herring have been quite large with several fish up around the 30 cm mark. Also included in the catches have been skippy and King George whiting. Tailor have been turning up at dawn and dusk at either end of the channel. Almost all of the beaches around Mandurah have been producing fish. Most of the fish have been the smaller varieties such as herring, whiting and pilch. Anglers at White Hills through to Tim’s Thicket report good tailor early morning and late afternoon with fish up to just over the kilo mark not uncommon. The estuary has been producing skippy and an occasional small samson fish. Crabs are spasmodic and are widely scattered in the estuary. The beaches to the north have started to turn it on with tailor and whiting being caught at places like Madora Bay, Silver Sands and San Remo.

Secret Harbour/ Port Kennedy/ Warnbro/ Rockingham/ Safety Bay

Warnbro Sound has been producing some good catches with some very big sand whiting, skippy, tarwhine and some good snapper. There are still plenty of squid being taken in and around Warnbro Sound. Point Peron has been producing tarwhine, herring and some nice sized tailor. Snapper are being taken around Carnac Island. Most spots around Rockingham are producing the usual run of herring, pilch, whiting and skippy.

Metro Catches

Picture: There are still sambos around the metro area. If you can manage to get out on the water in between the showers and storms, you may find some in the sun out near Rottnest.(Photo courtesy of Alanna Hubbard).

Boats

Kayak and boat fishers who hugged the rock walls within Cockburn Sound did well on pink snapper. Very few managed to head out beyond the protected waters due to the rough conditions, which persisted for most part of the week. Once the water clarity improves, expect there to still be plenty of squid along the seagrass beds off Fremantle and within Cockburn and Warnbro Sound.

Shore based

Pink snapper continued to be caught from the northern and southern rock walls during this past week of big seas and swells. Several snapper ranging from 55cm to 80cm were caught from Hillarys and Mindarie Marina rock walls. Several salmon and the odd jumbo tailor were also caught at both spots. Other spots where snapper were caught included Woodman Point and Coogee Marina. There are still a few salmon turning up at the Kwinana beaches while the deep gutters formed at Golden Bay and San Remo, following the recent storms, would be worth trying for mulloway.