Welcome to Recfishwest’s weekly fishing report, brought to you by Recfishwest’s fishing expert Joachim Azzopardi, Matt Cox for the latest in Kununurra 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

Kununurra Catches

Picture: Why not tick barramundi off your bucket list with Northbound Charters? Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it? Head to their website for more details.

Lower Ord River

The fishing in the Lower Ord River has been extremely consistent this year and the last couple of weeks were no exception. Fantastic numbers of fish have been getting caught on hard bodied lures generally flicking around the old tree stumps in the tidal area of the river. 10 fish per day has been a regular occurrence with some solid 80cm+ fish starting to show up.

Shore based

The Gibb River road isn’t in great condition but those who have braved the corrugations have been rewarded with some good fishing from the banks of the Pentecost. Poppers and fizzers have been working great along the drop offs.

Broome Catches

Picture: Most of the sailfish this season have been smaller fish, but some determined fishers have been successful landing some decent sized sails.

Boats

Most of the sailfish encountered since this season’s batch arrived a few months’ ago have been small fish suited for 10kg gear. Broome Tackle World’s Steve Chambers and his two sons managed to tease up and catch one of the bigger sailfish of the season during a recent session. The trio also picked up some solid spanish mackerel, which have also started to be caught more frequently. Reef fishing remains productive through the 20m to 30m depths where catches of blue lined emperor, saddletail seaperch and chinaman cod have been common. The inshore waters of Roebuck Bay are fishing reasonably well for bluenose salmon, mulloway and the occasional threadfin.

Shore based

Barramundi of varying sizes have been caught in the lower and middle reaches of the Fitzroy River as well as a few of the local creeks. Mixes of reef fish including bluebone, coral trout and emperor species have been picked up from at Gantheaume. Trevally, yellowfin bream and whiting are among the species being caught from along Town Beach.

Exmouth Catches

Picture: Fishers have been doing well on golden trevally using soft plastics (Photo courtesy of Adam Jolly).

Boats

Big schools of baitfish have arrived in the gulf a month earlier than normal and their presence has already brought about an assortment of predators including sailfish, spanish mackerel, tuna and cobia. Billfish enthusiasts working the waters north of town have been doing well on sailfish, black and blue marlin. Sails and blacks have been encountered in as shallow as 30m of water near the Muiron Islands recently. Brothers Paul and Greg Mather have been doing well on golden trevally using soft plastics.

Shore based

The marina has been offering a range of species including yellowfin bream, small giant trevally, queenfish, estuary cod and squid. Lightly weighed squid baits have been working well on spangled emperor and bluebone near the lighthouse. Oysters is worth a try late afternoon and evening for big giant herring. There are some nice mud crabs being caught in the lower areas of the gulf.

Esperance Catches

Picture: Samson fish and other species have been common near the islands and beyond (Photo courtesy of @pjfishingwa).

Boats

Dinghy and small boat fishers continue to do well on whiting and squid in close. Catches of nannygai, breaksea cod, queen snapper and samson fish have been common near the islands and beyond. Schools of southern bluefin tuna should start to pass through local waters in the coming weeks.

Shore based

Mostly small herring, a few garfish and squid have been coming from the Taylor Street Jetty. Bandy Creek Boat Harbour has been producing a few King George whiting but many have been undersize. The black bream in the Bream Lakes have been fussy and finicky, but there were a few fish to 40cm caught recently. Salmon are scattered right along the coast with Salmon Beach, Fourth Beach, Nine Mile, Fourteen Mile, Dunns, Alexander Bay and Duke of Orleans Bay among the spots to produce 3kg to 7kg salmon this past week. Gummy sharks, small mulloway, skippy and herring were also picked up at Alexander Bay.

Albany Catches

Picture: Fishing from the beach in Albany can be very rewarding, with fishers catching salmon, herring and other species this week. Remember to keep the sand between your toes and stay off the rocks.

Boats

The better catches of King George seem to be coming from waters near Gull Rock, Michaelmas and Breaksea islands, Goode Beach, and Limestones. Squid are about and are being picked up in better numbers in the cleaner waters. Most of the rivers are fishing fairly well for black bream for those using baits. Hard-bodied lures have struggled to entice strikes, however there are a few soft plastics and even vibe-style lures that are getting good results.

Shore based

Surf fishers have continued to catch fair numbers of salmon along the local beaches as well as the coastal stretches east and west of town. The beach at Salmon Holes and Shelleys were among the better performing spots for salmon this past week. Herring have been plentiful right along the coast with the more remote spots producing better catches of bigger fish. King George whiting and good size skippy have been coming from the beaches east of town. Tarwhine remain in excellent numbers near Denmark. Wilsons Inlet has been producing a few pink snapper and expect the nearby rock platforms to produce a few pinks shortly after the sandbar opens.

Kalbarri Catches

Picture: Check out this gold-spot trevally caught by Rob on Murchison Fishing Charters (Photo courtesy of Lauire Malton).

Boats

When the boats have been able to head out, the crews have been finding areas north and south of the river mouth where spanish mackerel are about in healthy numbers. Mack and yellowfin tuna schools have been scarce, but expect both species to start showing in better numbers as the remaining weeks of winter pass. Soft plastic and metal jigs worked near the cliffs have been producing mixed catches of pink snapper, baldchin groper and coral trout.

Shore based

Several big mulloway were caught from Chinamans while smaller fish were regularly landed at the jetty. Tailor have been appearing some mornings and evenings at Red Bluff, Wittecarra and Siphons. Jakes would be worth trying for storm garfish and herring during the calm mornings following the recent spell of rough weather.

Geraldton Catches

Picture: Dave Barrett & Mily Barrow had a good little night time hunt for squid using the YAMASHITA EGI OH Q Live Aussie Limited! Orange Zebra (Photo courtesy of Squid Hunters Western Australia).

Boats

Dhufish and pink snapper have been coming from the African Reef and South West Bank areas whereas it has mostly been snapper and baldchin groper being caught from the lumps off Horrocks and Coronation. The western edge of Pensioners Bank would be worth trolling along for spanish mackerel and tuna following reports of mackerel and tuna being caught off Wagoe and Kalbarri during recent weeks. Cobia of various sizes have been turning up in a range of depths and areas.

Shore based

An estimated 20kg spanish mackerel was caught from the rock wall in front of the Sail Inn early last week. Small mulloway of less than 30cm being caught along the coast is an encouraging size for future local populations. Tailor are generally around in pretty good numbers in August each year, however, the recent conditions have not allowed many to compare this season to previous years. August and September are also the two months of the year when yellowfin, sand and school whiting are along the beaches in their biggest numbers. Skippy to 35cm and yellowtail scads have been picked up at the Batavia and Dongara marinas.

South West Catches

Picture: When the weather has allowed, a couple of boats snuck around the corner of Cape Naturaliste and found schools of yellowtail kingfish of varying sizes. (Photo courtesy of Michael Parker).

Boats

The crews who visited the Four Mile and Eight Mile reefs when the weather allowed caught pink snapper and skippy. A couple of boats that snuck around the corner of Cape Naturaliste found schools of samson fish and yellowtail kingfish of varying sizes. Squid catches are improving in Geographe Bay with numbers of the popular cephalopod expected to be at their peak during next month or so.

Shore based

There were a few pink snapper caught from shore even though the weather was a lot milder this past week. Spots, where the snapper were picked up, included Busselton Jetty, Monaghan’s Corner and Rocky Point. Juvenile salmon, most of which are undersize, are about Geographe Bay in numbers. Herring are also around, but it has been hard to get past the small salmon in some areas. The rocky headlands and the local jetties would be worth trying for squid during the calm mornings and evenings that are forecast for the next three days or so. The deep gutters formed along the west coast beaches would be worth soaking whole fish baits for mulloway, pink snapper and jumbo tailor.

Mandurah & Surrounds

Picture: The Dawesville Cut and the estuary are a great spot to troll for herring.

Mandurah

Anglers fishing the beaches both north and south of Mandurah report occasional catches of big tailor along with plenty of choppers. The beaches to the north were producing gummy sharks earlier in the week. They are also producing plenty of whiting, tarwhine and herring. Nobody has told the salmon that they are supposed to have moved back east as winter is now over, so there are still a few of them around, particularly along the southern beaches and smaller specimens have been reported in the Dawesville Cut. The Cut is still producing plenty of herring, King George whiting and a few whiting.

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

Safety Bay Yacht Club and Rockingham Beach Jetty have been producing herring and squid. There are a few herring along most of the beaches, but not in any great number. Squid are still being caught from the jetties as well as offshore. Palm Beach Jetty is producing a few herring and skippy and there are a lot of squid also in the area. Anglers braving the cold evenings and mornings have been catching a few mulloway from these structures.

Metro Catches

Picture: You won’t hear too many complaints when you’re catching fish like this before sunrise! (Photo courtesy of @fishingperth).

Boats

The boats that have been anchoring and burleying near Garden and Carnac islands as well as along the back of Three Mile Reef have been doing quite well on pink snapper. Dinghy and kayak fishers have also been getting among quite a few snapper close to the rock groynes within Cockburn Sound. Samson fish ranging from 10kg to 25kg have been found in relatively shallow waters off Fremantle, Hillarys and Mindarie. Dhufish are also being picked up in some shallow water at times. Squid are still in good numbers along the seagrass beds off Fremantle and out from Hillarys. The sand holes between Fremantle and Rottnest Island are worth trying for plump winter sand whiting.

Shore based

There were still a few pink snapper caught from the southern and northern rock walls notwithstanding the calmer conditions. Mulloway have also been caught from these areas as well as along the beaches north of Pipidinny. Herring are in good numbers right along the coast and there are some bigger skippy starting to show up at spots including Trigg Point, Grant Street Reef and South Mole. Surf fishers have been achieving their bag limits of tailor to 55cm at times along the metropolitan beaches. Unfortunately the precise location of where the better catches of tailor have been coming from was not disclosed, however, South Beach Groyne, Swanbourne Drain, Floreat Beach and Two Rocks are proven tailor spots.