Welcome to Recfishwest’s weekly fishing report, brought to you by Recfishwest’s fishing expert Joachim Azzopardi, Stewart King for all things freshwater fishing, 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!

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Kalbarri Catches

Picture: Coral trout have been responding well to soft plastic and metal jigs along the 10m to 15m depths out from the southern cliffs.

Boats

Reef fishing enthusiasts have been doing well on dhufish in 20m to 40m of water northwest and southwest of the river mouth. Pink snapper, coral trout and baldchin groper have been responding well to soft plastic and metal jigs along the 10m to 15m depths out from the southern cliffs. Spanish mackerel have been scarce, however bigger numbers of yellowfin and longtail tuna seem to be around.

Shore based

Kalbarri Sports and Dive’s Wayne Dewar landed 10 mulloway between 60cm and 80cm, of which eight were released, near Lucky Bay during one recent evening. During the day, he caught dart, and trevally from the gutter he pulled the mulloway from. More mulloway have been coming Chinamans, Frustrations and Wittecarra Creek. Small numbers of big tailor are evident along the local beaches. Kalbarri Land Based Fishing Tour’s Rob Tang has been putting his clients onto mulloway to 20kg and pink snapper north of the river mouth. Some nice pink snapper have also been landed at the cliffs recently. Plenty of black bream between 28cm and 36cm are being caught in the lower and middle reaches of the Murchison River. Estuary cod are thought to be responsible for several bust offs near the jetties and pens.

Geraldton Catches

Picture: Baldies are being found in approximately 35m of water west and southwest of the marina (Photo courtesy of Brody Ogle).

Boats

Swarms of big sweetlip, fish to 50cm, are being found in approximately 35m of water west and southwest of the marina together with pink snapper and baldchin groper. The sweetlip seem to get bigger the farther south and wider the boats have been travelling. Dhufish were also caught this past week, however, there was no single area or depth that produced the catches.

Shore based

A customer of Geraldton Sports has been using 9.5cm Duo Beach Walkers in the pilchard pattern and 30g Twisties to catch big tailor along the western coast of the Abrolhos Island’s Southern Group. He also managed to catch a 6kg coral trout using this same method. Surf fishing has improved with Flat Rocks and Lucys producing tailor between 35cm to 60cm most mornings and evenings as well as mulloway to a metre. The occasional mulloway has been landed at Southgates while choppers have been coming from the harbour rock walls. Big herring, yellowfin whiting between 25cm and 35cm and choppers to 35cm are common at the bay at Drummonds.

South West Catches

Picture: Blue swimmer crabs are starting to be caught in better numbers by the drop netters in the last week.

Boats

Reef fishing enthusiasts have been picking fair catches of dhufish, breaksea cod and pink snapper in depths starting at 30m off Hamelin Bay, Canal Rocks and wide of Cape Naturaliste. More pink snapper have also been coming from the Four Mile and Eight Mile reef systems together with skippy and the odd samson fish. Squid catches should improve again along the seagrass beds off Quindalup once the water clarity in Geographe Bay increases. Blue swimmer crabs are starting to be caught in better numbers by the drop netters.

Shore based

Early morning lure spinners have been picking up some nice tailor to 60cm and the odd bigger fish at Injidup and Mitchells. Tailor efforts have mostly been concentrated at these two spots, however, it would not be surprising if the northern end of Boranup Beach, the Contos area and Honeycombs are also fishing well for the popular surf species. Herring and skippy have been responding well to burley and a variety of baits along both sides of the cape.

South West Freshwater Catches

Picture: Now is the time to go fish for trout, with reports coming out that several waterways are fishing well.

Fishing the South West waters for trout at the moment can be rewarding as several waterways seem to be fishing well. Harvey, Logue Brook, Drakesbrook and the Collie Gorge are amongst the closest to Perth that are producing good fish.

Further afield the Lefroy and the Warren in and around the Pemberton area have good water levels and are producing some fine perch as well as trout. On these rivers, both the fly fishing and the spinning fraternities are having success with small flies and small bladed spinners respectively. As the weather warms up snakes will become more active, many have already been seen along the waterways so please keep an eye out and enjoy your fishing!

Mandurah & Surrounds

Picture: The beaches between Tim’s Thicket and Preston have been producing some tailor (Photo courtesy of @jakesfishstagram).

Bream anglers fishing the Murray and Serpentine rivers continue to catch, and often release, good numbers of black bream. Beach anglers fishing the beaches between Tim’s Thicket and Preston have been catching herring and some tailor and there have been reports of a few small mulloway up to 50cm. The bigger fish are yet to turn up regularly, but it is only a matter of time.

The Cut is still producing good fishing. Herring are still the main catch but bags have also included a few tailor, sand whiting, King George whiting and an occasional big skippy. Around the river mouth, you can catch a mixed bag of tarwhine, herring and whiting. Good catches of herring, sand whiting and skippy are being taken from the local jetties.

Metro Catches

Picture: Dhufish have been found in the relatively shallow depths of 30m off Rockingham, Fremantle, Hillarys and Two Rocks (Photo courtesy of Andrew Gilbert).

Boats

Deep dropping fanatics brought up blue eye trevalla and bass groper from depths greater than 300m when the weather allowed them to venture this far out in their equipped crafts. Dhufish have been found in the relatively shallow depths of 30m off Rockingham, Fremantle, Hillarys and Two Rocks. Pink snapper are still being gathered near Garden Island, Rottnest Island and along the western edge of Three Mile Reef with the assistance of burley. Samson fish between 15kg and 30kg have been caught on jigs and baits at The Barges located between 90m and 100m west and west-southwest of Rottnest. Squid catches have decreased along the seagrass meadows off Fremantle and within Cockburn Sound.

Shore based

Early morning lure spinners at Grant Street, Swanbourne and the northern reefs between Mindarie and Yanchep have been picking up some nice tailor to 60cm. Tailor have been coming from similar areas in the evening together with a few herring, tarwhine and the odd mulloway. Chopper tailor are in the lower reaches of the Swan River in numbers. Flathead are starting to appear along the shallower areas located at Chidley Point, Point Walter and Applecross. The deeper parts of the river near The Narrows, Mosman Bay and Blackwall Reach are worth trying for mulloway.