Albany Catches
Picture: Pilch (yelloweye mullet) on vibe, who would have thought?
King George whiting enthusiasts who have been working the inshore waters of King George Sound, Oyster Harbour and Princess Royal Harbour have been catching fish mostly in the very respectable 34 to 38cm range. A customer of Albany Rods and Tackle caught his bag limit of King George together with a few sand whiting, skippy and squid while fishing these waters last week. Those who managed to find a break in the rough weather and headed to the 60 to 90m contours picked up fair catches of red, queen and pink snapper as well breaksea cod, samson fish and small dhufish. Big schools of salmon have been appearing at Bluff Creek. Salmon were also reportedly caught at Shelleys, Lowlands, Sand Patch and Cables during the past fortnight.
Heaps of herring, some nice tarwhine and skippy of mixed sizes have also been coming from along the beaches. Samson fish have been showing at the Emu Point channel very briefly at the turn of the tide. A few squid have also been caught from Emu Point as well as at the marina. Black bream enthusiasts have been enjoying some entertaining sessions with hard-bodied and soft plastic lures at the Palinup and Bremer. The bream in the King and Kalgan are rarely being caught on anything other than baits while the water remains very discoloured. A local bream master landed a superb 50cm specimen at Wilson Inlet recently.
Esperance Catches
Picture: Did you know the much appreciated table fish breaksea cod can grow up to 55cm, up to 3kg and live to 19 years of age! (Photo courtesy of @cowan_wise)
Small boat and dinghy fishers have been doing well on squid and sand whiting in the bay while the bigger crafts that made it out to the islands, and beyond, have been picking up decent hauls of nannygai, queen snapper, pink snapper, breaksea cod and samson fish. Herring, garfish, skippy and squid have been coming from the Taylor Street Jetty while Bandy Creek Boar Harbour has mostly been producing herring and the odd King George whiting.
Salmon continue to turn up in schools of a dozen or so fish along the local beaches including Salmon Beach, Fourth Beach and Fourteen Mile while bigger schools have been occasionally turning up at Roses Beach. Stockyards and Fourteen Mile are worth a look after skippy and heaps of herring were being caught there recently.
