Fishing Lure

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Recfishwest
Fishing Report

05/04/24

The definition of a perfect spot to wet a line for salmon along the south coast. A deep gutter with white wash like this usually holds good fish and the @thetidaltale crew have been taking more top-quality snaps along our pristine southern coastline. Give their page a follow!

Our contributors

Sam Bock

Sam Russell

Jarrad Lawford

Sedin Hasanovic

Great to see a lot of you back out on the water having a great time with friends and family chasing demersals over the Easter long weekend! Enjoy yourselves and stay safe out on the water while the season is open until the end of July.

Want to know the best tips for taking great fish photos and also on how to handle fish out of the water? We've got you covered with our r esponsible fish handling and photography tips page. The page gives a perfect explanation on the types of images we love to use in our weekly Fishing Report and why.

If you've got a cracking fish photo you want to send in, remember to keep sending us your catches by tagging #recfishwest in your online posts! You can also follow and private message your catches to our Instagram page @recfishwest and make sure you let us know where and how you caught it!

Keep up to date with events, clinics, news and amazing catches across WA by following our Instagram page @recfishwest and give our Recfishwest Facebook page a like!

For your photos to appear in the weekly fishing report, please make sure they reflect our responsible fish handling practices (so fish held horizontally, no blood, hand under the belly, no fingers in gills, etc), just like the images below.

If you're planning to head out this week, stay safe, take plenty of photos and have fun!

William Bennett

RECFISHWEST FISHING REPORT WRITER

Pic of the Week!

There were some very nice fish plucked from the depths off Perth this week, this solid blue eye trevalla turned up for @jspencer_fishing out wide along with plenty of other great species. This fish is right up there on the chew!

Your fishing photos

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Broome catches

@barrawhisperer finally ducked out and hit up a skinny creek close to Kununurra where he was unfortunately smoked by at least three big barra's that were over the metre mark, before finding a few smaller barra and this lovely threadfin. He's got some fantastic videos of his great day out so make sure you check out his page!

Boats

Threadfin salmon ranging from 60cm to a metre have been caught in Crab Creek, with live baits and prawns working well on them along with Nomad Vertrex Swim vibes. Small barramundi have also been in Crab Creek, while in Dampier Creek threadfin catches have been down but better barramundi have been landed there. The back end of Dampier Creek held plenty of mangrove jack up to 50cm. The Fingers also started to produce the odd threadfin and barramundi, while mud crabs have also been turning up in good sizes and numbers. Good mud crab and threadfin catches have also been reported from Thangoo. In Roebuck Bay, rubbly ground around the 16m depth mark south of the Port Jetty channel has offered good numbers of bluebone to 60cm, while the moorings in Roebuck Back again fished well for tripletail which have been taking soft plastic lures and prawn baits. The wind and swell are quite undulating over the coming days but it looks like Saturday and Sunday evening should hold the better weather windows. Expect strong easterlies in the mornings until at least Wednesday.

Shore-based

Town Beach Jetty produced its usual fare of bream, javelinfish, small trevally and queenfish and the Port Jetty offered bigger queenfish, giant trevally, barramundi at night around the pylons and bluebone, which have shown a liking for crab baits. Low tides have allowed for good fishing at Entrance Point with the left side of the reef producing bluebone and trevally and queenfish on the right side near the red marker. Creek access became more difficult on foot this week, but Barred and Willie Creek have yielded bream and mangrove jack. Reports of small barramundi have come from Willie Creek in good numbers. Town Beach and the mouth of Barred Creek fished nicely for whiting, as did the sandy stretches between the rocky shoreline on the way to Crab Creek. Plenty of heavy handlines have been sold in town recently to tackle threadfin salmon which have started to school up at 80-Mile Beach and Bidyadanga. In the Fitzroy River strong flows have made barramundi fishing difficult but patches of still water have produced good numbers of cherabin.

Big thanks to the crew from Tackle World Broome for their tips! Make sure you pay them a visit for the best gear and advice for your next fishing trip.

Exmouth catches

Another Pilbara shout out this week. Raelene Leatham sent in some great snaps of the boys who punched up to Onslow from Kalbarri for a fish, with a bunch of coral trout and cod thrown into the mix along with this double up of queenfish. Hope it was a great trip fellas!

Boats

With the town teeming with holidaymakers the west side has offered excellent fishing. Black marlin in the 60kg range have been caught in as close as 60m depths and out at the FADs dolphinfish have been plentiful. In 120-200m depths bottom fishers have done well on goldband, ruby snapper and jobfish. The inshore reefs on the western side have fished well for Spanish mackerel, mostly in the 5-8kg range, with trolled hard-bodied lures or quickly retrieved metals getting the job done. The 5-10m depths have been producing bluebone, cod and blue-lined emperor. The Muirons have been heavily targeted and coral trout catches there have waned, but golden and giant trevally, spangled emperor and queenfish have filled the void. Spanish mackerel and school mackerel have also been caught. In the Gulf the water has been pretty murky and not a lot has been happening. A few school mackerel were caught on the Shoals, while King Reef has offered spangled emperor, blue-lined emperor, bluebone and crimson snapper. At the bottom of the Gulf queenfish have been active. Expect some glassy conditions out on the boat over the coming days with low winds and warm days forecast but Saturday should be flatter than Sunday. The swell will hang around 1.4-1.8m between Sunday and Tuesday.

Shore-based

Exmouth is the mecca for land-based Spangos and this 63cm beauty was landed by @rhys__bulloch during some pristine conditions earlier this week.

Spangled emperor have continued to dominate land-based catches from Bundegi right around the Cape to Tantabiddi, with squid baits accounting for plenty of fish. Down at Learmonth mangrove jack and queenfish have been in good numbers, while the flats further down produced good whiting. Bundegi has been very busy and held heaps of baitfish, which have attracted small trevally, queenfish and the odd school mackerel. The marina has been reliable for cod, bream, small trevally and queenfish, along with the odd bluebone from the outer walls. Despite the poor water clarity squid have been caught in reasonable numbers from the outer rock walls and also from the rocks at the industrial estate. No reports have come from Wapet Creek, but it currently has plenty of water in it and can be a good option for bream, small trevally, mangrove jack and mud crabs. Up towards the Mildura Wreck and the Lighthouse spangled emperor catches have been boosted by queenfish and bluebone, while bream and mangrove jack have been swimming with the spangos at Tantabiddi. After the immaculate conditions this morning, Saturday is also looking like a very flat day on the water and it should be ideal no matter where you decide to wet a line off the coast.

These great tips were courtesy of the friendly team at Tackle World Exmouth. Swing by their store for the best advice and gear ahead of your next trip!

Kalbarri catches

Both @paris_sienna_ and @angus_line found some bigggg old tailor on fly out in our Mid-West this week. These guys only just returned from a fly fishing trip out to the Cocos Islands and there were plenty of stunning fish caught there too. Make sure you give both their pages a follow (especially if you want to feel like your fly fishing skills will never be adequate enough).

Boats

Tuna have been caught in reasonable numbers on both sides of town and before the swells picked up earlier in the week good catches of Spanish mackerel were reported down at Lucky Bay. Bottom fishing has been excellent with plenty of pink snapper and baldchin groper coming over the side. The better spots have been Three-Mile Reef, Baldface and the Sand Patch. Closer in along the cliffs good dhufish have been landed on jigs, along with 50-60cm pink snapper. Set your alarms early and aim to get out before sunrise if you wish to duck out in the boat this weekend as both mornings should be very calm with a 1.0-1.2m swell. The sea breeze will spike around 9:30am.

Shore-based

Mulloway were active in the Murchison River and around the river mouth. Most fish have been either side of a metre, but a few monster fish in the 15-18kg range have been landed. Better spots in the river have been the Sand Spit and the marina jetties. Strip mullet, mulies and scalies have reportedly been the best baits. Quad bikers with access to beaches on the north side of the river have also landed solid mulloway along with decent tailor. More big tailor have also been caught at Siphon Beach and Back Beach, mainly on poppers. Wittecarra and Red Bluff have held plenty of herring and chopper tailor, while Red Bluff produced a mulloway over a metre earlier this week. With the swells easing Spanish mackerel action is expected to pick up at Lucky Bay and Wagoe. Back to the river, the Sand Spit has produced cod and chopper tailor along with lots of yellowfin whiting, while cod and tailor have been active at the marina jetty. Bream have been in good numbers from the marina jetty up stream. Big mud crabs have also been caught from the jetty and further up river. Both mornings this weekend look great for the land-based fishos on the forecast, with Monday through to Wednesday expecting stronger easterly winds if you're thinking of ballooning.

Shout out to Dean from Kalbarri Sports and Dive for his tips! Feel free to venture into his store to ask for advice if you're wetting a line around Kalbarri!

Geraldton catches

Esperance local Tyson 'TNT' Tietjens @tnttietjens has been hitting up the Mid-West coast recently and put in the hard yards to find some silver slabs lurking off the beaches. It's been a rather productive few weeks or so for big mulloway in the gutters so now is a good time to start soaking baits.

Boats

There was a mixed range of catches over Easter with some crews doing very well and others having to work hard. Good catches came from a wide area ranging from Coronation down to African Reef and out towards the Abrolhos Islands. Some crews did very well on dhufish and most got pink snapper, although the snapper sizes were nothing special. Excellent coral trout in the 60-70cm range were caught in close and baldchin groper in a range of sizes were a common catch. A confirmed 30kg Spanish mackerel was landed by a secretive angler who would not disclose which side of town he was fishing, but it does pay to have lures out the back whenever you're moving around. While the southerly winds are light to moderate across both mornings this weekend, Saturday looks best at this stage for the boats with 8-9 knot winds and a 1.3m swell currently forecast.

Shore-based

Minimal reports came from shore fishers this week (likely because everyone was excited to punch out in the boats given the demersal season received the green light). There were a few tailor landed in a long session at Drummond Cove, so it’s a case of doing some exploring. The Batavia Coast Marina can offer family-friendly fishing and often holds a few squid, herring and whiting. The Greenough River mouth is usually reliable for a few tailor and if free of weed, Southgates can produce chopper tailor and whiting. Separation Point is another sheltered spot for whiting chasers while the rock walls in town usually offer chopper tailor, herring, whiting and sometimes cod and flathead. It's not looking too bad on the forecast this weekend for land-based fishing, both mornings this weekend are expecting light southerlies and around 1.3m swells but Monday morning should hold moderate easterlies with a 2m swell.

Thanks to the team at Geraldton Sports Centre for their tips! They will happily provide you with great gear and the solid advice for your next fishing trip.

Lancelin catches

Eric enjoyed a fish with Peter Fullarton this week and the tailor were on the bite all throughout the morning, with this healthy specimen landed on a popper and his pal Jim in the background also managing to find some solid 60cm+ brutes.

Boats

Offshore fishers have been finding the deeper waters the most productive for demersal species, with the 45-80m depths tending to be the sweet spot. The shallow grounds inside the White Bank in around the 10-15m depths have produced pink snapper for the fishers who get out at dawn and set up a burley trail. Tuna and bonito were also active inside the White Bank with plenty of fish spotted busting up on schools of baitfish. The bay was providing an abundance of species for small boats and kayaks this week with tailor, tarwhine, skippy, flathead, snook, pink snapper and an abundance of good size herring and squid all doing the rounds. The weather is looking fantastic on the forecast this weekend for the boats, make the most of it until it turns choppy from about 4:30pm on Sunday afternoon!

Shore-based

Tailor have been red hot, with one of the better spells we have seen for some years along the Guilderton to Wedge Island coast. The tailor have been landed pretty much on every cast at dawn or dusk, even firing at times during the middle of the day, so it’s a great time to get out and cast a few lures to the schools. The jetty has been a popular platform to land a few tailor at dusk and herring well into the night. Drone fishers have been getting onto some stonker pink snapper this week, with a few good snapper also caught on the cast. Visitors should take care traveling the beaches at Wilbinga and north of Lancelin with some steep eroded beaches, so don't risk it and move around these sections by going back and driving up into the dunes and around it instead. You're in luck if you want to have a land-based fish this weekend but expect it to be very flat on the water. Tailor tend to prefer a little bit of chop, so if you're targeting them over this weekend off the beach, Sunday morning looks preferable.

A big Recfishwest thanks to Peter Fullarton for his tips on what's biting around Lancelin each week! If you want Peter to put you on to the fish directly, make sure you check out his Tailored Treks Tours page. Always a great time and Peter knows the best spots around Lancelin like the back of his hand.

Esperance catches

@jesse.smithson not only managed to find the yellowtail kingfish, which were going nuts for the Roven jig from @oceans_legacy, but his PB for a skippy also got obliterated with a 7kg beast coming over the side.

Boats

Humlaria Reef fished well for big Samsonfish, while excellent nannygai catches have come from Figure of Eight Island and Leg of Lamb. Breaksea cod to 3kg have hit the deck at Giants Rocks, while queen snapper to 7kg and decent harlequin fish have been caught at Sunk Rocks. Gummy sharks with nannygai mixed in have been the main fare at Hope Island. Between Lion Island and Wylie Bay, sand whiting and big flathead have been caught, while Esperance Bay offered bumper squid, some with 40cm hoods, and plenty of herring and snook. Some nice King George whiting have been caught on broken ground around the port. There is a 1.4m swell combined with a decreasing and light northerly wind on Saturday morning which means the mainland should provide some nice shelter if you wish to duck out in the boat before 11:00am. Sunday morning until about 9:00am doesn't look too shabby either.

Shore-based

It's clear from the crowd of 300+ people that a lot of Esperance locals are worried about where some of the Government's proposed no-fishing sanctuary zones have been earmarked for the South Coast Marine Parks. This snap was taken on Wednesday of Fisheries Minister Don Punch addressing the crowd. It's crucial that your submission is thorough, so if you need help with completing this before June 16, check out our tips on making a submission here. The more submissions the better, so make sure you chat to your friends and family about it!

Despite the poor tides there have been good numbers of metre-plus mulloway landed near Israelite Bay and gummy sharks and salmon have been caught at Poison Creek. Salmon hotspots this week included Rossiters, Hellfire Bay and Lucky Bay, while big schools were also encountered at Fourth Beach and 14-Mile Beach. Another salmon hotspot has been Roses Beach. The Town Jetty has been going gang busters for big squid and there has been plenty of them around. King George whiting sizes are down at Bandy Creek Boat Harbour but their numbers have been fantastic along with good skippy. The Taylor Street rock wall has offered plenty of big herring, while Blue Haven Beach was a cracking spot for big sand whiting. Bream to 42cm have been smashing a variety of lures at Wheatfields Lake. The northerly wind expected on Saturday morning should help you if you wish to have a flick off the beaches this weekend.

Hats off to the very knowledgeable team at Southern Sports & Tackle for their tips! These guys love their fishing as well, so make sure you swing by their store for the best gear and advice before wetting a line around Esperance.

Great Southern catches

Ben from @northern_addicts ventured down to Augusta to do what he loves, prowling the beaches for salmon with an array of lures in his backpack. All along the south coast has been red hot for these hard-fighting pelagics and the action should only get better.

Boats

Conditions were excellent over the Easter break with good catches of pink snapper, harlequin fish, queen snapper and breaksea cod coming from the coral ground. Closer in around the islands boaties on the troll have landed salmon, tuna and Samsonfish, while off Cheynes there were good skippy, salmon, breaksea cod, pink snapper and Samsonfish landed. Out from Bremer Bay, pink snapper, dhufish and breaksea cod have been the main catches. Squid catches have improved in King George Sound, which has also offered reasonable King George whiting, loads of herring and plenty of chunky skippy. While most of today was quite glamorous out on the water with low northerly and easterly winds with a 1.5m swell, the roaring easterlies will return from Saturday right through until at least Wednesday with a 2m swell which will make it rough.

The Southern Ocean Spectacular kicks off next weekend on 13 April and this is a very popular competition loved by the locals. Make sure you download the TrackMyFish App (click here to download on the App Store or if you have a Samsung phone, click here to download on Google Play) before the competition starts! Event details should appear on the Albany Boating & Fishing Club Facebook Page!

Shore-based

Salmon season is in full swing but being a migratory fish, the same locations can’t be relied on for a feed every day. But the good news is the regular hotspots, including Lowlands, Nanarup, Cheynes, Sand Patch and Shelley Beach have provided good catches of herring and skippy when the salmon haven’t shown up and it’s been rare for any of these spots not to produce salmon two days in a row. For lure casters the 70g Ocean Legacy Slingshot has been brilliant on the salmon when they are about, while other successful lures have been Surecatch Knights and the larger Halco Twistys. At Cheynes Beach a couple of big Samsonfish have been caught. Big salmon have also been landed at Windy Harbour and Cosy Corner. The non-surf beaches around town have mainly offered juvenile salmon but there have been plenty of herring, King George whiting and skippy keeping them company. Big skippy have been landed at the town marina which also fished well for herring and squid. Herring have also been plentiful in Frenchman Bay and Whalers Cove. Emu Point has held decent squid, whiting, herring, skippy and juvenile salmon. Bream fishing has picked up nicely in the King and Kalgan rivers and small mulloway have also been landed in both systems. In the Wilson Inlet flathead and pink snapper have been caught and further up the system bream have been biting.

Cheers to the Trailblazers Albany crew for their tips this week! Swing by their store if you're after some top gear and advice ahead of your next fishing trip. Remember, you'll also catch just as many fish off the beaches than the rocks and it is always much safer to go with this option on the south coast.

South-West catches

South-West local Dusty Miller had a cheeky send out wide to the bigger depths and his efforts were rewarded with a solid bicep workout from this cracker of a hapuka.

Boats

There was plenty of offshore action with good catches of dhufish and pink snapper in 30-35m depths and decent King George whiting and skippy on broken ground closer in. In 20m-plus depths yellowtail kingfish in the 60-80cm range have been active and the odd Samsonfish has been about as well. Squid catches have improved south of Bunbury and Geographe Bay held plenty of krakens, along with good King George whiting and solid skippy. A few rogue salmon have also been turning up in the burley trails. In the Bunbury estuary it has been worth trolling for chopper tailor around the 35cm mark, while crabs have been in good numbers in the outer harbour and also down in the Blackwood River at Augusta. Kayak fishers have been doing well on squid and skippy in Geographe Bay and down at Canal Rocks they have landed dhufish and Samsonfish. Out from Augusta crews have found dhufish and pink snapper in decent sizes not too far from shore. If you wish to duck out in the boat, Saturday morning until about midday looks best at this stage on the forecast until it calms down again from Tuesday onwards.

Shore-based

Beaches from Preston headed south have fished well for tailor, herring and whiting in the day. A good mulloway was landed at Myalup earlier this week and the odd salmon has appeared along this coastal stretch. Closer to Bunbury, Back Beach has offered herring, chopper tailor, juvenile salmon, whiting and the odd small mulloway. The Bunbury Cut offered similar species as did Dallyellup. At Busselton Jetty there were scores of herring and squid, while the beaches of Geographe Bay fished well for yellowfin and sand whiting and plump herring. Salmon reports keep improving and they were caught regularly at Bunker Bay, Castle Rock, Eagle Bay, Hamelin Bay, Canal Rocks, Sugarloaf Rock and Yallingup. Popular lures this year for salmon have been yellow Richter plugs. In the Collie River black bream and soapy mulloway action has been slow, but good catches of bream have come from the upper reaches of the Blackwood River. In the lower reaches of the Blackwood, bream, tarwhine, tailor, herring and yellowfin whiting have been caught. From the rocks at Augusta skippy, pink snapper, salmon and tailor have been landed. Drone fishers around Dunsborough have been catching pink snapper and the odd dhufish and breaksea cod. While the next few days look fishable off the beach, Saturday morning and any time between Monday-Wednesday look best.

Big cheers to Whitey's Tackle & Camping for their top fishing tips as always! If you're in Australind or Bunbury and are keen to wet a line throughout our South-West make sure you ask their very friendly team who love their fishing for advice and stock up on gear at their store. If you're in Busselton, the 2 Oceans Tackle team are also incredibly helpful.

Once a good solid drop of rain arrives throughout our southern regions, the water temperatures will drop, the flows will start to increase and both rainbow and brown trout will start to venture into the more shallow, oxygenated waters in search of food. Make sure you have your rods ready to go after it buckets down!

In Harvey Dam redfin perch have become fussy and it has often been the case of working through a range of lures before finding success. As usual, it was normally first and last light that have been the best times to target them in deeper sections of the dam that have structure, so if you can use a kayak to get out and potentially even get a fish finder on to them to find where the snags are then your odds improve significantly. It’s a similar story at Wellington Dam, but in the Collie and Capel rivers redfin have been easier to tempt with soft plastics proving effective. Trout numbers have been very slim, but once the rains arrive over the coming months the action should spice up and see them move into the shallows again with aggression.

Mandurah and surrounds

There were plenty of 4WD's perched on the beaches across Myalup and Preston over the Easter long weekend and good numbers of mulloway and pink snapper turned up for fishers via drones and soaking baits. Tim's Thicket was also a productive spot.

Mandurah

Boats: Dirty water in the pelagic strike zone has shut down most of the action at the FADs with only the odd dolphinfish and tuna catch reported, but the demersal action has saved the day. Good dhufish catches have come from the 30m lumps out of White Hills and the scattered reefs at the back of the 40m depth line. Pink snapper catches have been well down but baldchin groper, harlequin fish and King George whiting to 60cm have been prominent bycatches, especially in 30m depths. At Five Fathom Bank (a renowned pink snapper hotspot) the water has been very clear, which seems to have made the pinks reluctant to feed as they prefer the dirty water. Fortunately, chunky skippy and yellowtail kingfish of various sizes have been around to save the day. Sand whiting catches inside Five Fathom have been quiet with herring the main species landed, while a few squid were caught there as well. Blue swimmer crabs seem to be moving closer to the ocean entrances, although a couple of good hauls were reported halfway up the Harvey Estuary earlier this week. Tailor were still in good numbers and worth trolling for in the Peel and Harvey estuaries with bull herring and juvenile salmon keeping them company. Saturday morning until midday looks best for the boats off Mandurah over the coming days so set your alarms early and aim to get out before sunrise.

Land-based: Beach fishing has been quiet with whiting and herring the main catches. The tailor run has been disappointing this year and once again this week the better fishing has been at White Hills, where the odd snapper has been landed and up at San Remo, but the numbers and sizes have been nothing special. In the estuary wading out to the drop-offs is worth a shot for chopper tailor, juvenile salmon, big herring and skippy. Yellowfin whiting chasers have found the going tough in recent weeks. The best options have been fishing the very high tides right on the shoreline at places like Island Point, Wannanup and Len Howard Reserve but again, sizes and numbers have been down. Bream fishers have done well in the Serpentine and Murray rivers where soapy mulloway have also been active. Bream are starting to turn up in the marinas as well which are already holding lots of juvenile salmon and a few skippy. Saturday morning should be quite flat for land-based fishing but the next best windows after that are looking like Tuesday and Wednesday at this stage.

Thinking of wetting a line around Mandurah? These great tips were courtesy of the super friendly and helpful team at Tackle World Miami so make sure you swing by their store for the best tips and gear before your next fishing trip!

SECRET HARBOUR / PORT KENNEDY / ROCKINGHAM / SAFETY BAY / WARNBRO SOUND

Boats: Mangles Bay Fishing Club’s Hinds-Kitchen Classic showcased some excellent catches after cracking conditions last weekend, which included massive bass groper to up to 47kg and cod to 31kg. The 40-80m depths also offered dhufish to 10kg, while the deeper depths fished best for bigger pink snapper to 80cm. Breaksea cod (including one caught in the comp that weighed 5kg), baldchin groper and harlequin were the main bycatch. The FADs have fished well too, offering tuna and dolphinfish, with some of the dollies pushing 6kg. King George whiting catches have been good as well with decent fish taken on the new Vexed Micro Meats around Garden Island, Mangles Bay and in Cockburn and Warnbro Sound. Squid have been active at these locations too and big sand whiting have been caught on the edge of the shipping channel, along with metre-plus mulloway which have been taking live baits and mullet strips. In the Sounds there were nice mixed bags of herring, skippy, garfish, King George and sand whiting, flathead and small Samsonfish landed. Schools of salmon with fish averaging 70cm have sporadically shown up around Garden Island. Saturday and Sunday until around midday don't look too bad for the boats but later next week is potentially glassing off.

Land-based: The excellent tailor run on local beaches has continued with decent choppers around 40cm regularly caught in the evenings at Secret Harbour, Port Kennedy, Challenger Beach and Long Point. On the southernmost beaches bigger tailor to 60cm and mulloway have been mixed in with the choppers. Secret Harbour also produced some big tailor in the mornings with most caught on poppers. Herring and decent whiting have been coming from most beaches during the daylight hours. Around Long Point and the Penguin Island spit, chopper tailor catches have been supplemented by loads of herring, flathead, skippy, juvenile salmon, King George, yellowfin and sand whiting along with impressive flounder. The Ammo Jetty and Woodman Point held plenty of scaly mackerel, herring, squid and the odd chopper tailor, while Rockingham and Palm Beach jetties also held similar species. A couple of big salmon busted up herring rigs at Rockingham Jetty early this week, while a few blue swimmer crabs were caught in drop nets thrown off the Ammo Jetty.

These great fishing tips were provided by the friendly team at Compleat Angler & Camping World in Rockingham, so make sure you chat to their experienced crew in store and stock up before heading out!

Perth catches

Landing a 125cm yellowtail kingfish is a workout in its own right but landing one solo takes it up a notch! Rottnest produced the goods for some cracking YTK's over the Easter long weekend and @eddiesheppard1 was in the right place at the right time for this beauty.

Boats

Crews made the most of the great conditions with excellent demersal catches recorded out from Two Rocks, Mindarie and Fremantle. Good numbers of dhufish were caught in 50m depths and decent baldchin groper were among the bycatch. Pink snapper catches were also reported with depths around the 100m mark out wider producing pinks in the 70-90cm range. The 70-90m depths both north and south of Rottnest fished well for demersal species also. Inshore around Rottnest there were plenty of Samsonfish along with nice flathead to 50cm and big King George whiting, with many landed on the new Vexed Micro Meat range of lures. Sand whiting have been patchy, but the sandy grounds in 10-15m depths off Cottesloe and City Beach usually produces a feed. On areas of broken ground King George whiting chasers have encountered plenty of chunky skippy. The inshore waters offered lots of tuna and bonito and the exposed reefs have fished well for tailor around the kilo mark. The odd salmon has been picked up around Rottnest and a diver chasing crays near there saw several huge schools swim by. Three-Mile Reef offered pink snapper and King George whiting, while out from Ocean Reef dhufish, baldchin groper, tuna, pink snapper and Samsonfish have been caught. Metro squid catches have improved and they seem to be holding in deeper water around 10m or so, although kayakers in closer off South Fremantle and Coogee have also caught them in 3m. Kayakers have been picking up blue swimmer crabs at these locations as well. In the Swan River chopper tailor have been active from the Fremantle bridges up to Point Walter, while dropping nets for blue swimmer crabs has been most productive around Claremont, Blackwall Reach and around the mouth of the Canning River. Saturday certainly looks best for the boats at this stage but expect some rather strong early easterlies combined with a low swell in the coming days. If you intend to go to Rotto tomorrow morning, the north side should be nicely sheltered from the low southerly winds.

Get your reels ready because the Minprovise Harbour Classic Fishing competition is back and better than ever! Whether you're a seasoned angler or just love spending time on the water, this event promises excitement and great catches for all! Click here for more info!

Shore-based

Bonito and tuna continued to keep anglers entertained at North Mole, which has been pretty crowded with South Mole being closed. North Mole has also offered tailor and herring at night, especially with burley in the water. Good tailor have been caught from Cottesloe right up to Two Rocks and the northernmost beaches have also held just-size pink snapper and some good mulloway. Good tailor have been caught on poppers in reefy areas around Alkimos in the mornings. Drone fishers on the northern beaches have caught better pink snapper and the odd small dhufush. Floreat fished well for small species including herring, small skippy, whiting and flathead. At Grant Street in Cottesloe tailor have been hounding schools of mullet, with 40cm-plus garfish also caught in good numbers along with herring. Other good garfish spots have been close to shore at North Mole, where there has been some better squid activity. The South Fremantle rock walls have also held a few squid and it pays to move around flicking jigs at the weed patches until you find them. At South Beach and Coogee divers swimming out from shore have been getting good-sized blue swimmer crabs. Fremantle Harbour held lots of scaly mackerel, along with herring and small skippy. In the Swan River good tailor have been caught from the Leeuwin boat ramp, at Claremont and at Point Walter, with unweighted mulies and metal lures proving most effective. Mulloway catches in the river have been good from the Narrows up river with good fish taken around Optus Stadium and at Ascot, while soapies have been caught as far up as Midland. Bream have been in big numbers from the Causeway up river but most sizes were small. In the Swan’s lower reaches flathead and flounder catches have slowed to one or two a session but tarwhine, juvenile Samsonfish and chopper tailor have often made up the bycatch. At this stage on the forecast every morning between Saturday and Wednesday looks great for a land-based flick off the coast given it's mostly easterly winds and a low swell. Make the most of it!

A big thanks to Anglers Fishing World in Fremantle for their great tips! These guys love their fishing just as much as we all do, so make sure you ask their super friendly team for advice and stock up before wetting a line off the land or boat!

Recfishwest

3/45 Northside Drive Hillarys

Perth, WA 6025

Australia

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Recfishwest · 3/45 Northside Drive Hillarys · Perth, WA 6025 · Australia

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