Fishing Lure

Very big skippy up to 6kg have been caught in the bays at Cape Arid, while good mulloway have come from Thomas River and Poison Creek. Dunns Beach produced good-sized salmon and plenty of big skippy, while small gummy sharks have been caught at Stockyards. Out west the winter swells have thrown up some big tailor, with one going 70cm. Closer to town big squid have come from the town Jetty, while Taylor Street Jetty has offered garfish and skippy. Bandy Creek Boat Harbour held bream and King George whiting, while Blue Haven Beach has fished well for sand whiting. 

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. 

Thumping swells have washed away many beaches this week and salmon schools are likely to have become scattered. Salmon had been on the chew at Lowlands, Nanarup, Shelley Beach, Sand Patch and Cheynes and also at Parry Beach, along with Denmark’s Ocean Beach and at Windy Harbour. Last week when the swells were down good catches came from local rock platforms, including blue groper, breaksea cod, big skippy, pink snapper and harlequin fish but the rocks are likely to be unfishable and unsafe for some time so stick to the beaches. Shore fishers unfortunately face limited options this week as well but the best bets could be sheltered areas such as Emu Point and the town marina which should offer herring and small skippy. Other sheltered parts of Frenchman Bay and Whalers Cove could produce herring and the odd whiting but squid fishing is likely to be poor. With plenty of water flowing, the King and Kalgan rivers could be an option for bream fishers and mulloway could be a chance. Bream are also likely to be active in Oyster Harbour.

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. 

Thanks to these stormy conditions pink snapper have been in huge numbers along the entire length of North Mole, from the service station right to the tip, with dozens of fish up to 90cm being caught along with a couple of big mulloway. Herring have also been in big numbers at North Mole and yellow-eye mullet are expected to show up. North Mole was not the only hotspot this week with pink snapper being landed at South Mole and the Hillarys, Ocean Reef, Mindarie and Two Rocks rockwalls, as well as Alkimos Beach. Before the blow it was mainly drone fishers who took the pink snapper spoils, mostly from northern beaches, but now the snapper are just metres from the rocks so long casts are not necessary. Expect big tailor to show up after the blow, especially around Cottesloe, Swanbourne, Trigg and Yanchep. Last weekend good tailor came from the Cottesloe to Scarborough Beach stretch, with Floreat Beach fishing well for tailor in the mornings with herring and skippy among the bycatch. Squidding is likely to be quiet for a week or so but before the cold fronts came through they were in reasonable numbers at both moles. At South Mole and the South Fremantle rockwalls some nice sand whiting were caught. In the Swan River decent rainfall has pushed bream and soapy mulloway into the middle sections of the system. Spots worth trying for bream include Garratt Road Bridge, Gloucester Park, Burswood, Heirisson Island, Canning Bridge and the Narrows. Mulloway chasers have had success mainly on school-sized fish, although a big mulloway was landed at the Narrows this week. Schoolies came from Canning Bridge and Mosman. Big schools of mullet have been in the river and mulloway have been following them. Also worth a shot is Fremantle Harbour where big schools of scaly mackerel are holed up along with a few herring, which could bring in big mulloway. Herring have been caught in the Swan River in good numbers as far up as Point Walter but tailor catches have tapered off. Silver bream and juvenile Samsonfish were caught at the Fremantle bridges last weekend. The odd flounder has been among the bycatch for mulloway chasers in the Swan’s lower reaches, while some big flathead were hooked behind Optus Stadium last weekend and medium-sized models came from the Shelley area in the Canning River. Expect flathead to move in the deeper sections of the lower reaches of the river over the next few weeks.