Mulloway at E Sheds metro dolphinfish and marlin off Exmouth there's plenty to read in Recfishwest's State-wide Fishing Report 12 February 2021 🎣

Dampier Creek has continued to fish very well for barramundi and other species including mangrove jack. While baits have been the most effective method in catching barra, fizzers have also been enticing strikes, especially at night. Parts of the Fitzroy River where the water has been flowing slower have also been producing a few barra. Watch this short film, produced by Kimberley - Like Nowhere Else, to see why the Fitzroy River is so important to Kimberley fishers. The increased barra activity in parts of the Fitzroy comes as nice threadfin salmon have been caught in Crab Creek. Fly and spin fishers have been catching tripletail near the moorings and flotsam within Roebuck Bay, just checkout Chris Cole's catch pictured above!

Barramundi and mangrove jack have been caught at Dampier Creek when the tide has been low enough to fish from its banks it the morning. The mouth at Crab Creek has been fishing well for a variety of species including threadfin salmon, bluenose salmon and queenfish. More queenfish have been caught at the jetty together with varieties of trevally and the odd barra. Cherabin are being caught in very good numbers along the Fitzroy River.

Blue and striped marlin continue to be caught out wide together with yellowfin tuna, dolphinfish and wahoo. There have been some nice black marlin and sailfish landed between the 100m and 200m depths, while Spanish mackerel are along the edge of the reef line. Reef fishers have been catching goldband snapper in 80m to 100m while there have been some nice grey-banded cod and ruby snapper caught in 250m to 350m. Big schools of longtail tuna are evident throughout Exmouth Gulf. Fly fishers have been experiencing multiple shots at permit, queenfish and golden trevally in the lower areas of the gulf.


Exploring the depths off Exmouth, Brody Woodward struck gold and landed this goldband snapper.

Turtle hatchlings have created a lot of activity along the west coast where predators including spangled emperor, varieties of trevally and queenfish have appeared close to shore. Surface lures and flies are ordinarily effective in catching spanglies, trevally and queenies during the event. More queenfish can be found along Exmouth Gulf at spots including VLF Bay, Old Bundegi and Learmonth Jetty. The marina has been fishing well for mangrove jack, queenfish and trevally. Squid can also be targeted at the marina as well as at Learmonth and Tantabiddi.

Spanish mackerel can be targeted on rigged garfish and minnow-style lures trolled north and south of the river mouth. The ground in 40m to 50m north-west of town has been producing good catches of red emperor, dhufish and Rankin cod. Soft plastic and metal jigs have been working well on pink snapper and coral trout within a mile or so of the cliffs.

Surf fishers bait casting garfish at Oyster Reef have been catching tailor to an impressive 80cm. Smaller tailor in the 50cm to 60cm range have been caught morning and evening at on stickbaits at Back Beach while fish in the 35cm to 55cm category have been common at Wittecarra Creek and Red Bluff. A couple of nice mulloway in the 8kg to 10kg range were landed at the jetty this week. Sharks have also been hooked at the structure. Yellowfin whiting seem to have reappeared along the sand flats. Black bream seem to be getting caught in bigger numbers and sizes up river.

Reef fishers have been doing well on dhufish, pink snapper and baldchin groper near African Reef and South West Bank. More baldchin and the odd coral trout have been caught along Pensioners Bank. The western edge of the bank is worth trying for Spanish mackerel and yellowfin tuna. Dinghy and kayak fishers have been picking up herring, skippy, pike and squid inshore.

Tailor have been turning up some mornings and evenings along the Headbutts to Greenough River mouth stretch. The first and second points at Greenough also have herring, dart and pike, while mulloway can be targeted at the river mouth. Bag limits of tailor are sometimes being achieved at Southgates, Separation Point and Explosives. There have been some good whiting and herring catches at Drummond's Cove. The marina is worth a visit with squid, herring and whiting on offer.

Fishers heading wide have landed dhufish, baldchin and breaksea cod. There was a report of big yellowfin tuna along 55m contour. Closer to shore, the 18m to 22m depth has been good for sand whiting and flathead. Skippy schools are along the outer edge of White Bank. Inside the bay the squid have picked up in numbers and size and there is no shortage of herring.

Schools of mullet are starting to run along the beaches. Beach gutters have sanded up where there is little depth even at high tide to fish. South of town, there have been some pink snapper and chopper tailor caught. North of Lancelin has seen better class tailor, approaching 50cm. The town jetty has big squid, herring, tailor have been caught.

School of small southern bluefin tuna to 10kg have been appearing in a range of depths and areas. Dinghy and small boat fishers have been getting among the bluefin as well as herring, snook and sand whiting. Reef fishing near the islands has been producing queen snapper, sweep and Samson fish. Crews targeting nannygai out wide have been picking up their boat limits of fish to 65cm in less than four drifts.

Taylor Street Jetty has herring, squid, King George whiting and skippy on offer. Bigger herring have been turning up at the structure later in the evening. Similar species have been caught at Bandy Creek Boat Harbour, alongside flathead and flounder. Salmon are scattered right along the coast with Salmon Beach, Fourth Beach, Fourteen Mile, Roses, Alexander Bay and Poison Creek among the spots where the 3kg to 7kg fish were caught this week. Israelite Bay produced mulloway, bronze whaler and gummy sharks.

On a recent trip to Peaceful Bay, near Denmark, Jake Atkinson was buzzing with this harlequin fish.

Reef fishing had been reasonably productive in 60m to 90m of water where fair catches of pink, red and queen snapper, breaksea cod and dhufish were caught this week. Only a few of the boats that travelled to the shelf seemed to find hapuka. King George whiting have continued to be caught in good numbers through the inshore waters of Gull Rock, Caseys, Michaemas Island and Middleton Beach. Squid numbers seem to be improving inshore.


Connor Blackburn, of Luckless Fishermen, enjoyed a fun-filled Sambo session in the Great Southern.

Salmon were being caught very early in the morning and late in the afternoon at Nanarup and Bornholm this week. Bigger numbers of salmon are expected to appear along the local beaches during the coming the weeks when the popular surf fish start their migratory run. Skippy seem to be in better supply in the more remote areas of coast. Frenchman Bay and Gull Rock are worth trying for King George whiting. The King and Kalgan rivers continue to produce lots of small black bream and the odd mulloway. The systems east of Cape Riche have reportedly been fishing well for bigger bream.

Surf fishers have been picking up mixed catches of herring, salmon, tailor, juvenile salmon, skippy and tarwhine along the west coast beaches including Contos, Moses Rock, Honeycombs, Injidup, Smiths Beach and Windmills. Tailor at the odd salmon have also been coming from Bunker Bay, Fish Rock and Elmore Road. There are yellowfin and school whiting along the Quindalup sand flats. Along Bunbury's beaches, and also farther north at Belvedere and Buffalo Beach, herring and tailor have been caught. The Australind stretch of the Collie River has black bream on offer.

Big mulloway have been caught along Mandurah’s northern beaches this week, alongside a few smaller models. A fresh fillet of tailor seems to be the preferred bait, with mulloway most active from the late afternoon into the evening. Dawesville Cut has been producing smaller tailor and skippy, while there are also plenty of herring and whiting nearby. In the Mandurah Estuary, prawn and blue swimmer crab catches have continued with good feeds coming from the regular spots. Crabbers using drop nets along the channels seem to be doing better than those wading the shallows. The Serpentine and Murray rivers are still producing black bream, while there are growing reports of more mulloway being encountered in these two systems also. 

Warnbro, Kwinana, Long Point, Port Kennedy and Secret Harbour's beaches are producing tailor this week. There has been some excellent fishing for yellowfin whiting, with good reports of herring and plenty of blue swimmer crabs out in the deep water. The region's jetties are turning on herring early in the morning, along with squid. The beaches between Port Kennedy and Warnbro have been producing tailor of an evening, with herring and whiting during the day.

Spanish mackerel are likely to still be within Cockburn Sound, near Rottnest Island and along the western edge of Three Mile Reef. The metro fish aggregating devices are worth a visit following recent reports of dolphinfish, tuna and wahoo being caught at the structures. Reef fishers seem to be finding bigger numbers of dhufish in depths in excess of 50m. There are big schools of pink snapper along the western edge of Five Fathom Bank. The coral in 25m to 40m off Hillarys and Mindarie have been producing nice baldchin groper. Expect squid catches to increase along the seagrass beds as the inshore water temperatures decrease.


Dropping octopus baits in the 30m depths west of Rottnest Island, David Gaunt scored this solid baldie!