Big barra in WA's north and more wahoo from the metro FADs there's plenty to read in Recfishwest's State-wide Fishing Report 26 February 2021 🎣

Opportunities to head offshore in search of reef fish have been limited amid this week's strong winds. When the winds have eased off, boats which were able to head to the ground in 20m to 30m caught saddletail seaperch, bluelined emperor and red emperor. Roebuck Bay has been producing a variety of species including northern mulloway, fingermark bream, tripletail and threadfin salmon. Barramundi have been caught on baits and lures within the local creeks, near Broome.

Threadfin and bluenose salmon can be targeted at the mouths of the local creeks and adjacent coastal areas. Barramundi are occasionally being caught from the creek banks, alongside mangrove jack and estuary cod. Bluebone are sometimes being caught from the rocks and reef areas north of town. Queenfish and small trevally are often being caught at the Broome jetty. For those who have fished stretches of the Fitzroy River, barramundi have been present. Want to know why the Fitzroy River is so important to Kimberley fishers? Watch these two short films, which were produced by Kimberley - Like Nowhere Else, on our YouTube:

• Protecting the Fitzroy River and its amazing sportfishing
• What the Fitzroy River means to Kimberley fishers

Billfish enthusiasts have continued to encounter blue marlin and striped marlin out wide, while smaller black marlin and a few sailfish have been caught in waters closer to the back of the reef. A 63kg yellowfin tuna landed off the west coast was among dozens of smaller tuna to be caught in local waters this week. Cobia can be targeted on baits and lures near Exmouth's King Reef.


Popping for GT off Exmouth with On Strike Charters, Bryce Parker landed this wonderful beast. Nice!

Exmouth Marina has been fishing reasonably well for a variety of species including mangrove jack, small queenfish, school mackerel and trevally. Squid have also been appearing at the marina as well as at Learmonth Jetty and Tantabiddi, especially during an incoming tide. Bigger queenfish have been turning up at Old Bundegi and VLF Bay. Spangled emperor can be targeted at the west coast accesses that feature rock and reef.

Spanish mackerel have been responding to rigged whole baits and minnow lures trolled north and south of the river mouth. Varieties of tuna — including yellowfin, longtail and mack — have also been encountered offshore. Reef fishers have been picking up lots of pink snapper and baldchin groper near the Sand Patch. Rankin cod, red emperor and dhufish have been caught north-west of town.

Heavy rain which fell on the inland catchment areas recently has produced a fast-flowing Murchison River. The event brought on some very good mulloway action, including one afternoon when several fish estimated to be in the 20kg to 30kg range were hooked, but somehow lost at different stages. A 13kg fish was reported to be one of the bigger mulloway landed at the river mouth. Black bream seem to have been pushed into the lower reaches of the river and have been caught in big numbers at the jetties and pens. There are tailor, herring and dart at the surf beaches. The cliffs are worth trying for baldchin groper, pink snapper and tailor when the swell eases.

Spanish mackerel have been caught on rigged garfish and bibbed minnows trolled between 12m and 20m of water north of the shipping channel, as well as along the back of Pensioners Bank and near African Reef. The mackerel have mostly been of about 1m in length and have been hard to target at times because of seaweed floating near the surface. Reef fishers have been finding dhufish in 40m to 50m near South West Bank and pink snapper north of Drummond's Cove. Baldchin groper have been found in a range of depths and areas and there are lots of sweetlip being caught at the moment. Some of the squid picked up near the Abrolhos Islands have been in the 2kg to 3kg range. The huge squid have mostly been caught at Easter Group and Southern Group. Smaller squid can be targeted along the seagrass beds out from Separation Point, Explosives and Pages.

Tailor between 30cm and 45cm have been regularly turning up at Southgate Dunes in the morning alongside herring, pike and small whiting. More tailor have been coming from the Point Moore to Fisherman's Boat Harbour stretch along with school mulloway and herring. Tailor have been responding well to lures at Explosives where pike, skippy and herring have also been caught. School mulloway averaging 80cm have been landed at Drummond's Cove, West Bank and the Greenough River mouth. The first and second points at Greenough have tailor most mornings and evenings. A 13kg mulloway was landed behind the S-Bend last week. Dart, yellowfin whiting and herring have been common along the beaches there. Dongara Marina has been producing a variety of species including black bream to 35cm, skippy, tailor, herring and squid.

Baldchin groper have been found in good numbers off Lancelin this week, while dhufish have been caught in the the 35m to 40m depths. The 18m to 22m depths have been good for sand whiting and blue-spot flathead, though north-west blowfish can be a problem. Samson fish have been at the regular inshore locations. Yellowtail kingfish and schools of skippy have been encountered along White Cray Bank. Dinghy fishers have been getting onto some squid, King George whiting and herring inside the bay. There are some big blue swimmer crabs being caught drop netting the bay's shallows.

Lancelin's beaches are fishing very well for bread-and-butter species such as sand whiting and herring. Tailor have been biting well into the evenings,  while mornings have been equally good with fish still on the bite from dawn to about 11am. The reefy points have been producing pink snapper, including north of town where the size limit changes to 41cm at spots including Narrow Neck and Didie Point. Reasonable numbers of blue-spot flathead have been landed by anglers, also. The beach adjacent to the Lancelin Defence Training Area will be closed on Tuesday and Wednesday next week.

Dinghy and small boat fishers have been doing well on King George whiting, herring and squid. There have been schools of tuna varieties appearing near the islands. Reef fishing around the islands has been productive with lots of queen snapper and breaksea cod as well as the odd harlequin fish on offer. Boats that ventured wide scored their limits of nannygai to 65cm and tussled with quite a few big Samson fish.

Salmon have been passing at many of the beaches with schools of mixed sized fish appearing at Salmon Beach, Fourth Beach, Roses, Alexander Bay, Thomas River and Poison Creek this week. Cape Arid has been fishing well for mulloway as well as gummy shark, bronze whaler shark and big skippy. Taylor Street Jetty has herring, squid and skippy on offer, while Bandy Creek Boat Harbour has been producing mixed catches of herring, skippy and King George whiting. Soft plastics have been working well on black bream in the local lakes.

This dhuie couldn't refuse Paul Hart's jig while he was fishing off Albany last weekend. Great photo!

Reef fishers have been catching breaksea cod along the coral in 60m to 80m of water. Some nice red snapper have also been picked up in these depths alongside pink snapper and the occasional dhufish, as shown by Paul Hart pictured above. King George whiting enthusiasts have been content with their catches of 30cm to 45cm fish, which have been picked up at spots that included Michaelmas Island, Caseys, Gull Rock and Middleton Beach. Squid numbers are starting to improve inshore while herring, juvenile salmon and skippy catches have remained steady.

Zedekiah Colback scored this squid while fishing from the stones with Gideon Mettam, near Albany!

Salmon were caught at several beaches this week. However, Great Southern locals are still hesitant to call the commencement of this year’s annual run. This is likely because salmon are yet to appear in dense schools. The dozens of salmon caught this week at spots that included Nanarup, Bluff Creek and Cheynes Beach were described as stray fish. Tailor have been caught some mornings at Nanarup. There are big skippy and some nice tarwhine being picked up at Bluff, Cheynes and Ocean Beach. King George whiting continue to be caught at Frenchman Bay and Cosy Corner. Torbay Inlet and the Franklin River are producing bigger black bream than those being recently caught in the King and Kalgan.

Small schools of salmon have been appearing at Boranup, Mitchells and Bunker Bay. Tailor have also been turning up at some of the west coast beaches as well as some spots along Geographe Bay. Herring are in good supply along most of the coast, while skippy can be found at some of the deeper sand holes. Blue swimmer crabs seem to be in bigger numbers closer to Busselton. Those beach fishing off Binningup have been catching bread-and-butter species, including herring and the occasional skippy.

Dwayne Robinson was tickled pink after landing this pink snapper off Port Kennedy on Tuesday!

Dawesville Cut has been very productive this week, with tailor, King George whiting and herring biting well. Whiting are taking soft plastics and hard-body lures along the Mandurah Estuary's sand flat in water up to thigh deep. Tailor have been prolific on beaches to the north and south of Mandurah, with the southern beaches also producing school mulloway in addition to the occasional pink snapper. The northern beaches have yellowfin whiting on offer in the mornings, tailor in the late afternoons and mulloway after dark. A few larger mulloway have been caught from the beaches at Madora and Singleton. Blue swimmer crabs are still being found in the Mandurah Estuary, in addition to prawns.

Anglers are catching plenty of tailor along the beaches near Rockingham, with herring, whiting and an occasional mulloway also caught. Herring and yellowfin whiting are being caught in the early morning. The beach adjacent to CBH's Kwinana Grain Terminal has tailor and yellowfin whiting on offer, while the region's jetties have tailor and herring after dark.

The metro fish aggregating devices (FADs) are holding many dolphinfish, as shown by Tom Corrie pictured above. Wahoo and schools of different tuna varieties are also frequenting the devices. Spanish mackerel can be targeted near West End, Parker Point, Cockburn Sound and the western edge of Three Mile Reef. Reef fishers have been doing well on pink snapper off Fremantle, Hillarys and Mindarie. The waters north of Rottnest Island seem to be fishing better for baldchin groper compared to areas south of the island. King George whiting have been caught in depths of 10m to 20m off Cottesloe and City Beach. Squid catches are slowly increasing along the seagrass beds off Fremantle.