Wahoo at the metro FADs and dhuies from the beach down south there's plenty to read in Recfishwest's State-wide Fishing Report 19 February 2021 🎣

Reef fishers who managed to head to the 20m to 30m depths scored saddletail seaperch, blue lined emperor and Rankin cod. Mixed catches of bluebone, fingermark bream and mulloway have been coming from Roebuck Bay. Threadfin and bluenose salmon can be targeted near Fingers. Barramundi have been caught on a variety lures and also baits in the local creeks and the Fitzroy River. Want to know why the Fitzroy River is so important to Kimberley fishers? Watch this short film, produced by Kimberley - Like Nowhere Else, on our YouTube:

Schools of baitfish residing near the jetty have been attracting a variety of predators including queenfish, golden trevally, giant trevally, barramundi and bluenose salmon. The banks of Dampier Creek and Crab Creek have been fishing well for barramundi, mangrove jack and estuary cod. Good hauls of cherabin are being achieved from the Fitzroy River.

Billfish enthusiasts have continued to encounter blue and striped marlin out wide. Dolphinfish, yellowfin tuna and wahoo have also been encountered in these waters. Sailfish and black marlin can be found between the 100m and 200m lines. There are Spanish mackerel in 15m to 30m of water along the western edge of the reef line as well as near the Muiron Islands. Goldband snapper continued to be caught in about 120m, and deeper, while ruby snapper are mostly being located beyond the 300m contour. 

Baitfish numbers have been building in Exmouth Gulf and their presence at spots including VLF Bay, Old Bundegi and Learmonth Jetty has been attracting big queenfish as well as lots of small brassy trevally, golden trevally and GT. The marina has been fishing well for mangrove jack, estuary cod and small trevally at night. There are still spangled emperor being caught between Tantabiddi and Mildura Wreck.

Spanish mackerel have been caught on rigged garfish and bibbed minnows trolled north and south of the river mouth. Yellowfin and longtail tuna have also been encountered offshore together with a few cobia. Reef fishing has been productive in 30m to 50m of water north-west of town where red emperor, dhufish and Rankin cod have been caught. Metal and soft plastic jigs have been working well on pink snapper, baldchin groper and coral trout within a mile of so of the coast.

Surf fishers have been catching tailor in the 35cm to 55cm range at Red Bluff, Wittecarra Creek and the Blue Holes most mornings and evenings. Bigger fish to 75cm have occasionally been caught at Oyster Reef and the river mouth. Dart have been turning up along most beaches and there have also been a few mulloway landed, especially north of Frustrations and at Wagoe Beach. Yellowfin whiting seem to have returned to the sand flats of the Murchison River in good numbers. There are chopper tailor, black bream and estuary cod being caught near the jetties and pens. Blue swimmer crabs and mud crabs can be targeted in the middle and lower reaches of the river.

Reef fishers have been catching dhufish, baldchin groper and pink snapper near African Reef and South West Bank. Coral trout can be targeted on soft plastic and metal jigs along Pensioners Bank. Spanish mackerel and small tuna are sometimes being caught west of Pensioners, as well as near the Abrolhos Islands. Dinghy and small boat fishers have been catching squid, sand whiting and pike inshore.

Tailor have been caught in the mornings and evenings along the Flat Rocks to Greenough River mouth stretch this week. Bigger tailor have been caught at Southgate and Separation Point, as well as along the beaches north of Drummond's Cove. Mulloway have been landed from the beaches to the north and south of town. Yellowfin and school whiting are in good numbers at Pages and Explosives.

Demersal fishers have been catching dhufish, baldchin groper, breaksea cod, foxfish, queen snapper and pink snapper this week. The catches have come in addition to tropical emperors — red throat and spangled. Water temperatures dropped to about 23C, in turn making pelagic species and bait fish schools more difficult to find. Inside the bay, the southern sand holes are prolific with herring while deeper weed banks have plenty of snook, skippy and squid. North end of the bay has great sand whiting up to 30cm.

Fishing the bay's beaches and Lancelin's jetty has been difficult this week. However, when the water has been clear around the jetty there has been good catches of sand whiting during the day. In the evenings, the jetty has been most productive for herring, skippy and tailor. Surf beaches have a good run of tailor to 50cm and sand whiting have a particularly good average size. Floating seaweed has made fishing challenging with onshore winds.

Dinghy and small boat fishers have been getting among lots of sand whiting and herring within the bay. Crews who travelled to the islands, and beyond, scored nannygai to 65cm, Samson fish to 30kg, harlequin fish and breaksea cod. One boat that ventured to the shelf picked up blue-eye trevalla in addition to a surprise Tasmanian trumpeter.

Herring are being caught at Taylor Street Jetty in the evening, while squid, skippy and the odd King George whiting can also be picked up from the structure. Salmon have been appearing in schools of various sizes at Fourth Beach, Nine Mile, Roses, Alexander Bay and Thomas River. Roses has also been producing tailor and bronze whaler sharks. Some nice King George have been caught at Oldfield Estuary, near Munglinup, while the beaches there have been good for herring. Alexander Bay has skippy to 1kg and herring.

Fishing somewhere along the south coast, Andrew 'Korg' Jarvis briefly left his rod unattended in the rod holder to tend to skipper duties and it doubled-over! Before too long, this dhuie was on deck. Nice!

Reef fishers have been catching red, pink and queen snapper alongside breaksea cod, skippy and dhufish in 60m to 80m of water. Crews who ventured beyond the shelf scored hapuka and blue-eye trevalla. King George whiting have been caught in good numbers through the inshore areas of Two Peoples Bay, Gull Rock, Caseys, Michaelmas Island and Middleton Beach. Herring and juvenile salmon can be caught by trolling small lures inshore while flathead, sand whiting and the odd squid are also around these parts.

Surf fishers have been catching a few salmon at Salmon Holes and Bettys Beach early in the morning, however, salmon associated with this year’s run are not thought to have passed through local waters just yet. There have been lots of big skippy coming from the deeper channels and gutters at the beaches near Denmark. Herring are still in better numbers at the more remote spots including Sand Patch and West Cape Howe. King George whiting can be targeted at Frenchman Bay and Cosy Corner. The King and Kalgan rivers are still producing lots of small black bream for lure and bait fishers alike. There are bigger bream in both systems, but catching fish of more than 35cm requires time and effort put into finding the spots holding the bigger fish.

Surf fishers have been catching tailor, herring and the odd salmon at Moses Rock and Mitchells. A school of salmon, thought to be last season’s fish, has been regularly appearing at Bunker Bay. Eight of these salmon were caught and released on fly last Sunday. Herring, tarwhine and skippy can be targeted from the headlands. Yellowfin and school whiting can still be found along the shallows in Geographe Bay. Blue swimmer crabs seem to be in bigger numbers closer to Busselton. Australind's Leschenault Estuary still has yellowfin whiting on offer along the flats, while the stretch of beach between Buffalo and Myalup has been fishing well for tailor, whiting and herring.


Woahh! James Carter ticked a dhufish from the beach off his bucket list last weekend, near Abbey Beach.

Working the depths off Mandurah, Scott Spencer's day was made after he got this dhufish on deck.

The southern beaches, near White Hills, are producing tailor to 45cm this week. The Falcon area has been producing mulloway, in addition to decent herring and whiting catches. Dawesville Cut has tailor and skippy on offer, alongside herring and whiting. In the Mandurah Estuary, prawn and crab catches have continued while flats anglers are enjoying great topwater sessions for yellowfin whiting. Serpentine River and Murray River continue to fish well for black bream, with the latter's bream activity concentrated upstream.

Tailor activity has been consistent this week, with good fish being taken each evening along the southern surf beaches. Better spots seem to be south of Port Kennedy. Anglers fishing the stretch of beach from Rockingham through to the north of Mandurah are reporting regular catches of mulloway from most popular spots. Off Rockingham, boat fishers are reportedly doing well on dhufish and the occasional pink snapper. 

The metro fish aggregating devices (FADs) were on fire last weekend, with plenty of dolphinfish and tuna varieties caught in addition to wahoo. Dolphinfish, being the dominant sportfish at the devices, have been shy at times. The 300m to 400m depths wide of the FADs have been producing hapuka, blue-eye trevalla and grey-banded cod. There seems to be lots of pink snapper in 120m to 200m of water, with many caught this week being a touch undersize. Baldchin groper were caught in 90m together with the odd dhufish, however, the shallower waters of 30m to 70m have been quiet for some. King George whiting have been caught near Windmills and west of Cottesloe and City Beach. Spanish mackerel are worth targeting near West End, off Parker Point, west of Three Mile Reef and within Cockburn Sound. Squid numbers are slowly improving along the seagrass meadows off Fremantle.


Todd Williams was buzzing after landing his first dolphinfish at one of the metro FADs at the weekend.