From tremendous threadfin salmon to all of the GAMEX action there's plenty to read in Recfishwest's State-wide Fishing Report 19 March 2021 🎣

Reef fishers have been picking up mixed catches of saddletail seaperch, blue lined emperor and red emperor in 30m to 40m. The reef areas within Roebuck Bay have been producing fingermark bream, bluebone and mulloway, in addition to threadfin salmon as shown by Wade Clark and Ayesha Salkilld. Want to know why Roebuck Bay's threadfin salmon stocks are abundant? Watch our YouTube video here:

• YouTube: Reborn in Roebuck — A Salmon Tale

Tripletail continue to be found near the moorings and flotsam within the bay and other inshore areas. Expect pelagic species, including mackerel and tuna, to be caught in bigger numbers in the ensuing weeks.

This week, fishers have targeted threadfin salmon and bluenose salmon with baits and lures along Roebuck Bay, as well as within the local creeks. Barramundi have been caught in various places including the lower reaches of the Fitzroy River, Dampier Creek, Willie Creek and Entrance Point. Yellowfin whiting and garfish can be targeted along Cable Beach and at Coconut Wells. Queenfish and trevally species have been appearing at the jetty around the change in tide.

This year's anticipated GAMEX, hosted by the Exmouth Game Fishing Club, is underway and concludes tomorrow, 20 March. Dozens of billfish were encountered during the comp's opening days. Blue marlin were found out wide together with a few striped marlin while black marlin and sailfish were located closer to the reef line. The boats also came across schools of dolphinfish and the odd bigger yellowfin tuna, as well as plenty of longtails. Deep dropping for goldband snapper and ruby snapper has been a popular option. Spanish mackerel seem to be in very good numbers near the Muiron Islands. Big poppers and stickbaits are working well near the back of the west coast reef line, enticing strikes from big giant trevally.

Spinfishers have been using a variety of lures to catch spangled emperor, giant herring, queenfish and brassy trevally at the west coast accesses. Bigger queenfish have been appearing along Exmouth Gulf at spots including Old Bundegi, VLF Bay and Heron Point. Mangrove jack can be targeted at the marina early morning and at night. There are still lots of yellowfin whiting being caught along the beaches close to town.

Spanish mackerel and yellowfin tuna have been caught on bibbed minnows and rigged garfish trolled along the edge of the dirty water line. Bag limits of red emperor, dhufish and Rankin cod have been achieved out wide, while there are plenty of big pink snapper being caught in close. Baldchin groper and coral trout can be targeted on soft plastic and metal jigs close to the cliffs south of the river mouth.

How's this slab of Murchison River 'silver ghost' which Ryan Leck caught!?

Mulloway in the 8kg to 15kg range have continued to be caught in very good numbers in the lower reaches of the Murchison River, as proven by young gun fishers Ryan Leck and Tom Berry. Tailor have also been caught from these areas, as well as at Wittecarra Creek, Red Bluff and Siphon. Rock fishers have been landing the occasional pink snapper, baldchin groper and spangled emperor from the cliff platforms. Black bream and estuary cod can be targeted near the jetties, pens and other parts of the river that feature rock and wood structure.

Dolphinfish to an impressive 12kg have been caught at the Geraldton fish aggregating devices (FADs), while several marlin were tagged and released wide of the Abrolhos Islands. Deep droppers who ventured to the 300m to 400m depths scored grey-banded cod, nannygai and radiant cod. Dhufish and baldchin groper are being caught in bigger numbers and sizes along the relatively deeper grounds of 40m to 60m. Spanish mackerel have been encountered in good numbers near the Wallabies, together with yellowfin and longtail tuna. Dinghy and small boat fishers have been catching skippy and herring inshore.

Tailor in the 40cm to 50cm category have been caught in relatively good numbers at the mouth of the Greenough River, which has been flowing for the past few weeks. Bigger tailor have been appearing and caught from the reef areas at Southgates and the nearby beaches. Squid can be targeted early morning and after dusk at the marina. The beaches north of Drummond's Cove have been fishing well for yellowfin whiting and sand whiting.

We spoke with avid fisher Ben Svenson regarding his awesome shore-dive dhufish, pictured above, and this is what he had to say about the trophy capture:

"I'd knocked off work and was driving home when I noticed the water's unbelievable visibility, so I thought: 'let’s go dive for crays', because conditions are great," Ben said.

"As always, I grabbed my spear gun just incase. I swam out to one of my regular cray caves and was surprised to see many fish in there.

"I saw a shadow the shape of a dhufish and I took aim but missed completely.

"Frustrated, I swam away for about five minutes in hope the fish would come out of hiding but much to my despair when I came back I could not find the fish.

"I dove around to map the cave out and I realised there was a distinct hole at the back of the ledge — it was quite far back.

"Fighting back my claustrophobia, I swam into the the darkness and I made out the purple sheen and distinct black marking around the eye. I took shot and hit the dhuie right in the gill plate — perfect.

"Exhausted and ecstatic, I bought the dhuie to the surface and swam back into shore, smiling and grateful that I got the opportunity to have two shots at a fish of a lifetime."

Tailored Treks' Peter Fullarton has relished the Spanish mackerel activity off Lancelin this week!

Fishing out wide has been hampered by very strong currents this week. Boats drifting the depths of 25m to 30m have caught baldchin groper over the flat ground, while coral patches and lumps are producing dhufish and breaksea cod. Water temperatures are consistently above 24C. Boats trolling deep diving minnow lures in 15m to 20m have found good numbers of Spanish mackerel, though most are smallish fish. Along and inside White Bank there are schools of snapper, skippy and small yellowtail kingfish.  Western rock lobster fishers potting the nearshore reefs have been getting some great catches of reds. 

Chris Hartanto had a great time fishing for tailor with Tailored Treks' Peter Fullarton last week.

The Lancelin Jetty has been fishing very well for sand whiting by day, while herring and tailor have been coming in under the lights at night. Drop netting from the structure has also resulted in big blue swimmer crabs. Beach fishers have been getting onto plenty of tailor up to 70cm on spin gear. Fishers dropping baits up to 300m out by drone have been catching pink snapper, both north and south of town. Herring around 30cm have been in good numbers along the beaches. 

Last Sunday, more than 300 competing anglers in 101 boats took part in Esperance Deep Sea Angling Club’s (EDSAC) 28th Esperance Archipelago Offshore Angling Classic. Competitors who focused on reef fish out wide scored nannygai to 65cm, as well as pink snapper, queen snapper and breaksea cod. Similar catches were also picked up near the islands along, with lots of Samson fish and yellowtail kingfish. Lachy Warren, pictured above, competed in the comp and caught harlequin fish and queen snapper. Dinghy and small boat fishers have been doing well on King George whiting, sand whiting, herring, skippy and squid inshore. 


Not to be outdone by his mate Lachy Warren, Aiden Nell reeled in this queen snapper during the Classic.

Surf fishers have been catching very good numbers of mulloway at Alexander Bay, Thomas River and Israelite Bay. Salmon and tailor have also been coming from the eastern beaches. Salmon were rather scarce at the local beaches this week, with just a few fish caught at Fourth Beach, Salmon Beach and Nine Mile. Big herring are plentiful at these spots, as are some nice flathead. Taylor Street Jetty has been producing the usual mix of skippy, herring and squid. King George whiting and flathead can be targeted at Bandy Creek Boat Harbour.

He's done it again! Experienced south coast rock fisher and Recfishwest Safety Ambassador Gideon Mettam scored this lovely dhufish from the stones somewhere in the Great Southern on Monday.

Crews who visited the shelf, during days with light winds and moderate swells, over the past fortnight caught grey-banded cod, blue eye trevalla, hapuka and big red snapper. Smaller red snapper have been caught along the coral in 60m to 80m alongside pink and queen snapper, breaksea cod and the odd dhufish. King George whiting enthusiasts who have been prepared to put in the time and effort to seek the small schools of 30cm to 45cm fish inshore have been faring better than those fishing idly and sticking to one or two spots. Sand whiting and squid are still relatively scarce inshore, but there are some pink snapper in close, which have been around the legal size limit of 41cm.

On Monday, Robert Goodlich caught and entered this salmon from Parry Beach into the Salmon Slam.

The autumn salmon run may have started along the local beaches, however, the fish have not shown up in the same numbers as previous years. There have been some big fish caught. Bluff Creek was perhaps graced by one of the biggest schools — a shoal of about five tonnes. Bornholm produced a few salmon, as did Sand Patch. Lowlands had salmon turn up some days, while Cables and Shelleys had fish caught in their ones and twos morning and late afternoon. Herring are plentiful right along the coast and there have been some big skippy caught at Bluff Creek and Cables. The King and Kalgan rivers have again mostly produced catches of small black bream. Oyster Harbour seems to have bigger bream on offer along with herring, juvenile salmon and flathead.

Surf fishers have been catching the odd salmon at some of the west coast beaches, but no local fishers are prepared to say whether these catches are connected with the annual run. Schools of juvenile salmon have been turning up at several places including Yallingup. Most of the mature salmon caught this week were found in ones and twos at Smiths Beach and Elmore Road. Herring are in very good numbers along both sides of Cape Naturaliste and there are some nice tailor around morning and dusk at the more exposed spots. Most of Bunbury's beaches have herring on offer, especially once burley is introduced, and the occasional tailor. 

Karen Masolini made the most of Wednesday's great conditions off Mandurah, landing this baldchin.

Dhufish, baldchin groper and Samson fish have been caught in depths of 25m or more off Mandurah by boat fishers this week. A couple of very calm mornings earlier in the week allowed fishers to venture wide and catch dhufish in addition to the occasional pink snapper. Mandurah's artificial reef has small Sambos and plenty of skippy on offer.  For anglers fishing from the beach, mulloway and tailor remain common captures along the coast both north and south of Mandurah. Singleton and Madora both have bread-and-butter species on offer, including herring, skippy and whiting.


Nicola Boukaseff was buzzing with this fun-sized Samson fish off Mandurah recently. 

Mangles Bay Fishing Club's 'Compleat Angler' fish aggregating device (FAD) has again produced dolphinfish and tuna species this week. If you're planning to fish the FADs off Rockingham soon, remember to check Recfishwest's website for coordinates before you head out. Beaches across the region have herring on offer, especially once burley is introduced, and tailor during the morning or evening.

The metro fish aggregating devices (FADs) are still producing dolphinfish, wahoo and tuna. Want to watch action from the FADs? Check out our YouTube video:

Dolphinfish encountered at the FADs seem to be bigger fish, which is often the case late in the season. Wahoo are likely to continue patrolling these waters, while blue marlin and striped marlin are expected to be found wide towards the Rottnest Trench. Reef fishers have been doing very well on pink snapper south of Rottnest Island. Dhufish have also been coming from these waters, while the areas off Hillarys and towards Two Rocks have been producing bigger numbers of baldchin groper. King George whiting can be targeted near The Windmills and sand whiting have been caught in 20m to 30m. Squid catches are slowly increasing along the local seagrass beds.

Skippy were among the species caught at the fishing clinic held at Hillarys Marina last Saturday.