From pink snapper off Mandurah to more metro mulloway there's plenty to read in Recfishwest's State-wide Fishing Report 21 May 2021 🎣

Sailfish have continued to be encountered in waters off Barred Creek and near The Peanut. Spanish mackerel and varieties of tuna, including mack and longtail, are also evident offshore. Reef fishers have been doing well on blue lined emperor, coral trout, red emperor and saddletail seaperch in 40m to 50m. Threadfin salmon can be targeted throughout Roebuck Bay, while tripletail are sometimes being found near the moorings.

Red emperor, Rankin cod and Robinson's seabream have been among the dominant species caught in 50m to 70m of water this week. For those who have ventured out wider, goldband snapper have been found in 100m to 120m and ruby snapper have been caught in 200m and deeper. Stickbaits have been working on spangled emperor and golden trevally inside the reef line. Outside the reef line, Spanish mackerel have been responding to trolled bibbed minnows and rigged garfish. There are still a few black marlin being caught beyond the 100m contour where lots of wahoo also seem to be about. Longtail tuna and Spanish mackerel can be found near the shoals of baitfish within Exmouth Gulf.


Check out the chompers on this Spaniard caught off Exmouth on Tuesday! 📸 On Strike Charters

Spangled emperor have been caught on baits and soft plastics north of Tantabiddi, while Mildura Wreck and the lighthouse area seem to be the best spots to try for bluebone. Golden and small GTs are common along the west coast accesses. VLF Bay and Old Bundegi have some big queenfish turning up at times. Yellowfin whiting, bream and flathead are among the species being caught from the beaches closer to town. There are still plenty of squid being picked up at the marina and Learmonth Jetty.


Sam Russell flaunts his spangled emperor from Exmouth while his father, Roger, does battle with a solid golden trevally in the background. Sounds like a great way to spend your 60th birthday, Roger! 🎉 🎈

Western rock lobster are continuing to be caught in very good numbers along the Mid West. Watch our video on how to best cook your feed of crays below:

Dhufish, coral trout and baldchin groper have been prevalent in about 35m of water near African Reef. Pink snapper seem to be about in good numbers near South West Bank and in some of the deeper ground north-west of the shipping channel. Yellowfin tuna in the 40kg to 50kg range have been encountered about midway to the Abrolhos Islands. Small dhufish, snapper, school sharks and pike have been caught in 15m to 20m off Dongara. 

Fishing Nine Mile Beach near Dongara, Savannah Killerby-Smith was more than happy with this tailor!

Tailor in the 35cm to 55cm range have been caught most mornings and evenings near Flat Rocks. Small mulloway, dart and sharks have also been coming from the beaches near S-Bend. Batavia Marina has been producing an odd mix of species including squid, sweetlip to 50cm, pink snapper to 55cm and chopper tailor. Bigger tailor to 45cm can be picked up from the rocks at Port Gregory together with sharks and herring.

Dhufish and pink snapper have been caught inside White Bank  this week in the 10m to 15m depths. Those who went beyond White Bank reported demersal species difficult to find. The 20m to 22m depths are producing plump sand whiting. However, these areas are also plagued with northwest blowfish so frequent moves are required. The bay is fishing very well at the moment with plenty of skippy, herring and good sized flathead.  

Lancelin's jetty has been a great place to cast a line, with plump sand whiting by day and great numbers of herring caught at night. Waders have made the most of this week's calm evenings, finding cobbler in excess of 50cm. Last weekend's new moon was very productive for surf fishers with numerous mulloway in the 10kg to 20kg range caught. Chopper tailor have been very scarce, though larger green back tailor have started to make a presence again on the reef breaks and gutters. Most beaches have been fishing exceptionally well for large sand whiting and herring. 

Dinghy and small boat fishers have been doing well on herring, sand whiting and squid within the bay. Breaksea cod, queen snapper and harlequin fish were among the species recently caught near the islands. Those who travelled wide scored nannygai to 65cm, Samson fish and yellowtail kingfish.

Herring have been consistently caught from the Esperance Jetty and Taylor Street Jetty this week. The bread-and-butter species are an awesome fish to target, especially for young fishers, and make for a great feed. Watch our video on how to maximise your herring feed here:

Black bream have been caught on baits and soft plastics at the local lakes. Salmon in the 3kg to 5kg range have been appearing at Salmon Beach, Fourth Beach, Roses and Fourteen Mile. Lachy Warren, pictured above, has been targeting salmon along the Esperance coast during fun-filled sessions this week. Mulloway and gummy sharks were among the species landed near Cape Arid.
 

Experienced rock fisher and Recfishwest safety ambassador Aron Dixon with a south coast kingie! 

Reef fishers have been doing better on snapper, dhufish and breaksea cod off Peaceful Bay and Cheynes compared to waters due south of the marina. Boat limits of King George whiting are sometimes being achieved within a couple of hours in the sound and both harbours. Squid catches are improving inshore and there seems to be a lot more sand whiting around. Lures trolled near the islands should produce salmon and bonito. Packs of yellowtail kingfish in the 8kg to 12kg have been found within a few miles of the coast.

Salmon have continued to appear along the coast with Shelley Beach, Lowlands and Cables among the spots where the 3kg to 7kg fish were caught this week. Herring remain in very good numbers, however, skippy have been a little hard to find. Rock fishers have been landing Samson fish and yellowtail kingfish at West Cape Howe and Bremer Bay. Read more about how you can stay safe while fishing from the rocks here. Small black bream, rarely bigger than 30cm, are dominating catches in the King and Kalgan rivers. The rivers to the west of town are thought to be producing bigger bream.

A trip to Harvey Dam proved worth while for Brittany Lauchlan at the weekend, after catching her first redfin perch. Nice stuff, Brittany, hopefully it is the first of many reddies to come! 📸 James Lauchlan

San Remo, Singleton and Madora are continuing to produce mulloway at both dawn and dusk this week. Tailor are being caught at dusk and after dark along the same stretch of coast, while salmon have been found in the area. Dawesville Cut has herring and the occasional tailor from the seaward end, while salmon have also been caught. Plenty of chopper tailor can be found in the Mandurah Estuary and the Peel Inlet. Scoopers and drop netters are still catching blue swimmer crabs. With some heavy rain predicted this weekend, prawns should start to move downstream. Bream fishing is still consistent in the Murray and Serpentine systems. Bream specialists are getting good fish upstream.

How's this mighty mulloway that Alex Pettet scored while wetting a line in Cockburn Sound at the weekend. If you've got a fishing photo to share, be sure to tag #recfishwest on social media. 📸

There has continued to be plenty of mulloway caught this week, especially at night. 'Silver Ghosts' in the 8kg to 16kg range continue to be caught at night in big numbers in 15m to 22m of water within Cockburn Sound. More mulloway have been picked up in 90m to 110m of water west of Rottnest Island, alongside pink snapper and Samson fish. Snapper have also been found in big numbers along with quite a few harlequin, dhufish, breaksea cod and flathead south of Rottnest. There are King George whiting near The Windmills and in 10m to 18m of water off City Beach and Cottesloe. Dolphinfish remain at the metro fish aggregating devices (FADs). Striped tuna are evident near the devices. Squid catches are improving along the seagrass beds off Fremantle.


Perth fisher Billy Bowe has been among those to get among the metro mulloway madness recently! 

Fisheries Minister Don Punch rolled up his sleeves last Thursday to help Recfishwest release another 5,000 juvenile kingies into metro waters as part of the exciting ongoing metro yellowtail kingfish stocking program. Read the full story on our website here!

A young fisher and Recfishwest intern Mitch Reid at the Shark Bay Fishing Fiesta fishing clinic last Saturday!