See what's biting across WA in Recfishwest's State-wide Fishing Report 7 January 2022 🎣

Dampier Creek is holding plenty of baitfish which means there's bound to be barra nearby, writes Jade Relph. We've already started to hear of respectable barramundi catches from Dampier Creek over the past fortnight or so and I anticipate this will continue in the weeks ahead. Roebuck Bay has continued to fish very well for tripletail. Tripletail are great fighters and that's what makes them a fantastic target for sportfishers seeking a different challenge. Queenfish, some of which are to 1m, are also being found with relative ease near bait shoals within Roebuck Bay. Unfortunately, it has been too rough to head wide off Broome this week to target fingermark or red emperor.


Ayesha Salkilld ended 2021 with a barra, landing this beaut specimen from the Fitzroy River.

Strong winds and swells have made land-based fishing relatively difficult near Broome this week, especially on the Cable Beach side of town. The jetty near the Port has had queenies on offer, with the tough sportfish taking metal slices and floating stickbaits. Those chasing barra along the known land-based locations in the Fitzroy River haven't reported too many big trophy catches, but fish to 60cm have been caught.

Red emperor and Rankin cod have been among the catches out wide in 60m and beyond on the westside. The gamefishing action of Exmouth has remained sublime in recent weeks, with blue marlin caught. Spanish mackerel are still being landed behind the reef on the west-side and in the Gulf. Fishers are targeting Spaniards on stickbaits in action-packed sessions. Farther out, goldband snapper and ruby snapper are being caught in depths of about 100m and 200m. Spangled emperor to 60cm have been caught in the lagoon on the west-side.

Connor Luff, pictured at the top of the report, caught a solid bluebone on fly near Exmouth over the festive period. It was one of a couple land-based bluebone achieved over the Christmas and New Year break, with multiple catches reported at Pilgramanna by fishers using crab as bait. Spangled emperor have been landed on small stickbaits at the accesses between Tantabiddi and Mildura Wreck, in addition to queenfish and small golden trevally. Yellowfin whiting are still being caught along the beaches close to town and in the lower areas of Exmouth Gulf.

The Esperance Jetty has plenty of squid on offer at the moment, in addition to bread-and-butter species such as skippy and herring. Four Mile Beach and Roses are both among the better performing beaches close to town, with the occasional salmon and bluespotted flathead caught this week. Fishers who camped near Israelite Bay over the Christmas and New Year period reported mulloway and very plump skippy.

Strong easterlies have made offshore fishing difficult recently, with most fishers sticking to the sheltered waters of the nearby estuary systems. However, those who managed to pick a gap in the weather window and get out to the Continental Shelf, like Chris Dixon pictured below, were rewarded with hapuka. An estimated 12kg dhufish was caught off Albany by a lucky fisher who managed to find a gap in the weather window, also. Bread-and-butter species, such as squid, and King George whiting have made up most of the catch in Princess Royal Harbour and King George Sound. Plenty of squid are being found along seagrass meadows within Princess Royal Harbour, with small boat fishers enjoying the consistent fishing. For those who opted not to go out wide due to the wind, estuaries across the Great Southern have provided terrific, safe and accessible fishing.


A trip to the Continental Shelf paid dividends for Chris Dixon when this hapuka came up from the depths.

Salmon have been encountered at beaches across the Great Southern, with one school providing fishers at Cheynes Beach with an action-packed hour of fishing just before the New Year. Mulloway fishing in the King and Kalgan rivers has been quite compared to previous seasons, however, those putting in the hours have been rewarded with good quality fish. Large profile lures seem to be the preferred choice among anglers chasing mulloway at the  moment. The flats near Albany have been fishing well for black bream, with small shallow diving minnows producing the goods.


He's done it again! Callum Dowell tempted this mighty 47cm black bream from the Kalgan River.

Dhufish, pink snapper and breaksea cod have been caught off Cape Naturaliste's west coast in 25m and beyond. Pink snapper have been found at Four Mile Reef and Eight Mile Reef off Dunsborough, alongside Samson fish and King George whiting. There's plenty of squid, some with 35cm hoods, along the seagrass meadows off Busselton at the moment, while there have been reports of dolphinfish at the Cape Naturaliste FADs. Pink snapper have been picked up on a variety of jigs in less than 10m of water off Bunbury, while dhufih have been caught from 25m to 40m on metal jigs and big white paddletail soft plastics.

The Noongar calendar has six seasons for WA's South West and Birak, which is currently taking place, is the season when rain eases and the weather really warms. Supported by the latest round of Community Grants, OzFish Unlimited is currently hosting the month-long 'Birak In The Bay' for fishers in Geographe Bay. If you're fishing in Geographe Bay, from Cape Naturaliste to Bunbury, be sure to enter! Just take a picture with the code word OZFISH and enter — $1,000 up for grabs in the adult competition and $500 for kids, with each category offering a $250 runner-up prize as well as more prizes from BCF.


South West guru Branden Hastie christened his new vessel with a lovely dhuie off Bunbury this week.

A school of salmon, believed to be a resident school, were spotted multiple times off Injidup over the Christmas and New Year period, while tailor were caught at the same location in addition to Honeycombs, Smiths Beach and Yallingup. The Busselton Jetty is continuing to produce squid, while small Samson fish have also been caught from the iconic land-based fishing structure. Belvedere and Buffalo are both producing tailor for Bunbury and Australind fishers, while a school of tailor to 50cm were reported at the Bunbury Cut on New Year's Eve. South West fisher Scott Fowler and his great mate Joseph Verscai have been enjoying action-packed sessions at Myalup Beach, with plenty of yellowfin whiting on offer. 

Dhufish have been caught in 25m of water by demersal fishers off Mandurah this week, alongside plump King George whiting and pink snapper. Jigging for Samson fish off Mandurah has produced specimens beyond 15kg, while yellowtail kingfish have been caught at the near-shore reefs. South of Mandurah, Tims Thicket and White Hills have been consistently producing good tailor up to 50cm for beach anglers. The Dawesville Cut has yellowfin whiting, tailor and herring biting during the day while tailor and herring are there after dark. Two mulloway tipping the scales at more than 15kg have been caught at beaches north of Mandurah recently, with rumours swirling that more have been caught near Mandurah. Black bream are still active in the Serpentine and Murray rivers.

As shown by Clay Lewis, pictured above, the sportfishing action off Rockingham at the Mangles Bay Fishing Club's FADs has really started to fire up in recent weeks. When the conditions have been suitable to venture to the two devices off Rockingham, dolphinfish have been a relatively reliable catch. Click here for the coordinates. The 45m depths off Rockingham are also fishing well for dhufish and breaksea cod, while Samson fish are being encountered along the reefs between 20m and 30m. Warnbro Sound has been producing skippy and squid for kayak fishers and small boat owners. For land-based anglers, Long Point, Kwinana and Warnbro are producing reasonable tailor fishing at the moment, especially at dusk. The same stretch of coast is fishing well for yellowfin whiting and herring, too.

The safe and accessible waters of Cockburn Sound have been fishing well for skippy and squid this week. Burley has proved the recipe to success for small boat fishers chasing bread-and-butter species this festive period, with fishing families catching skippy, whiting and herring in less than 10m off Hillarys, Mindarie and Two Rocks. Dhufish and pink snapper have been caught between 50m to 70m in areas featuring ground off Mindarie, Hillarys and Fremantle. Dhufish, King George whiting to 50cm and breaksea cod have also been caught off the same areas closer to shore between the 25m to 40m depths. Murmurings regarding Spanish mackerel caught in the metro have been scarce, but that's likely because fishers in the know are keeping their cards close to their chests rather than spilling the beans! However, a couple of shark mackerel were reportedly landed near Rottnest Island on Boxing Day. Keen gamefisher David Gray reportedly landed the first metro blue marlin of the season last week. 

A trip out to RFW5 was worth it for Ash Bamford, spearing this almost 10kg dolphinfish. FAD-tastic!

Did you know we're running a FADs photo comp with our FADs fishing partners Richter Lures and Madfish Gear? The popular State-wide FADs program is now in the third and final year of its three-year trial, so it is more important than ever that we have a solid collection of photographic evidence that shows the FADs creating great fishing experiences. That’s why it’s great to have the Richter and Madfish crew on board sponsoring the photo competition — FADs fishing photos will help ensure the program continues into the future. If you're planning a FADs mission, send your FADs fishing photos to Fishing Report Editor Zach Relph for a chance to win awesome monthly Richter and Madfish prizes!

Big bartail flathead, beyond 50cm, have been caught in the Swan River this week on bibbed minnows and soft plastics. Fishers persisting with soft plastics along the flats seem to be getting rewarded with the bigger flatties. The Swan has also been fishing very well for tailor in the evening lately, with fish to 45cm reportedly caught. The tailor are responding very well to surface lures and small metal slices, while soaking a mulie on a three-gang hook after dark has also resulted in catches. The run of tailor along the metropolitan coast been slow, however, the toothy species can be found near Floreat Drain, Yanchep Lagoon and Swanbourne. 


Young gun Matthew Fisher landed this queen snapper behind Rottnest while aboard Blue Juice Charters on Wednesday.