See what's biting across WA in Recfishwest's State-wide Fishing Report 11 March 2022 🎣

Check out this Spanish mackerel! Recfishwest safety ambassador Chris Dixon had to pump the brakes on this Mack Truck while fishing from a not-so secret spot in WA's North West. 

The threadfin salmon fishing in Roebuck Bay has been on fire the past week, reports local fisher Jade Relph. After ex-Tropical Cyclone Anika passed, many fishers were eager to wet a line last long-weekend. For me and a few mates, we spent time searching Roebuck Bay for threadfin salmon, and it's safe to say there are plenty of the hard-fighting sportfish to be found. The barra activity throughout the Fitzroy River has been great, following the recent rains. Dinghy fishers are reporting good catches, with the iconic northern species feeding at most of the well-known haunts. Fishers who've headed offshore have reported blue-lined emperor and coral trout. 

There haven't been too many mud crabs caught in the mangroves close to town this week, compared to recently. Entrance Point is still fishing well for queenfish and small trevally species post-storm, as is the new town jetty that opened last year. Coconut Wells is producing the occasional bluenose salmon. Parts of the Fitzroy River have barramundi on offer for land-based fishers, with top-water fizzers among the lures enticing a bite.

Exmouth Game Fishing Club's 54th GAMEX gets underway next Friday, with terrific fishing expected throughout the week-long event. Game fishers fishing off Exmouth in the lead up to the event are reporting blue marlin in the marlin grounds in addition to yellowfin tuna beyond 50kg. Black marlin are being targeted between the 100m and 200m depths, while sailfish have also been caught. Goldband snapper are being caught in about 100m, while Evolution Charters are reporting ruby snapper in 200m and beyond. Exmouth's King Reef is fishing very well for golden trevally, with fish to 10kg.

Queenfish, small trevally species and squid are being caught from Exmouth Marina's rock wall. In the evening, mangrove jack are still taking baits within the marina. Most of the west coast accesses are still fishing well for spangled emperor, while VLF Bay has trevally and queenfish on offer in the afternoon. Parts of the Exmouth Gulf are still giving fly fishers the opportunity to present their fly at permit, queenfish and the occasional cobia.


Sight-casting for queenfish at Exmouth is what Recfishwest's John Dempsey loves to do.

The lower reaches of the Murchison have mulloway on offer, with plenty of bait in the area. Adjacent to the IGA, yellowfin whiting have been caught in fairly good numbers by those targeting them with prawn-imitation vibes and also young fishers learning the basics of wetting a line. Out of town, tailor and mulloway have been caught at Wagoe, alongside the occasional dart. Drone fishers are targeting both Spanish mackerel and pink snapper from this stretch of coast.

The stretch of coast from Headbutts to the Greenough River mouth is still producing mulloway. Tailor are also being caught along the same stretch of coast, alongside dart and herring. The reefs at Southgates and Separation Point have been holding big tailor this week, with reports of fish to 60cm. 

Salmon are continuing to be caught near Esperance this week, with the aptly-named Salmon Beach among the top-performing locations. If you're in Esperance and chasing salmon, be sure to enter the Salmon Slam fishing competition! Taylor Street Jetty and Esperance Jetty are both fishing well for herring, especially once burley is introduced. Squid are also being taken at night from the Esperance Jetty. Those safe fishing from the headlands, when conditions have been suitable, are reporting breaksea cod and harlequin fish.


Donning Recfishwest's 'Official Salmon Chaser' shirt, Tyson Tietjens entered this catch into the Slam!

Proposed south coast marine park


Whether you're fishing from the boat or along the beach, the south coast offers fantastic fishing.

We are strongly encouraging the south coast fishing community to get involved in south coast marine park process to make your views and voices heard. The State Government has plans for the proposed marine park to potentially stretch 1,000km from Bremer Bay all the way to the South Australian border. Click here to find out more about the south coast marine part process.

Great Southern salmon chasers competing in the 2022 Salmon Slam have lodged good catches of salmon up to 85cm this week from across the region. Based on the entries into the FREE, three-month fishing competition, schools have been found at Bluff Creek, Nanarup and Cables. The King and Kalgan rivers are both still fishing well for black bream, including fish up to 1.5kg, but reports of mulloway from both systems have slowed in recent weeks.

When a weather window allows for a journey out wide, the Cape Naturaliste FADs — deployed as part of the State-wide FADs program — will likely still be holding dolphinfish. Matt Durell and Cliff Mott enjoyed a fantastic session at the South West FADs recently, landing impressive dolphinfish. The 30m to 50m depths off Cape Naturaliste, near structure, are producing dhufish up to 10kg. Baits and jigs have both been effective when targeting the sought-after species this week. Likewise, dhuies have been caught in up to 40m directly off Bunbury, alongside the occasional pink snapper. The seagrass meadows off Busselton are holding plenty of squid with hoods greater than 35cm.

Salmon are yet to show up at the usual South West locations such as Hamelin Bay, Boranup, Boodjidup, Mitchells and Bunker Bay, but expect them to do so in the coming weeks. The Australind to Eaton stretch of the Collie River is still holding soapy mulloway to about 50cm, while there's blue swimmer crabs to be scooped along the Leschenault Estuary's flats. Pink snapper have allegedly been caught near Stratham, to the south of Bunbury, by drone fishers. Beach fishers between Myalup and Preston Beach are targeting mulloway in the evening with mixed results, however, those willing to stay long into the night are reporting better catches.

It's a catch you'd usually associate with waters farther north, but an estuary cod was caught off Mandurah earlier this week. Riley Haines thought he'd hooked a monster dhufish, but it turned out to be a 93cm, 16kg estuary cod! Click the Flows Fishing link above to see Chris Tanti's photo of Riley and the cod. The Mandurah artificial reef has produced small Samson fish and skippy once again this week, while fishers might be a chance of coming across the odd pink snapper at the structure. San Remo, Singleton and Madora are producing herring, skippy and whiting from early to mid-morning and also in the late afternoon for beach anglers. The southern beaches have herring and whiting during the day, with tailor taking metal slices in the early mornings and evenings. The Peel-Harvey Estuary is also holding good tailor to 45cm, while scoopers and drop-netters are reporting nice blue swimmer crabs. Yellowfin whiting are taking small surface lures along the flats, some of which are bigger than 35cm.

Dolphinfish and smaller tuna species are being landed fairly regularly at the Mangles Bay Fishing Club's FADs when conditions are suitable. For land-based fishers, the beaches near Port Kennedy and Secret Harbour are producing tailor, skippy and tarwhine. There are rumours of big metro tailor beyond 55cm being caught, however, fishers are remaining very tight lipped about specific locations. Mulloway are also being landed on a regular basis, with reports of fish to 15kg also at beaches in the Secret Harbour area. Boat fishers focused on achieving a Spanish mackerel from metro waters have reportedly had success in Warnbro Sound recently. Land-based fishers have also been targeting Spaniards nearby. Not only does it take effort, but it also requires a good easterly to get baits out the required distance from the shore.

Squid, squid and more squid are being reported by small boat and kayak fishers working their squid jigs along the seagrass beds of Cockburn Sound's safe and accessible waters. Pink snapper have also been caught within the Sound this week, while herring have been a common catch by fishers targeting the bread-and-butter species. In case you missed it:

The FADs deployed off Perth as part of the State-wide FADs program are continuing to fish very well for dolphinfish and tuna varieties, as shown by Anthony Pecotic above. After a photo of Anthony and the Spanish mackerel he caught in Cockburn Sound was published in last week's State-wide Fishing Report, there's been more murmurings of the toothy predator caught in metropolitan waters. Lochlan Turrell, pictured in the 'Pic of the Week', was one fisher who achieved the metro mackie feat to the west of Rottnest Island. In addition to Rottnest, trolling rigged garfish along the edge of Three Mile Reef could deliver results. Hillarys, Mindarie and Two Rocks are all holding Samson fish in the reefy areas, while baldchin groper and breaksea cod have been reported by demersal fishers.


Well, the metro FADs are fishing well, just check out the colours on this dolphinfish! 📸 Tackle West

Tailor, some to about 45cm, have been caught throughout the Swan River this week. Schools of tailor have been feeding on big bait shoals near spots including Como, Applecross, Attadale and Bicton. The upper reaches of the Swan River are continuing to fish well for black bream, in addition to the occasional soapy mulloway. Maylands and Ascot have been among the locations where bream have been caught, while they've also been landed at the Causeway Bridge and near Canning Bridge. Beach fishers are reporting tailor to 50cm along the north metropolitan beaches, with Yanchep one of the hot spots this week. They seem to be coming on the bite in the afternoon, once the seabreeze kicks in.