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Recfishwest's State-wide Fishing Report 30 September 2022 🎣

| By Seamus on 9/30/2022 2:06:06 AM | Views (513)

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Recfishwest
Fishing Report

30/09/22

A school mackie giving a reel a good sizzle - Pic: Marco Fraschetti

Our contributors

Sam Russell

John Dempsey

Peter Fullarton

John Curtis

G'day <>,

A long weekend and good fishing weather is the best combination since Ben and Jerry's. I hope you had a taste of this combo in your area over the past week!

Remember to keep sending us your catches by tagging #recfishwest in your online posts! You can also follow and private message your catches to our Instagram page @recfishwest and make sure you let us know where and how you caught it!

For your photos to appear in the weekly fishing report, please make sure they reflect Recfishwest's responsible fish handling practices, just like the images below.

If you're planning to head out this week, stay safe, take plenty of photos and have fun!

Jarrad Lawford

RECFISHWEST FISHING REPORT EDITOR

Pic of the Week!

Matty Ma @instahung and his son had a fantastic freshwater session down in Pemberton recently, landing multiple stonker rainbow trout over 50cm!

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Fishing in 'barradise' - the 2022 Apex Kununurra Barra Bash

The 2022 Apex Kununurra Barra Bash took place over the long weekend with a record-breaking number of competitors trying to land 'metrey' barra just like this brute caught by Paul Cunningham! Any barra over the magical 100cm mark scored anglers a new Shimano Speed Master 12 fishing reel!

A record-breaking number of Apex Kununurra Barra Bash competitors recently experienced ‘barradise’ first-hand.

Now in its 24^th year, the 2022 Apex Kununurra Barra Bash, running from September 23-25, saw more than 720 anglers across all ages try their luck around Lake Kununurra’s beautiful waterways, with 168 barra, 181 catfish and 70 sooty grunter landed in total and $50,000 in prizes given away!
Click here to catch the highlights and winners from the 2022 Apex Kununurra Barra Bash!

Broome catches

Celeste McDonald-Holland @celestemcdonald had a great session out of Broome with the @reefchiefaustralia crew, landing this beauty of a black snapper.

Boats

The weather hasn't been too bad this week, although the tides were unusually big. As a result, a lot of threadfin salmon have been caught in close around the bay. Casting vibes or prawns has done the trick and a few barra were also caught in the mix. Earlier this week there were some monster barra measuring over one-metre coming in throughout the lower regions of the Fitzroy. Further offshore there are still mackerel and tuna doing the rounds, but the billfish went rather quiet around midweek as the westerly winds started to roll in and they seemed to head north chasing the bait. For bottom fishers, the reds and blue lined emperor have been performing well around 8 Mile on the rougher grounds.

Shore-based

The higher tides this week has seen a lot of land-based fishers landing a few nice threadfin salmon and barramundi by flicking vibes during that decent high tide window around midday. As always, the Town Beach jetty is performing exceptionally well for smaller trevally and queenies, just make sure you use the same tactics as those targeting the threadfin salmon and barra by flicking your lures around that high tide mark. Crab Creek has been producing good numbers of mud crabs, with better luck reported from those patrolling the mangroves on foot as opposed to dropping pots. Further north of town, Willie Creek has been productive for the odd cod, bream and flathead.

Exmouth catches

Seain Ghosts @seain_ghosts pulled in this beauty of a malabar cod in Exmouth waters, good to see you're 'staying strong' in order to hold fish of this size mate!

Boats

The weather was rather touch-and-go this week for boats. The wind made it rather tough, but there has been a huge amount of mackies caught by trolling close to the Muiron Islands. The charter operators are also reporting good numbers too, with mackies going wild all over and leaping metres out of the water after attacking trolled lures and flicked stickbaits. For the best trolling success, we recommend trolling two lures that have different diving depths so that 2-10m territory is covered nicely. The billfish are doing quite well also, with the inshore reefs seeing plenty of solid black marlin and sailfish. They are expected to start winding down slightly over the coming weeks, so take advantage of this while they are still red hot. The wind hasn't really provided good opportunities to punch out deep for bottom fishing, but for those that managed it they are still landing decent red emperor and goldband snapper. When the weather allowed it, some great rubies were caught between 250-350m. Electric reels are essential in this territory to get it past potential sharks, even if your physique resembles a fridge with a head strapped on to it.

Shore-based

The last few weeks has gone absolutely berko for good numbers of kraken squid. It's been a long time since they were in such great numbers and these tasty critters are great fun to catch and highly sustainable. They have been doing the rounds within the marina off most structures where weed patches are nearby. The deeper waters south east of Mildura Wreck have also continued to fish well for trevally and queenfish. The Learmonth jetty is also a great spot lately for whiting and squid. Beach fishing on the western side has started to quieten down for those targeting spangled emperor, but fishers who did manage to land them reported a ganged mulie was working better than stickbaits. Mud crabs are doing well in all river systems close to town and if the wind starts to pick up, we recommend setting foot through the mangroves and searching for these tasty bucks. They can be located close to town, but the further you travel, the better your odds seem to be at the moment.

Kalbarri catches

He's back! Except this time Tyson TNT Tietjens @tnttietjens isn't tearing up the waterways in Esperance, he's up in Kalbarri pulling in solid pinkies and tailor in the surf!

Boats

Boat fishers have absolutely loved the weather this week, with great reports rolling through from in close and out deep. Snapper continue to perform nicely along with the baldies from right in close to those travelling further offshore. The charter operators have also had an exceptionally good week on the baldies and snapper, with most fishers bagging out this week. For those wanting to save fuel, pinkies were frequent in close near the cliffs when boats threw out some burley. Dhufish popped up between 20-30m although there weren't too many monsters around. This week is throwing some decent-looking morning weather our way, with drops in the wind and warmer day temperatures forecast in the mid-twenties providing great opportunities to wet a line.

Shore-based

The kids whiting competition kicked off recently near the Spit, with a lot of youngsters having a great time and landing a wide variety of species such as whiting, tailor, tarwhine, morwong and the pesky blowie - all part of the learning experience! Bream are performing well on soft plastics in the river, with most catches measuring around 35cm. The cliffs have being fishing well for pinkies, with most caught measuring around the 55cm mark. If you're fishing the cliffs, the early mornings over the coming days look to be your best bet as they have drops in wind, just make sure you wear a personal floatation device and fish with a buddy. Red Bluff has been a great spot for those targeting tailor, with 45cm specimens common and most fishers reporting bag outs. The bigger greenback tailor were mostly featuring near the river mouth, while Oyster Reef saw some solid 60cm+ catches. The mulloway have also started to move a long way up river, with one fisher landing an 85cm specimen about 12-13km up river in the middle of the day. The estuary and marina jetty have also both seen a couple of bigger catches of mulloway crossing the one-metre mark along with the Sand Spit.

Geraldton catches

Boats

No dice this week unfortunately for boat fishing as the swell picked up and the strong wind wasn't helping. Hopefully I'll have better weather news for you next week but it's looking like Tuesday is the only okay-ish forecast for this week.

Shore-based

Last weekend, fishing shore-based was a little difficult, however, those who braved the winds and high swell were rewarded with some great fish. Starting near S-Bend, the beaches south of Flat Rocks have been fishing quite well with reports of mulloway and tailor being caught. Flat Rocks itself has been relatively quiet and fishing last weekend was difficult with the surf competition on. Duncan’s and Clinches was quite good with a few tailor and the odd mulloway. Lucy’s Beach was extremely prone to swell, but if you could keep your line above the wave breaks, you’re in for a good chance of mulloway. The northern end of West Bank has been great, while tailor up to 40cm near the Greenough River mouth has also been reported. Drummonds has seen plenty of herring up to 30cm being caught as by-catch when chasing tailor. There was also good reports of bream in the river and tailor in the Greenough on trolling small metals. The Batavia Marina has had plenty of mullet, along with some beefy Sambos trying to chase them down with fishers on the heavier gear struggling to stop them. Those fishing land-based have also reported some serious car bonnets (stingrays) northside of Geraldton, so come prepared to deal with them as well!

Lancelin catches

Geordie, who is over from Victoria for the school holidays, experienced the thrill of catching WA greenback tailor in the Lancelin surf, with his best fish of the morning going a smidge under 60cm.

Boats

The weekend was a bit tough for easy launching at Lancelin, although as swells eased the school holiday fishers enjoyed some calmer days around midweek. Tuna have been widespread throughout this week, along with some big schools of bonito. Floating weed has caused problems when trolling (our condolences to all anglers who excitedly raced to a sizzling reel only to reel in kilos of it), but casting lures to the schools has been landing plenty of fish. Pink snapper were stirred up by the swells and boats were catching some good-sized specimens through the 10-40m depths. Even the kayakers got onto some good snapper close to shore and received a tow from some 60cm+ fish. Dhufish have been schooling on the lumps, while boats have also reported great luck on the baldies when drifting over the flatter reefs. Fishers casting baits to sand holes in the weed have been onto some monster King George whiting crossing the 60cm mark. The crays are also in great numbers along reef ledges right in close to the beach. The visibility has been decent, so divers have been looping plenty along with the skippers having luck by dropping pots.

Shore-based

The weekend started off with vast amounts of tailor sitting on the offshore reef breaks where whitewash was present. Drone fishers also had solid results finding pink snapper and plenty of tailor around 200-300m offshore. After the swells dropped by midweek, tailor started to move back in close and there were numerous reports of 50cm+ specimens caught by casting lures and baits from the beach. For the best chance of catching this hard-fighting species, the tailor have been caught in the best numbers about an hour or so around first and last light and usually lurk around the gutters and reef breaks. If you manage to find a great spot filled with larger greenback tailor, remember there is a bag limit of only two fish over 50cm. The sun is starting to warm the shallows and it's also made the flathead more active, with the flats around Edwards Island a good spot to cast a few lures.

Scott's Species - Breaksea cod - one of the finest-eating by-catches

Breaksea cod are not usually targeted specifically, but they are always a welcome catch to boat fishers or rock fishers on the south coast of WA such as Kjell Hensen.

We're surprised Scott hasn't yet covered this spectacular-looking and delicious-eating species that is a frequent catch by boat fishers from 10-100m and rock fishers on the south coast of WA!

Check out the latest article from Scott Coghlan discussing breaksea cod, with tips on how to catch this prized species that can range in colour from dark brown to bright orange!

Esperance catches

Joseph Richardson @josephrichardson50 plucked this hefty squid off his yak in close to the Esperance mainland. The squid have been going nuts in close recently. If you decide to chase squid first, small strips of their tentacles work brilliantly as fresh bait on paternoster rigs for big King George whiting.

Boats

There are plenty of people in town and the extended period of good weather has allowed many of them to head out for a fish. Nannygai have been prolific in 40m of water behind the islands, while gummy sharks have also ben picked up in similar areas. Solid breaksea cod have been caught in waters ranging from 10-70m of water, while Samson fish have started to fire around the islands, with locations closer to shore being the most productive. The inshore fishing has been spectacular over the last 10 days or so, with squid hoods measuring 40cm+ in the bay. King George whiting have been going off in Lovers Cove and flathead are being caught in the best sizes and numbers off Wylie Bay.

Shore-based

A very large school of salmon have been spotted patrolling intermittently near Roses and these fish have been rather hungry, with any bait or lure thrown in their direction getting gobbled up quickly. Smaller mulloway have been caught along 14 Mile and once again at Roses. The bigger King George whiting have been caught in good numbers along the foreshore by casting prawn, worm or squid-baited paternosters directly on to the sand patches, while flathead fishing has been productive in Bandy Creek on an outgoing tide. Squid and herring continue to be caught at the jetty and the calmer conditions are your best bet for snagging yourself a quick and easy feed.

Great Southern catches

Brody Ogle @brody_ogle managed to get himself a girthy Samson fish when he dropped a line off William Bay. If you're forced to rest them in your lap you know you've done well! Pic taken by @will.venter.

Boats

The weather has been a bit gross this week unfortunately. Most boats that launched were forced to stay in close, but thankfully the squid are still around in great numbers and this continues to be one of the best winter and spring periods we've seen for catching big hauls. The whiting action was decent in the same territory, so if you decide to head out, make sure you have one rod set up for whiting and a squid jig on another as they tend to hover around the same broken patches of weed and sand. Brody Ogle managed to land a hefty Sambo a few days ago when he dropped a line around the inshore reefs of William Bay (pictured above). Unfortunately, there were slim reports of good luck out wide. Saturday morning may have a very brief window with lower winds, but the rest of the week is looking rather dismal on the weather front.

Shore-based

The shore-based fishing action was also a bit tame with the rougher weather this week, but there are some great mulloway being plucked from further up the river. For those that targeted the beaches, there are good numbers of herring, whiting and skippy when the weather permitted easier casting. The bream in the river systems were quiet this week with slightly dirtier waters. Unfortunately, the weather won't really start to improve for another week or so, but hopefully I'll have better weather news for you in the next report.

South West catches

We've seen some beefcake land-based Sambos caught recently and this one is very impressive for Busselton. Josh Mayo @josh_may o1 enjoyed the weekend down south, hauling in this 'slambo' off the jetty. Don't bother pumping the guns at the gym, just go for Sambos.

Boats

King George whiting have been the main highlight for those fishing out of small boats, with fish moving closer to shore and a lot of boats bagging out on plump fish measuring 40cm+. Squid continue to be picked up in good numbers in similar areas, although the snapper fishing is starting to slow down. Dhufish are being caught in relatively inshore waters between the capes most commonly in the 15-40m depths. The crays continue to kick off in great numbers near the reef ledges closer to shore, so make sure you take your pots out with you if you decide to launch over the weekend. Saturday morning is looking best, although the wind picks up sharply from Saturday arvo and isn't expected to calm back down until Tuesday.

Shore-based

Once again, the jetty has been the ever reliable destination if you want to catch yourself an easy haul of herring and squid. The evenings are working best currently and most fishers tend to cast off the northern side of the jetty with the south-easterly winds aiding in casting and feeling any tugs on the hooks. The local beaches have been relatively quiet, but this is expected to change as the weather warms. Expect the whiting fishing to progressively get better within the coming months. Forrest Beach continues to see 35-45cm tailor pulled in as well.

Freshwater

Giordano Gervasi seems to be the big redfin perch master! He consistently pulls in 40cm+ beasts from the southern river systems. His 50km+ paddling efforts is the secret to exploring the untouched deep pools and going home with some delicious fillets. Make sure you check out the Redfin Perch WA Facebook page!

The Drakesbrook, Harvey and Wellington dams have risen again to a level where a lot of land-based spots have unfortunately become inaccessible, which has changed where they all feed. As a result, the trout have tended to linger around deeper waters, but there was still some great reports of larger broodstock fish being landed off the banks. Matty Ma and his son had a cracker of a session in one of the Pemberton dam systems earlier this week, pulling in multiple 50cm+ rainbow trout. Giordano Gervasi (pictured above) also had a fantastic session targeting the redfin perch far up one of the untouched southern river systems. If you're wanting to catch the 40cm+ giants like he consistently does, covering as much distance as possible and finding the stagnant pools in the river systems with plenty of structure is key. As soon as the weather forecast is looking calm and the sun starts to shine, the trout will start to go wild, so the warmer forecast this weekend is looking great for a flick.

Mandurah and surrounds

Mandurah

Bizarrely, there is a huge amount of crayfish being caught in depths of 3-18m, which is much earlier than the usual expected period of around early November. They seem to be leaving home earlier and have featured in great numbers in pots dropped along Five Fathom and the inshore reefs closer to town. Five Fathom has also seen some beefy King George whiting pulled in as a by-catch when boats have targeted pinkies and dhuies, with fishers reporting they couldn't get their hands around the plump bodies and some measuring over 60cm. These welcome catches have complimented the solid number of dhuies and pinkies being caught in the 30-50m depths. The dhuies in particular have been exceptionally big, with most over 10kg in weight. The snapper were mostly smaller in size as the bigger fish are starting to congregate and spawn. At this time of year the beaches are producing big yellowfin whiting as they are getting ready to head into the estuary. Tailor around the 35-40cm mark are getting better in numbers, while the soapie mulloway up to about 6kg are featuring off the beaches where deeper gutters are found. Squid are featuring well with the incoming tide, right from Five Fathom in close to the waters off the rock walls. The water hasn't cleared up in the estuary yet, although the lower swell and slightly better winds forecast for next week should be good for whiting and squid on the surface along the flats.

SECRET HARBOUR / PORT KENNEDY / ROCKINGHAM / SAFETY BAY / WARNBRO SOUND

The southern beaches have produced some decent tailor after dark and early in the morning. The best time to catch these 40-50cm specimens is around one hour after sunset and smack bang on sunrise. Tailor anglers have also found the beaches around Secret Harbour are worth a try, but this is the only spot that seems to be producing these fish regularly in this region. Another spot fishing well has been Shoalwater Bay where herring, whiting and skippy are being caught in large numbers. The odd King George whiting has also been plucked from the area but they tend to be around the 30cm mark. Once again, Point Peron continues to be a great spot for squidding and the calmer mornings and evenings tend to be the best windows. Bream anglers fishing the Murray and Serpentine rivers continue to catch good numbers of black bream. One angler caught and released a beast that was over 50cm during the week and small hard-bodied lures and soft plastic lures are accounting for most of the fish.

Perth catches

Former Australian open water swimming and surf lifesaving champion Simon Huitenga @s_huitenga paid a visit to the artificial reefs off Perth and had great fun pulling in yellowtail kingfish on the light gear - only when he could get his hooks past the 30m of thick skippy!

Boats

Perth has had a run of beautiful weather this past week, which was perfect timing alongside the long weekend. Plenty of boats punched out deep and Sambos, amberjack and yellowtail kingfish were rampant across most of the outer reef systems such as Stragglers and Champion Rock. Tuna were harder to find this week, but we did hear reports of 18kg+ southern bluefin featuring west of Rottnest. Dhuies featured mostly in the deeper areas of 50m+, while some massive 30kg+ grey banded cod did the rounds in 280-380m of water. Skippy were also running wild in thick numbers, with sounders frequently showing 40cm+ specimens thick from 5m right down to 40m depths. Plenty of snapper are being encountered by small boat fishers, with the fish being widespread in the waters off the north metro area in depths between 10-30m, but they are mostly smaller in size. Eightbar cod popped up between 100-150m depths. For those staying in close, squid are still performing nicely closer to the groynes and by drifting over the weed patches about 500m from shore. The white run of crayfish is expected to start kicking off around mid-October to early November, so make sure your pots are ready.

Shore-based

Smaller-sized snapper and tailor were caught off the groyne at Cottesloe throughout the week. Tailor continue to be caught in good numbers from numerous Fremantle beaches, along with beaches further north including Ocean Reef, Yanchep and Two Rocks. Herring have been a mainstay at most metro rock walls. A few fishers have also reported decent-sized mulloway rolling through the river from Mosman Park right through to the Narrows. If you prefer to chase these silver ghosts from the beach, they should start firing in the northern regions from Ocean Reef up to Two Rocks once the waters start to warm up.

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Recfishwest · 3/45 Northside Drive Hillarys · Perth, WA 6025 · Australia

Catch Information

Species:
Baldchin Groper

Barramundi

Black Bream

Breaksea Cod

Dhufish

Grey Banded Rockcod

Grunter Bream

Gummy Shark

Morwong

Nannygai

Queenfish

Red Emperor

Samson Fish

Spangled Emperor

Yellowfin Whiting

This Fishing Report was submitted on 9/30/2022 2:06:06 AM by Seamus and last updated on 10/3/2022 2:36:46 PM.

Location

3/45 Northside Drive
Hillarys, WA AU

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