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Recfishwest's State-wide Fishing Report 7 October 2022 🎣

| By Seamus on 7/10/2022 2:41:00 AM | Views (302)

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Recfishwest
Fishing Report

07/10/22

The crew at @onstrikecharters in Exmouth take some almighty billfish snaps.

Our contributors

Sam Russell

John Dempsey

Peter Fullarton

John Curtis

G'day <>,

Finally some warmer weather is doing the rounds across most of WA. We're sure a lot of anglers rolled in to work this week with some pretty horrendous sunglass tans after copping too much sun. Hopefully you can even out that look this 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!

Matt Blackwell's son Bodie and his buddy Hugh both wanted to catch a kingy, so they headed out to their secret spot off Perth and pulled in a couple of nice 70cm+ specimens on the light 4kg tackle! Great work legends!

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If you want to be included in our weekly State-wide Fishing Reports, send your best fishing photos and a description to jarrad@recfishwest.org.au to potentially be featured.

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Bag limit for herring - 'the people's fish' - has officially gone up from 12 to 20

Thanks to your recommendations on our herring bag limit survey and the fantastic recovery of stocks around WA, the bag limit of your favourite bread and butter species increased to 20 on October 1!

Recfishwest welcomes the latest announcement from Fisheries Minister Don Punch, who announced the bag limit for herring has officially increased from 12 to 20 as of Saturday, October 1.

A good outcome for fishers, it maximises the benefits of the fish for the community, while ensuring its sustainability, with stocks more than amply recovered to a sufficient level to continue growing while supporting the increased bag limit.
Click here to read more about the new herring bag limit

Broome catches

Congrats to you Lance @kimberleytidal_life for joining the metre club recently in Broome! This 109cm whopper of a barra would have burned the reel. Might have to get your crew fishing the 2023 Apex Kununurra Barra Bash guys, biggest catch there was 107cm and that won $3,000!

Boats

The rain over the weekend has made it a bit muddy in close and up the rivers. Unless it dries out it might be a bit hard to venture into the lower reaches of the river, but it didn't stop some mighty barra being caught. There were multiple 1m+ beasts lurking around (as seen in the image above). Threadies have been popping up with the barra in the bay and are great on the chew, although we recommend cooking threadfin salmon whole or wrapping them in alfoil and baking them if they're on the smaller side as their delicate flesh can be full of bones. Once they go over 75cm they are easier to fillet. For boats heading offshore there are still loads of mackies around with a few tuna thrown into the mix, but this is expected to quieten down soon so take advantage of this while you can. For bottom fishers, the reds and blue lined emperor have again been performing well around 8 Mile on the rougher grounds. Over the shallower reef systems there has been solid numbers of bluebone and coral trout landed. There are a few mud crabs around, but once again walking on foot has had better luck than dropping pots. The weather over this weekend is looking decent, with mostly light southerly winds.

Shore-based

The bay has produced good numbers of barra and threadfin by flicking vibes during that decent high tide window around midday. Once again, the Town Beach jetty is performing exceptionally well for smaller trevally and queenies also around the high tide period. Further north of town, Willie Creek has been productive for the odd cod, bream and flathead with plenty of sand whiting being caught at the mouth and off the surrounding beaches. Flathead are also popping up amongst them in good sizes of 40cm+. The mud crabs around this time of season are becoming a bit harder to find as they are best to catch during the winter period. Walking the mangroves with time up your sleeve is still your best bet, especially if the wind picks up. Kudos to the crew at Tackle World Broome for their tips!

Exmouth catches

Joel Borgers @joelborgers if only the fish could wear high-vis as well. After taking out pic of the week recently with a massive giant trevally, the good lad plucked this nice goldspot trevally from the shore in the Pilbara region.

Boats

The weather has been a bit all over the place this week and the southerly winds haven't made it all that great. Tuesday produced a great day for bottom fishing though and we heard plenty of reports of queenies and trevally appearing in good numbers around the mangroves. The gulf has been full of life this week, with a lot of skippers sighting whales in big numbers waving hello. If you're punching through here quickly, make sure you keep an eye out for them on the surface and give them plenty of space. It's generally been windy in the morning and dropped off around lunch time, which has seen huge amounts of massive squid pulled in from boats drifting through 2-5m of water in the gulf and also north and south of the marina. Most boats that went bottom bashing stayed in close because of the wind although the trout, Rankin cod and spangos have done extremely well on the shallow reef systems, while the queenies and giant herring performed well over the sand flats. We heard of only a couple of anglers heading out wide when a very brief window of good weather opened up and they pulled in good numbers of rubies on the electric gear in 150m of water. The Murions continue to be the best spot for picking up mackies on the troll along the western side. There have been less billfish around, although we're not sure if that's because less anglers are targeting them or if they have dropped off in numbers as they start to head out deep! Sunday morning is looking like a great time to head out, with a drop in swell and wind providing an attractive window.

Shore-based

The squid have once again been rampant 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 still your safest bet for landing good numbers of squid and whiting. Beach fishing on the western side picked back up for those chasing queenies and spangos, with both stickbaits and baits working nicely this week particularly around Jansz beach. Mud crabs continue to perform well on the windier days but the bigger bucks in better numbers were reported slightly further away from town. Sunday morning will see a good drop off in wind if you're thinking of going gallivanting. Big thanks to the tips from the crew at Exmouth Tackle & Camping this week.

Kalbarri catches

It was a great turn out for the kids fishing competition over the school holidays in Kalbarri, with great weather and over 100 kids wetting a line and experiencing their first thrill of catching and releasing some great species. Check out the Kalbarri Offshore & Angling Club Inc. Facebook page!

Boats

Good conditions allowed the boat fishing scene in Kalbarri to shine with catches coming from all directions, north and south! Pink snapper and dhufish around 55-70cm have been reported along with good numbers of baldchin caught around town between 15-40m. Some honking pink snapper have been caught along the cliffs, with a few going past the 80cm mark. A few fishers who ventured south reported some great pink snapper, baldchin and the odd dhufish as well. For boats that lingered around the river mouth and slightly upstream, there were decent catches of mulloway, whiting and tailor on offer. The next few mornings have considerable drops in wind and the swell is expected to decrease from tomorrow, so this looks like your best chance for a launch.

Shore-based

Tailor have been prolific through the various beaches around town, with Wittecarra Beach providing some excellent ground for chasing tailor with stickbaits. These greenback tailor have been in good sizes from 40-55cm and provide a great fight. Whiting and dart have also been on offer throughout the beaches in the shallower grounds as well. Those who were fishing the rivers reported the best success further upstream, with a reported 20kg mulloway being landed 3-4km from the mouth. Similar locations have seen some solid bream coming through. Closer to town around the Sand Spit, mulloway and the odd tailor have been caught in decent sizes. Saturday morning is looking great if you wanted to have a flick off the beach, with a slightly lower swell and south-easterly wind aiding with casting. Kudos to the great bunch at Kalbarri Sports and Dive this week!

Geraldton catches

Offshore Charters WA - Geraldton have had a great couple of weeks on the water, with plenty of red throat and snapper coming through along with crays for days.

Boats

The weather hasn't played nice lately, however a few fishers managed to hit up a few of their spots north of town and pulled in various species. Pink snapper have been in good numbers off Coronations and Drummonds. The 5-18m depths around here have been excellent when boaties could get out, with dhufish and baldchin also on offer and mostly landed when drifting. A few kayakers and dinghy fishers have been fishing the Greenough chasing bream up the river, with soft plastics pulling in decent specimens cracking the 35cm mark. Squid have been relatively quiet due to water clarity being significantly reduced, although they'll hopefully return once the wind and swell calms down. This week isn't looking ideal again for weather with some high winds and swell predicted, but there could be a very brief window of opportunity available around midday on Saturday.

Shore-based

Most of the action similar to the boat fishers has been focused on the north side of town, with pink snapper being caught by anglers casting around Drummonds. A few fishers who managed to bring the drone along dropped a few baits out the front of Coronations and ended up with a nice mixed bag of pink snapper, a really nice baldchin and the occasional stingray or 'çar bonnet' as most locals prefer to call them. Tailor remained consistent, with 40-65cm fish being caught off Coronations and Drummonds mixed in with the odd large herring up to 30cm. Tarcoola had some really fat and healthy tailor and pike coming through, as did the front of Greenough. Saturday morning to midday might be your best land-based window, with some strong easterly winds forecast to briefly drop off by lunch time.

Lancelin catches

Lancelin's fishing guru Peter Fullarton was nailed by plenty of big and hungry snook in the bay, not even his squid jigs were safe from these fast and aggressive species. Make sure you check out the Fishing Lancelin Area Facebook page.

Boats

This weekend is looking very nice for some easier launching. For boats that managed to head out this week tuna and bonito have still been highly active when skippers could avoid the floating weed. Lancelin's fishing guru Peter Fullarton also found plenty of snook who weren't shy of taking anything, including squid jigs. Pink snapper dropped off a bit in numbers but those who found them said the 10-40m depths produced the most fish, along with dhuies sneaking around similar areas. Fishers dropping paternoster baits into sand holes in the weeds are still reporting some monster King George whiting crossing the 60cm mark when fishing between 5-20m depths. If you decide to take advantage of the great weather this weekend, make sure you take the cray pots with you for the reef ledges closer in to shore. The visibility is expected to still be quite poor for looping them underwater.

Shore-based

There are still a huge amount of tailor sitting on the offshore reef breaks where whitewash is present. 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. The best way to spot the gutters is by patrolling the beach and looking for areas where there are no waves breaking as this means the water is slightly deeper. This is also where other species such as gummy sharks or mulloway will linger. The snapper off the shore went a bit quiet this week although they did pop up most frequently around the 50cm mark. Edwards Island is still a good spot to cast a few lures for flathead and the occasional whiting.

Esperance catches

Boats

This week has been glorious for weather and we heard of a lot of anglers being rewarded. With the school holidays in full swing, a lot of smaller boats full of families stayed in close and did extremely well on the squid and King George whiting between 3-10m depths. Lovers Cove and the bays in front of Taylor Street and the port viewing area saw more of the larger KG's, with average sizes of about 40cm. For the boats that explored deeper areas, there were great numbers of harlies, breaksea cod and nannies pulled in across most bottom structures, while some big Sambos also gave reels a sizzle in close when jigging or bottom bouncing. This Saturday is looking great again for calmer conditions and Sunday should also be decent.

Shore-based

Gummy sharks went berko this week off the beaches, with some soaking baits off Israelite Bay and Alexander Bay catching multiple solid specimens very quickly and going home with some great fillets. There were also smaller mulloway around 70cm pulled in at Dunns beach, along with some impressive salmon. For those chasing King George whiting, the rock walls in front of Taylor Street tend to have the larger catches, while the better numbers in smaller sizes are being caught at the Tanker jetty. Squid are still red hot throughout both areas, especially during the calmer conditions. Make sure you pay the crew at Southern Sports and Tackle a visit if you're heading out!

Great Southern catches

Dave Eccleston @dave_ecco_fishing risked it in the sticks and it paid off nicely, catching and releasing some very nice black bream in the rivers near Albany recently. If you're breaking the pristine silence of these beautiful waterways with swear words after getting snagged then at least you know you're casting in the right spots for bream.

Boats

There were a few decent days for the boaties this week thankfully. A few skippers managed to head out wide and reported very good catches of hapuka. In closer, there have been solid numbers of nannies, queen snapper and absolute thumper dhuies doing the rounds, with one of the latter species landed this week measuring a whopping 118cm! The breaksea cod have also been particularly bigger than usual this week and a lot of boats reported landing some big Samson fish when bottom bashing. A few boats have cruised up river in search of mulloway without any luck as they seem to be spooked by the motors, but the snags were brimming with bream this week and tailor also popped up when trolling smaller lures closer to the mouth.

Shore-based

To the surprise of anglers and tackle store owners, salmon are still lingering around in decent schools around Salmon Holes and Lowlands, along with numerous beaches around Denmark and Bremer Bay. Make sure you keep your eyes peeled for these schools and have a strong, flexible rod handy to yeet out a couple of lures or baits because they are still taking hooks quite aggressively. A few tailor popped up in similar areas albeit in smaller numbers, but they also appeared around the river mouth closer to town. Further up river, there were loads of anglers attacking the snags with vibes and stickbaits which saw plenty of big bream landed. It was a bit too rough off the rocks for most of this week, but when the weather played nice those who gave it a crack said their reels got absolutely roasted by a couple of large yellowtail kingfish. Saturday morning is looking great with a lower swell and northerly wind forecast before it starts to turn rougher on Sunday. Cheers to the crew at Trailblazers in Albany for your tips!

South West catches

Tyson TNT Tietjens has gone from featuring in the Esperance section, to Kalbarri last week and now he's rocking the South West! After 100km+ of searching a range of streams and rivers for trout with no luck, this talented young angler discovered they were right behind his camp in Pemberton the whole time, landing multiple rainbow and brown trout.

Boats

Depths of around 25-35m have been golden for snapper and dhuies, which have remained prolific. As a result of this, most boats opted to stay in close this week and most had bagged out within an hour or so once they found any structure on the bottom around this depth range. King George whiting in sizes ranging from 35-60cm also popped up in these areas. No one really ventured out too wide apart from one local crew in Bunbury who bagged out on hapuka. Saturday and early Sunday is looking absolutely magnificent for a deep sea exploration, with virtually no wind or swell forecast and a complete glass off expected. Best of luck to all of you taking advantage of this!

Shore-based

The beaches around Binningup have been performing nicely for mulloway of decent sizes. In the last couple of weeks the crews in the tackle stores have seen a fair share of 1m+ beasts landed after excited anglers popped in to the shop and showed off snaps of their catches (that's understandable). These bigger mulloway all seem to be getting caught in the early mornings moving with the tide rather than the usual evening shift. The tailor are also peaking in red hot numbers off the beaches at this time of year and some big greenback specimens are being landed as long as you can find a nice gutter or reef break with a bit of whitewash. The herring have been very scarce, probably because of the big bad tailor roaming the shoreline. Most snags in the rivers are producing bream at the moment and the best bet for landing some nice freshwater rainbow or brown trout is by patrolling the stream and river systems as the dams are quite full at the moment and have made land-based spots inaccessible. This Saturday and Sunday are looking mighty peachy for a flick in all areas, best of luck if you decide to wet a line and thanks to the crew at Whitey's Tackle for their report this week!

Freshwater

Gyotaku Fish Print artist Adam Ashdown @saltybonesgyotaku showed that Pemberton was the place to be for freshwater fishos over the past week! This beefy redfin perch caught by his son (so close to pic of the week) was one of many plucked from the river and stream systems near Dunsborough, along with some lovely rainbow trout. Check out his amazing fish artistry on his website.

After heavy rains, the Drakesbrook, Harvey and Wellington dams continue to show high levels, so a lot of land-based spots have unfortunately remained inaccessible. As a result, most of the trout and redfin perch were caught in the river or stream systems this week. The redfin perch are really starting to fire up in better sizes though (as seen above), with 35cm+ specimens now becoming more common and replacing the little nippers through the Pemberton regions. The sticks around Harvey Dam has also produced some big perch when flicking soft plastics at the base. The trout were a little difficult to find at times as they ventured around and forced anglers to walk countless kilometres in search of them, but they did pop up in shallow streams and rivers in great numbers. We did see a bit of a drop off in the larger ex-broodstock trout caught this week from the banks and it was mostly the smaller specimens, but the bigger brutes should return once we see some warmer temperatures. If you have access to a small boat, kayak or canoe, this is currently your best bet for trying to land trout or redfin perch in the dams as you want to be able to attack spots that a land-based approach simply can't reach due to the current water levels. This weekend is looking absolutely perfect if you wanted to try this method as the water will be completely glassy.

Mandurah and surrounds

Mandurah

The weather has been magnificent this week. Most days were nice and flat with minimal wind, providing ideal conditions for the boaties. The warmer conditions have also helped bring in the yellowfin whiting, which have come alive and started to attack surface lures, a spectacle that is quite unique to the Mandurah region. They are starting to be caught in the Peel and Harvey inlets, which have some of the best whiting fishing in WA. For the boats going offshore, there are loads of smaller snapper in close, although the bigger catches are becoming less frequent as they start to spawn. There are also big King George whiting being plucked from similar grounds as the snapper, with some thumper 60cm kidney slappers looking very impressive in the esky. Eightbar cod were very common for the small number of anglers who ventured out to the shelf. Once again, 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. If you're heading out on either Saturday or Sunday during the glorious conditions, make sure you take your pots with you! For land-based fishers, the larger mulloway haven't turned up yet, but plenty of 50-70cm soapies are turning up with tailor along most beaches at dawn and dusk. The southern beaches have produced herring, skippy and the occasional tarwhine usually on the smaller side. The Cut continues to fish nicely for King George whiting around the 35cm mark and this should continue for another couple of months. In close, the fishing for squid hasn't been great as the water is still quite dirty, although this should spruce up around mid-October when the tides change and cleaner water starts to roll in.

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

The southern beaches have been a great spot lately for tailor anglers, with the beaches around Secret Harbour producing great numbers of 35-45cm fish, mulloway also popped up but most were smaller in size. The best beaches for targeting both species are currently Warnbro Sound, Long Point and Secret Harbour. Shoalwater Bay has been a good spot also for herring and whiting, which are being caught in large numbers. Skippy also jumped up in frequency this week and a lot of boats reported seeing big schools when they threw some burley in the water. Point Peron took a good spike in the number of tailor caught, but the squid were mostly pulled in during the calmer mornings when boats came right in close and drifted over the weed patches around Penguin Island and closer to Garden Island. The Murray and Serpentine rivers did extremely well for bream this week, with a handful of 40cm+ brutes rolling through when anglers flicked around the snags and put in the miles on foot. Small hard-bodied lures and soft plastic lures are still your best bet. Big thanks to John Curtis and Tackle World Miami for their tips this week!

Perth catches

@tidal_blues had a great evening session on the metro black bream or as he prefers to call them, 'grub-punching-donkeys' recently in one of the Perth rivers, catching and releasing a couple of solid brutes.

Boats

The metro region got very lucky this week for weather and thankfully, this Saturday and Sunday is also looking delicious, with low swell + minimal wind = glass off. Pinkies and dhuies continue to perform very well out wide on most structures, with Five Fathom and the inner reefs around Rottnest your best bet. The west end of Rotto has also been great for southern bluefin tuna on the troll, while Samson fish up to about 30kg have been prevalent when bottom bashing or jigging. We also heard of numerous skippers chasing yellowtail kingfish or Sambos along the inner reefs only to hook up to massive 70cm tailor when using live baits. The back of Five Fathom has also seen some solid yellowfin tuna around 18-20kg all on the troll when skippers followed the current line that usually heads in a northerly direction towards Rotto. Eightbar cod are still doing well around depths of about 190-220m to the north-west and southwest of Rotto. Squidding worked best in close, where the sheltered waters with better clarity produced good numbers mostly on the drift.

Shore-based

Tailor are running wild at the moment and the beaches around Cottesloe and Scarborough have seen the best run of greenbacks that we've seen for quite some time. The herring and whiting have also performed well when fishers could find the deeper gutters where waves were less prominent. The river has also seen a great improvement this week and mulloway are being pulled in from the Narrows heading downstream. There are also some massive Sambos lurking around the traffic bridge, with some 50kg beasts spooling a few unsuspecting anglers. We advise rocking up with very heavy gear if you decide to roll up the sleeves for these monsters! The bream are also having a great run up the river around most snags that are away from the disturbance of boats. The squid are doing well off the north and south moles and this Saturday and Sunday is expected to see great numbers pop up in close with the perfect conditions. Make sure you pop in to the awesome crew at Angler's Fishing World in Freo if you decide to head out!

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

Catch Information

Species:
Australasian Snapper

Baldchin Groper

Black Bream

Breaksea Cod

Coral Trout

Dhufish

Dusky Flathead

Flathead Catfish

Grey Banded Rockcod

Gummy Shark

Hapuka

Queen Snapper

Queenfish

Samson Fish

Threadfin Salmon

Yellowfin Whiting

This Fishing Report was submitted on 7/10/2022 2:41:00 AM by Seamus and last updated on 10/8/2022 11:12:11 AM.

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3/45 Northside Drive
Hillarys, WA AU

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