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Recfishwest's State-wide Fishing Report 14 October 2022 🎣

| By Seamus on 10/14/2022 3:29:45 AM | Views (320)

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Recfishwest
Fishing Report

14/10/22

International professional photographer @hannesribbner takes some of the best aerial dolphin fish and billfish snaps we've ever seen. Make sure you check out his Instagram page, we guarantee you won't regret it.

Our contributors

Sam Russell

John Dempsey

Peter Fullarton

John Curtis

G'day <>,

There's an even spread of decent fishing weather forecast across most of the State this weekend, great news if you're deciding to head down to Troutfest at Drakesbrook Weir on Saturday!

Reminder, the two-month seasonal closure for demersal fish starts from midnight tonight (Saturday, October 15) up to and including December 15. This closure takes place from Kalbarri down to Augusta and it helps give these fish a break in the West Coast Bioregion. During the closure you cannot fish for, take, bring onto land or be in possession of demersal fish in this region. If you catch a demersal fish from a boat or on the shore in this time, please handle it with care and return it to the water safely and quickly. We appreciate you all caring for these species.

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!

@onstrikecharters have done it again for taking some cracking snaps this week around Exmouth, with this lucky lad pulling in a metre-plus queenie after the crew located a big lively school.

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Pay a visit to Troutfest 2022 on Saturday, October 15 between 10am-1pm!

There’s nothing quite like rolling up your sleeves and helping release thousands of rainbow and brown trout into Drakesbrook Weir – and the opportunity to do this again at Troutfest for 2022 is this Saturday, October 15!

Troutfest 2022
When? 15 October, 10am – 2pm
Where? Drakesbrook Weir, Weir Road, Waroona
What to bring? Suncreen, a hat, water – fishing gear if you want – although Recfishwest will loan out gear on the day.
More info? Visit the Shire of Waroona website or contact the shire on 9733 7800.

Along with the opportunity to release trout, Troutfest also features several fun fishing activities including a free fishing clinic, fly-casting tuition, fly-tying demonstrations, and a casting competition for kids!

We're looking forward to seeing you there!

Broome catches

@barrawhisperer must know the right words to say after pulling in this 125cm beast of a barra in the Kununurra region! Most of the barra are highly active in the middle of the day and the rivers around the Kimberley are firing nicely.

Boats

It was quite windy this week and the south-westerly has swung around to a strong easterly over the past few days. There are still multiple 1m+ barra beasts lurking around (as seen in the image above) although the water conditions in the local rivers are still quite dirty following the recent rainfall. Threadies have been popping up with the barra in the bay, but if you're deciding to chase fish up river we recommend putting in the distance until you find clearer conditions. For boats heading offshore there are still loads of mackies around usually on the troll, although the tuna dropped off a bit this week. For bottom fishers, the reds and blue lined emperor have again been performing well around 8 Mile on the rougher grounds but the heavier gear is recommended in order to get them past the sharks. They can also be found in the shallower conditions and it's worth catching one or two fish and moving before the sharks sense the action and approach your boat. The mud crabs went fairly quiet this week unfortunately. The weather over this weekend is looking great though, with mostly light south-westerly 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, whiting and queenies also around the high tide period. The beaches have also seen a good spike in the number of blue nose salmon being landed. Willie Creek continues to be productive for smaller cod, bream and decent-sized flathead, with plump sand whiting being caught at the mouth and off the surrounding beaches. The mud crabs are still pretty tricky to locate at the moment but walking on foot through the mangroves is still your best bet. Thanks to all the team at Tackle World Broome for their tips!

Exmouth catches

Cod almighty. This hefty monster was pulled in recently in the shallows on the top water! Another great catch from the experienced crew at @onstrikecharters in Exmouth.

Boats

The southerly winds this week have refused to back down, making it a tough slog offshore. The furthest offshore most boats travelled to was the Muiron Islands but there was still great reports of smaller red emperor, bluebone and larger common coral trout on the reefs. There was also some great queenies and giant trevally mostly around the top of the cape. There is a huge amount of Spanish mackies around, although it's been tough to get them in past the sharks when trolling around the Muirons. For the best success on getting your fish into the boat quickly and keeping them away from the jaws, try using stronger gear and holding the rod in your arms rather than placing them in the rod holder so you can act faster once they're hooked. It's also best to have your lures within 20m from the back of the boat as any more than this means a longer fight and bigger window of opportunity for big bad Bruce. For boats staying in closer, there is still a great number of squid around on the western side in bigger sizes, while more numbers of smaller catches were reported at the bottom of the gulf. Saturday morning until about midday is looking great if you were thinking of having a launch.

Shore-based

The squid continue to be red hot within the marina off most structures where weed patches are nearby. The 3-4m depths are still best for squid at the moment though, so if you have access to a kayak or a tinnie this is your best bet. 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 spot for landing solid numbers of squid and whiting. Queenies and spangos are still performing nicely on the western side, with both stickbaits and baits working nicely this week, particularly around Jansz beach. There was a big drop off in the number of mud crabs caught by walking through the mangroves and it's suspected the full moon may have sent them out deeper, but try your luck again this week if the wind picks up. Saturday morning will see a good drop off in wind if you're thinking of going gallivanting. Big thanks for the tips from the crew at Tackle World Exmouth this week!

Kalbarri catches

Well done to nearly 300 youngsters who wet a line recently off the beach in Kalbarri for the Kids Whiting Competition! There were loads of sand whiting, tailor, cod, butterfish, juvenile emperor, silver bream and even blue swimmer crabs caught and released! Big thanks to the Kalbarri Offshore & Angling Club and Kalbarri Sport & Dive for sponsoring this great event!

Boats

The early mornings continued to fish very well for pink snapper and dhufish in the 15-40m depths this week, although most reports had these fish measuring on the smaller side between 40-70cm. For the bigger catches of pinkies approaching the 70cm average size, the cliffs has still been a red hot spot. Baldchin groper are still lurking around similar depths around town between 15-30m. Due to the stirred up waters closer to the river mouth, we heard reports of some boats that anchored up pulling in decent catches of mulloway and tailor. Saturday and Sunday morning is looking decent for a launch, but we recommend setting off early to avoid the sharp spike in wind from about 9am onwards.

Shore-based

There were some decent days for fishing this week and it was a great sight seeing nearly 300 youngsters try their luck throughout the Kids Whiting Competition recently. The variety of fish caught was easily the biggest we've seen for this annual event, with tailor, whiting, silver bream, cod, butterfish, juvenile emperor, pesky blowies, blue swimmer crabs and many more species landed by the next generation of fishers. The bigger tailor are still prolific through the various beaches around town, with Wittecarra Beach providing some excellent ground for chasing tailor between 35-50cm using stickbaits. The rivers continue to fish better a little further upstream if you're chasing the hefty sizes of mulloway and bream. As usual, there are plenty of mornings this week that have a light wind to assist with casting off the beach before it starts its general trend upwards from about 9am.

Geraldton catches

Boats

You poor boaties have been very patient for good conditions and hopefully the end of this week might improve. While the swell hasn't been too high, the water has been surging and remained quite dirty, especially to the south of town. Some skippers who did manage to head out this week did have some good luck on the demersal species before the closure period sets in from midnight tonight, but most of the catches were quite small. There was a 4kg coral trout measuring about 65cm caught in quite shallow water close to Cape Burney, while a few skippers said the larger tailor were going well when lures were flicked at the back of the waves around Drummonds and Coronations. Hopefully the swell and wind will drop off by about Thursday this week which will hopefully clear up the water clarity for next weekend.

Shore-based

The surging water conditions and poor clarity meant the whiting fishing this week took a hit. This species is not as active when the clarity isn't great, but they should return once it warms up and the weedy and murky waters clear up. North of town definitely had the better run of fishing luck this week than the southern areas, with Drummonds Cove heading north of Coronations seeing tailor in good size but not plentiful. The tailor that were landed however have been upwards of 40-65cm and all in great nick. There was still some snapper pulled in along the coast in smaller sizes and a lot of drone fishers had good luck before the demersal closure kicks off tonight. Mulloway have become very patchy this week but did pop up occasionally. Coronations saw a couple of mulloway over the one-metre mark landed this week where the water was a bit cleaner. The herring have also been quite scarce, but those that were caught ranged from average 22cm size to stonker 32cm giants. The bigger specimens were usually plucked from the rocks when the surge wasn't as bad and most fishers landed 3-4 fish quite quickly. Saturday morning and Tuesday morning currently look okay for a land-based flick.

Lancelin catches

Donatello Mcangelos was one of many anglers who scored a slab of silver over the past week off the Lancelin beaches and it was great to see so many mulloway quickly released.

Boats

Boaties have been blessed with some fine mornings on the water in the run down to the closure of the demersal fishing season. A surprising number of dhufish and breaksea cod were caught in depths of 10-15m, while fishers venturing further out wide also found baldchin groper and snapper usually between about 30-50m. Just as the demersal season takes a break, plenty of skippers are happy to see some chunky King George whiting around the 20m range on the sand patches closer to the reefs and weed. These fish have been in good numbers and love taking small strips of squid set up on a paternoster rig with 1-0 or 2-0 hooks. The tuna have also been passing through the mid 20m depths on the troll in very good numbers, though boats have also reported them a long way offshore. Just keep an eye out for action on the surface and diving birds. Small boats and kayaks have been catching squid, snook and herring in the bay. The snook in particular have been quite aggressive in following drifting boats, even being quite destructive on squid jigs! Most of the cray pots being dropped are brimming with good catches also as their is a great run of shallow water reds underway.

Shore-based

There are still a huge amount of tailor running well into the afternoon and evenings. A good percentage of these plump fish have been over 50cm in length and have provided great fun for excited anglers. This week has also seen a very good run of mulloway right along the coastal regions and they seemed to be lingering throughout most of the deeper gutters this week. The early mornings and late evenings are still your best bet to catch yourself a silver slab. Large herring have also been taking pilchard baits meant for tailor, with some big catches over 30cm reported, while the sand whiting have also been a good average size when fishers could find some calm, clear waters.

Scott's Species - Marron - the craze for freshwater crays

A hugely important species to our South West and a very tasty critter!

This week, Scott Coghlan gives us his stories on marron, a species that has been crucially important for decades in bringing keen freshwater marroners and visitors to our beautiful South-West.

Check out the latest article from Scott Coghlan on marron that provides his experiences with this great species and why West Aussies love catching them.

Esperance catches

Boats

This week has been glorious for weather once again. Thanks to the glassy conditions, we heard of some skippers punching out wide and catching giant 60cm nannies in 80m depths. There was also one fisher who had a 35kg whopper of a Sambo on his line for a good 30-minutes before his forearms finally won the battle and got it landed. This week has also seen good numbers of breaksea and harlequin offshore as well. The highlight for the week however definitely goes to the dozens of experienced fishers who reported a massive 4km-long school of southern bluefin tuna boiling the water surface as far as the eye could see. There were thousands of birds diving and fish jumping everywhere, with all boats in the area hooking up immediately on the troll and by flicking lures. This school was located about 40km offshore and the only thing missing from this spectacle was David Attenborough's commentary. For the boats staying in closer, there are still solid numbers of King George whiting and squid being caught around Lovers Cove, along with the areas in front of Taylor Street and the port viewing area. In a good sign, the sizes of the KG's are usually around the 35-40cm mark, which is much bigger than they were a few years ago in these areas when they tended to sit around the 28-30cm mark.

Shore-based

Gummy sharks are still very popular off most of the eastern beaches, especially around Israelite Bay and Alexander Bay. Dunns beach has been a very reliable spot for mulloway lately and those that don't manage to catch one usually land a gummie shark instead. Rossiter beach is also another great spot for smaller soapie-sized mulloway. For those chasing King George whiting, the rock walls in front of Taylor Street tend to still have the larger catches around the 35-40cm mark, while the better numbers in smaller sizes around 30cm 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

Jamie Thompson @jamie.thompson. had an awesome tinnie session (boat tinnie, not the bush chook kind) recently around Denmark, pulling in some great catches of Sambos, dhuies, harlequin and big pinkies like this brute.

Boats

While the swell hasn't been ideal, the wind is slowly improving thankfully. Spring is starting to come into full swing and this Saturday is looking fantastic, with a low wind and swell forecast. It should be relatively calm right out to about 16km offshore for most of the weekend. The breaksea cod are doing well in good numbers along with the dhufish passing 15kg usually between 20-40m. Skippers have been pleased to reel in some very fat King George whiting while chasing demersals and these were most prevalent when they found clearer waters a fair way away from the inlets. Given it's going to be quite flat this weekend, we're expecting a lot of skippers to head out to the shelf where plenty of hapuka and massive nannies are being pulled in usually past the 150m depths.

Shore-based

Bizarrely, salmon are still lingering around in decent schools around Salmon Holes and Lowlands, but the schools are becoming smaller as they are starting to head east towards Bremer Bay. A few tailor popped up around the river mouth closer to town. Further up river, there has been a great spike in the numbers of big black bream pulled in crossing the 40cm mark, with surface action lures also producing good catches thanks to the warmer conditions. The flats around the Kalgan and King rivers are two of the best spots to fish at the moment for this great species. Saturday and Tuesday morning are both looking great with lower winds forecast. Cheers to the crew at Trailblazers in Albany for your tips!

South West catches

Something a bit different from the freshwater! Tommy Miller @tommy_miller91 plucked this lovely silver perch from the South West region on Sunday!

Boats

Thankfully, it's been a pretty good lead up in weather as we approach the closure of the demersal period. Even the full moon this week didn't stop good numbers of fish being caught. The pinkies and dhuies fished very well along with breaksea cod around the 20-50m depths. The bigger King George whiting are also starting to pop up around the 25m depth mark, with most of them approaching 'kidney slapper' sizes of 50cm+. If you want to target KG's, a paternoster rig with 1-0 or 2-0 hooks baited with thin strips of squid tentacles works brilliantly. Only a handful of boats headed out wide, although most returned with solid hapuka, blue eyed trevalla and bass groper. The squid and herring are performing very nicely within the sheltered bays. Most mornings this week will have very low winds and swell, so it's looking ideal for boaties.

Shore-based

Beach fishing was rather quiet this week. The yellowfin whiting are expected to start heating up along the northern beaches soon, while the Busselton jetty is still a very safe and reliable spot for catching squid. While the numbers of squid being caught have dropped off, this has been made up with the sizes increasing. If you can snag a spot on the lower portions of the jetty closer to the water, these spots will make it easier for you to land these krakens if you don't have a squid gaff handy. The beaches around Binningup have still been performing nicely for mulloway. While most are still soapie-sized, the 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. 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

The annual father and son fishing trip to the South-West for @prestigetacklewa paid off nicely, with the pair landing some beefcake redfin perch from the shore and by cruising up the river. This region is going nuts for 40cm+ redfin perch at the moment.

Troutfest 2022 is happening this Saturday!
When? 15 October, 10am – 2pm
Where? Drakesbrook Weir, Weir Road, Waroona
What to bring? Suncreen, a hat, water – fishing gear if you want – although Recfishwest will loan out gear on the day.
More info? Visit the Shire of Waroona website or contact the shire on 9733 7800.
Conditions? Looking perfect! Minimal wind and 21 degrees!

It's been trout heaven this week, with plenty of shallower streams and river systems seeing plenty of anglers posing with impressive catches. The rainbow trout seem to be more prolific at the moment, while the brown trout have been harder to hook and can be a bit more easy to spook at times if you're heavy footed or brought along your chattiest pal. The Drakesbrook, Harvey and Wellington dams are really starting to heat up for trout fishing but don't be afraid to look in the shallower stream systems leading off these larger dams as plenty of rainbows and browns have been spotted in streams one metre wide and only about 30cm deep. For those catching redfin perch in the dams, it's usually those who have access to a kayak or small boat that can access the deeper spots as the relatively high water marks has seen them move away from the shallower edges of the shore. If you have a sounder on your boat or kayak, keep crusing around slowly and eventually you will find a large school congregating near bottom structures. The redfin perch are still around in the river systems but try to find stagnant pools or darker areas where they tend to lurk. If you are chasing bigger redfin perch, the untouched river systems around Pemberton and further south near the Warren river have seen plenty of stonker 40cm+ catches and are beautiful places to visit. This weekend is looking absolutely perfect again for a freshwater flick, perfect timing for Troutfest!

Mandurah and surrounds

Mandurah

There was another few good days of weather this week. The yellowfin whiting are still going wild on the surface around the flats, especially on the warmer days when they are highly active. If they aren't being caught on the poppers, they are being caught on vibes along with the occasional King George whiting making an appearance. Singleton, San Remo and Madora beaches have produced flathead and a few small mulloway. There are reports of mulloway also being taken from the James Service Reef complex. The demersal species are still doing very well, although just remember that from midnight tonight the two month demersal ban comes into play until December 15. There is still plenty of squid around when the water conditions are nice and clear and this weekend should see more ideal weather for the boaties. Off the beaches, the tailor are still running nicely and it's only now that anglers are starting to become aware of how prolific they are on the beaches around the Falcon and Secret Harbour regions. Most are around 50cm in length and the whole coastline along here is quite reefy, meaning plenty of whitewash and wave breaks where the bigger specimens like to hunt. Just make sure you carry a strong, flexible rod and yeet out your baits or lures as far as possible. The southern beaches have produced herring, skippy and the occasional tarwhine usually on the smaller side.

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

Now is one of the best times of the year for tailor and the beaches around Secret Harbour, Port Kennedy, Long Point and Safety Bay have all been very successful. Most of the tailor are around 35cm in size, but some larger catches approaching 50cm were reported further south. Shoalwater Bay also has been a reliable spot for herring and whiting, especially when burley has been used. Point Peron took a good spike in the number of tailor caught as this area is quite reefy, with the western and northern points producing the goods mostly on higher swells and when there is whitewash present. The Murray and Serpentine rivers continue to fish extremely well for bream, with a handful of 40cm+ brutes rolling through. Small hard-bodied lures and soft plastics are still your best bet. Big thanks to John Curtis and Tackle World Miami for their tips this week!

Perth catches

Welcome to the 40cm+ bream club Matt! This talented fishing duo of Matt Macready and Brendon Campana from @camcready_fishing had a great evening flick in East Perth recently, with Matt pulling in his first 40cm catch and another at 39cm. East Perth is a great river spot and the lights from Optus Stadium and Matagarup Bridge is the icing on the cake when fishing here.

Boats

Few nice glassy mornings this week in the metro saw plenty of boats head out before the demersal closure coming in from midnight tonight until December 15. The western side of Rottnest has been tuna heaven this week, with yellowfin up to 20kg landed. These fish were highly active close to the surface around the 35-40m depths and anglers reported the best luck trolling these areas. There are also some solid Sambos around, with multiple catches of 20kg+ reported within a few kilometres of Rottnest on the southern and western sides. There were also plenty of big pinkies around but the most bizarre sight in the metro region this week was enormous schools of salmon along the banks behind Five Fathom. For the anglers punching out very wide, 180m depths south-west of Rottnest also held good amounts of eightbar cod this week. If you're wishing to land a few plump King George whiting, the windmills area has been very consistent. Squid are still performing best within about 500m of the coast. Saturday morning will be great conditions for kraken squid, just try to drift a few jigs over the weed patches closer in to shore around Fremantle, Rockingham, Cottesloe and Hillarys and this should work for you.

Shore-based

Tailor are still going nuts along the beaches around Cottesloe, Scarborough and the rockwalls around the north and south moles. For those using baits and chasing a feed of tailor, two or three ganged hooks with a treble attached on the end seems to have the best hook up rate as tailor love to bite the tails off their prey. A treble hook through the tail of a mulie works nicely as this is what tailor will grab first. Just make sure they are thick, good quality trebles as the strong jaws and sharp teeth of tailor will bend cheap hooks! 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 East Perth (as seen in the image above) is a great spot for landing some big metro black bream over 40cm at the moment. The massive Sambos that were lurking around the traffic bridge last week seem to have gone, but they might come back to get the heart pumping of unsuspecting anglers. The squid are doing well off the north and south moles and this Saturday morning in particular is looking great if you want to target the weed patches. 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:
Baldchin Groper

Black Bream

Bluefin Tuna

Breaksea Cod

Brown Trout

Coral Trout

Dhufish

Giant Trevally

Gummy Shark

Hapuka

Mulloway

Queenfish

Rainbow Trout

Red Emperor

Redfin Perch

Silver Bream

Silver Perch

Snook

Whiting

Yellowfin Whiting

This Fishing Report was submitted on 10/14/2022 3:29:45 AM by Seamus and last updated on 10/18/2022 5:05:48 AM.

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