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Recfishwest's State-wide Fishing Report 21 October 2022 🎣

 | By Seamus on 10/21/2022 3:28:16 AM | Views (331)
Recfishwest Newsletter
Recfishwest
Fishing Report
21/10/22
Crays are starting to spice up across most of WA, make sure you have your pots with you when you head out! Image: @matthewbarnesphotos
Our contributors
Sam Russell
John Dempsey
Peter Fullarton
John Curtis
G'day <>,

Hope the weather gods have been kind to you this week! Some areas got blasted with some nasty winds but hopefully we will see this calm down over the coming week or so.  

Keep up to date with events, clinics, news and amazing catches across WA by following our Instagram page @recfishwest and give our Recfishwest Facebook page a like!

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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!
Couldn't decide who took out pic of the week between these two young lads from @inkeepersportfishing so I went with the Mexican taco commercial approach of "why don't we have both?" - Great catches of flame tail snapper fellas! On a side note, wrap your soft taco around the hard taco so you can have both without the spillage. Thank me later. 

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Troutfest 2022 - Check out our recap of all the thrills and spills!  
Want to see why Troutfest has become such a symbolic event to the South West? Check out the 2022 Troutfest highlights reel!

Check out our full article recap of Troutfest 2022 here!

Big thanks to all of you who came down and rolled up your sleeves this year! Don't worry if you missed out, there is another trout-stocking event happening in Pemberton on November 6! Details in the article link above! 
Broome catches
@down_the_line_dtl had a lovely session on the triple tail out of Roebuck Bay recently, bagging out quickly on a species that is not usually targeted but always welcome on a boat! 

Boats
The sea breezes have frustratingly been up for most of the week, making most boat fishers opt to stay in close and target the shallower reef systems rather than journey out wide. Those that have found the weather windows have done okay on the usual pelagic suspects such as Spanish mackerel, along with the occasional tuna. There haven't been any standout catches for either species, but they have both been decent in numbers caught. Fishers targeting demersals have continued to do well on blue lined emperor, with the occasional red emperor also performing quite well. Threadfin salmon have been turning up in Roebuck Bay again and the barramundi are continuing to come through from Dampier Creek, with some great captures of fish averaging over 80cm being landed. It seems like this week has slowed on the larger 1m+ models but a couple have rolled through. Today will see quite low winds, although the westerly winds are expected to pick back up from Saturday and hang around for most of this week unfortunately. 

Shore-based

The barramundi fishing has been good for land-based fishers of recent, although they haven’t been to the size that boat-based fishers have been capturing. Plenty of trevally and queenfish have been coming in from most beaches and the town jetty. Those who tried for mud crabs have had a turn of luck, with some good feeds coming in from most creeks in the area, Crab Creek remains as the old faithful go-to. Bluenose salmon are being captured at Cable Beach and fishers have done well using heavier vibe style lures. Some good captures of flathead are still coming in from Willie Creek, with plenty of 60cm+ specimens being landed. Thanks to all the team at Tackle World Broome for their tips! 
Exmouth catches
@connorluff06 will remember his 21st well! He recieved a Spartan S79-8/10 and Certate 18000H combo for his milestone birthday, then christened it the next day with this beautiful big red bass off Exmouth! Happy 21st mate! 

Boats

It's been windy as hell for a majority of this week, although there were a couple of breaks in the weather to get out. Fishing around the Muirons is still doing well for mackies on the topwater. The best reports of success for these fish is by using floating or slow sinking stickbaits. Other skippers have also reported seeing some bigger bait schools around the back of the islands which has also produced some good mackies. We've also heard of a few sailfish starting to show up in the gulf. The sharks haven't been great this past week and a lot of boats have opted to troll or flick around the shallower reefs. The red emperor and queen snapper have done particularly well this week closer to the islands. Bluebone and coral trout remain common over the coral grounds of 5-15m along with some great catches of red bass (as seen pictured above). Bucket loads of squid are turning up, with most of them being plucked from the gulf as opposed to the western side. Saturday and Sunday morning both have relatively low winds forecast so it could be a decent opportunity to punch out to the islands before the breeze picks up from midday. 

Shore-based

It's been a bit quieter for land-based fishers this week because of the slower moving tides and not as much water movement. This means the bite window has been quite slim, making it tough for more hookups. The squid continue to be red hot within the marina off most structures where weed patches are nearby, especially on the eastern and northern side this week. The 3-4m depths are still best for squid, but if you have access to a kayak or a tinnie, we highly recommend giving the gulf a crack as it's going wild for big squid in good numbers at the moment. The whiting have also done well on the surface around the jetties and beaches when there is a bit of chop. Other than that, it's been rather quiet this week unfortunately, but hopefully we'll see more active tides and better conditions for a flick over the next week or so. 
 

 
 
Kalbarri catches


Boats

There has been some good action this week. The tailor remain the talk of the town and there are a few spots really piping up for this great-fighting species. Most beaches that have shallower reef systems such as Chinaman's have done very well for some big catches. The mulloway are still firing around the marina jetty, up river and across most of the Sand Spit. Some gentlemen also reported some good catches of mulloway between 70-90cm when fishing the gutters of the northern beaches. There was also one angler who landed himself a few bigeye trevally at the north end of Blue Holes slightly back from the river mouth on lures. Along Wittecarra there has also been some decent trevally and dart doing the rounds. For those deciding to venture up river, the black bream have been busy around the 35cm mark. Generally the mornings have been best for boats and we recommend taking your cray pots with you as the reds are starting to rack up and should improve over the coming weeks. It's still a bit too early for the mackies and tuna, but these species should also start firing once the waters start to warm.  

Shore-based

The bigger tailor are still prolific through the various beaches around town, with Wittecarra Beach and Chinaman's providing some excellent ground for chasing tailor between 35-50cm using stickbaits. These are both great spots and a lot of anglers have done well when casting right next to the reef ledges amongst the whitewash. The rivers continue to fish better a little further upstream if you're chasing mulloway around 50-70cm, while bream around the 35cm mark are common around the snags at the moment. There are plenty of mornings this week that have a light south-easterly wind to assist with casting off the beach before it starts its general southerly spike upwards from midday.  
Geraldton catches
The big rig Ben Svenson from @northern_addicts is back in Geraldton after fishing up and down the WA coast and he's got straight back into the swing of pulling nice tailor around town! 


Boats
Once again, the weather has been pretty dismal. The squid thankfully have started to brighten up a bit thanks to the water clearing up and not surging as much. The best spots for squid have been Greys Bay and St Georges. For the boats that stayed in close targeting pelagics, there were solid catches of tailor for boats who lingered around the back of the wave breaks off Tarcoola and Drummonds. For most of this week though, it's been the land-based anglers who have had better luck. Saturday and Sunday morning might produce some narrow windows of good weather for boating though. 

Shore-based

Despite the weather, the land-based action has been great. The tailor have been red hot along Tarcoola in the morning, while the 5:30-6:30pm window at Southgate has been best in the evening. There have been massive tailor upwards of 80cm pulled in, and the average size has lingered around 60cm, so it's a great time to head out and target these aggressive beasts. Among the tailor, there have also been plenty of soapie-sized mulloway from 50-75cm. Some anglers chasing whiting have been doing well at St Georges and Chapman Road using lures, with solid catches between 30-38cm. The smaller ones tend to avoid the lures and go for baits on paternoster setups. Squid have also been about with the water clearing up when anglers could reach the deeper pockets of weed from the jetties and within the marina. We've seen huge amounts of stingrays pulled in this week ranging between 50cm-90cm across. One gentlemen went north of Drummonds last night and got seven eagle rays, which was enough to make him pack up and go home! Seven Mile was also very busy with them and they are mostly being caught when fishers use large strips of bait. On the bright side, they still put up a great fight and provide a solid workout! Saturday and Sunday morning are looking okay, but the wind and swell looks set to spike from Monday. 
Lancelin catches
The catch of the week surely has to go to Griffin, who managed two 50cm+ tailor on the one rig when fishing off the Lancelin beaches! Champion effort mate, the shorts speak for themselves!  


Boats

Tuna remain in good numbers around the 25-30m contours. The skippers doing the hard yards and braving the cold mornings for an early start are usually being rewarded with this great catch. As the sun rises, the tuna become flighty, unless you can find a good workup on a bait school. Sand whiting have been a great option to gather a feed throughout the 18-22m depths, with many of them crossing over the 30cm mark. Squid, herring, skippy, snook and pike have all been caught in the bay. Big greenback tailor can be caught along the reef breaks fringing the bay. Lobster potters have reported catches slowing this week, but this will only improve once the water starts to warm up in the coming weeks. This Saturday and Sunday have quite low winds but fairly big swell forecast, before the wind spikes from Monday. 

Shore-based

A little bit quiet this week, although the beaches continue to fish very well for solid tailor over 50cm, along with the odd mulloway. Tarwhine have been caught from the jetty and from the beaches, with a large amount featuring along the shoreline of the bay. Tailor have been turning up at the jetty some evenings, with fish to 50cm along with plump herring caught under the lights. The best window to target both tailor and herring for the past week has been the 5:30-6:30pm window just before the sun goes down.  
 
 
Esperance catches
The 'coral trout of the south' arguably looks even better than their similar-looking cousin of the north! Nice work to @jesse.smithson who landed this absolute beauty of a harlequin off Esperance recently. 


Boats
The weather was great this past week (about time, the last six months has been pretty rough!). There was more than 20 boats who managed to head out over the weekend and it was a highly successful trip for most. Nannies up to 60cm have been frequent, although they were quite finicky and mostly avoided jigs and only seemed to like the octopus on the paternoster rigs. The breaksea were very popular this week also, with some plump catches up to 2kg reported. These fish were caught across a wide range of depths between 6-35m. When the winds picked up, boats hugged in close to the islands and caught some great harlequin up to 60cm. The Sambos have also been busy around the same areas with most ranging between 5-20kg. Closer inshore there were solid sand whiting being caught when boats were drifting in around 8-15m water at West Beach. The bigger ones have been plucked from behind the surf club at twilight. The massive schools of southern bluefin tuna are still hanging around about 40km offshore around the 2kg mark. If you're wanting to chase squid in close, the port rockwall and Esperance jetty are still reliable spots. If you wish to chase the King George whiting, try the port viewing area, the commercial side of Bandy Creek boat harbour off the beach and the first 500m stretch of Wylie Bay. Saturday morning is looking decent, but the wind will pick right up from Sunday throughout the rest of the week. 

Shore-based

Some big skippy up to 3kg have been pulled in at Munglinup. There are also a few tailor showing up in front of the first car park on Fourth Beach located west of town. Big salmon schools are still reachable out of Alexander Bay and have remained quite aggressive for lures. Lovers Cove has been a reliable spot for good skippy, herring, sand whiting and flathead. As always, the gummy sharks are doing remarkably well across a lot of the eastern beaches. Most anglers have been going home with 2-3 per night around the 8kg mark, with beaches around Thomas River going nicely. Make sure you pay the crew at Southern Sports and Tackle a visit if you're heading out tomorrow morning when the wind and swell is a bit kinder!  
Great Southern catches
Bryce Robertson from the Albany western Australia 6330 Fishing and Surrounds Facebook page gave us a cracker of a highlights reel fighting this beefy Sambo in Albany recently! You can check out the videos of him fighting these fish here. Awesome effort mate! 

Boats

The weekdays were not too successful for the boaties thanks to the poor weather, but Sunday and Tuesday had great conditions and a lot of vessels had a rewarding day. There were a few impressive yellowtail kingfish caught on jigs on Sunday and Tuesday, while some other boats who ventured deeper to the shelfs pulled in some solid hapuka. For most of the other days this week however, It's been blowing a gale, but there is a nice pocket of weather today and early tomorrow morning (albeit with a bit of rain) before it goes haywire once again from Sunday. Unfortunately, it's not looking decent again until midweek. 

Shore-based

Not too much happened this week off the beaches, but the rivers and estuary have been quite productive. Bryce Robertson (pictured above) hooked up to plenty of Sambos before releasing them in the sheltered waters close to town and managed to capture how hard this species pulls on camera. A few tailor popped up around the river mouth closer to town and further up river there has been a great spike in the numbers of big black bream pulled in over the 40cm mark. Saturday and Tuesday morning are looking okay for land-based, just make sure you rock the poncho! 
South West catches
@leanbackfishing_ had a cracker of a gummy session off the beach near Bunbury to break in his new Assassin Solar and 8k Stella combo, landing a few nice fish after paying the crew at Whitey's Tackle a visit! 


Boats

It's been a tad choppy this week and the swell and wind hasn't been too consistent. For those that did manage to get out, they reported average results. The warmer weather earlier this week saw some solid whiting on surface lures out from most beaches and these were great sizes of 30-40cm. The estuaries are still your best bet for these species especially when it warms up. Ideally, you want a 5-8 knot wind as they love a bit of surface chop. Thankfully, the squid continue to fire regularly around the Busso jetty. Drifting around 8-10m depths off Peppermint Grove is your best bet for kraken. This week, the southern bluefin tuna have been spotted in big schools only 200-300m off most of the beaches, although boats are having the best luck trolling for them when they are in the 12-16m depths. Thankfully, the weather on Saturday and Sunday looks great for boats with a touch of rain expected on Sunday. 

Shore-based

The whiting performed very well along the northern beaches thanks to the warmer conditions and a bit of chop. The beaches around Biddingup have also been great for whiting. Just like the weather, the tailor have been a rollercoaster this week and hit and miss along with the herring. The calmer, glassy conditions are actually not as successful for whiting and you want a 5-8 knot wind for the best results. The Busselton jetty is still a very safe and reliable spot for catching squid. The beaches around Binningup have still been performing nicely for mulloway and the occasional tailor. This Saturday and Sunday are looking decent 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
Srdjan Delic from the Redfin Perch WA Facebook page landed this stonker of a reddie recently in Wellington Dam. They're starting to go nuts in the dam systems, with anglers on electric dinghies and kayaks having the best success where they can access the deeper structures and drop offs. 
Troutfest 2022 had a fantastic atmosphere and even better weather, which saw a lot of anglers wet a line before, during and after the event at Drakesbrook Weir. There were plenty of anglers pulling in big rainbow and brown trout from the banks. For the best luck catching the 350+ larger yearling and ex-broodstock trout released on Saturday, we recommend using corn kernels on hooks as most will attack food that looks similar to pellets for the first few weeks until they become settled. There was still anglers landing them with lures and on the fly however. Wellington dam also saw some solid trout along with some stonker redfin perch over 45cm this week. Most of the larger trout and redfin perch caught in the dams are still mostly being caught by the kayaks and boats that have sounders picking up the structurer and deeper sections past the 6m mark. There was still a huge amount of redfin caught by slow trolling deeper diving hard body lures down to the 3-6m range. The Warren River further south as always is having a magnificent couple of weeks for big reddies, while the Harvey Dam has seen solid numbers but in smaller sizes around 20-30cm. There might be a bit of rain coming over the coming week or so to the Harvey, Wellington and Drakesbrook dams, which could see the water levels rise again and the fish nestle themselves in the deeper pockets. Once it warms up, we'll see the trout start to venture into the shallow stream and river systems. 
Mandurah and surrounds


Mandurah
The sun has been shining this week, but the wind and swell has been a bit rampant at times. Thankfully, the crays are going very well across pretty much every reef system closer to town and most pots have been brimming. A lot of boats headed further offshore during the calmer days and did very well chasing southern bluefin tuna, with one boat pulling in eight fish in less than an hour on the smaller size. A few yellowtail kingfish have turned up in burley trails, although they are still mostly found slightly further north around the reef systems and closer to Rockingham and Perth. The estuary end of the Dawesville Cut is producing some good fishing for skippy and King George whiting from both boats and the shore, while many boats are also picking up tailor when trolling through the estuary. The squid are starting to pick back up again across most of the sheltered inland waterways and plenty of anglers reported some bigger kraken sizes when fishing off the rockwalls. For land-based fishers, the King George whiting continue to perform well but admittedly not as good as previous years. For the best luck, the KG's prefer the dirtier waters, so if it's crystal clear, have a crack for squid, but if you see a bit of water runoff or slightly stirred up waters, try your luck with squid strips on paternoster rigs for whiting. The juvenile salmon have gone quiet, but tailor are also starting to kick off in the estuary. During the last week, anglers fishing from small craft have found plenty of black bream of legal size and better sizes in areas where there is some structure or shelter. Both baits and soft plastic lures have worked well and some anglers also report that deep diving hard bodied lures are working in deeper locations. This weekend should have decent conditions for both boating and land-based, although a bit of rain might be heading your way on Sunday.

SECRET HARBOUR / PORT KENNEDY / ROCKINGHAM / SAFETY BAY / WARNBRO SOUND
Point Peron has been producing tarwhine and herring on both surface and bottom rigs, while the beaches around Port Kennedy and Secret Harbour have been producing tailor for both morning and evening anglers. The better catches of tailor are usually rolling in throughout the hour before sunset however. The beaches in these areas are starting to consistently produce small mulloway averaging about 60-70cm in size, with many anglers reporting taking fish between 3-6kg. For land-based anglers at the moment, it's tailor that are running red hot though. Your best locations if you prefer to have the sand between your toes is the beaches around Long Point, Safety Bay and slightly further north closer to Perth. Big thanks to John Curtis and Tackle World Miami for their tips this week!
Perth catches
As @tidal_blues said correctly, tis' the season to be chasing big flathead on the flats in the Swan and Canning rivers. They absolutely love smashing the smaller hard-bodied lures and soft plastics dancing across the shallows and they will start to liven up over the coming months. 


Boats

The sun came out to play this week, although the water was rather choppy and the seabreeze came in quite early. The weekend saw great conditions though and plenty of boats headed out. A lot of King George whiting have been kicking off in great numbers and sizes. A lot of 45-50cm KG’s were reported, but most of them featured around the 35-40cm size. Southern bluefin tuna continue to do very well when boats follow the current lines south west of Rottnest on the troll, although the yellowfin tuna that lingered around the west end of Rotto last week seem to have gone. The Sambos have been going wild when boats have dropped jigs and baits around D9 and Five Fathom. The squid in close went a bit quiet as it's been quite choppy this week, but they did appear when boats came right in close and drifted or trolled through 3-6m depths off Fremantle and Hillarys. Unfortunately, there isn't too many metro crays at the moment only because it's still a bit early, but they should be in within the next month and have already started rolling in around Mandurah and further north. This weekend should produce the weather goods again for the boaties. 

Shore-based

Mulloway have done well especially around the northern beaches from Hillarys up to Two Rocks and tailor are performing extremely well between the 5:30-6:30pm window around Scarborough, the Fremantle moles, Cottesloe and the sailing club rockwalls around Freo. Midway up the Swan River has seen a few mulloway caught and lower down the Canning River, along with the occasionla bream usually sitting between 30-35cm. A few tailor have also been popping up in the Canning River usually around the 35cm mark.
 
 
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Recfishwest · 3/45 Northside Drive Hillarys · Perth, WA 6025 · Australia

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Catch Information

Species:
Barramundi
Barramundi

Black Bream
Black Bream

Bluefin Tuna
Bluefin Tuna

Brown Trout
Brown Trout

Coral Trout
Coral Trout

Gummy Shark
Gummy Shark

Hapuka
Hapuka

Mulloway
Mulloway

Pike
Pike

Queen Snapper
Queen Snapper

Queenfish
Queenfish

Red Emperor
Red Emperor

Redfin Perch
Redfin Perch

Sailfish
Sailfish

Snook
Snook

Spanish Mackerel
Spanish Mackerel

Threadfin Salmon
Threadfin Salmon

Whiting
Whiting

Yellowfin Tuna
Yellowfin Tuna

This Fishing Report was submitted on 10/21/2022 3:28:16 AM by Seamus and last updated on 10/23/2022 1:54:11 AM.


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3/45 Northside Drive
Hillarys, WA AU

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