Recfishwest's State-wide Fishing Report 06 October 2023 🎣

Pink snapper catches have been very good in a range of depths, but most of the boaties have done best in 15-20m depths with baits and soft plastics and collected dhufish and baldchin groper as bycatch. Fishing near the cliffs was also productive for demersals, with more catches reported north of town. At the Three-Mile Reef, boaties hooked what they initially believed to be a decent snapper, only for a northern forktail catfish to break the surface. If you manage to land one of these on the boat, avoid the nasty venomous spines on their dorsal and pectoral fins. It should be fantastic conditions on the water for the boaties in Kalbarri this weekend with barely a breath of wind expected and lower swells, so best of luck if you're heading out! 

East of town fished well for gummy sharks in the 10-15kg range at Duke of Orleans Bay, Membinup Beach and also Table Top Beach, where a washed-up blue whale carcass has been a big attractor given the heightened sense of smell of gummy sharks. At Thomas River and Poison Creek small mulloway have been caught, while west of town big tailor, one confirmed at 85cm and another at 70cm, have been caught at Munglinup Reef. Plenty of salmon have also hit the sand at the 10-Mile Lagoon, the second carpark at Fourth Beach on the low tide and Salmon Beach. Skippy up to 2.5kg have been caught at Roses Beach, where anglers will need to let down their tyres because of the very soft sand. Closer to town Bandy Creek Boat Harbour held King George whiting to 40cm, while the town foreshore stretch from the Pier Hotel to the Thai restaurant was good for flathead up to 50cm and 35-40cm King George whiting. The rock wall at Taylor Street fished well for bull herring in the afternoons and the Tanker Jetty held squid throughout the day and garfish mostly at night. At Woody Lake bream up to 40cm have been taking bait and small soft plastics. Big thanks to Southern Sport & Tackle for their report as always! 

Either side of the gnarly weather saw boats doing well between the islands and out at the coral ground, mainly on pink and queen snapper, but breaksea cod and a few dhufish were in the mix as well. Boaties who found sheltered spots in King George Sound have caught King George whiting around 40cm, but the dirty water made squid harder to find. At Wilson Inlet, kayak fishers targeting the channels caught pink snapper around the 55cm mark. While the stronger north-easterly winds should hang around on Saturday, Sunday and Monday is looking glorious at this stage for the boaties with a low wind and 1.5-2m swell expected, so best of luck if you decide to head out for the last day of the school holidays. 

Shore fishers who managed to get out of the wind have done well on beaches either side of Albany, mainly on herring, whiting and skippy, but a few resident salmon have been landed as well. Fishing at Emu Point has been difficult due to the strong currents ripping through and Frenchman Bay, Misery Beach and Gull Rock offered better options for herring, whiting and skippy. The blustery conditions made it difficult for those chasing bread and butter species such as herring, skippy and whiting at the town marina and Middleton. Land-based squid chasers had lean results this week, but the water is clearing for the weekend which should see better results. At the Tourist Rocks at Cheynes Beach, big Samson fish have been caught along with herring and a few decent skippy. On the warmer days bream fishing has fired up in the King and Kalgan rivers, while the flying ant hatches starting to occur in the system usually signal mulloway action is about to pick up. In the Wilson Inlet the clearer water brought in on the high tide produced good catches of flathead, herring, skippy and King George whiting. Big thanks to the crew from Trailblazers in Albany for their tips!

Dhufish and pink snapper catches have been good around Rottnest in 30-45m depths. The dhufish have been decent size and most of the snapper are around 50-55cm in good numbers. Baldchin groper and breaksea cod have been among the bycatch. A crew originally targeting King George whiting behind Stragglers had a change of plan and got lucky, finding some whopper dhufish. Big King George whiting have come from the north side of Rottnest with pink snapper mixed in, while Samson fish, tuna and amberjack have been caught near the Rottnest Fish towers. The Windmills held KIng George whiting as well. Pink snapper have also come from Three-Mile Reef, while offshore from Mindarie pink snapper, dhufish and baldchin groper have been caught. Squid chasers have been targeting Parmelia Bank, South Beach and the old power station, starting out in 9m depths and drifting back in to as shallow as a metre with good results. For sand whiting, the 15m depths off Cottesloe and City Beach have been productive. In the Swan River, a couple of mulloway over a metre were caught in Mosman Bay, while chopper tailor numbers have been good. The choppers have ranged from 30-35cm and many anglers have stopped trolling when they find the fish holed up. Lures in natural or brighter colours around 80mm, such as Ocean’s Legacy 17g Sling Shots and CID Shiversticks have worked well in the late afternoons. We're expecting it to be very flat and enjoyable on the water this weekend for the boats, so the ramps will likely be very busy given the demersal season closes once again at midnight on Sunday. Make sure you are courteous to others at the ramps if they gather a crowd and try your luck at more remote areas if your favourite fishing spots are receiving plenty of attention.