Recfishwest's State-wide Fishing Report 22 November 2024 🎣

Israelite Bay has produced gummy sharks, while soapy mulloway have been caught at Thomas River. Big skippy have been landed at Dunns Beach, while skippy, gummy sharks and salmon have come from 14-Mile and Roses beaches. Good King George whiting have been caught from the town foreshore. As per usual, the end of the Town Jetty has been a good spot for squid, with the deeper end producing the best results. Bandy Creek Boat Harbour has offered skippy, King George whiting and flathead, while Woody Lake has once again held bream to 40cm. Saturday’s southerlies are thankfully pretty mild, before stronger easterlies kick in from Sunday onwards – try find spots with some protection to the east if you value not getting sandblasted in the afternoons!
    
Hats off to the very knowledgeable team at Southern Sports & Tackle for their tips! These guys love their fishing as well, so make sure you swing by their store for the best gear and advice before wetting a line around Esperance. 

Strong southerly winds have ruled out a lot of land-based fishing with the sheltered King and Kalgan rivers the most reliable spots this week. Both rivers have been holding bream, mostly in modest sizes, and the odd small mulloway. Squidding around town is likely to be difficult because of the water clarity, but the town marina could be worth a go for herring and small skippy. If shelter can be found at Emu Point herring and King George whiting could be worth targeting. Before the weather turned nasty, the most consistent beach fishing locations were Sand Patch for herring and tarwhine and Cheynes Beach for herring, skippy and the odd resident salmon. Sand Patch has been known to produce good tailor around this time of year.

Cheers to the Trailblazers Albany crew for their tips this week! Swing by their store if you're after some top gear and advice ahead of your next fishing trip. Remember, you'll also catch just as many fish off the beaches than the rocks and it is always much safer to go with this option on the south coast. 

A very unexpected Swan River bycatch for @lewy_tutt this week! This 90cm horse of a pink snapper smashed a soft plastic intended for a mulloway. The fish was quickly snapped then released safely back into the water to fight another day. The demersal season kicks off again on December 15, so make sure all demersal species go back before then. 

A proper kraken of a squid landed by six-year old Joshua Ellis this week off Hillarys! Great catch mate!

The Swan River has continued to fish well for a host of species. At Applecross and Como tailor chasers on the flats have hooked and lost several giant herring and smaller models have been landed around Maylands. Tailor have also been caught on the flats around Claremont and they have been taken under the lights at the Narrows and at Canning Bridge. Several big mulloway have been landed in the lower reaches from jetties around Mosman Bay. The jetty near the old Swan Brewery could also be worth a try for those prepared to put in the hours. Soapy mulloway have been widespread from the Causeway up river. Bream have been active around the Causeway and Optus Stadium, with some decent flathead among the bycatch. Maylands and Garratt Road Bridge have also fished well for both species and bream catches have become more consistent around Guildford. Flathead have been plentiful in the lower Swan too with Bicton, East Fremantle, Claremont, Point Walter, the Narrows, Nedlands and Mosman Bay producing, with many anglers enjoying hot midweek sessions between the cold fronts. Flounder catchers have dipped slightly, but there have been plenty of good ones around the same downstream areas as the flathead. Fremantle Harbour has been full of herring and juvenile pink snapper, with a couple of fishers broken off by what were believed to have been bigger pink snapper. Surprisingly, North Mole is still producing a few pink snapper and it has offered some kraken-sized squid, but not in big numbers. Herring and garfish have also been about, while South Mole and the Fremantle rock walls have offered mostly herring and the odd squid. One angler fishing the end of South Mole using squid strips as bait picked up King George whiting to 40cm this week. Weed has made tailor fishing difficult around Cottesloe, but Brighton Road, Trigg, Ocean Reef and Yanchep Lagoon have produced tailor for those baitcasting on the morning easterlies. The northern beaches have been producing reasonable numbers of herring along with a few sand whiting and drone fishers have picked up a few pink snapper there as well. Both Saturday and Sunday morning look best for a metro land-based fish.