Recfishwest's State-wide Fishing Report 6 December 2024 🎣

The Town Jetty has produced heaps of squid and herring, while garfish have been active at night. Taylor Street near the Yacht Club has offered King George whiting, herring and the occasional squid. At Bandy Creek Boat Harbour, small King George whiting, flathead and herring have been the order of the day. Salmon and Fourth beaches have yielded a few salmon plucked from smaller schools passing through, along with lots of herring and small skippy, while 14-Mile Beach has held small salmon, gummy sharks and skippy around 1kg. Wylie Bay has offered half-kilo skippy, big herring and small mulloway. Alexander Bay has fished well for salmon, sharks, skippy to a kilo and herring, while gummy sharks have been plentiful at Israelite Bay along with flathead to 75cm. In the Bream Lakes quite a few fish over 40cm have been taken.
    
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. 

Emu Point has offered family-friendly fishing for a variety of species including yellowfin and King George whiting, herring and squid, while the town marina jetty has produced herring and skippy amid the many pickers. The same spot at night has also seen squid caught under the lights. Frenchman Bay was producing herring, King George whiting and squid but wind conditions this week weren’t favourable. In the King and Kalgan rivers bream activity was steady. Beach fishers found herring, skippy and resident salmon at Cheynes, while a few resident salmon and some tarwhine were caught at Sand Patch.

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. 

There has been a solid bump in cray catches recently with whites popping up throughout the metro region as @one_drop_cartel discovered off Two Rocks. Just be wary to put safety first at all times and that includes being vigilante about your stability on the boat (we do not recommend trying to pull up a 40kg cray pot on your own, have a friend help you out) and also consider the weather conditions when checking pots. Make sure you also wear a lifejacket and be courteous to others on where you drop pots, so don't drop yours down right next to someone else's as it can create issues with ropes and also hinder your catches. 

Metro beaches have started to fish a lot more consistently for tailor, although the onshore winds earlier this week put things on hold. Halco Twistys accounted for a lot of fish around Floreat, while big-tailor chasers at Cottesloe and Trigg have been finding fish in ones and twos. Medium-sized tailor have come from Brighton Beach, Quinns and Two Rocks. At North Mole one or two pink snapper were landed this week between the rain fronts, otherwise North and South moles have offered mainly herring, chopper tailor, skippy and sand whiting. The same species have come from the rock walls in South Fremantle, along with a few flathead. Tailor fishing in the Swan River has been magnificent with fish over 60cm being landed. Better spots have included Como, Canning Bridge, Point Walter, Applecross, Alfred Cove, Claremont, Nedlands, jetties around East and North Fremantle and at the Narrows. Prized giant herring often swim with tailor schools but at present they have been more active up river, with a couple of small ones hooked near the ponds at Burswood and reports of them from Maylands. Tailor fishers have encountered a few at Alfred Cove also. Soapy mulloway have been in good numbers especially around structure at the Causeway and behind Optus Stadium. Bream fishing in the Swan has been excellent too with better spots including the Causeway, Redcliffe, Canning Bridge and way up the Canning past Riverton. They have been taking a range of lures and have been hanging around bait schools, Strips of fresh mullet have worked well on them. Flathead are another species widespread in the Swan, they have been plentiful in the lower reaches and were still in good numbers up past the Causeway. Better flathead spots have been Claremont, East Fremantle, Point Walter, Nedlands, Mosman, Alfred Cove, Point Resolution, the Causeway, Redcliffe and Maylands. Flounder have been in good numbers at these lower reaches locations and fishers reported a few squid following their lures in. Yellowfin whiting have been seen flashing in the lower reaches of the Swan and a few diehards have been getting them on late-night tide changes using small live baits. The easterly winds in the mornings across this weekend should help with beach casting.