Recfishwest's State-wide Fishing Report 10 January 2025 🎣

Israelite Bay has held good numbers of gummy sharks along with mulloway and big flathead, while Thomas River has fished well for big skippy and mulloway. At Dunns Beach, gummy sharks have been pulled from the deeper holes, while Wylie Bay and Stockyards saw salmon, small mulloway and skippy turning up. Warrenup Beach has offered gummy sharks and salmon, while salmon have also been taken at Observatory and Fourth beaches. Big King George whiting have been caught at the town foreshore and Bandy Creek Boat Harbour, while squid, herring and garfish have been caught after dark at the Town and Taylor Street jetties. Bream fishers have done well at Quallilup Lake.
    
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. 

Lots of squid combos have been sold at Trailblazers this week and they have been put to good use, with nice catches coming from Whalers Cove and Frenchman Bay. Frenchman Bay has also fished well for herring and King George whiting, while herring and small skippy have been at the town marina along with squid. Emu Point has held squid as well, along with a few herring and whiting, while snook have turned up at times. In Princess Royal Harbour scoop netters have been picking up blue swimmer crabs, while the King and Kalgan rivers have produced bream and there have been whispers of mulloway catches. Nice mixed bags of salmon, tarwhine and herring have come from Sand Patch, while at Gull Rock juvenile salmon, herring and whiting have been taken. Reports of resident salmon have also come from Bremer Bay way, while Cheynes Beach has held tarwhine, resident salmon, herring and skippy.

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. 

• Pick a night with less wind to help spot the marron feeding on the chook pellets easier. 
• Marroning on a waning moon or new moon is better.
• Pick the highest quality head torch you can.
• Don’t put the chook pellets out too early otherwise the ducks might nab them! Don’t put them out too far out either, the marron will come close to the bank for a feed. 
• Look for a stretch of bank where logs and rocks are submerged in the water – it’s the kind of habitat the marron like.

Tailor fishing has been consistent with Floreat, Cottesloe and Port Beach producing a few chopper tailor along with plenty of herring most mornings. Nice tailor have been caught from the Coogee rock wall, while Brighton Beach and Quinns have yielded good fish as well. Drone fishers on the northern beaches have landed tailor, the odd pink snapper and even a couple of small baldchin groper, which were taken 350m out. Herring and chopper tailor have been the main fare at North and South Moles with squid a chance at both spots. Scaly mackerel made an appearance around the E Shed in Fremantle Harbour and were harassed by big mulloway, with a couple of big silver ghosts pulled from the fray. Those after a feed of sand whiting should target the old power station near Coogee, while the South Fremantle rock walls have held herring, tarwhine, chopper tailor, bream and skippy. The rock walls held a few squid too, with the Fremantle Sailing Club wall fishing well. At South Beach, divers have been swimming out and picking up blue swimmer crabs. Tailor catches have been excellent in the Swan River, with those fishing the jetties and drop-offs downstream from the Narrows finding plenty of solid fish and often bull herring in the mix as well. Late-night yellowfin whiting specialists have been doing well at East Fremantle but flathead and flounder catches in the lower reaches have slowed. Many of the flathead have been very small in the past week but flounder, although down in numbers, have been in better sizes. Good spots for both species in the lower reaches have been Bicton, Point Walter and Claremont. Scoop netters have had to work hard for a feed of blue swimmer crabs but night-time missions in the Swan have often paid off. Bigger flathead have been taken up river from the Narrows along with bream, which have favoured structure. Better spots for flathead have been the Causeway, Optus Stadium and Maylands. Bream catches have been best at Optus, Maylands, Garratt Road Bridge and as far up as Guildford in the Swan and Mt Henry Bridge and Shelley in the Canning River. Soapy mulloway have been at these locations too and several giant herring have been hooked around Maylands, with at least one fish landed. The best weather windows for land-based metro fishing is the mornings but once the wind and chop arrives tailor are a good chance in the river.