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Hooking Up Anglers Since 2011.
01 August, 2025
There has been more swords seen around WA this week than the Battle of Helm’s Deep, with the @sendnbend_sportfishing crew landing one sword at 140kg and the other at 34kg. Swordfish provide a delicious feed and these beauties didn’t go to waste.
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For your photos to be featured, make sure they follow our responsible fish handling and photography guidelines (fish held horizontally, minimal blood, one hand under the belly and the other around the tail, no fingers in gills, water or beach in background etc). Spearfishing snaps are also welcome. Stay safe, have fun and keep sharing your awesome catches!
Recfishwest has welcomed the announcement that WA’s largest artificial reef will be deployed off Carnarvon by the end of August, providing a significant boost for recreational boat fishers in the Gascoyne and across the State.
A total of 300 concrete reef modules will be lowered to the seabed 7km off Pelican Point, covering 90,000 square metres – an area larger than Optus Stadium.
The reef will be easily accessible from the town’s boat ramp and provide structure and habitat for species such as pink snapper, mulloway, blue-lined emperor, cod, cobia, trevally and mackerel, perfect for those with a tinny who can’t punch out 40km to the islands!
Heading away? Visit wildtrak.com.au and use our code ‘recfish1025’ at checkout for 10% off all online orders of Wildtrak’s awesome outdoor gear. Discount code works even if the item is already on sale, so take advantage before your next trip!
Nothing beats the adrenaline rush of landing your first barra! A top fish landed by Sarah alongside @reefchiefaustralia.
Since the billfish comp the wind has picked up and limited offshore activity. Closer in, bluebone and coral trout have been hanging around the lumps and northern mulloway, cod and fingermark perch have been caught on the edge of the Deeps. Crab Creek has fished okay for threadfin salmon, but Dampier Creek has been much quieter. The Fingers has held threadfin salmon too, along with blue salmon. Mud crabs have been pulled up from Willie, Barred and Crab Creeks. Thankfully the strong winds will drop off from Saturday arvo and the conditions for the boaties will be quite pleasant from then into next week.
A cracking 1.09m barra for @j3llis on the fizzer lure!
Town Beach Jetty held a nice mix of species this week with the regular schools of trevally and queenfish being bolstered by school mackerel and wolf herring. Queenfish and trevally have been caught at Entrance Point, while bluebone and trevally have been taken at Quandong. Barred Creek has offered bream and a few mangrove jack. The odd Spanish mackerel has been jumping at Gantheaume Point this week, where queenfish and trevally have also been active. Coconut Wells has been rewarding whiting chasers, while threadfin salmon have been in reasonable numbers at Eighty Mile Beach. In the Fitzroy River live baits have accounted for barramundi up to the metre mark at Langi Crossing, the Cuttings and Telegraph Pool, while fizzer lures have been working well at night for barramundi, with the 109cm model pictured above falling to one this week.
Big thanks to the crew from Tackle World Broome for their tips! Make sure you pay them a visit for the best gear and advice for your next fishing trip.
It’s been a long time in the making for @broglefishogle but he finally landed his first ever swordfish, with this stunner coming from the depths off Exmouth.
Weather windows have been hard to find this week with only a few crews managing to get out west. The odd sailfish catch was reported, while a few goldband snapper were landed in 80m or so. Along the reef line a couple of good Spanish mackerel were caught, while the lagoons at Tantabiddi and Winderabandi offered spangled emperor. No reports came from the Muirons again and most boats opted for Exmouth Gulf, with the better catches reported a fair way down. Most captures consisted of school mackerel, the odd Spanish mackerel, golden trevally, giant trevally and a few queenfish. A few coral trout were landed along with one or two small Rankin cod. Squid fishing has been good and mud crabs have been in good numbers down at the Bay of Rest. Saturday is looking like a decent day out on the water along with early on Sunday morning, before the southerly wind and swell increases a tad over the next few days.
A first wahoo for @piper.kennedy off the Ningaloo coast!
In Exmouth Gulf Learmonth Jetty has been firing for squid and it has also produced a few queenfish, trevally, whiting and bream. Whiting have been in good numbers right along the Gulf’s sandy shoreline and have often been swimming with garfish. Bundegi has produced some nice queenfish and a few golden trevally, while the town marina has held bream, cod, trevally and mangrove jack on the inside. Squid have been taken on the outside rock wall, along with school mackerel, queenfish and the odd Spanish mackerel. Oysters produced spangled emperor and golden trevally as did the lighthouse and Mildura Wreck. Tantabiddi has been consistent for spangled emperor also.These great tips were courtesy of the friendly team at Tackle World Exmouth. Swing by their store for the best advice and gear ahead of your next trip!
The demersal season closed with consistent catches of small dhufish, decent pink snapper and baldchin groper mainly north-west of town. While the pelagic activity has been quiet, trolling along red bluff could produce a mackerel and large tailor have been doing the rounds there. The wind and swell are increasing from Saturday through to Sunday night but the Murchison could be a good option considering it has fished well recently.
Rough weather produced some decent tailor at Red Bluff and also Chinamans, mainly on bait, while a good pink snapper was hooked and lost at Red Bluff. The cliffs at Pot Alley produced a few reasonable pink snapper too, along with sizable tailor. In the Murchison River bream and cod have been fishing nicely, while whiting catches have been good around the Sand Spit and town foreshore. A few mud crabs have been hanging around the marina, while blue swimmer crabs have marched as far up river as Castle Rock.Shout out to Kalbarri Sports and Dive for their tips! Feel free to venture into the store and ask for advice if you're wetting a line around Kalbarri.
When crews found a lull in the wind and swell they closed off the demersal season with good hauls of dhufish around 7kg and decent pink snapper, with a couple of pinkies around a metre being landed at night. West to south-west of town saw a few pinkies mixed in with average-sized sweetlip and baldchin groper to 60cm. In 10-15m off Drummond Cove small dhufish, pink snapper and Samsonfish were caught. Professional crayfishers at the Abrolhos Islands have reported big numbers of Spanish mackerel and tuna around the Wallabi group. Unfortunately, it’s still looking rather diabolical on the forecast for the boaties over the coming days, but a window might open up on either Tuesday or Wednesday.
North to Horrocks and at the mouth of the Bowes River school mulloway and big tailor have been landed. Nearer to town, weed has been a problem at Drummond Cove and Coronation Beach, but those prepared to hunt for clear patches have caught respectable school mulloway. The stretch south of Drummonds to Glenfield has offered the odd 50-60cm tailor, but most have been in the 30-40cm range with catches inconsistent. The platform north of the Batavia Coast Marina has yielded big yellowtail and a few herring, while inside the marina skippy have been landed up to 45cm. Anglers fishing at Point Moore and from the rock wall in front of the Sail Inn have battled blowfish, but have pulled in a few reasonable tailor and small whiting. The whiting have been bigger at Point Moore. The south wall at the Dongara marina has produced pink snapper to 6kg and in the marina skippy in the 30-45cm range have been active. Bream fishers have been targeting the Greenough River with decent results.Thanks to the team at Geraldton Sports Centre for their tips! They will happily provide you with great gear and the solid advice for your next fishing trip.
Tailor have been fishing really well off the beach, with John and Steve enjoying a great session using Dr Hook’s Long Tom lures.
It was very quiet on the boating front with not many deciding to head out due to some unfavourable weather. For those that did manage to duck out, skippy, squid and King George whiting were in the Bay, with some healthy tailor also smashing lures on the troll. Boats that targeted demersals before the closure managed to find decent dhufish in depths of 45m. Unfortunately it doesn’t look like the rough weather will calm down for a while and even a land-based fish looks out of the question due to the conditions this weekend. The middle of next week should hopefully hold better boating weather.
Tailor have been fishing very well off most beaches, with both lures and baits working well when cast into clearer patches away from the weed. Both north and south of town saw some ripper tailor and mulloway pulled out of the gutters. The Bay’s beaches have been brilliant for big sand whiting and King George. The jetty was also producing good catches, with tailor, herring, squid and crabs all landed in good numbers. Big thanks to Peter Fullarton for his tips on what's biting around Lancelin each week! If you want Peter to put you on to the fish directly, make sure you check out his Tailored Treks Tours page. Peter knows the best spots around Lancelin like the back of his hand.
Offshore conditions were good over the weekend. The water was dirty, but the fish were certainly fired up once found. Boxer Island held big nannygai, while large breaksea cod were taken at Leg of Lamb and Douglas Patch. Very big Samsonfish were caught on live baits at Woody and Black Islands, while sizeable squid were snatching jigs at Cook Rocks and in Esperance Bay. Good numbers of King George whiting have been caught at Lovers Cove and in Wylie Bay, while big fat sand whiting were on the chew off Chapman Point and Twilight Beach. Boats won’t be able to duck out until at least Wednesday at this stage, with strong winds and swells ruining fishing aspirations until then.
Beach fishing has been tricky with many places washed out, but Membinup has held big skippy and gummy sharks, while further west around Munglinup has offered mulloway and bigger gummy sharks. Nearer to town, Fourth Beach and Ten-Mile Lagoon have been early morning salmon hotspots, while Blue Haven Beach has held big King George whiting. Bull herring have been biting after dark at Taylor Street Jetty, while the Town Jetty has been going well for squid and garfish at night. King George whiting and bream have been active in Bandy Creek Boat Harbour. Southern Sports & Tackle’s Chase the Kraken competition has wrapped up for the year with Rob Darling taking the substantial first prize of cash and squid jigs with a jumbo 43cm-hood squid, just beating Steven Howe with a 42.5cm model. Stephen also won cash and squid jigs and this is a great comp to get stuck into each year given there is great prizes on offer backed up by a delicious feed. Well done to all competitors and hats off to the Southern Sports & Tackle crew for managing another successful comp.
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.
The weather was ice cold but the bream fishing was red hot up river this week, with @outback_breamer_baits landing this nice specimen on the white muss vibe.
Weather windows in King George Sound produced some nice King George whiting in 15m around Limestone Head and towards the islands, while squid were plentiful closer in. Dirty water continues to be a problem in much of the Sound. Forget boating until at least Wednesday or Thursday with this horrid weather sticking around. Maybe consider an inland fish for freshwater species as they are really firing at the moment.
When the weather was calm pink snapper were caught from the rock platforms either side of town and they were also caught near the mouth of the Wilson Inlet in Denmark. At Cheynes Beach and Bluff Creek salmon have been landed along with some decent skippy. Most of the beaches around town have been thick with herring, while the town marina has offered herring, small skippy, whiting, assorted pickers and one or two squid. Mixed bags at Emu Point have included herring, skippy, flounder and bream. Small bream have been caught on baits and soft plastics in the King and Kalgan rivers where mulloway have also been active. Whalers Cove and Frenchman Bay have been good land-based squidding options. Cheers to the Trailblazers Albany crew for their fishing 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.
The Busselton Jetty as usual was a reliable spot for good numbers of squid , with @sw_anglers landing this solid kraken.
It was a rather quiet end to the demersal season off Bunbury and in Geographe Bay, but kayakers out from Canal Rocks did well on dhufish, pink snapper and harlequin. Squid and King George whiting have been fishing reasonably well in Geographe Bay, while skippy have been widespread and in good numbers on the lumps off Bunbury and Busselton. The odd King George whiting has been swimming with skippy off Bunbury also. In the Leschenault Estuary, herring and a few chopper tailor have been caught. The weather isn’t looking good at all for boating this weekend, so patience is needed until it improves from around Wednesday next week.
Weeded-out beaches have hampered most land-based pink snapper chasers, but some decent fish have been out there. Buffalo Beach has been more forgiving on the weed front, but it still has been hit or miss. Busselton Jetty has been a more reliable snapper location although numbers there have been fair to middling. Herring have been in good numbers especially at the Bunbury Cut, Back Beach, Dalyellup and Busselton Jetty, which has gone well for squid. Most beaches have produced a few sand whiting when it has been calm. The Collie River continued to fish well for bream, with most fish being caught on bait. A few soapy mulloway have turned up there as well. Big cheers to Whitey's Tackle & Camping for their top fishing tips as always! If you're in Australind or Bunbury and are keen to wet a line throughout our South-West make sure you ask their very friendly team who love their fishing for advice and stock up on gear at their store. If you're in Busselton, the 2 Oceans Tackle team are also incredibly helpful.
An absolute beauty of a rainbow for youngster Harry, who was stoked to land this cracking buck on a bait junkie right at this feet alongside @antsimper. Came very close to taking out pic of the week!
Trout continued to be taken in good numbers with fly-fishers getting in on the act as well. Celta bladed spinners are as versatile and reliable in the freshwater as Halco Twistys are in the salt and they continued to account for both trout and perch. Redfin perch have also favoured dark-coloured soft plastics fished on light jig heads. Harvey Dam has produced brown and rainbow trout along with redfin perch, with good numbers taken by kayakers and those fishing around the dam wall and structure. Waroona has produced mainly rainbow trout. Redfin have also been active in the Preston Capel and Collie Rivers and further south in the Pemberton region. Lefroy Brook has also yielded some nice healthy rainbows.
Demersal chasers struggled over the last days of the demersal season and now it’s time to switch to other options. Decent skippy have been out on the lumps in big numbers and schools of tailor have been turning up in burley trails as well. It could be a good time to head out to the clearer water on the 30m contour and troll small skirts for tuna or perhaps jig for yellowtail kingfish and Samsonfish on the lumps. The odd decent King George whiting should still be around off Dawesville, Falcon and Melros on the weed lines in 8-15m and sand whiting should be thick inside the Five-Fathom Bank. Herring have been thick in the Peel-Harvey estuary and some good tailor have been caught right on the line that separates clear water from dirty. Monday evening onwards is looking like the next best opportunity for the boaties with rough weather settling in this weekend.
Thumping tailor to 70cm have been landed on beaches south of town, especially Tims Thicket, and smaller models have been taken north of Silver Sands. Southern beaches have also held a few school mulloway. A few pink snapper have been caught in rough weather from local beaches and rock walls and most beaches have held sand whiting and lots of herring. The Serpentine and Murray rivers continued to fish well for bream and both rivers have held mulloway to 80cm, with many taken on live baits.Thinking of wetting a line around Mandurah? These great tips were courtesy of the super friendly and helpful team at Tackle World Miami so make sure you swing by their store for the best tips and gear before your next fishing trip!
The sheltered waters around Rockingham and within Cockburn Sound produced good numbers of squid on the calmer days this week, with @nonstopfillets collecting a delicious feed.
A strong run of demersal catches closed out the season, especially around the Five-Fathom Bank and behind Garden Island. Squid fishing has been quite slow and sand whiting and King George whiting catches have been steady at best, with Mangles Bay and the inside of Garden Island among the better spots. Skippy have been in better numbers and they have been caught on lumps around the Garden Island causeway, in Cockburn Sound and out at the D9 which has held big cuttlefish. Tailor action has been good on the offshore reefs, while fishing towards the Five-Fathom Bank and behind Garden Island could produce a Samsonfish or two. The weather isn’t looking inviting again until around Tuesday or Wednesday unfortunately.
Pink snapper have continued to reward shore fishers with Secret Harbour, Port Kennedy, Long Point, Woodman Point and the Ammo Jetty worth a crack. These locations have held good numbers of herring and a few big winter tailor when not weeded out. Herring and sand whiting have been caught at Rockingham and Palm Beach jetties where it can be worthwhile setting up a big rod for pink snapper when the cold fronts arrive. On calmer days anglers strolling along Point Peron and Safety Bay flicking small baits have caught herring, sand whiting, small skippy and flathead.These great fishing tips were provided by the friendly team at Compleat Angler & Camping World in Rockingham, so make sure you chat to their experienced crew in store and stock up before heading out!
Sam Gazzone ducked out for a Mewstones session with dad George @elvisgazz and landed this chunky Sambo during the nice Saturday morning weather window.
Dedicated game fishers who have been persevering out at the continental shelf struck gold this week, landing many elusive broadbill swordfish in 600m. The biggest sword went 140kg, three were around 55-60kg and the smallest went 35kg. They also caught and released a big thresher shark which was cool to see before it was safely released. A bit closer in, longtail tuna to 35kg have been landed along with small striped tuna, so it pays to be trolling wherever you go. Demersal chasers found plenty of inshore pink snapper before the season closed, but dhufish were harder to come by for many. Good skippy were about, often showing up in pink snapper burley trails, while closer in tailor have been picked up around exposed reefs such as Mewstones and herring have been abundant along with a few small King George whiting at the Windmills and inshore from Hillarys. Mewstones also threw up some decent Samsonfish this week. Sand whiting have been in reasonable numbers off City Beach in 10m. Off South Fremantle and Coogee the 4-5m depths have fished well for squid. We’re in for another horrid brown-out on the forecast this weekend, with 70kmh+ winds and a swell approaching 5m on Sunday. Tuesday evening or Wednesday could hold the next potential window for the boaties.
The Canning Bridge has shone lately as one of the premier spots for decent mulloway and tailor into the evenings, with @hangao_88 landing this lovely mid-week silver ghost.
The northern beaches and rocks continued to fire for pink snapper and have also produced herring, the odd greenback tailor and sand whiting. Trigg has offered some decent tailor at times as did the reefy areas around Leighton and Cottesloe, which have also held lots of herring. A few smallish tailor have been caught at Floreat Beach, which has held mainly herring. Cottesloe and City Beach have held herring and whiting, while the odd small tailor has been caught at Brighton Beach along with soapy mulloway. Rottnest Island has been throwing up some good midwinter sessions on bread-and-butter species with the island’s jetties producing squid, herring, snook and small King George whiting. The island’s bays were offering chunky skippy and better sized King George whiting. The Fremantle Moles and nearby rock walls have produced the odd pink snapper, but mainly herring, garfish, skippy, yellowtail and silver bream. At night the rock walls have yielded a few small King George whiting. In the Swan and Canning River bream have been active from Mt Henry Bridge in the Canning and from Belmont in the Swan. A few 40cm fish have been landed, but most fish have been small and taken on baits. A few flathead have been mixed in with them and mulloway have been landed, with better croakers to a metre being picked up in the lower reaches. Tailor to 50cm continued to stalk bait schools in the lower reaches, which have also held tarwhine and a few bream around the sailing clubs. The next comfortable land-based window is looking like Tuesday evening at this stage on the forecast. Registrations are also now open for the Swan River Chase competition run by the Fremantle Sailing Club’s Angling crew. This popular comp kicks off in October, with some great prizes up for grabs. There is an entry fee of $50 for participants aged 16 years/over, and $20 for participants 15 years/under. Register your spot by clicking here. A big thanks to Compleat Angler Nedlands for their great metro tips! These guys are all avid fishers, know the best spots for every particular species and have provided great support to Recfishwest and metro fishers for many years. Make sure you ask their super friendly team for advice at their store just off Stirling Highway and stock up before wetting a line off the land or boat!
Our Fishing Report is compiled by West Australian writer and keen angler William Bennett, with contributions from a rotating team of fishers each week.
Recfishwest’s fishing report contributors: Jarrad Lawford (editor and images), Sam Bock, Sedin Hasanovic, Sam Russell, Levi De Boni and Eligh Quigley.
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This Fishing Report was submitted on 8/1/2025 3:23:19 AM by Seamus and last updated on 8/2/2025 1:38:41 AM.
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