Recfishwest's State-Wide Fishing Report 11 July 2025 🎣

DPIRD are running their own FADs photo competiton on their website, with some cracking prizes up for grabs from Aussie Reels, Richter Lures and Madfish Gear! 

Simply take a photo of your catch with the FAD in the background while fishing up north and add:

• Fishing method
• FAD number
• Date of catch
• Your contact info. 

To submit your photo entries, click here. 

Remember good catch care handling in your photos, so no fingers in gills or eyes, hold the fish vertically, minimal blood, fish still alive with water in the background and don't forget to smile! 

Click here to see all WA FADs coordinates. 

Catches have been good out wide with plenty of red emperor, Spanish flag and coral trout on the lumps. Sailfish, tuna and Spanish mackerel were active from Port Smith to Cable Beach along with Barred Creek and at the shoals, especially Peanut. Sailfish have also been active off Barn Hill. Bluebone and coral trout have been in close off Barred Creek, while Crab Creek has been fishing well for barramundi and threadfin salmon. The Fingers has held threadfin salmon and a few mangrove jack and mud crabs were in reasonable numbers in most systems. A few northern mulloway were caught from the lumps in Roebuck Bay and also offshore among the pelagic and reef species. Thankfully the next few days are looking quite pleasant on the forecast with lighter winds accompanying a lower swell. Saturday evening and Sunday’s forecast looks best at this stage.


Lake Kununurra, otherwise known as 'barradise', producing the goods again for @lizzymc_5. 

Despite the blowy conditions crews that punched though the wash on the west side encountered black marlin and sailfish. Those bouncing on the bottom in 80-120m found good numbers of goldband snapper and saddletail snapper, with a few pearl perch mixed in. In 20-40m red emperor, coral trout and the odd Rankin cod have been caught. Small Spanish mackerel have been caught at the back of the reef and they have been caught in better sizes further out by crews skipping garfish baits. Spangled emperor and the odd coral trout have been pulled out of the lagoons. Getting to the Muirons has been tricky, but they have held decent mackerel and cobia along with red emperor and coral trout in 20-30m. Waters in Exmouth Gulf have been a bit murky, making it harder for squid fishers, but on the eastern side and further south it’s been a bit cleaner. Spanish mackerel have been mixed in with school mackerel on the Shoals, which have also held a few cobia and giant trevally. Bottom fishers around here have picked up blue-lined emperor, bluebone and spangled emperor. Blue swimmer crabs have been pulled up deep in the Gulf. The weather looks inviting for the boaties over the coming days and the swell will gradually creep up to around 2m by Monday and continue to rise to 3m by Thursday. The next two mornings look best.


Black snapper are frequently caught in close in the lagoons and are often mistaken for their spangled emperor cousins. A great fish from @kjell_hensen_. 

Kids making the most of the school holidays have been fishing Exmouth Gulf’s sandy beaches and were picking up reasonable numbers of whiting in the first week of the holidays. In the town marina they have landed bream, small spangled emperor and a few mangrove jack. On the marina’s outside rock wall squid, garfish, giant trevally and the odd queenfish have been caught, while Bundegi has held garfish and a few queenfish. Learmonth has been fairly quiet, but giant trevally and golden trevally have turned up at times. Whiting and flathead have been caught at the mouth of Wapet Creek, while further in bream and mangrove jack have been active. The tip of the Gulf has yielded mainly spangled emperor and the odd queenfish, while Tantabiddi has offered a few small spangled emperor.

Nice gutters and holes have formed at Thomas River which have been frequented by mulloway and big gummy sharks, while at Dunns Beach large gummy sharks and sizeable skippy have been the order of the day. Flathead, tarwhine and large sand whiting have been active at Wylie Bay, while Fourth and 14 Mile beaches have been salmon hotspots. Decent King George whiting have been taken from the port viewing area, while both the Town and Taylor Street jetties have fished well for squid, garfish and big herring. Bandy Creek Boat Harbour has yielded bream, flathead and King George whiting.

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 Albany Boating and Fishing Club are running their Southern Squid Spectacular comp! Registration will be on Sunday the 13 July from 06:30 at Emu Point Club House and they even have a $200 BCF voucher up for grabs for the best ink shot (more ink to the face the better). Visit the Albany Boating and Fishing Club Facebook Page for more!  

There has been a good back run of salmon at Bremer Bay, but little action was reported on the beaches near town despite most holding the odd resident salmon along with heaps of herring. When conditions have allowed, some good pink snapper were caught from the stones, while Emu Point has been very murky but produced a few big Samsonfish on the incoming tide. Small bream have been taking baits in the King and Kalgan rivers. Kids on school holidays have been busy at the town marina, getting on to fat herring, some nice squid and the odd cuttlefish as well as bream, small skippy, leatherjacket, yellowtail and numerous pickers. Squid fishers have done well at Whalers Cove, Frenchman Bay and Quaranup, which have also been thick with herring.

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. 

With the rough weather rolling through pink snapper catches in close increased across the board and using the anchor/burley tactic near inshore reefs worked nicely for @saltfix. 

Pink snapper chasers had to put in the hours this week with the storm fronts yielding fewer fish than expected, however most of the rock walls produced them including Coogee, North Mole, Cottesloe, Mindarie and Two Rocks. The northern walls and beaches apparently were fishing better. A couple of dhufish were landed from the northern beaches and when the beaches were clear of weed tailor were landed between Cottesloe and Quinns. Most beaches and rock walls have produced herring. In the Swan River, micro jigs bounced over drop-offs in the lower reaches have worked well on juvenile Samsonfish, skippy, tarwhine and herring, while the middle reaches of the Swan have produced cracking tailor to 50cm on surface lures and stickbaits with Canning Bridge, Como Jetty, the Narrows, the Swan Brewery and rock walls along the Crawley and Nedlands foreshores worth a try. Despite the cold weather, a few yellowfin whiting have been caught at night in East Fremantle. Bream continued to be caught around structure as far up river as Ascot with bait generally outfishing lures, but they have also been active down river and also in the Canning River with the Narrows, Canning Bridge, Mt Henry Bridge and yacht clubs in the lower Swan spots to consider. Sunday and Tuesday are looking like the best days for metro land-based fishers.  

A big thanks to Compleat Angler Nedlands for their great 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!