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Hooking Up Anglers Since 2011.
29 August, 2025
Pic of the Week goes to avid fisher Isabella Tan @castawaybell for this beauty of a brown trout! The 2.5 inch minnow got the job done and we’ve seen a huge spike in the numbers of browns and rainbows being caught so give freshwater fishing a crack around the South-West dams, rivers and streams if you haven’t tried it before.
Message a snap of your capture to our Instagram page @recfishwest or the Recfishwest Facebook page and don’t forget to include where and how you caught it!
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!
Recreational fishers in the Gascoyne have a brand-new fishing hotspot, with the Carnarvon Artificial Reef now fully deployed and ready to fish!
Located just seven kilometres from the town’s boat ramps, the reef is made up of 300 purpose-built concrete Apollo modules laid out across an area larger than Optus Stadium – making it WA’s biggest artificial reef to date and one of the most accessible.
Click here for the reef coordinates and all you need to know about WA’s latest artificial reef!
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!
Another cracking barra landed on the bank courtesy of @birchys_fishing_tours!
Before conditions turned gnarly early in the week sailfish were in reasonable numbers off Port Smith, while 40-Mile produced mixed bags of red emperor, Rankin cod and coral trout. Tuna were plentiful in Roebuck Bay, while the Fingers fired for threadfin salmon and mud crabs. Both Crab and Dampier Creeks held these species too, but fewer of them. Saturday still looks windy and rough on the water but Sunday arvo through to Thursday should hold decent windows.
Willie Creek was the pick of the land-based spots, fishing well for queenfish, trevally, threadfin salmon and a few barramundi. Town Beach Jetty went well also, offering queenfish, trevally and the odd barramundi at night, while whiting chasers did best at the mouth of Barred and Willie Creeks. Quandong produced small trevally and one or two bluebone, while Entrance Point offered queenfish and trevally. Barramundi fishing in the Fitzroy River has picked up and Langi Crossing has been one of the better spots with fishers doing well at night using live baits and fizzers. With the easterly winds, it could be worth sending out a balloon for Spanish mackerel at Gantheaume Point.
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.
Some seriously big squid rings off this bad boy! A monster of an arrow squid unintentionally caught for Lorena Hrbut @salty_rena off Exmouth!
Lousy weather this week kept most boats away from the west side, although dedicated deep droppers managed to find a few goldband snapper. Inshore, coral trout were mixed in with the odd spangled emperor, a couple of which were also pulled out of the lagoon at Tantabiddi. The main game was the Gulf this week, but that also proved a challenge. When the easterlies were down coral trout and blue-lined emperor were landed on the Shoals and closer in squid fishing was reasonable with quite a few bigger models about. Both afternoons over the weekend could hold calmer windows and Monday through to Wednesday should see better boating conditions.
Hats off to all competitors at the 49th Dampier Classic and a huge thanks to everyone who donated their catches to Recfishwest’s Fishing for Science program supported by Woodside North West! We managed to collect 79 samples from species such as Spanish mackerel, queenfish, cobia, trevally and spangled emperor and also taught more than 60 kids how to fish at the popular Healthway Kids Fishing Clinic. Catch all the highlights from the 2025 Dampier Classic here!
Bundegi was the pick of the shore spots this week, offering good numbers of queenfish. Nothing special was pulled out of the town marina although bream, small queenfish and the odd mangrove jack were about, while the outside wall offered a few squid. Learmonth Jetty was also worth a crack for squid, with bream and whiting also landed from the structure. Whiting catches in general have slowed in the Gulf, but plenty of garfish have been seen breaking the surface in the shallows. Spangled emperor catches have been patchy at VLF Bay, Mildura Wreck and near the Lighthouse. Tantabiddi has produced a few spangoes, along with dart. 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!
If you’re gonna scream wahoo you may as well do it twice. A great day out on the water north of town for @halcotackle’s @curtiswatermanfishing.
As the swells eased late this week a few crews trolled along the cliffs hoping for late-season Spanish mackerel or tuna, but no catches were reported. Crayfishing was the main boating activity and catches were steady. The boating conditions are looking quite pleasant until at least Tuesday so make sure you have a troll if moving around.
School mulloway were active at the river mouth and Chinamans this week, driven down by the strong flow of dirty water in the Murchison River. Further up river a couple of good schoolies were landed at the Sand Spit and a big mulloway was lost at the marina jetty. A few tailor, some up to 65cm, were caught at the river mouth and chopper tailor catches picked up at Red Bluff when the swells eased. Garfish and squid were also caught there. When safe to fish, the cliffs have produced respectable pink snapper (make sure you wear a lifejacket and fish with a friend if attempting this). Back to the river, decent yellowfin whiting have been caught from the town foreshore, while bream and cod have been taken at the marina jetty and further up river. It’s been worthwhile throwing a crab net in with mud crabs widespread in the system. Blue swimmer crab catches have declined, but a few should remain in the lower reaches.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.
Huge swells kept boats on trailer all week, but given conditions are expected to ease over the weekend, dinghy fishers could be tempted to target squid, skippy and whiting around Point Moore and Separation Point. Saturday should hold conditions that allow a send out in the boat although the remainder of the week is still expected to be a tad choppy and windy.
There have been whispers of several dhufish being caught south of Greenough with a drone fisher believed to have landed one around 10kg at Lucys, while a big mulloway was landed on a beach down that way. The Greenough River has broken through to the sea and the dirty water is likely to fire up mulloway this week. The Chapman River broke through earlier, but so far only a couple of school mulloway have been taken either side of the entrance. Herring and whiting catches have been steady at Drummond Cove. Whiting have also been caught at Pages Beach and Coronation Beach with a few big flathead landed at the latter location. Young fishers in the Batavia Coast Marina have been using mullet baits to tempt Samsonfish, but most hook-ups have resulted in bust-offs. A few squid have been caught in front of the Sail inn.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.
Peter from the USA got a taste of Lancelin’s top beach fishing alongside Peter Fullarton on one of his Tailored Trek’s tours, with this nice mulloway plucked from a gutter.
The lumps just outside the White Bank in 25–30m were holding schools of Samsonfish and skippy. Inside the Bank, skippy have been thick over the shallower reefs, with some stretching to 50cm that will give you a proper workout. Around the Bay’s breaking reefs, casting lures has turned up the odd yellowtail kingfish and some big tailor. In the southern shallows of the Bay, smaller boats have been having a ball trolling and casting small lures for abundant herring and skippy, while the deeper weed beds of the Bay were producing plenty of snook. A steady burley trail has also been drawing in schools of garfish and the trick to landing them is a sliver of prawn on a tiny hook beneath a pencil float. There is finally some better weather forecast over the coming days so get out there!
Beaches along the southern bay have been rewarding fishers with flathead, yellow-eye mullet, King George whiting and herring. Up at the northern point, good numbers of sand whiting and chopper tailor have been on the chew. Beach casters have also found larger tailor and school mulloway in the gutters. Open beaches have good numbers of small whaler sharks around a meter in length, the perfect size for a good quality feed.
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.
Big swells limited boat fishing, but crews still did well closer in. Nannygai and breaksea cod were in good numbers at Observatory Island, while Lion Island held big queen snapper and harlequin fish. Lots of Samsonfish were caught at Black Island, while skippy and King George whiting were prolific at Flat Rock. Sand whiting were thick at Chapman Point, while squid and herring were plentiful in Esperance Bay. The forecast from Saturday through to Tuesday looks glorious so get out there.
Last weekend’s new moon and light winds fired up gummy sharks with Thomas River, Dunns Beach, 14-Mile Beach and Roses Beach the hotspots. Both 14-Mile and Roses also held good numbers of salmon. Fourth Beach fished well for skippy and salmon, while Bandy Creek Boat Harbour yielded decent flathead and King George whiting. The new moon also stirred up squid, with good night-time catches coming from the Town Jetty. Taylor Street Jetty has held herring and garfish at night, while King George whiting have been active along the town foreshore during the day.
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.
This Sambo was one of many great fish that came over the side for @andrew_ward_3 on the coral grounds during a better weather window this week.
Fishing really fired up last weekend. Decent King George whiting and sizeable squid were landed around Limestone Head and in King George Sound, although not off Middleton where the water remains dirty. At the islands, Samsonfish and one or two tuna were landed along with a couple of blue groper. Hapuka were kicking around out at the continental shelf, while the 70m depths of the coral ground held plenty of nannygai and pink snapper. Dhufish, pink snapper, queenfish and breaksea cod catches were good in 25-40m. Cheynes was good for beach launching, but Bluff Creek was tricky. Saturday looks decent on the forecast for the boaties, but the remaining days this week look choppy and windy.
Local beaches were pounded by 5m swells last week and remain carved up, but as the swells eased some good pink snapper were landed on rock platforms either side of town. The town marina has been reliable, offering herring, skippy, bream and leatherjacket, along with a few squid. Squid fishing has also been good at Frenchman Bay and Whaleworld, where herring and small King George whiting have been in the mix, while Gull Rock could be a good option for skippy this weekend. In the King, Kalgan and Hay Rivers bream fishers have been doing well using prawns or strips of fish as bait. Dirty water remains at Emu Point where the fishing has been poor.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.
@josephchapple managed to hook three pinkies and landed this one 73cm specimen off the beach near Busso this week, a great way to top off the morning!
A few tuna have popped up in Geographe Bay and they have been hitting small metal slices in waters south of Bunbury as well. Their presence seems to coincide with the sighting of whales in the Bay. The south side of Bunbury has also been fishing well for King George whiting in 15m depths, while squid have been taken in deeper depths than usual, favouring the clearer water in 8-10m. Both these species have been in reasonable numbers in Geographe Bay. At Bunbury’s artificial reef Samsonfish have been slamming topwater lures. Get out there over the next few days while the weather is inviting.
The storm fronts really fired up the pink snapper action with both droners and casters filling doing well from Preston all the way down to Dunsborough, while along the stretch of beach from Preston down to Buffalo tailor to 70cm have been taken in ones and twos just after dark. Herring fishing has been very quiet and even strongholds like Back Beach and Dalyellup have produced little. Squid have been in reasonable numbers at Busselton Jetty and pink snapper have been landed at the deep end, while the Collie River has offered soapy mulloway and bream. The inlet at Bunbury has yielded bream and juvenile salmon.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.
Once again the feeder streams into rivers and dams are fishing much better for trout than the rivers themselves, as is the case around Pemberton and Donnelly River. Fly-fishers have been doing well down that way and old-school spinners like Celtas and Mepps have been getting the job done too. As for hard-bodied lures, 50mm Rapala CDs have been working well. Harvey, Wellington, Waroona and Logue Brook Dams along with Drakesbrook Weir have all produced rainbow and brown trout with quite a few bigger fish stocked this year. Redfin perch chasers have been doing well in Drakesbrook Weir and Harvey, Glen Mervyn and Wellington Dams, while Lake Kepwari and Black Diamond Lake have been worth a crack as well. Most perch have been small, but a few 40cm-plus models have been landed. Darker coloured soft plastics have been a popular lure option for them.
The Five-Fathom Bank continued to fire for solid skipjack and the odd Samsonfish, while inside Five-Fathom fat sand whiting have been mixed in with big King George whiting. There has been plenty of bait schools out on the 40m line which have been attracting tuna. Clearer water has been the key and often working birds have shown the way. Clean-water dependent, the south side of Golden Bay has been producing a few squid of late. In the Peel-Harvey Estuary herring have been in good numbers and the odd school of juvenile salmon has popped up. Dinghy fishers off the estuary end of the Dawesville Cut have been getting King George whiting in better numbers and the sizes have improved this year with most fish over 30cm. The weather for boating is looking delicious over the next few days so enjoy yourself out on the water.
Pink snapper chasers were rewarded this week, especially on the northern wall of the Dawesville Cut. A few were taken from the rock walls in Mandurah too, but weedy conditions at White Hills proved a challenge and catches were down there. The estuary end of the Cut has produced small King George whiting, while the middle section has offered herring. Marinas and canals in the Peel-Harvey estuary have held bream, juvenile pink snapper, tarwhine, herring and skippy, while the town bridges have offered herring and tarwhine. Bream and soapy mulloway have been caught in the Murray and Serpentine Rivers.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!
Sales of electric reels and big skirts suggest plenty of local anglers with bigger boats have joined the quest to land elusive broadbill swordfish way out wide. Those of modest means and ambitions have been going well on King George whiting and sand whiting on Parmelia Bank, at the Coat Hangers near Garden Island, behind Penguin Island, off Woodman Point and in Mangles Bay. Squid were fishing well in 2-6m at most of these spots before the rain arrived and if the water clears over the weekend darker coloured jigs in red could be the go. Skippy have been plentiful on the broken ground with most around the 30cm mark. Out at the D9, anglers have been getting a workout on big Samsonfish. The weather is looking peachy over the coming days for the boaties so get out there.
Long Point and Secret Harbour produced good numbers of pink snapper when the storm fronts hit this week, with a first-time drone fisher landing an 85cm model. A few good winter tailor have been taken from local beaches along with herring and sand whiting. Herring and sand whiting have been the main catches at Rockingham and Palm Beach jetties and herring have been at Woodman Point and the Ammo Jetty. The Henderson cliffs and the rocks at Wells Park have yielded a few skippy, while land-based squid chasers are recommended to try Palm Beach Jetty, Penguin Island Jetty and Point Peron, which should also offer herring and a few sand whiting.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!
After ten years of trying to crack the swordfish code, Chris Tanti @flow_fishing_australia finally did it off Perth with Brett on the wheel and Joey working hard as the axeman. It means Chris has now landed a metro blue, black and striped marlin before this swordfish finally ticked off his set of four metro billfish species. Up next is a metro sailfish given their captures are creeping down the coast!
Poor weather limited most of the fishing escapades this week unfortunately. Several tuna species have been active in the 30-40m depths near Direction Bank, while there has been a mix of sand whiting and King George whiting off Fremantle, at the Windmills and off Swanbourne, City Beach and Cottesloe. The 10-15m depths have been a good starting point. Squid have been caught off Fremantle and they have been in the bays at Rottnest Island also. The Three-Mile Reef has held plenty of skippy and tailor and skippy have been caught at Mewstones. Thankfully the weather is looking magical from this arvo until at least Wednesday morning and the sun will be out so make the most of it.
Many parts of the Swan River have shut down with the heavy rain and most bream and mulloway activity has been reported downstream from the Causeway. Before the rain, small bream were active around Bayswater, as were school mulloway, but from this week a better bet for mulloway would be Canning Bridge, Mt Henry Bridge in the Canning River and the Narrows. Structure near yacht clubs in the lower and middle reaches should fish well for bream and Canning Bridge and the Narrows usually hold a few big ones in winter. Tarwhine have been the main catch around the traffic bridges, but further up river a few tailor in the 40-50cm range have been landed. Pink snapper catches were steady this week with a couple caught from the rocks at Coogee and one or two from the Moles, but again the northern rock walls fished better for them. Herring have become scarcer and the main catch at the Moles has been skippy. A regular crew throwing surface lures around Swanbourne had a hot session on big tailor before the rain front, while the northern beaches have offered good tailor as well when weed-free. Burns Beach has been a consistent tailor spot.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 8/28/2025 11:15:33 PM by Seamus and last updated on 9/2/2025 2:58:41 AM.
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