From tripletail off Broome to big 1m barra in Lake Kununurra there's plenty to read in Recfishwest's State-wide Fishing Report 23 April 2021 🎣

Sailfish are starting to be encountered in bigger numbers offshore, especially in waters of Barred Creek and near Peanut. Spanish mackerel catches have been increasing with reports of fish in the 10kg to 15kg range caught on rigged garfish and bibbed minnows trolled in waters off Gantheaume Point, Entrance Point and Port Smith. Longtail and mack tuna have been appearing in a range of depths and areas. Reef fishers have been picking up reasonable catches of red emperor, saddletail seaperch and blue lined emperor in depths of 20m to 40m. Tripletail are often being found near the moorings and flotsam inshore.


Broome angler Wade Clark made light work of this barramundi last weekend. We love your work, Wade.

Threadfin and bluenose salmon have been caught on baits and lures in the lower reaches of the local creeks as well as along the coast close to the creek mouths. Barramundi are sometimes being picked up in the creeks, as well as along Roebuck Bay. Yellowfin whiting and garfish can be targeted along Cable Beach and Coconut Wells. Bluebone are being caught close to town, alongside queenfish and small trevally species.

Billfish enthusiasts have not had to travel too far off Exmouth to find small black marlin and sailfish. Many of the blacks and sails encountered this week were in depths of less than 150m off the popular Gascoyne fishing town. Plenty of dolphinfish and wahoo have also been caught in these waters, while Spanish mackerel have been picked up closer to the reef line. Schools of small longtail tuna have been providing some  fishers with entertainment in Exmouth Gulf. Reef fishers have been finding red emperor and Rankin cod in about 60m, while 100m seems to be the starting point for goldband jobfish.


Peak Sportfishing Adventures have been getting clients onto plenty of dolphinfish at the Exmouth FADs!

Spangled emperor have been caught on soft plastics and baits along the west coast accesses that feature rock and reef. Bluebone have sometimes been caught in these areas, as well as at Mildura Wreck and near the lighthouse. There have been some big queenfish turning up close to shore at Old Bundegi and right around to Learmonth Jetty. Mangrove jack and squid have been caught at Exmouth Marina late afternoon and evening. Yellowfin whiting catches have waned along the town and gulf beaches.

Reef fishers have generally done well on dhufish, baldchin groper and sweetlip near African Reef and South West Bank. Pink snapper have been found in schools in many areas including north-west of the shipping channel and the lumps off Coronation and Horrocks. Spanish mackerel can be targeted along the western edge of Pensioners Bank. Dinghy and small boat fishers have been catching herring, pike and squid inshore.

Dozens of mulloway in the 8kg to 16kg range were landed between Flat Rocks and the Greenough River mouth. Tailor have also been appearing in good numbers in this area and there was a dhufish caught from this part of the coast on Saturday night. Yellowfin and school whiting have been difficult to target due to the seaweed. Chopper tailor, pike to 40cm, skippy and whiting have been caught behind Lives and along the rock walls. Waters in front of the Sail Inn Snack Bar have been good for herring, skippy, whiting, tailor and pike. Dongara Marina has hoards of yellowtail as well as skippy, sand whiting, pike, black bream and squid.  

Peter Fullarton, of Tailored Treks, with one of many mulloway caught near Lancelin recently. Terrific!

Offshore fishers have caught a few awesome pink snapper lately, writes Tailored Treks' Peter Fullarton. One of the more notable captures came at Lancelin Angling and Aquatic Club's fishing competition last weekend when Mat Martinovich hauled in a 8.6kg pinkie! There have been plenty of baldchin groper in addition to the occastional dhufish and breaksea cod. The shallow grounds inside White Bank, in the 10m to 15m depths, have produced dhufish, breaksea cod and pink snapper this week. Tarwhine, skippy, King George whiting, flathead, snook, herring and squid have dominated catches inside the bay.

After the flush of mulloway over the new moon period, the beach fishing has quietened down the past few days. However, it is will slowly pick up again with tailor likely to bite well into the night as the moon increases intensity. We can probably expect to see another run of mulloway this weekend and early next week, with great weather forecast leading up to the full moon on Tuesday. Lancelin's jetty has nice water conditions this week, resulting in improved blue swimmer crab and squid catches in addition to herring and whiting.

Reef fishers scored lots of breaksea cod and quite a few dhufish out wide. Nannygai to 65cm were located in deeper waters along with Samson fish and the odd mako shark. Dinghy and small boat fishers have been doing well on herring, skippy and squid within the bay. If you're fishing off Esperance any time soon, be sure to email Recfishwest your fishing photos for a chance to be featured in the State-wide Fishing Report!

The recently re-opened Esperance Tanker Jetty again had squid, herring and skippy on offer this week, with many young fishers catching the bread-and-butter species. Herring, skippy, garfish and squid were among the species caught at the Taylor Street Jetty, while Bandy Creek Boat Harbour has been producing mixed catches of King George whiting, herring, flounder and flathead. Salmon were present at Fourth Beach and Salmon Beach for most of the week. Stockyards also produced a few salmon, skippy and herring. Mulloway can be targeted at Fourteen Mile. Alexander Bay has been yielding skippy to 2kg and herring. Thomas River seems to be where most of the gummy sharks were recently landed.

Recfishwest Safety Ambassador and experienced rock fisher Aron Dixon with a lovely south coast harlequin fish caught near Albany! Follow Aron's fishing adventures at his new Facebook page!

Reef fishing has been reasonably productive in and around the 60m to 90m depths where snapper, breaksea cod and dhufish have been caught. The ground in similar depths east and west of Albany seems to be producing better catches of the same species. Deep dropping enthusiasts who travelled beyond the shelf found bigger red snapper at the edge of the drop off and a mixture of grey-banded cod and hapuka out wider. King George whiting fishing has generally been good inshore with some boats managing to pick up their limits of 30cm to 45cm fish within one to two hours. Bonito and salmon can be targeted on lures trolled near the islands and off the headlands. Squid catches have been improving inshore.

Surf fishers enjoyed entertaining sessions on salmon at many of the local beaches as well as at some of the bays and headlands to the east and west of town. Bluff Creek, Cheynes Beach, Nanarup, Cables, Sand Patch, Shelley Beach and Parry Beach were among the spots where salmon were caught this past week. Herring are in very good numbers right along the coast and there are big skippy coming from some of the reef holes. Small black bream have dominated catches in the King and Kalgan rivers. There are herring, juvenile salmon and chopper tailor being caught in the lower reaches of the systems while the upper areas are worth trying for mulloway.

James Gill headed out wide off Mandurah last Sunday and reeled in this dhufish. Nice work, James!

Anglers fishing Mandurah Estuary are finding plenty of tailor, herring, skippy and tarwhine. There are still a few bream being taken in the Murray and Serpentine rivers. The Dawesville Cut has been producing herring and tailor, while there have been reports of salmon caught from the Cut's ocean end. Mulloway fishers have caught the 'silver ghosts' at White Hills and Tim's Ticket this week. It comes as the occasional salmon has also been reported along this stretch of coastline.

Niel McMillan was more than happy after scoring this fun-sized land-based pink snapper in the metro!

This week, deepwater enthusiasts caught pink snapper in about 200m of water, while grey-banded cod and hapuka have been picked up in 300m to 400m. The metro fish aggregating devices (FADs) are still holding lots of dolphinfish and wahoo are sometimes being caught near the devices. There are also lots of small striped tuna and the occasional yellowfin tuna out wide. Spanish mackerel seem to be getting caught within an hour or so of sunrise at Parker Point, West End and Three Mile Reef. Mixed catches of dhufish, nannygai and baldchin groper have been achieved in 40m to 70m of water north-west of Rottnest Island and off Hillarys and Mindarie. The ground in 30m to 50m south of Rottnest has been producing lots of pink snapper and breaksea cod. King George whiting can be picked up near Windmills. Squid catches are improving along the seagrass meadows off Fremantle. Also, deployment of the north metro artificial reef project is set to start in the coming days. Read the latest update here! If you're fishing for demersals and get snagged on lobster pots or rope, remember to alert rock fishers with a Snag It, Tag It caution tag. Read more about the Snag It, Tag It safety initiative, a program Recfishwest coordinates in partnership with Western Rock Lobster, here.