BIG pink snapper off Bunbury and Dampier red emperor on sunset featured in Recfishwest's State-wide Fishing Report 16 July 2021 🎣

Billfish enthusiasts have been encountering small black marlin in waters about 65km offshore, while raising very good numbers of sailfish closer to shore. Spanish mackerel have been caught on bibbed minnows and rigged garfish trolled off Port Smith, Entrance Point and Gantheaume Point. Reef fishing has been productive in 30m to 40m of water where reasonable numbers of red emperor, saddletail seaperch, blue lined emperor and coral trout have been picked up. Fingermark bream, bluebone, threadfin salmon and bluenose salmon were among the species caught within Roebuck Bay and other inshore areas.


Broome angler Nathan Southern was happy with this dry season barramundi last weekend. 😎😎

Holidaymakers have enjoyed catching yellowfin whiting, bluenose salmon and the odd threadfin salmon along Cable Beach. Queenfish and varieties of trevally have been appearing at Entrance Point, especially an hour either side of the change in tide. A Spanish mackerel was caught at the jetty at about midnight one evening last week. Barramundi and cherabin catches have decreased in the Fitzroy River following a drop in water temperatures through the system.

Small black marlin have been caught in depths leading up to the 150m line, while about 30m to 50m seems to be good depths to be targeting sailfish. Yellowfin tuna in the 10kg to 15kg range have been found in a range of depths and areas including in about 30m west of Tantabiddi and in excess of 200m out from Lighthouse Bay and the Muiron Islands. Wahoo have also been caught offshore in good numbers, while Spanish mackerel are reasonably reliable in 15m to 30m of water behind the west coast reef. Reef fishers have generally been doing well on red emperor in 40m to 50m of water while 90m seems to be the starting depth for goldband jobfish.


Sailfish on a stickbait! Polly Redburn didn't have high expectations while casting a Nomad Madscad when sounding for billfish off Exmouth, but it delivered the goods. Fantastic fishing! 📸 On The Bite Fishing

Sportfishers have been using big stickbaits and poppers to catch giant trevally in the 10kg to 30kg range around the tip of North West Cape. Queenfish have also been appearing in this area of coast, as well as the beaches extending to the southern parts of Exmouth Gulf. Spangled emperor have been a popular target for holidaymakers at the west coast accesses. Squid can be caught at Tantabiddi boat launching facility, Bundegi Jetty, the marina rock walls and Learmonth Jetty.

Spanish mackerel continue to be caught on bibbed minnows and rigged garfish north and south of the river mouth. Yellowfin and other varieties of tuna, including longtail and mack, have also been picked up among the mackerel. Local charter boat operators have been putting their clients onto good numbers of red emperor, dhufish, Rankin cod and spangled emperor in depths leading up to 50m northwest of Kalbarri. Baldchin groper and pink snapper can be targeted on metal and soft plastic jigs within 1km of the shore.

Mulloway have continued to be caught in the lower reaches of the Murchison River following the arrival of more freshwater in the system. Yellowfin whiting have reappeared at the sand spit, and other shallower parts of the river, while black bream have been caught in bigger numbers and sizes near Murchison House Station. Tailor have been appearing most mornings and evenings at Red Bluff, Wittecarra Creek and Back Beach.

When the weather permitted, reef fishers have been finding fair numbers of dhufish, pink snapper and baldchin groper near African Reef and South West Bank. More snapper have been found near the shipping channel as well as along the lumps off Coronation and Horrocks. Dinghy and kayak fishers have been picking up a variety of bread-and-butter species including skippy, pike and squid within the inshore reefs and around the seagrass.

"It's a dream come true," youngster Reef Brown said. "I will never forget the moment when I finally caught my first 1m mulloway."

Mulloway in the 10kg to 20kg range continued to be caught in good numbers at Flat Rocks, Greenough and Southgates right up until the recent rough weather arrived. Tailor have been turning up some mornings at Flat Rocks and West Bank as well as along the Drummond's Cove to Coronation stretch. Yellowfin and school whiting to an impressive 40cm have been caught at Separation Point, Pages, Drummond's Cove and Coronation. Squid can be targeted at the northern side of the marina.

Wind and swell has been up and weed has been a problem along many of the beaches, limiting opportunities when and where to fish. North of town gave the best locations to escape the weed. Each day the weed is moving so it pays to get out early to scope a good location prior to settling into a beach fishing session. Flathead, tailor, herring, sand whiting and pink snapper were caught from the beaches last weekend. The town jetty offered a platform to fish the rougher periods through the week. Tailor, skippy and herring fired up during the evenings under the lights when the weather was rough.

Dinghy and small boat fishers have been picking up King George whiting, skippy, herring and squid inshore. Queen snapper, breaksea cod and harlequin fish have been common around the islands. Samson fish and yellowtail kingfish have been caught on soft plastic and metal jigs. Both species have sometimes been responding to surface and sinking stickbaits. Those who ventured wide of the islands got onto some nice nannygai to 55cm and big pink snapper.

The Esperance and Taylor Street jetties have been fishing well for herring, skippy, snook and squid. Those wetting a line at Bandy Creek Boat Harbour has lots of King George whiting, flathead and skippy on offer. Salmon have been caught in very good numbers on lures and baits at Salmon Beach, Fourth Beach and Roses. The Thomas River to Israelite Bay stretch has been producing gummy shark, mulloway and salmon.

Opportunities to target reef fish were limited this week due to the rough weather. Before the storms hit, there were pink snapper, small dhufish and queen snapper caught not too far out from the back of the islands. King George whiting and squid were mostly found in deeper inshore waters where the water clarity has been greater. Bonito, salmon and small southern bluefin tuna are sometimes appearing inshore.

There are still a few salmon being caught along the local beaches, especially at Bornholm, Cables and Sand Patch where surf fishers have been catching and releasing up to a dozen fish in the 3kg to 6kg range on occasions. Herring remain in very good numbers right along the coast and there are still lots of tarwhine being caught along the beaches close to Denmark. The King and Kalgan rivers are producing black bream in their extreme lower reaches.


Recfishwest Safety Ambassador and experienced rock fisher Aron Dixon with a south coast blue groper.

There have been some nice pink snapper and dhufish caught in depths leading up to 20m of water off Bunbury and Busselton. Bunbury fishers are enjoying one of the more memorable winters for pink snapper fishing, as shown by James Duncan and Matthew Fee. King George whiting have been caught in about 15m to 20m, while squid can be targeted along the seagrass meadows. Schools of small southern bluefin tuna have been appearing off Bunker Bay and Eagle Bay. Samson fish and yellowtail kingfish can be targeted off the tip of Cape Naturaliste.


Matthew Fee joined Tommy Miller for a snapper session off Bunbury and was not disappointed!🥶🐟

Surf fishers who braved this week’s rough conditions and put in the hours at night landed pink snapper and mulloway along the beaches located between Abbey Beach and Busselton. Tailor were being caught in reasonable numbers at Honeycombs, Injidup and Smiths Beach before the rough weather arrived. Herring and skippy have been reliable at many of the rocky headlands. For those fishing the beaches near Bunbury, herring have been on offer and easy to find once burley is introduced.

This Wednesday, 21 July, OzFish's Peel-Harvey Chapter will be hosting Hooked On Black Bream at the Mandurah Offshore Fishing and Sailing Club from 6pm. You're invited to attend and learn from leading scientists, fisheries and habitat experts and recreational fishing personalities to get the latest info on black bream fishing.

Seas and swells have caused havoc for anglers with beach formations changing regularly. Most of the beaches both north and south of Mandurah have their fair share of weed, however there are spots where it has cleared allowing anglers to fish. The northern beaches are starting to produce a few fish with tailor, herring, whiting, and pilch being taken along the San Remo to Golden Bay section. The beaches at Preston, White Hills and Tim's Thicket are producing herring, a few small mulloway and tailor. Large pilch are also being taken in numbers at times. The Dawesville Cut is producing some big herring, King George whiting, pilch, tarwhine and yellowfin whiting on a regular basis. There have been a few bream around Yunderup and a little further upstream in the Murray River.
 

Becher Point and Point Peron have been producing good catches of the smaller species during last week. Pilch have been featuring prominently in most bags of fish. Right along the southern metropolitan beaches there are plenty of herring being taken on a variety of baits and lures. Also there are plenty of yellowfin whiting. There are still reports of some reasonable tailor around Point Peron. Anglers fishing in Warnbro Sound are still catching snapper, some good-sized King George whiting and squid.

Very few boat fishers managed to head offshore this week as a result of the rough weather. Once conditions settle, expect pink snapper to still be in very good numbers in 20m to 50m of water south of Rottnest Island. Dhufish and baldchin groper are likely to still be in the 50m to 70m depths north-west of Rottnest and wide of Hillarys and Mindarie. Conditions may need to settle somewhat before squid return to the seagrass meadows off Fremantle and Leighton Beach.

Dozens of pink snapper were caught from the northern and southern rock walls during this week’s rough weather. Max Sampson and one of his mates hooked three pink snapper and landed two at a Fremantle rock wall early Tuesday morning. More snapper were landed at South Mole and North Mole as well as at some of the rock walls located within Cockburn Sound. It would also be of little surprise if Hillarys Marina and Mindarie rock walls also produced snapper. Mulloway, big tailor and gummy shark are a chance from the beaches following a spell of rough weather. Expect king and school prawns to be running in the lower reaches of the Swan River following the recent runoff.