Recfishwest's State-wide Fishing Report 26 January 2024 🎣

Water clarity has been an issue but last weekend Spanish mackerel and tuna were encountered in 30m depths at Bald Face and at the back of Jakes Point. When the water is murky, drifting a bait down into the burley trail right at the edge of the reef is a good bet for finding some pinkies, with very small sinkers working down to the middle of the water column a good place to have the bait. Demersal species have been more reliable, especially for the bigger boats that have been able to punch into the wind and head out wide. Crews have landed nice dhufish, Rankin cod and pink snapper, mainly north-west of town. Early on Saturday and Sunday morning hold the better windows away from the stronger southerly winds which will peak in the afternoons and evenings.      

Locals and holidaymakers have been bagging out on squid at the Town Jetty and when the sun sets, it has also produced herring and garfish. Taylor Street was reliable for small skippy, while Fourth Beach and 10-Mile Lagoon have fished well for flathead and salmon. Mulloway and big salmon have been caught at Roses Beach, along with gummy sharks at night, while Thomas River has been consistent for school mulloway. Bandy Creek Boat Harbour offered King George whiting, skippy and flounder, while Woody Lake and Stokes Inlet fished nicely for bream. Saturday at this stage looks best as the wind and swell will start to creep upwards into next week. 

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. 

Tailor have been widely reported between Albany and Denmark, while a school of salmon were also active east of town. Around Lowlands saw good catches of silver bream and King George whiting. Emu Point has offered herring, sand whiting, skippy and King George whiting, while at Gull Rock skippy and King George whiting have been around. Either side of town on the rocks saw pink snapper and yellowtail kingfish, but make sure you always wear a lifejacket, fish with a friend and analyse the conditions before fishing if you want to do this. We also won't post any photos of your catch if you aren't wearing a lifejacket on the rocks! If you want free loan lifejackets, the crew at Trailblazers also hand these out. The town marina held herring, skippy and squid, with the cephalopods also coming from the pontoon on the town foreshore, Frenchman Bay, Whalers Cove and Fisheries Beach. Frenchman Bay also fished well for King George whiting, while blue swimmer crabs have been caught in Princess, Royal and Oyster harbours. Cheynes Beach held herring, whiting and skippy. Bream up to 40cm have been taking diving lures such as Zipbaits Rigges and Khamsin Juniors in the Kalgan River and big tarwhine have also been among them. The King River also held good bream amongst the snags. make the most of the better conditions this weekend. 

Cheers to the Trailblazers Albany crew for their 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. 

Make sure you visit any of the tackle stores listed above for more info on this great comp that kicks off from Thursday next week! 

Nice sand whiting have been caught out from Cottesloe and City Beach in 15m depths and demersal chasers have encountered a few dhufish and pink snapper in similar depths. Crews fishing the 30m depths for pink snapper have often been swamped with undersized fish. King George whiting have been in good numbers around Rottnest island and at the island’s West End tuna have been mixed in with amberjack, yellowfin tuna and Samsonfish. At the FADs, dolphinfish have been hanging about with big wahoo, with one 30kg wahoo speared this week. Another wahoo of 15kg was caught on a trolled Halco Max high-speed vibe. The 40-50m depths around Rottnest held good dhufish, baldchin groper and breaksea cod. These species have been caught in similar depths off Hillarys, Ocean Reef , Mindarie and Two Rocks, while Three Mile Reef offered pink snapper, skippy and good King George whiting. Smaller King George whiting have been mixed in with sand whiting at Windmills, while around South Fremantle near the old power station, herring and squid have been landed. Dinghy fishers trolling in the lower and middle reaches of the Swan River have found heaps of small tailor when the water is choppy and surface lures such as CiD Shiversticks have worked well on them. They have also tangled with big mulloway in Mosman Bay. Crabbing in the Swan was a bit harder this week with the 2m depths sometimes producing the goods at locations such as Claremont, Applecross, Canning Bridge and Como. Saturday morning looks like it will hold a nice weather window for the boats, so make sure you're courteous to others at the ramps and try getting up extra early to avoid the queues. 

The Fremantle moles have offered reasonable numbers of squid in the daytime and a bit of burley has often produced a feed of herring. Tailor were biting best at North Mole after dark with unweighted mulies fished under glowsticks working well once again. Good tailor up to 50cm have also been coming from the rock walls in South Fremantle. Tailor around 35-40cm and herring have been caught from Port Beach up to Floreat in the mornings, while better tailor have been caught at the same spots in the evenings. The Cottesloe area has also produced tarwhine over 35cm in the mornings. City Beach fished well for herring and sand whiting in the gutters, while good yellowfin whiting have been mooching around beaches from Scarborough in the mornings. Good tailor have been caught at Quinns Beach, Two Rocks Marina and Yanchep Lagoon. Tailor continued to be prolific in the Swan River, as far up as Burswood, with better spots including Point Walter, Claremont, Canning Bridge and the Narrows once again, while yellowfin whiting have been caught on prawns and squid towards the river mouth at night. Flathead and flounder have been in reasonable numbers with the better spots including East Fremantle, Point Walter, Bicton, Applecross and Mosman Bay. They seem to be favouring the deeper water and micro jigs have been a good option. Bream were in good numbers in the upper reaches of the Swan and Canning rivers. They have been taking soft plastics along with Blue Lip Baits Micro Mussel lures around structure and hard-body lures such as slow-rolled Zipbaits Khamsin Juniors and Eco Gear SX 40s on the flats. A few giant herring have been encountered on the Como flats but one good tip is to keep your rod tip as low as possible when they jump so you don't lose your hook up. Saturday morning also looks best for the land-based fishing conditions with a gentle easterly expected.