Recfishwest's State-wide Fishing Report 2 February 2024 🎣

Spanish mackerel and tuna have been red hot all around town, providing plenty of entertainment for boats on the troll. They have been caught north, south and west of town, close in along the cliffs and in cleaner water of 20-30m depths. Red Bluff, Sand Patch and Jakes have been some of the better spots. With hordes of baitfish around, tuna have been caught mostly on slices cast into bust-ups, while trolling Halco Laser Pros and similar lures has worked best on Spanish mackerel. Unfortunately this morning saw the last of the good weather for a while, with some raging southerly winds and big swells roaring through over the next week. 

Munglinup has fished well for gummy sharks, while Whale Beach produced good salmon and skippy. Salmon have also been at Roses Beach and big schools have been been hanging around 10-Mile Lagoon. Herring and salmon have also come from Salmon Beach, while Alexander Bay held decent gummy sharks. Good King George whiting have been caught at the end of Taylor Street Jetty, while the Town Jetty held plenty of herring. Squid and big sand whiting have been caught at Rubbish Tips in moderate numbers. Impressive flathead have been caught at Wylie Bay, while Bandy Creek Boat Harbour offered King George whiting and flounder. Woody Lakes and Stokes Inlet have fished well for big bream, with some hitting the 45cm mark.

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. 

Squdding has been good at Whalers Cove, Frenchman Bay, Emu Point and the Town Marina with these locations also offering herring and a few whiting. On the beaches, salmon have been caught at Salmon Holes and out at Muttonbird Beach. Bream activity in the King and Kalgan rivers have been subdued, but some good mulloway have been landed in the Kalgan River. At Denmark’s Wilson Inlet yellowfin whiting have been caught on surface lures, along with herring and a few King George whiting. 

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. 

Early birds at the FADS (especially on weekdays) have encountered plenty of of dolphinfish in the 5-6kg range. Live baits have been effective on them as this seems to get them more excited than trolling or flicking lures around. Tuna on the other hand have also been there in good numbers and they have been smashing metals and trolled Richter Jelly Babes. The West End of Rottnest has offered a few tuna, some good yellowtail kingfish and the odd Samsonfish. King George whiting fishing have also been productive around Rottnest and also at Three-Mile Reef. Samsonfish have been encountered out from Ocean Reef and Mindarie. Sand whiting have been the main catch at Windmills and they have also been fishing well off City Beach and Cottesloe in 7-20m depths, while offshore reefs such as Mewstones have offered good tailor. Squid catches have been best in deeper water this past week, with 9m depths out from South Fremantle among the better spots. Drop netters have found big blue swimmer crabs in 11-13m depths in the middle reaches of the Swan River, while trolling for chopper tailor in the afternoons has been productive in the river as well, especially when the chop has been up. Unfortunately the rough weather is spoiling the fishing party for this weekend with some strong winds and bigger swell forecast, your next comfortable window out on the water at this stage is expected around Tuesday and Wednesday morning. 

Hats off to 15-year-old Charlie Azzopardi catching his first land-based pink snapper on a scaly mackerel from a beach north of Perth! If you're going to soak baits in the gutters for these specimens, make sure you get plenty of burley out beforehand. 

DPIRD has officially cancelled this Saturday morning's (3 February) scheduled abalone hour in the West Coast Zone due to rough conditions, following advice from Surf Life Saving WA. With strong winds and a rising swell forecast, it would not only make it too risky prowling the reefs, but the conditions would make it very difficult to spot abalone. Due to this cancellation, a backup abalone day will be organised on 9 March so recfishers don't lose a day for jumping in the drink to gather a feed of abs. Keep an eye out for our forecasts! 

The Metro beaches and rock walls have been fishing well for tailor. The Fremantle moles and rock walls as far down as Coogee have all produced chopper tailor, as did Cottesloe and Swanbourne's beaches. Herring have been joining the chopper tailor at Floreat and City Beach, especially in the mornings, while Quinns Beach and Yanchep have fished well for tailor as well. Northern beaches have also produced pink snapper and even a couple of small dhufish. Herring were also at both moles and South Mole has fished best for squid, although the sizes have been small. The pens and walls around the Freo Fishing Boat Harbour have produced bream, which have shown a liking for mico jigs. Fremantle Harbour has also held plenty of skittish scaly mackerel but there have been no reports of mulloway in the harbour. In the Swan River, chopper tailor were widespread as far up river as the Causeway thanks to the choppy conditions. Better spots have been Canning Bridge, Claremont, Point Walter and the Narrows. Flathead fishing was hard work last weekend with the very low morning tides sending the flatties into deeper water and most anglers did better in the afternoons. Catches have been steady rather than spectacular on the sand and the deep drop-offs have fished better, especially for those using micro jigs or vibes. Decent flathead have also been caught up river, with one 53cm model caught and released near Guildford last week which is the right thing to do as any flathead over 40cm tend to be breeders. Flatties have also been active in the Canning River around the Mt Henry Bridge. Yellowfin whiting have been hitting Eco Gear ZX and TT SwitchPrawn vibes around East Fremantle in the early mornings and late afternoons, while most of the mulloway caught in the river this week have been soapies, coming from Bayswater, the Narrows, Mosman Park, Canning Bridge and the Causeway. Bream catches have been steady in the Canning River around the Mt Henry Bridge and Shelley, both on the flats and drop-offs, while better spots for bream in the Swan River have included Burswood, Ascot and Guildford. You'll want to be casting in a northerly direction if fishing off the land this weekend, the southerly wind is going to be a howler.