Recfishwest's State-wide Fishing Report 8 March 2024 🎣

Tuna have been the main catch for boaties with a couple of Spanish mackerel turning up on social media as well.  The 30m depths out from Jakes Point and the Sand Patch have been the better spots for both species. A few bonito have also been active. If the land-based fishing is anything to go by, tinny anglers can expect to find tailor, whiting and the odd mulloway along the stretches of the Murchison River up to the mouth.

Thomas River has fished well for gummy sharks and mulloway, while gummy sharks up to 20kg have been caught at Poison Creek. Schools of salmon have been active at Tagon Beach. Stockyards has offered mulloway, gummy sharks and big salmon. Skippy up to 3kg and salmon have been caught at 10-Mile Lagoon, while Roses Beach has produced mulloway up to a metre. Big squid have been caught from the Town Jetty, and Taylor Street Jetty has held big King George whiting and garfish have been active along the town foreshore at night. Good flathead and flounder have been caught in Bandy Creek Boat Harbour, while Woody Lake and Stokes Inlet have offered good-sized bream in the afternoons.
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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. 

Salmon have continued to pop up at various locations either side of town. The most consistent spot has been the Sand Patch where big schools of 2kg fish seem to have taken up residence there. Sand Patch has also held good numbers of big tarwhine. Good salmon catches were also reported this week at Salmon Holes, a few have been caught at Cable Beach and Bremer Bay has held plenty as well. A big school of salmon was also reported at Lights Beach in Denmark. Either side of town, decent skippy and just-size pink snapper have been caught. The Town Marina has held its usual trifecta of herring, skippy and squid, while squid and whiting have been the main catches at Emu Point.  Frenchman Bay has produced good squid and the odd King George whiting, while Princess Royal Harbour has been holding huge schools of garfish that have fired up once a bit of burley is thrown in. A lot of people have been scooping for blue swimmer crabs in Princess Royal Harbour as well and they have found big numbers but most of them undersize, although the ones that have been legal have been well oversize. Bream and small mulloway have been haunting the King and Kalgan rivers but they have been hard to tempt at times.

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. 

Tuna have been in reasonable numbers offshore and the West End of Rottnest has offered yellowtail kingfish, skippy and Samsonfish when burley has been used. Rottnest has also held good King George whiting and smaller KGs and sand whiting have been caught at the Windmills. The 10-15m depths off Cottesloe and City Beach have also produced good numbers of sand whiting and the exposed reefs around Carnac Island have offered decent tailor. Squid have favoured greater depths this week and 8-12m out from South Fremantle has been producing. Yellowtail kingfish have also been caught off Ocean Reef. Chopper tailor have been caught when trolling in the Swan River and the Swan’s deeper sections have been worth a crack for blue swimmer crabs. A couple of big mulloway have come from Mosman Bay and Blackwall Reach at night.

The Swan River has been fishing well for tailor with good fish being caught from the Fremantle bridges all the way up to the Narrows. Chopper tailor have also been among the bycatch for flathead and flounder chasers in the middle to lower reaches of the Swan who have found flatfish numbers to be tapering off.  The better chopper tailor locations have been the Narrows, Point Walter, Claremont and Canning Bridge. Plenty of small tarwhine have been hitting baits and lures in the Swan as well, while in the lower reaches warm, still nights have produced good numbers of yellowfin whiting on live baits or fresh prawns. Speaking of prawns plenty of dab nets have been sold in recent weeks and people have been scooping prawns from the river walls from Fremantle to as far up as the Narrows with king prawns mixed in with the school prawns. Despite Fremantle Harbour being full of scaly mackerel no decent land-based mulloway catches have been reported in the Swan, apart from a 10kg model caught at Claremont Jetty late last week. Soapies and school mulloway have been caught as far up as Guildford by bream fishers who are also landing the odd up river flathead. Most of the regular bream locations with structure in the Swan and Canning rivers have fired, with better spots including the Causeway, Canning and Mt Henry bridges, Sandy Beach Reserve, Maylands, Garratt Road Bridge and Fishmarket Square. Mullet cubes have proven to be one of the better baits for bream. Oceanside, North and South moles have been quiet with just the odd herring and small tailor caught but the beaches have fished well for chopper tailor in the mornings. Around Floreat and City Beach tailor have been mixed in with decent skippy and good-sized herring and small tarwhine and bigger tailor have been caught in reefy areas around Cottesloe in the evenings. From Scarborough up to Trigg tailor and soapy mulloway have been caught while good tailor have come from the northern rock walls, with Ocean Reef one of the better spots. Drone fishers on northern beaches have done okay on pink snapper at night. The rock walls and beaches south of Fremantle have fished well for chopper tailor, herring and garfish when burley has been used.