Recfishwest's State-wide Fishing Report 5 April 2024 🎣

Tuna have been caught in reasonable numbers on both sides of town and before the swells picked up earlier in the week good catches of Spanish mackerel were reported down at Lucky Bay. Bottom fishing has been excellent with plenty of pink snapper and baldchin groper coming over the side. The better spots have been Three-Mile Reef, Baldface and the Sand Patch. Closer in along the cliffs good dhufish have been landed on jigs, along with 50-60cm pink snapper. Set your alarms early and aim to get out before sunrise if you wish to duck out in the boat this weekend as both mornings should be very calm with a 1.0-1.2m swell. The sea breeze will spike around 9:30am. 

It's clear from the crowd of 300+ people that a lot of Esperance locals are worried about where some of the Government's proposed no-fishing sanctuary zones have been earmarked for the South Coast Marine Parks. This snap was taken on Wednesday of Fisheries Minister Don Punch addressing the crowd. It's crucial that your submission is thorough, so if you need help with completing this before June 16, check out our tips on making a submission here. The more submissions the better, so make sure you chat to your friends and family about it!

Despite the poor tides there have been good numbers of metre-plus mulloway landed near Israelite Bay and gummy sharks and salmon have been caught at Poison Creek. Salmon hotspots this week included Rossiters, Hellfire Bay and Lucky Bay, while big schools were also encountered at Fourth Beach and 14-Mile Beach. Another salmon hotspot has been Roses Beach. The Town Jetty has been going gang busters for big squid and there has been plenty of them around. King George whiting sizes are down at Bandy Creek Boat Harbour but their numbers have been fantastic along with good skippy. The Taylor Street rock wall has offered plenty of big herring, while Blue Haven Beach was a cracking spot for big sand whiting. Bream to 42cm have been smashing a variety of lures at Wheatfields Lake. The northerly wind expected on Saturday morning should help you if you wish to have a flick off the beaches this weekend. 
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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 season is in full swing but being a migratory fish, the same locations can’t be relied on for a feed every day. But the good news is the regular hotspots, including Lowlands, Nanarup, Cheynes, Sand Patch and Shelley Beach have provided good catches of herring and skippy when the salmon haven’t shown up and it’s been rare for any of these spots not to produce salmon two days in a row. For lure casters the 70g Ocean Legacy Slingshot has been brilliant on the salmon when they are about, while other successful lures have been Surecatch Knights and the larger Halco Twistys. At Cheynes Beach a couple of big Samsonfish have been caught. Big salmon have also been landed at Windy Harbour and Cosy Corner. The non-surf beaches around town have mainly offered juvenile salmon but there have been plenty of herring, King George whiting and skippy keeping them company. Big skippy have been landed at the town marina which also fished well for herring and squid. Herring have also been plentiful in Frenchman Bay and Whalers Cove. Emu Point has held decent squid, whiting, herring, skippy and juvenile salmon. Bream fishing has picked up nicely in the King and Kalgan rivers and small mulloway have also been landed in both systems. In the Wilson Inlet flathead and pink snapper have been caught and further up the system bream have been biting. 

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. 

Bonito and tuna continued to keep anglers entertained at North Mole, which has been pretty crowded with South Mole being closed. North Mole has also offered tailor and herring at night, especially with burley in the water. Good tailor have been caught from Cottesloe right up to Two Rocks and the northernmost beaches have also held just-size pink snapper and some good mulloway. Good tailor have been caught on poppers in reefy areas around Alkimos in the mornings. Drone fishers on the northern beaches have caught better pink snapper and the odd small dhufush. Floreat fished well for small species including herring, small skippy, whiting and flathead. At Grant Street in Cottesloe tailor have been hounding schools of mullet, with 40cm-plus garfish also caught in good numbers along with herring. Other good garfish spots have been close to shore at North Mole, where there has been some better squid activity. The South Fremantle rock walls have also held a few squid and it pays to move around flicking jigs at the weed patches until you find them. At South Beach and Coogee divers swimming out from shore have been getting good-sized blue swimmer crabs. Fremantle Harbour held lots of scaly mackerel, along with herring and small skippy. In the Swan River good tailor have been caught from the Leeuwin boat ramp, at Claremont and at Point Walter, with unweighted mulies and metal lures proving most effective. Mulloway catches in the river have been good from the Narrows up river with good fish taken around Optus Stadium and at Ascot, while soapies have been caught as far up as Midland. Bream have been in big numbers from the Causeway up river but most sizes were small. In the Swan’s lower reaches flathead and flounder catches have slowed to one or two a session but tarwhine, juvenile Samsonfish and chopper tailor have often made up the bycatch. At this stage on the forecast every morning between Saturday and Wednesday looks great for a land-based flick off the coast given it's mostly easterly winds and a low swell. Make the most of it!