Recfishwest's State-wide Fishing Report 12 April 2024 🎣

Strong north-easterly winds have kept most crews closer in but the catches have been decent. Spanish mackerel action has picked up with quite few fish in the 8kg range coming from Sand Patch, while to the south a double strike resulted in two bumper wahoo estimated at 17kg. Plenty of tuna have been picked up at the Three-Mile Reef and Arnie’s Lump, while Spanish mackerel action has also been good off Horrocks and Lucky Bay. Bottom fishers targeting sheltered waters along the cliffs have landed big pink snapper and a few small dhufish. Crayfishing has also been productive around the same areas. The mornings certainly look best on the forecast for the boats this week, with generally low easterly winds and swell expected before 11:00am.  

Poison Creek has fished well for mulloway, gummy sharks and salmon, while Alexander Bay has produced gummy sharks up to 15kg. Big flathead and skippy have come from Dunns Beach, while Wylie Bay and Stockyards have offered salmon and sand whiting. Roses Beach has fished well for mulloway up to a metre, while big schools of salmon have been hanging around Warrenup Fourth Beach and 10-Mile Lagoon. The Town Jetty has been firing for squid with white jigs producing excellent catches. Bandy Creek Boat Harbour has been holding King George whiting and skippy, while bream to 40cm have been taking lures at Wheatfields Lake. Bream averaging 30cm have been plentiful in Stokes Inlet.
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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. 

There have been heaps of plump herring right along the coast and usually salmon were keeping them company. While they have been worth targeting, the salmon action has been hit or miss with most fishers landing a maximum of two or three in a session. The more consistent spots have been Lowlands and Nanarup but Sand Patch, Cheynes, Normans, Two People Bay and Bremer Bay have all fished well at times.  Samsonfish have also been caught at Cheynes. In Albany it’s been hard to get past herring which were thick at Frenchman Bay, Little Beach, Emu Point, Middleton and Gull Rock. Emu Point has thrown up a few whiting and juvenile salmon, as did Frenchman Bay and these locations along with the marina and Middleton have produced squid, but the action has been quieter than usual for this time of year. With the lack of rain, bream and soapy mulloway have holed up in various sections of the King and Kalgan rivers and often a bit of local knowledge has been needed to find them. Bream have also been caught in Oyster Harbour. At Walpole the Nornalup Inlet has offered small King George whiting and a few skippy, while Denmark’s Wilson Inlet has produced bream, flathead, juvenile salmon, herring, bream and pink snapper. 

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. 

North Mole and the local rock walls have fished well for squid, while North Mole has also produced a few bonito between first light and lunchtime. Herring have been in good numbers from local rock walls and the North Mole has offered a few tailor at night, although better chopper tailor and some nice skippy have been caught around South Beach and the Freo Fishing Boat Harbour. Tailor have been caught along reefy sections of the South Metro coast such as Cottesloe and Leighton, while more open beaches such as Floreat and City Beach have offered whiting, herring and a few skippy in the mornings. North metro beaches have produced some good tailor and drone fishers have been getting pink snapper and the odd small dhufish. In Fremantle Harbour bread-and-butter species such as scaly mackerel, herring, yellowtail and small tarwhine have been the mainstay. Most of the mulloway in the Swan River have been soapies, with fish from 50-80cm caught as far up as Midland, but a big mulloway was landed from Claremont Jetty early this week. The Narrows is often a good spot for big mulloway this time of year and it could be worth soaking a bait there. Chopper tailor (and some better models over 50cm), have been caught in the river as well. Some of the better locations have been North and East Fremantle, Point Walter, Claremont, Canning Bridge, Como Jetty and the Narrows. Choppers have been caught as far up as Burswood. The odd flathead has been showing up for those flicking lures on the flats in the middle to lower reaches and tailor, small tarwhine and at times juvenile Samsonfish have been among the bycatch. Flathead have also been a regular bycatch for bream fishers as far up as Guildford. Bream have been plentiful in the Swan’s upper reaches and also in the Canning River around Mt Henry Bridge, but sizes have been small. A few better fish have been pulled out of structure at night, and bait tended to out-fish lures this week. Small whiting have been in big numbers in the Swan, as far up as Maylands. The mornings are looking fantastic over the coming days for a land-based flick but the swell will be very low (around 0.6m), so expect exposed reef and maybe opt for surface lures to avoid being snagged if you're chasing fish off the reefy Metro beaches.