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

Kalbarri Offshore Angling Club members enjoyed excellent conditions for their competition last weekend, with some stellar mixed bags achieved. Cobia to 10kg, tuna, Samsonfish, Spanish mackerel and wahoo were caught in depths starting from 20m, while boats that covered plenty of ground did very well on dhufish, with two fish weighing 12kg and 13kg weighed in. An 8kg red emperor was also caught and although no coral trout were landed in the competition, a 75cm model was taken earlier this week. Plenty of big pink snapper and baldchin groper also featured in catches this week with most structure usually producing at least one of the two species. Crayfish numbers have dipped with the full moon, but now that the moon is waning they are expected to pick up again. Red Bluff has been one of the better spots if you're keen to drop some pots. The best boating windows this week are looking like the early mornings across this weekend but aim to return before 9:00am when the wind spikes. 

Gummy sharks up to 15kg have been in big numbers at Roses Beach, along with skippy to 4kg and big schools of salmon. Israelite Bay has been a hotspot for mulloway up to 10kg, while good mulloway and gummy sharks have come from Poison Creek. Skippy up to 5kg have been landed at Dunns Beach. There has been an abundance of salmon at 10-Mile Lagoon and Fourth Beach. Blue Haven Beach has offered excellent fishing for sand whiting, while Bandy Creek Boat Harbour has held good-sized flathead and skippy. King George whiting up to 45cm have been caught from the town foreshore, while the Town Jetty produced good numbers of squid in the afternoons with pink jigs working best this week. Garfish have been caught at night from Taylor Street Jetty, while at Woody Lake bream to 40cm have been caught on lures.

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. 

This stunner of a yellowtail kingfish landed by the @thetidaltale crew off Albany this week seemed to be paying tribute to West Coast after their derby win last weekend, this one seems particularly blue and gold! 

Down at Cheynes Beach a few tuna have been landed from the shore for those who could launch out Halco Twisty's, while salmon have shown up at Main Beach and Back Beach which has terrified the hordes of herring! Salmon hotspots this week have included Sand Patch, Fosters and Reef Beach near Bremer Bay but most beaches have had schools go by. Decent salmon have also turned up at Emu Point.  Emu Point has also fished well for squid as has Frenchman Bay, Whalers Cove and the town marina. Herring have been around town in huge numbers and getting a feed has been very easy, with burley bringing in huge amounts within only a matter of minutes. In the King and Kalgan rivers bream have been much harder to target and are believed to be holed up in the deeper sections of both rivers. A few King George whiting have been caught around Frenchman Bay. In Denmark’s Wilson Inlet pink snapper around 55cm have been caught.

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. 

The North Metro beaches have tended to produce the better pinkie catches over the past week and drone fishers have frequently been rewarded. The @one_drop_cartel crew got Rob onto this 78cm snapper shortly after the bait was dropped a couple hundred metres from shore, before a 79cm snapper was reeled in not long after! 

One or two solid pink snapper were landed at North Mole this week and a few pinkies have been taken from the northern beaches as well. Bonito have also been caught from North Mole and throwing small divers, metal slices and micro jigs from there could produce a salmon as well as bonito. Herring have been at the Moles in big numbers and a few tailor have been caught in the evenings. Good catches of tailor have also come from the South Beach rock walls along with the beaches at Swanbourne and Cottesloe. Tailor have also been swimming with garfish at Grant Street in Cottesloe according to swimmers and divers. Beaches such as Floreat and City Beach have offered mainly whiting, herring and the odd flathead. Northern beaches such as Quinns and Alkimos produced tailor in the evenings and there have been reports of school mulloway showing up as well. North Mole and the Fremantle rock walls have also fished well for squid. Fremantle Harbour held heaps of herring, along with scaly mackerel. Big tarwhine have been hooked around the Fremantle bridges but many have been lost around pylons and other structure. In the Swan River chopper tailor have been active from the river mouth as far up as the Narrows, with lots of barely-sized fish but a few better models around 40cm have still been about. Respectable school-sized mulloway have come from the Narrows and there were whispers of bigger fish landed there. The drop-offs around Mosman and East Fremantle have been holding a few flathead, while the better locations for big bream have been places with structure such as the Causeway, Canning Bridge, Mt Henry Bridge in the Canning River and Garratt Road Bridge. Soapie mulloway have also been about the upper reaches along with a few decent flathead. Tomorrow morning will be quite calm but some strong easterly winds are expected early next week for those wanting a bit of casting assistance off the Metro beaches.