Recfishwest's State-wide Fishing Report 13 December 2024 🎣

The Town Jetty has been firing for squid and big herring and has also offered a few garfish at night. At Bandy Creek Boat Harbour small King George whiting, solid skippy, heaps of herring and also flathead and flounder have been the order of the day, while the port authority viewing area has offered King George whiting around the 35cm mark. Bream in the 30-35cm range have been fishing well at the Bream Lakes. At Salmon Beach the odd salmon has been caught, while Fourth Beach has offered salmon and bull herring. Ten-Mile Beach has produced big flathead, along with herring and salmon, while 11-Mile has yielded herring, small skippy and the odd salmon. At Stockyards big flathead have been in good numbers along with herring and skippy and, at the start of the beach, big sand whiting. Alexander Bay has held lots of salmon and a few gummy sharks, while Israelite Bay has thrown up tailor, small mulloway, bronze whaler sharks and a few flathead.    
    
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. 

Night-time scoopers have been getting their share of blue swimmer crabs in Princess Royal Harbour, while Frenchman Bay has fished well for squid, herring and King George whiting. Whalers Cove and Fisheries Bay have also offered good squid. Salmon chasers have found a few resident fish at Reef Beach, while bream fishing has improved in the King and Kalgan rivers and there have been whispers of mulloway activity there also. Emu Point has been pretty quiet but bread and butter species including herring, small skippy and squid have been caught at the town marina.

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 sweetest meat going around. There have been some decent reports of blue swimmer crabs coming from the Swan River and Cockburn Sound, with @saltyfishos having good luck further up river. 

Tailor chasers have been doing well off Cottesloe Groyne and the North and South Moles, while smaller tailor have been swimming with herring, skippy, sand whiting and flathead at Swanbourne, Floreat and City Beach. The South Fremantle rock walls have been fishing well for herring, skippy, whiting, flathead and chopper tailor with anglers doing well on micro jigs and small Twistys. Squid have been about in these locations but not at the Moles, which other than tailor have offered mainly herring. Decent tailor have come from Trigg and the beaches north of Hillarys, and right up to Yanchep Lagoon, where many anglers have been taking advantage of the strong easterly winds in the mornings to send their baits and lures out some distance. There’s been a big mix of species caught in the Swan River, especially in the salty lower reaches where snook to 40cm have been swimming among the tailor schools and plenty of skippy around the 30cm mark have been landed. Yellowfin whiting catches have picked up for those happy to fish the Swan’s lower reaches late at night, and they have been often sighted but rarely landed on the flats during the day. Tailor catches have come down a little but most jetties in the lower Swan have held a few, as did Applecross Jetty and Canning Bridge. They have also been active at night under the lights at the Narrows. Another prized Swan species, the giant herring, has proved elusive but a good tip has been follow the warmer current lines and keep an eye out for diving birds, hence it’s not surprising giant herring are often plucked out of tailor schools. Flathead chasers noticed a lot of bait jumping around Claremont last weekend but the baitfish were being chased by regular herring, rather than giant herring or tailor. There have been some cracking flathead and flounder sessions in the lower Swan this week. On Sunday, one angler who fished the Claremont-Nedlands area landed fish from the the high 30s up to a 56cm model, which were all released safely, along with a couple of cracking high 30cm flounder. Another big flattie in the mid 50s was landed by a young angler at the Swan Yacht Club in East Fremantle. As for the better spots for flathead and flounder: Claremont, Nedlands, Dalkeith, Freshwater Bay, East Fremantle, North Fremantle, Bicton and Point Walter. Don’t’ discount the Narrows, the Causeway, Applecross, Como, Burswood, Optus Stadium and Maylands for flathead either. Those scooping blue swimmer crabs have fared best at night in the lower reaches. The Swan’s middle and upper reaches have started to fish well for bream, which have pushed up as far as Guildford. Basically bridges, jetties and anywhere with structure should produce. Bream, along with a few soapy mulloway, have been taken at the Narrows, Canning Bridge, Mt Henry Bridge, the Causeway, Optus Stadium, Belmont, Redcliffe and Maylands. Soft plastics have worked well on both species.