Recfishwest's State-Wide Fishing Report 16 May 2025 🎣

Refishwest has teamed up with the good folks at Wildtrak Leisure Australia to offer all our members, followers and supporters 10% off ALL of Wildtrak’s extensive range of quality camping, 4WD and outdoors gear.   

To take advantage of the offer, simply jump on the Wildtrak Leisure Australia website, choose any product/s from their extensive catalogue of great gear and enter the code “Recfish1025” when you check out!  

In addition, Wildtrak have generously donated 10 of their wicked lithium battery jump starters for us to give away valued at $600 each.  

We will draw a Recfishwest member out of the hat each month to be the lucky recipient of one of these jump starters – great for getting your car, ute or boat out of strife when you’re out yonder!

Kennedy Beach and Thomas River have been hotspots for gummy sharks and mulloway, while big salmon schools have been passing through Alexander Bay. Stockyards Beach has produced flathead, tarwhine and salmon, while salmon have been taken in good numbers first thing in the morning at Fourth and Salmon Beaches. The town foreshore has held big flathead and decent King George whiting, while Bandy Creek Boat Harbour has produced herring and skippy. The Town and Taylor Street jetties have held herring and garfish at night, while bream fishers have done well on fish to 40cm at Quallilup Lake.

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 catches have become sporadic, but some of the more reliable spots have been the beach at Salmon Holes, Nanarup, Shelley Beach, Cheynes, Sand Patch, Reef Beach and Lowlands. Plenty have also been landed out east at Bremer Bay. These beaches have also been thick with herring and a live bait has worked well. Samsonfish and the odd pink snapper have also been landed by salmon chasers. Bream fishers have been doing much better in the King and Kalgan rivers which have cleared, but mulloway action has been slow. Land-based squidding has been pretty good with Frenchman Bay and Fisheries Beach among the better spots. Decent King George whiting have also been caught around town and herring have been prolific. The town marina held herring, squid and skippy, while blue swimmer crab numbers have thinned out for scoopers in Princess Royal Harbour as water temperatures cool. Wilson Inlet has held small King George whiting and the odd pink snapper, while beaches around Walpole have produced a few salmon.

Cheers to the Trailblazers Albany crew for their fishing 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 great run of pink snapper from metro rock walls has ended for now with anglers having to be content with bread-and-butter species, although a big swell or storm should spice things up again. Squid catches have been good at North Mole, the Coogee rock wall and from the groynes along Mews Road. These locations have also held plenty of herring, along with snook, tarwhine and a few skippy. A few tailor have been among the herring at North Mole, along with good numbers of slimy mackerel. South Mole has produced herring and a few garfish. Fremantle Harbour has held mainly yellowtail and the odd herring. Tailor chasers around Cottesloe have been left frustrated by weed, but found the odd decent fish along with a few herring. When they switched to smaller hooks around sunset they also picked up some chunky sand whiting to 30cm, which had been nibbling at their whole mulies. Smaller sand whiting, tarwhine, the odd tailor and herring were the main catches at Floreat Beach, while a few tailor and good numbers of herring were along the northern beaches, where drone fishers also picked up the odd pink snapper and one or two baldchin groper. It has been quiet in the Swan River, particularly in the lower reaches, where a scattering of small tailor, flathead, tarwhine and juvenile pink snapper have been taken. Better tailor to 50cm have been caught in ones and twos around Claremont, Applecross and Canning Bridge. Jetties in the Swan’s lower reaches, the Causeway and Canning Bridge could be worth a crack for mulloway, while the better bream spots have been at Canning Bridge and around Ascot, where a good bream nudging the mid-40s was landed on a mullet cube. Ascot also saw a lot of smaller bream, yellowtail grunter and the odd soapy mulloway. The flats and drop-offs around Burswood and Maylands could also be worth a crack for bream fishers. Walking along the river walls in East Fremantle and North Fremantle has produced good numbers of school prawns for dab netters at night. Saturday morning will be worth a crack off the beach given the moderate easterly wind expected to assist in casting or potentially sending out a balloon.

A big thanks to Anglers Fishing World in Fremantle for their great tips! These guys love their fishing just as much as we all do, so make sure you ask their super friendly team for advice and stock up before wetting a line off the land or boat!