Recfishwest's State-wide Fishing Report 22 December 2023 🎣

Conditions were far from ideal when the demersal ban was lifted, nevertheless crews forced to stay in close managed good hauls of pink snapper, along with a few dhufish and the odd baldchin groper. There has been plenty of baitfish offshore but pelagic activity has been quiet and the water rather dirty. However, an exception was a 33kg yellowfin tuna taken near the Three-Mile Reef this week. Thankfully the mornings are looking quite pleasant for the boaties over the next few days with lower winds and swell expected. Make the most of it!

Bandy Creek Boat Harbour has held King George whiting and decent skippy, while the Town Jetty offered squid and herring, along with garfish at night. At Taylor Street skippy and big herring have been caught off the rock wall. Salmon and soapy mulloway have been hanging out in a nice gutter near the second carpark at Fourth Beach, while 10-Mile lagoon offered salmon and big flathead. At Alexander Bay and Thomas River school mulloway and gummy sharks have been the main catches, while Roses Beach fished well for salmon up to 6kg and skippy around 2kg. Plenty of sand whiting have come from just past the rock at Wylie Bay. Woody Lake was decent for bream this week, while bream up to 42cm have been hitting lures and baits at Stokes Inlet.

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. 

It has been tough going from the shore too but squid have been caught from the town marina, Emu Point, Frenchman Bay and Whalers Cove. A few blue swimmer crabs have been scooped in sheltered parts of Frenchman Bay at night. The town marina held a few herring and small skippy among the hordes of pickers, while herring, juvenile salmon and a few whiting have been caught at Emu Point. More reports have emerged of tailor catches near town and Bornholm could be worth a crack if conditions allow. When the swells have been down, sheltered rock platforms have offered pink snapper and skippy, while Cheynes Beach held herring and squid. Bream and a few soapy mulloway have been caught in the King and Kalgan rivers and bream were also caught in the Hay River. Wilson Inlet held a variety of species at times including King George whiting, flathead, herring, tarwhine and blue swimmer crabs.

Good on 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. 

Pink snapper have been the main catch offshore with some boaties getting their limit in a matter of casts. The pinks have been widespread with 11m depths north of Rottnest fishing well, as has the Three-Mile Reef, Ocean Reef, Two Rocks and the traditional 40-80m depths as well, where dhufish and breaksea cod have been added to the bag. Dhufish and baldchin groper were also caught out from Ocean Reef. Two very big King George whiting, 75cm and 65cm, were caught inshore in 6m just off Rottnest by anglers who were targeting wrasse to use for cray bait. Good King George have also been caught at Windmills and the Three-Mile. A few tuna have been around Rottnest’s West End and 5-6km south of West End Samson fish have been caught in 40m depths. The DPIRD/Recfishwest FADs have been attracting dolphinfish but they have been very skittish, with few being landed. One crew got fed up trying to tempt them with lures and live baits and went over the side and speared a couple instead. Inshore waters of South Fremantle have offered squid and sand whiting in the mornings, while crayfish have moved out to the 40m depths. The Swan River is holding good numbers of chopper tailor and in the deeper parts of the river such as Blackwall Reach and Mosman Bay saw blue swimmer crabs caught.There tends to be moderate winds in the morning before the Freo Doctor rolls in, so take care and be safe when your're enjoying time on the water over the Christmas period. Remember to be courteous and patient to others at the ramps. Tuesday onwards in partciular next week is expected to be a bit choppy. 

Over the weekend, WA Premier Roger Cook announced that the Government has signed a $107 million works contract to start the next stage of major works for the Ocean Reef marina development. However, the Government is yet to offset the loss of the 12.5 hectares of productive reef habitat which resulted in more than one million abalone being killed to make way for the marina. As a result of this failure, DPIRD was once again forced to restrict this summer’s metro recreational abalone season by one day for the fifth year in a row. Hear from Leyland Campbell discussing the impacts of Ocean Reef marina on recreational fishers by watching our latest video here. 

North Mole has fished well for chopper tailor with mulies baitcast under a glow stick usually getting the job done after dark. A few solid skippy have also come from North Mole but herring have been harder to find. Tailor have been caught at the very tip of South Mole, which has also offered a few squid closer to shore. The rock walls around Fremantle Sailing Club have produced bream on the inside, with lightly weighted or unweighted bits of mulie working well, while small squid have been taken on the outside walls. Cottesloe has fished well for chopper tailor around sunset and at Port Beach soapy mulloway have been among the tailor schools. In the mornings, Floreat Drain has offered good mixed bags of chopper tailor, herring and skippy caught on mulies or metal slices such as 15g Halco Twistys. A few flathead have been among the bycatch. Chopper tailor and a few herring have been consistent at most north metro beaches. In the Swan River a few yellowfin whiting have been taking vibe lures near the traffic bridges and flathead and flounder are still fishing well in the lower and middle reaches, with flathead up to 50cm also being caught on soft plastics around the Causeway and as far upstream as Guildford. There have been whispers of giant herring around 60cm being caught upstream from the Causeway, while mulloway nudging a metre have been landed at Canning Bridge. Chopper tailor are in good numbers from the traffic bridges right up to the Causeway with big herring among them in the lower reaches, while bream fishers are doing well wading the flats around Burswood on warm nights when there’s a bit of surface ripple, casting stickbaits and slow-rolling or twitching them back.. Both Saturday and Sunday morning are looking great for a land-based flick too, with light easterly winds aiding with casting.