Recfishwest's State-wide Fishing Report 28 March 2024 🎣

Conditions offshore have been glorious but the cooler water temperatures seem to have shut down pelagic species. Boats have been covering a lot of territory looking for warmer water but have had little to show for their efforts except for a few tuna. Despite the minimal results on the pelagic front, Red Bluff Spanish mackerel have been seen jumping and occasionally smashed deeper diving lures on the troll. Saturday morning looks like it will hold the best boating weather this week with calm winds generally coming from the east until the southerly arrives around 2:00pm. Sunday onwards is looking choppy. Make the most of it considering the demersal season has just reopened!

Flathead to 2kg have been landed at Thomas River, while big salmon schools have been hanging around Tagon Beach. Good numbers of gummy sharks and mulloway have been landed at Kennedy Beach. At Dunns Beach, mulloway, gummy sharks and salmon have been in solid numbers. Big schools of salmon have also been holed up at Roses Beach and 10-Mile Lagoon. In town, the foreshore has held King George whiting up to 45cm, while skippy and garfish have been caught at night from Taylor Street Jetty. Esperance’s stellar summer squid season (considered by many as the town’s best ever) has showed no signs of slowing down and the Town Jetty has been the hotspot. Bandy Creek Boat Harbour has offered flathead, flounder and small King George whiting, while at Windabout Lake bream around the 40cm mark have been caught on shallow-running hard-bodied lures and salted mulie baits. Take advantage of the great weather this weekend for a land-based flick!
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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. 

Herring have been in plague proportions around town which has locals excited as they expect the major salmon will not be far behind, with herring being their staple food source. Salmon have already been caught in twos and threes at a range of spots either side of town, with some of the better locations including Cheynes Beach, Sand Patch, Lowlands and Two Peoples Bay, along with Shelley Beach near Denmark.  Even tailor, a species that is usually rare in Great Southern waters have often been swimming with the salmon schools. Closer to town bread and butter species have been the main fare. The town marina offered herring and a few skippy, while Frenchman Bay produced herring and small King George whiting. Squid have been at both these locations but warmer water temperatures have made them less active than usual. Emu Point held squid, herring, whiting and skippy and in recent weeks has yielded Samsonfish and pink snapper in big sizes, so it is always worth setting out a big rod there. Gull Rock is another location that has produced good mixed bags of late, with catches including juvenile salmon, herring, snook, flathead and whiting. Bream and mulloway activity in the King and Kalgan River was slow this week, but near the river mouth juvenile salmon and herring have been caught. Saturday looks great for a land-based flick although expect Sunday to revert back to windy and choppy.  

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. 

...And here we have Jake Torre @jaketorre05 who sunk a few hours into soaking a bait around the Narrows Bridge which resulted in this 1.2m whopper. If this great fish was landed on a mullet bait by the man with the mighty mullet then Jake has officially broken the Matrix. Nice work mate! 

Schools of bonito have drawn plenty of lure casters to the North and South moles where the hard-going scrappers have been feasting on bait schools. They have been taking a range of lures, as well as small mulies, but the best results have come from using smaller lures such as 20g Halco Twistys, micro jigs, Halco Laser Pros and even old-school Nilsmasters. The Moles also offered herring and a few skippy throughout the day when burley was used, as well as chopper tailor at night. Skippy, herring and chopper tailor have also come from the rock walls around South Fremantle. The metro beaches have been fishing well for tailor too, with reefy areas such as Cottesloe, Trigg and the northern beaches and rock walls such as Hillarys, Mindarie and Quinns holding bigger fish. Calmer beaches such as Floreat and City Beach have held smaller tailor and plenty of herring, especially in the mornings. The odd school mulloway has also popped at up along the coast. The northern beaches produced pink snapper for drone fishers. The Swan River is fishing exceptionally well for tailor, with many fish over 50cm landed. Small stickbaits and poppers have worked best and the better spots have been Point Walter, Claremont, Blackwall Reach, Mosman Bay, Claremont and Deepwater Point. The river is throwing up plenty of decent mulloway as well. Soapies and school-sized fish around 80cm have been in good numbers from the Causeway up river, while a 1.2m mulloway (pictured above) was landed at the Narrows. The old brewery and Canning Bridge traditionally produce good mulloway this time of the year also. Flathead chasers prepared to cover some ground are still getting the odd fish in the traditional lower and middle Swan haunts such as Claremont, Applecross, Bicton and East Fremantle. Flathead have also been a consistent bycatch for bream anglers further up river. Yellowfin whiting have still been caught when night and early morning conditions are glassy in the East Fremantle area, with live baits or very fresh squid working best. Bream have also been widespread in the Swan. Better fish have come from the Causeway as far up as Midland with cubes of mullet and bony herring and soft plastics proving effective. For those prepared to put in the hours, late afternoon has been a good time to chase giant herring from Claremont to the upper reaches. All of today, early on Saturday and early on Monday at this stage look best for land-based fishing. Sunday looks rather choppy.