Recfishwest's State-Wide Fishing Report 18 July 2025 🎣

DPIRD are running their own FADs photo competiton on their website and there is one week left to enter, with some cracking prizes up for grabs from Aussie Reels, Richter Lures and Madfish Gear! 

Simply take a photo of your catch with the FAD in the background while fishing up north and add:

• Fishing method
• FAD number
• Date of catch
• Your contact info. 

To submit your photo entries, click here. 

Remember good catch care handling in your photos, so no fingers in gills or eyes, hold the fish vertically, minimal blood, fish still alive with water in the background and don't forget to smile! Spearfishing snaps in the water are also acceptable. 

Click here to see all WA FADs coordinates. 

Sailfish have fished well out from Barred Creek and further north, while out wide on the broken ground red emperor, blue-lined emperor and Rankin cod have been in good numbers. Inshore waters closer to Broome saw Spanish mackerel and long-tail tuna caught, while bluebone have been in good numbers in close as well. The Fingers and Crab Creek have produced a few threadfin salmon, while mud crabs have been in most creek systems. It’s looking like beautiful boating weather this weekend which is a welcome relief after a few weeks of strong winds. It should be a total glass off from this evening until at least Monday with sunny days expected.

Better conditions have fired up the fishing activity on the west side. Big yellowfin tuna have been active between 100-400m and they were kept company by dolphinfish, wahoo and mack tuna. Sailfish numbers have been down, but black marlin around the 50kg mark have been in reasonable numbers starting from 100m depths. Helby Bank has been quite sharky, but it has produced some nice coral trout for those who moved around frequently (try turning your sounder off once you’re fishing). Spanish mackerel numbers here have been down, although some small ones have been taken inshore just behind the reef. Similar to last week, the fishing has generally been better out from Tantabiddi headed south, where coral trout have been active in 20m depths and both Rankin cod and red emperor biting in 30-50m. Deep-droppers have picked up red emperor as well along with saddletail snapper and a few pearl perch. The lagoons around Tantabiddi have produced a few coral trout on the lumps, along with spangled emperor, with weed patches producing some good squid. The Muirons have been firing for Spanish mackerel and the lumps have offered coral trout, spangled emperor, a few Rankin cod and red emperor. In Exmouth Gulf, the shoals have fished well for a mix of school and Spanish mackerel, as well as giant trevally, bluebone and blue-lined emperor. Squid fishing has been good inshore, while mud crabs have been active at the bottom of the Gulf around Whalebone Island, which has also yielded giant trevally and spotted trevally. The forecast is showing low winds until around Sunday morning with a 2m swell, so the boating conditions should be quite pleasant until then.


The ladies up in WA's north certainly showed how it's done on the spear this week! How's this for an absolute donkey of a tusky from @rubixcube_ up in our Pilbara region! 

From VLF Bay all the way around the tip of the Cape, giant trevally, bluebone and spangled emperor have been active with the better spots around Mildura Wreck. Down at Tantabiddi it has been mostly spangled emperor along with a few squid when weed patches can be found within casting distance. The town marina has been busy over the school holidays but it has been reliable for small giant trevally and queenfish, along with a few mangrove jack and bream around the pylons. The outside rock wall has produced queenfish and trevally in better sizes and has fished well for squid, as did the light industrial area. At Bundegi, good trevally and queenfish have been feeding on bait schools at first light, while Wapet Creek has offered mud crabs, mangrove jack and bream. The sandy beaches in the Gulf have been producing flathead and whiting, while at Learmonth Jetty it has been a mixed bag of squid, queenfish, trevally and whiting.


This metre-plus queenie had @finhomer6 sweating a tad when it decided to do the run around the pylons at Bundegi, but he stuck the landing! 

Salmon and a few tailor have been caught at Fourth Beach, while Roses Beach at high tide has yielded mulloway and gummy sharks. Big holes formed by the blow at Dunns Beach makes it a good prospect for mulloway, gummy sharks and big skippy this weekend if you don’t mind getting wet, while the town foreshore has held King George whiting. At Bandy Creek Boat Harbour skippy, herring, flathead and whiting have been active, while squid have been plentiful halfway up the Town Jetty with bright-coloured jigs the way to go. Bream chasers have done well at Lake Quallilup.

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. 

Schoolkids on holiday have been enjoying themselves on herring, leatherjackets, bream and whiting at the town marina and Emu Point, which threw up a surprise barracouta this week (slightly different to barracuda), a species much more common in Victorian and Tasmanian waters. Decent squid were landed at the marina and Whalers Cove, with Frenchman Bay also worth a try. Herring have been thick and most sheltered locations should produce a feed, with the odd whiting as bycatch. Big swells and boggy sand ruled out most beach fishing, while bream chasers have been catching fish on the flats of the King River and also in the Kalgan. Most fish have been in the 30-35cm range and baits have outperformed lures. Pink snapper have been schooling at the entrance of Wilson Inlet which is yet to open to the sea. A few resident salmon were landed from Denmark beaches late last week. The rivers and freshwater regions are your best bet this week with horrible weather expected.

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. 

Some very nice tailor turned up in the surf off Perth this week while the swells were up, with Javier Lim landing this 50cm+ beauty. Image courtesy of @nolangoesbeachfishing. 

Metro rock walls have produced a steady supply of pink snapper in both rough and calm conditions. Again, the northern rock walls such as Hillarys, Mindarie and Two Rocks have generally fished better, although there have been a couple of red-hot sessions at North Mole. Drone fishers have picked up good pinkies on beaches north of Quinns. Herring have been plentiful at most rock walls and marinas and garfish, skippy, tarwhine, sand whiting and small King George whiting have been caught also. Fremantle Harbour has produced good numbers of herring at night. In the Swan River, the lower reaches have yielded tarwhine, tailor and the odd flathead, with a few flathead also being caught as far up river as Redcliffe. Bream chasers have found some decent fish, but numbers have been well down and they have been spread out throughout the system. Soapy mulloway have been caught between Ascot and Claremont, while school prawns have been scooped at night along the rock wall in East Fremantle. Saturday is looking like the only decent land-based window this week, but it might be a tad difficult casting out over the waves with a 2.5m swell expected and weed likely to be fiddly to avoid. The Swan River might be an easier option. 

A big thanks to Compleat Angler Nedlands for their great tips! These guys are all avid fishers, know the best spots for every particular species and have provided great support to Recfishwest and metro fishers for many years. Make sure you ask their super friendly team for advice at their store just off Stirling Highway and stock up before wetting a line off the land or boat!