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Recfishwest
Fishing Report

05/07/24

While barramundi cod might not reach the same sizes as their barramundi namesakes and grow to a maximum length and weight of about 70cm and 5kg, most fishers argue they taste much better than barra and are highly sought after on the plate. These fish are born as females and become males once they reach 4-8 years of age, similar to barramundi.

Our contributors

Sam Bock

Sam Russell

Jarrad Lawford

Sedin Hasanovic

Want to know the best tips for taking great fish photos and also on how to handle fish out of the water? We've got you covered with our r esponsible fish handling and photography tips page. The page gives a perfect explanation on the types of images we love to use in our weekly Fishing Report and why.

If you've got a cracking fish photo you want to send in, remember to keep sending us your catches by tagging #recfishwest in your online posts! You can also follow and private message your catches to our Instagram page @recfishwest and make sure you let us know where and how you caught it!

Keep up to date with events, clinics, news and amazing catches across WA by following our Instagram page @recfishwest and give our Recfishwest Facebook page a like!

For your photos to appear in the weekly fishing report, please make sure they reflect our responsible fish handling practices (so fish held horizontally, no blood, hand under the belly, no fingers in gills, etc), just like the images below.

If you're planning to head out this week, stay safe, take plenty of photos and have fun!

William Bennett

RECFISHWEST FISHING REPORT WRITER

Pic of the Week!

This is one of the biggest bluenose salmon we've seen in recent memory and @max_out_fishing was left pretty chuffed after cracking the magical one metre mark! Just one of the great fighting and delicious species on offer in the Kimberley region.

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If you want to be included in our weekly State-wide Fishing Reports, message your best fishing photos and a description to our Instagram page @recfishwest.

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JOIN RECFISHWEST AT THE MARY ISLAND FISHING CLUB'S FISH'N'DERBY TOMORROW ON THE DERBY JETTY!

If you're going to be in Derby on Saturday, 6 July between 12:30-4:30pm, make sure you pay Recfishwest and the Derby Jetty a visit for this year's Fish'N'Derby!

This FREE kids fishing clinic is expecting some big attendance numbers and helps showcase the amazing fishing experiences from the jetty along with teaching kids and their families basic fishing skills, awareness of fishing rules, the importance of safety and fishing for the future.

The day will feature our fishing clinic along with crabbing tips, how to catch bait with a throw net, a tour of the Derby Sea Rescue boat, sustainable fishing tips from DPIRD, a free sausage sizzle at Mary Island Fishing Club and of course - some great prizes for youngsters!

Register your child by clicking here (age 6-13 only) for this great event and we'll see you on the jetty!

Broome catches

A new PB red emperor on the jig in 60m of water for @oceanarcadia and what a beauty it is! Didn't quite crack the 10kg mark but it's always a pleasure seeing these red beasts coming up from the depths.

Boats

Sailfish and black marlin have been active north of town, out from Barred Creek and Greyshoals, along with Spanish mackerel and tuna, while bottom fishers have done well on saddletail snapper, red emperor, Rankin cod and coral trout. Blue-nosed salmon and threadfin salmon have been in Roebuck Bay but Dampier and Crab creeks have been pretty quiet. Thankfully a few big mud crabs have been about. Tripletail have been hanging around the moorings at times. From Saturday afternoon heading into next week is looking calmer for the boats, with a welcome drop in the south-easterly winds and swell expected.

Shore-based

If you're going to be in Derby today between 12:30-4:30pm, make sure you pay Recfishwest and the Derby Jetty a visit for this year's Fish'N'Derby! There's loads of prizes up for grabs and the weather is looking great to wet a line. Can find more details about this here. Cable Beach and Town Beach have fished well for whiting, while Town Beach Jetty held trevally and small queenfish. The Port Jetty and Entrance Point have produced queenfish and trevally as well, as did Gantheaume Point. A few bluebone have been caught around Barn Hill, along with the odd blue-nosed salmon. Lower water temperatures in the Fitzroy River have shut down barramundi activity, although late last week reports filtered in of a few that were taken by a fly-fisher.

Big thanks to the crew from Tackle World Broome for their tips! Make sure you pay them a visit for the best gear and advice for your next fishing trip.

Exmouth catches

@graceyycolarusso has been enjoying herself down in beautiful Coral Bay recently and this solid cobia put her through her paces! Make sure you keep an eye out for manta rays and cast off to the side of them to lure this species out for a strike.

Boats

Afternoons have fished best this week and the west side has offered plenty of billfish action, with one angler landing the dream quadrella of sailfish, black marlin, blue marlin and striped marlin on the same day. Spanish mackerel and wahoo have been landed with the billfish, while the FADs have been reliable again this week for dolphinfish. Goldband snapper have been very thick on the west side with many crews catching little else, although a few have reported one or two ruby snapper. Inshore on the west side lots of Spanish mackerel have been encountered along with giant trevally, while on the bottom, blue-lined emperor and spangled emperor have been caught. At the Muirons, Spanish mackerel have dominated catches and they've also been active in Exmouth Gulf. Visibility has improved a lot in the Gulf and the shoals and King Reef have fished well for blue-lined emperor, cobia, school mackerel and golden trevally. Spearfishers have been taking advantage of the clear water and have done well on coral trout and bluebone. Good numbers of squid have been caught just out from the town marina. The coming days are looking decent for the boaties so get out there.

Shore-based

The flats around Bundegi and Learmonth have offered excellent family-friendly fishing with bream, squid and whiting the main catches. Mangrove jack have been hanging around as well, especially at Learmonth Jetty. Plenty of baitfish have been in the town marina, drawing in schools of trevally, queenfish and mangrove jack which have been hitting metal slices and stickbaits around sunrise and sunset. Bream and cod are also in the marina and the outer wall has fished well for squid. Wapet Creek offered flathead, mangrove jack, bream and whiting, while the wrecks and the Lighthouse have fished well for spangled emperor. Trevally and spangled emperor have been caught at Tantabiddi.

These great tips were courtesy of the friendly team at Tackle World Exmouth. Swing by their store for the best advice and gear ahead of your next trip!

Kalbarri catches

Sight casting golden trevally in the shallows is right up there for an adrenaline rush on fly and @finsoutflies got stuck into this cracker of a fish in our Mid-West this week.

Boats

Quite a few Spanish mackerel have been seen jumping offshore and a nice one was caught along the cliffs early this week. Bottom fishing for pink snapper has been very good around the 25m depth marks and Rankin cod and baldchin groper have been among the bycatch, along with Samsonfish. Small boats fishing the Murchison have encountered bream and cod towards the upper reaches. Sunday arvo and most of Monday looks better for the boats.

Shore-based

Last week’s big downpour has wiped out beach access to Wittecarra but those prepared to park and walk have caught chopper tailor and dart, and a few herring and whiting have shown up as well. Red Bluff has offered these species too, along with garfish. The expected mulloway bonanza in the Murchison River didn’t quite play out, but a nice fish was taken from Chinamans this week and conditions are expected to be more favourable this weekend. Some decent tailor have been caught at the river mouth and Frustrations has also produced tailor. Pink snapper and Samsonfish have been taken from the cliffs. In the Murchison River, bream and cod are still active up river from the marina and a few mud crabs have been in the system.

Shout out to Dean from Kalbarri Sports and Dive for his tips! Feel free to venture into his store to ask for advice if you're wetting a line around Kalbarri!

Geraldton catches

It was a mackie on the yak last week for @mat.svenson off our Mid-West, and this week he's gone to battle with some healthy pink snapper. They aren't too far offshore either and anchoring with a pilchard trailing out into the burley trail is a good way to go.

Boats

With the variable weather many crews have been staying a bit closer in than usual but they have been rewarded with dhufish in a range of sizes towards African Reef in 8-22m depths. North of town, pink snapper averaging 3-4kg have been active towards Coronation Beach and directly out from the beach. Professional crayfishers near the Albrolhos Islands have been finding plenty of baldchin groper and spangled emperor eating the catch in their pots. They have reported lots of octopus as well. Late on Sunday and early on Monday looks like the only fair window for the boats this week.

Shore-based

Some excellent bream have been taken from inside the marinas with one young fisher landing a 48cm fish on a homemade cockle lure. Down in Dongara the marinas, jetties and rockwalls have produced skippy up to a kilo. Geraldton’s Fishing Boat Harbour has held bream as well and they have shown a liking for Chasebaits Smashed Crabs lures, but unfortunately so have the hordes of blowfish there, which have been nipping the legs off the soft plastics. Tailor activity has been well down but they have been caught on mulies behind The Lives, towards the western end, although the fishing has been very hot-and-cold.

Thanks to the team at Geraldton Sports Centre for their tips! They will happily provide you with great gear and the solid advice for your next fishing trip.

Lancelin catches

Boats

Direction Bank produced a few pink snapper, baldchin and dhufish, while closer to shore nice big pinkies and breaksea cod have moved into the 15-30m depths and are turning up in great numbers. The bay has beautiful crystal-clear waters that are perfect for lure fishing with plenty of snook, herring, tarwhine and skippy competing for the lure. The weather is looking pretty horrendous for the boats this weekend so land-based is the way to go.

Shore-based

The seaweed that’s been built up near town has cleared from those beaches, although it's moved further along the coast from Virgin Reef northwards. A few tailor came out and were active for short periods at dawn and dusk and school size mulloway have been caught in gutters around the high tides. Late afternoon has seen good numbers of herring sheltering around the jetty, with the hungry fish taking a mixture of baits and small lures well into the evenings under the lights, which is a great option for the kids on school holidays. Before dawn has seen some big tailor taking lures here too.

A big Recfishwest thanks to Peter Fullarton for his tips on what's biting around Lancelin each week! If you want Peter to put you on to the fish directly, make sure you check out his Tailored Treks Tours page. Always a great time and Peter knows the best spots around Lancelin like the back of his hand.

Esperance catches

There's one month left to go in the @southernsports_tackle Chase the Kraken competition and despite 80 fishers now entered, surprisingly not one fisher has managed to crack the 40cm hood mark! The challenge has been set and the prize pool has now crossed $1,600! Even if you don't crack the 40cm mark, at least you can take home a delicious feed like @fishingbv did this week.

Boats

Squid with hoods around 35cm have been caught in Esperance Bay, while better numbers of smaller squid have been caught at Cook Rocks and Cull Island in 15m. Big sand whiting have been taken off Dempster Headland in 10m, while further offshore Observatory Island has held big queen snapper and small nannygai. Bigger nannygai and breaksea cod have been caught at Figure of Eight Island. There is a very nice looking window opening up on Saturday until about 3pm with calm northerly winds and lower swell, so get out there!

Shore-based

The Town Jetty has produced good numbers of squid, while the town foreshore has offered nice King George whiting and flathead. Taylor Street Jetty has fished well for garfish. Bandy Creek Boat Harbour has yielded big flathead, flounder and skippy, while Wheatfields Lake has been the pick of the bream spots. Mulloway up to a metre have been caught at Israelite Bay, while Poison Creek has produced gummy sharks to 15kg. Dunns and Roses beaches have held big skippy and salmon, while Wylie Bay has offered smaller salmon and big sand whiting.

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.

Great Southern catches

Boats

Reasonable conditions last weekend allowed some of the bigger boats to get out to the coral ground where they caught pink snapper and dhufish. Those fishing in King George Sound found squid in 8-10m depths along with a few King George whiting, herring and skippy. Early on Saturday might be the only window for the coming days on the boats.

Shore-based

Squid seem the best bet for shore fishers and they have been in reasonable numbers at the town marina, Whalers Cove and Frenchman Bay. Emu Point has been rather quiet for squid and bread-and-butter species, attributed to a lack of baitfish in the area. Herring have however been plentiful at most locations around town and Frenchman Bay should offer small King George whiting and skippy as well. The King and Kalgan rivers are dirty and flowing strongly, but small bream should be about. Resident salmon have been taken from Salmon Holes and Sand Patch and herring and skippy have been among the salmon at Cheynes Beach. Salmon have been active at Bremer Bay where tailor pushing 80cm have also been caught, while a Samsonfish estimated at 30kg was caught at Anvil Beach near Denmark.

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.

South-West catches

Daniel Liuto @dansfishin_southwest has been fishing all over the place recently in our South-West and reeled in some crackers over the past few weeks, this mid 70s mulloway was landed on the trusty 2.5 inch Zman Grub.

Boats

The big story this week has been the huge numbers of cuttlefish about, which have been beating squid to jigs in a wide range of depths in the South-West. Pink snapper have been biting well either side of Bunbury, often less than a kilometre from shore. A bit further out dhufish catches have been good, although crews that headed out to the 30m and 40m marks did not do as well as those who fished in 25m depths. Cuttlefish have also been ravenous in Geographe Bay, with squid slightly less so. On the lumps in the bay pink snapper and skippy have been caught. Herring have also been widespread and in good numbers. It's looking very windy and rough this weekend but early on Monday could be the only comfortable window to duck out in the boats this week.

Shore-based

Cuttlefish have been going berserk off Bunbury’s beaches and rockwalls as well and have also outnumbered squid. Anywhere with a low swell and clear water has produced good catches and it has been worth upsizing squid jigs for the bigger cephalopods, some of which have been latching on to late-season salmon chasers’ stickbaits. In fact, those using old-school bait jigs have been upgrading from whole mulies and whiting to bull herring and mullet. Pink snapper catches have been good from Preston Beach all the way down to Dallyellup and Forrest Beach, with drone fishers doing best. In Bunbury, Back Beach and Buffalo Beach have produced their fair share of pinkies. Herring have been plentiful at most South-West beaches. The odd salmon has been caught around Dalyellup and anglers came across a school of salmon at Binningup Beach on Thursday morning. Tailor around the 40cm mark have been caught in the evenings at Preston Beach and in the daytime it has held good numbers of sand whiting. Busselton Jetty has been very consistent for pink snapper and has offered a few mulloway as well. The odd school of salmon has been spotted along the jetty, which has also been holding cuttlefish, squid and herring. At the Bunbury Cut herring and small skippy have been the main catches. Bream chasers have been targeting good-sized fish in the Blackwood River.

Big cheers to Whitey's Tackle & Camping for their top fishing tips as always! If you're in Australind or Bunbury and are keen to wet a line throughout our South-West make sure you ask their very friendly team who love their fishing for advice and stock up on gear at their store. If you're in Busselton, the 2 Oceans Tackle team are also incredibly helpful.

It's great to see trout catches starting to improve significantly after what was a very dry summer in our South-West. This rather dark rainbow trout was a welcome catch for freshwater angler @freshwest_.

The feeder streams at Waroona, Harvey Dam and Drakesbrook Weir have produced small brown trout which have taken a range of lures including hard-bodies and soft plastics. Redfin perch have been in good numbers around structure at Harvey Dam and big redfin have been caught around Pemberton. The Collie River and Wellington Dam have also been hotspots for redfin.

Mandurah and surrounds

Mandurah

Boats: Pink snapper and big skippy have dominated inshore catches around the Five-Fathom Bank, while inside the Five good numbers of sand whiting have been caught. Out from Dawesville, nice dhufish and pink snapper have come from the 30-60m depths. The 35-45m depth line has been producing tuna and a 9.5kg shark mackerel was landed early this week. In the estuary boaties who found clear water did well on herring, tailor, skippy and juvenile salmon. Monday morning looks to be the only okay window for boats this week, with the other days looking too windy.

Land-based: Big skippy have been plucked from among the herring schools at the Dawesville Cut and nice skippy have also been taken from beaches north and south of town, along with herring and nice tailor around the 50cm mark. Good mulloway were also landed when the moon was fuller. Tailor and juvenile salmon have been caught in clearer sections of the estuary, while the top of the incoming tide and the start of the outgoing tide have been the best times to target squid at the Dawesville Cut. Bream catches have been good in the Murray and Serpentine rivers.

Thinking of wetting a line around Mandurah? These great tips were courtesy of the super friendly and helpful team at Tackle World Miami so make sure you swing by their store for the best tips and gear before your next fishing trip!

SECRET HARBOUR / PORT KENNEDY / ROCKINGHAM / SAFETY BAY / WARNBRO SOUND

Boats: Pink snapper are still firing for inshore fishers, although the sizes have come down with most now in the 50-70cm range. Once again Cockburn Sound and along the Garden Island causeway, inside of Garden Island and towards the Five-Fathom Bank have been the better spots. Waters around Garden Island have also yielded decent dhufish. Plenty of chunky skippy have been among the pink snapper bycatch and a few breaksea cod have keeping dhufish company in deeper depths. Bluefin tuna have been caught at Five Fathom and behind Garden Island. Poor water clarity has affected squid catches but when clearer water can be found they have been taken along the causeway and in Mangles Bay. King George whiting and sand whiting catches have been steady at Mangles Bay, in Cockburn Sound and inside of Garden Island. Saturday might be okay to duck out but it looks a tad windy, early on Monday looks better.

Land-based: Shore fishers have had little luck targeting pink snapper this week but some good mulloway either side of the metre mark have been caught at Long Point and Secret Harbour. Tailor catches also have been down, but most beaches have produced herring and whiting. Woodman Point has offered herring, blue mackerel and garfish, while the Ammo Jetty has held scaly mackerel, herring and yellowtail scad. Rockingham and Palm Beach jetties have produced a few squid along with whiting and herring. Land-based squidding has been hard work this week.

These great fishing tips were provided by the friendly team at Compleat Angler & Camping World in Rockingham, so make sure you chat to their experienced crew in store and stock up before heading out!

Perth catches

There have been some great tailor landed in close around the gutters and whitewash all around Perth this past week, particularly northern beaches where a bit of reef breaks are present. This 60cm+ model was landed by Josh Fanderlinden with another bunch released. Remember you can only take home two tailor over 50cm.

Boats

Crews taking advantage of late afternoon weather windows have been doing well on pink snapper, especially when anchoring and using burley. Skippy around 40cm have been the main bycatch. One crew fished broken ground south-east of Rottnest and landed a big Samsonfish and a decent yellowtail kingfish before the sun set and then did well on pink snapper, which showed a liking for unweighted mulies. Rottnest and Carnac islands have also fished well for pink snapper and skippy, and a few small tuna have been around as well. Dhufish chasers have done well south of Rottnest in 40m and some nice breaksea cod have been mixed in with them, along with the odd big King George whiting. Most of the dhufish have been caught on standard paternoster rigs, although a few fishers have had success using Vexed Bottom meats and jigs. The inshore weed banks off Hillarys, Mindarie and Quinns have produced squid, while South Fremantle, South Beach and Coogee have held good numbers of sizeable squid in depths from 2m out to 9m, along with sand whiting. One of the outstanding catches this week was a 20kg Spanish mackerel caught off Hillarys, where bottom fishers also have landed dhufish and pink snapper, while at the Three-Mile Reef pink snapper, skippy and King George whiting have been caught. Dhufish and baldchin groper have been active out from Mindarie. Herring have been thick at Stragglers, while in the Swan River trolling for tailor has produced a few decent fish. It's looking pretty treacherous for the boats this week with some big winds and swell expected, very early on Monday looks to be the best window.

Shore-based

The winter squidding action around Fremantle, Rockingham and within Cockburn Sound is starting to skyrocket and it should only get better, especially on days with clear water. Youngsters Jasper Murphy and Levi Sadowski helped fill the esky up with loads of these delicious critters and given they are such an easy-to-catch and sustainable species, make sure you get out there and catch some for yourself. Great work lads!

Pink snapper catches have been well down at most metro rock walls, although a 73cm pinkie was caught at North Mole on Wednesday on a half-herring bait. Despite the often-dirty water, North Mole has been fishing very well for squid and has also held herring, garfish and blue mackerel, and a stray salmon was picked up there last weekend. South Mole and the sailing club rockwalls in South Fremantle have been much quieter for squid, possibly because the weed banks seemed to have shifted or been covered over with sand, but the South Fremantle marinas have offered bream, herring and the odd tarwhine. Some nice tailor have been caught around Cottesloe but weed has made City Beach and Floreat harder to fish. Good tailor have come from the north metro beaches and drone fishers have landed pink snapper and the odd mulloway. In the Swan River the lower reaches around East and North Fremantle have been producing big flounder, while flathead have been in hanging out further up river, from Burswood to the Causeway. Garratt Road Bridge has been a hotspot for bigger sized soapy mulloway with plenty of 60-85cm fish being picked up in the channel and around the pylons. Zman Minnowz soft plastics in white, motor oil and chartreuse colours have worked well. Bream around 25-30cm have been active at Garratt Road as well and they have taken Zman Grubz and strips of mullet. Bream have also been caught between the Causeway and the Narrows but they are yet to be caught in big numbers in their usual haunts this time of year, such as yacht clubs in the lower reaches. Bony herring schools have been in the middle to lower reaches of the Swan but they have yet to be harassed by big mulloway. Canning Bridge also fished well this week with big bream caught around the pylons and a few soapy mulloway along with tailor around the 40cm mark landed. Try use those strong northerly winds to your casting advantage if fishing off the land this weekend.

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!

Recfishwest

3/45 Northside Drive Hillarys

Perth, WA 6025

Australia

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Recfishwest · 3/45 Northside Drive Hillarys · Perth, WA 6025 · Australia

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