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Recfishwest
Fishing Report

30/08/24

Fremantle Ports have confirmed that vehicle access to South Mole will reopen on Friday, 7 September, which is great news for fishers with mobility issues who were unable to walk up to their favourite fishing spot over the last few months. A big Recfishwest thanks to the hundreds of fishers who responded to our call to have their say in Freo Port's online survey, your united voices asking to restore vehicle access to this great fishing spot will see plenty of fishers across all generations enjoying catching squid, tailor, herring, skippy and pinkies from this structure.

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!

These deep sea squid love to engulf baits dropped down into the depths intended for swordfish and they can be pests for charters that are chasing the impressive billfish, as @exmouth_fishing_charters discovered recently! Certainly a lot bigger than your usual calamari and still very cool to see these critters coming up from the darkness.

Your fishing photos

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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PAY US A VISIT AT THE 2024 CLUB MARINE PERTH BOAT SHOW!

The Recfishwest crew will be at the 2024 Club Marine Perth Boat show to answer any questions you may have about fishing across WA, with everyone who signs up as Recfishwest premium members receiving exclusive Halco lures to go target pelagics! Click on the banner image above for more info on this popular attraction.

Broome catches

108cm of big bad surface barra courtesy of skilled fisher @max_out_fishing.

Boats

Westerly winds and big tides kept a lot of crews closer in this week around the West Kimberley, but billfish chasers are expected to head out in the afternoons over this weekend. Off Quandong, medium-sized Spanish mackerel have been caught and even bigger models over 25kg were lost, while Spanish flag and bluebone have been in good numbers which is very welcome news after the past couple of months with sharks being prominent. In Roebuck Bay, northern mulloway have been caught on the ledges and lumps, and in the mornings when easterlies are blowing tripletail have been a chance. Just keep an eye out for floating weed or debris because tripletail love to linger under anything on the surface. The Fingers along with Dampier and Crab Creek have been holding lots of blue-nosed salmon and the odd threadfin salmon. Finding baitfish has been key, especially for the threadfin salmon. The creeks have been holding a few mud crabs as well. It will mostly be light to moderate westerly winds this week with a very low swell, so conditions should be pleasant out on the water once you can manage to launch at the right tidal marks.

Shore-based

Mangrove jack and cod have been in good numbers at Willie and Barred Creek, while the usual queenfish and trevally have been taken from Town Beach Jetty and the Port Jetty. Anglers wading out at low tide to fish the channel at Entrance Point have encountered big queenfish and when the easterly winds have been blowing, plenty of whiting have been caught at Cable Beach. A few bluebone and cod have been caught at Quandong. Down at Eighty Mile Beach threadfin have been in good numbers, while in the Fitzroy River water temperatures have risen and fired up barramundi at Telegraph Pool and Langi Crossing.

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

Just one of the 93 otoliths that our Fishing for Science team and DPIRD managed to pluck out of the Spanish mackerel for age analysis, with all these fish kindly donated by the competitors across the two great Pilbara comps this month - Munro’s Mack10k run by the Ashburton Anglers Club and King Bay Game Fishing Club’s Dampier Classic. A big thanks to everyone who did their part in helping us better understand this awesome species by allowing us to take samples and click here to see some really cool stats about Spanish mackerel!

Boats

Billfishing has been sporadic all around Exmouth even when weather conditions have been favourable, but a few black marlin and sailfish have been caught along with some sizeable tuna. Bottom-droppers have had to work a bit harder this week, but goldband snapper and the odd red emperor have been holding in 80-100m depths. Closer in, Spanish mackerel have been patrolling the near-shore reefs, while coral trout and spangled emperor have been taken on the bottom. The Muirons and Long Island have been consistent for Spanish mackerel and coral trout, while the deeper depths around the islands have held red emperor and Rankin cod. In Exmouth Gulf, golden trevally and school mackerel have been in good numbers at the Shoals with a few smallish Spanish mackerel and shark mackerel mixed in, while coral trout and blue-lined emperor have been holding deeper down. Squid catches in the Gulf have been excellent, so it’s worth having a drift for them while they’re around in great numbers. The swell is up a tad at around two metres today and tomorrow with a moderate southerly wind, but Sunday afternoon and most of Monday should see calmer conditions out on the water with lower winds and swell expected before both the wind and swell pick back up again from Tuesday arvo next week.

Shore-based

For Exmouth’s land-based fishers there was good action around Tantabiddi which produced spangled emperor and there have been whispers of bonefish taken by fly fishers here as well. At the tip of the Cape spangled emperor have been in good numbers in Lighthouse Bay, Mildura Wreck and Oyster Reef, while the odd bluebone has turned up as well. In the town marina it has been the usual fare of trevally, small cod and bream. Chasing squid has been a good option from the marina’s outside wall and once again from the rocks in the industrial area, while the mouth of Wapet Creek has held flathead and whiting. At Bundegi, queenfish and trevally have been hitting baitfish schools and whiting have been taken from the flats. Chasing squid, bream and whiting at Learmonth Jetty has also been worthwhile.

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

If you can manage to find cleaner water there are still plenty of big squid around the shallow weed beds, with Shimano ambassador @nickihuntfishing wrangling in this beauty north of town.

Boats

Big swells have limited boating activity, but from around Wednesday a few boats targeted the lumps for mulloway and crayfishers returned to pull their pots with some good results. The Kalbarri Offshore and Angling Club’s postponed competition is being held this weekend and although it is likely to be dominated by land-based competitors, a few crews could head out to target mulloway and they will be hoping the tuna and golden trevally that showed up for July’s competition are still around. Thankfully both mornings across the weekend are looking decent on the forecast.

Shore-based

The Murchison River continued to produce mulloway in a range of sizes. A big one was lost at the Sand Spit earlier this week and smaller models have been caught from the town marina. Chopper tailor have also been in good numbers in the river and a fillet of tailor has proved to be good mulloway bait. Surprisingly, with all the dirty water the Sand Spit is producing whiting. Bream and cod catches have been consistent around the marina but spots further up river have been inaccessible, while mud crabs have been active in the system. Wittecarra and Red Bluff could be worth a crack for tailor and pink snapper might also be a chance there as well. Drone fishers have been catching pink snapper to 75cm at Pot Alley, while late this week big taior and pink snapper were targeted at Lucky Bay with decent results.

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

Tailor are starting to liven up around town, with hydrohillfishingaddiction managing to find this beauty from a nice gutter in Dongara.

Boats

The Pages Beach to Separation Point stretch has been pretty much the only clear area of water around town and as such it has rewarded fishers with some decent squid. As far as finfish go, most boaties have been biding their time for the school holidays when the demersal window will open again. In the meantime however, reefy inshore waters could be worth a crack for skippy or tailor when conditions allow. Thankfully both Saturday and Sunday look best on the forecast for the boaties this week but expect light southerly winds and a swell of around 2m.

Shore-based

From Drummond Cove up to Coronation decent tailor have been caught and skippy have been in reasonable numbers at the Drummond Cove end. This stretch has also held plenty of sand, school and yellowfin whiting. Nearer to town, the eastern breakwater has offered pike and skippy, but undersized pink snapper have been a nuisance. At Explosives and Separation Point anglers wading out on to the reef have been getting good-sized tailor on lures. The Greenough River is still flowing out to sea and on the north side of the mouth a few tailor have been taken, but mulloway reports have dried up. South of Greenough River tailor and school mulloway have been caught, with Flat Rocks producing some big whiting and tailor in the afternoons when the swells have been down. Youngsters flicking vibes and small jigs such as Ocean’s Legacy Rovens have done well on bream, cod and small flathead in the Batavia Coast Marina and Fishing Boat Harbour. They’ve also caught bream and cod, plus skippy to 38cm in the Dongara marina. Decent blue swimmer crabs have been seen swimming in the Batavia Coast marina at night and there have been reports of just-size crabs being pulled up in drop nets there.

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

Now THAT'S how you christen your new Assassin rod! Peter Fullarton has been on to some epic fish this week! How big you reckon this monster tailor went? Enjoy his new YouTube video by clicking here and note the clean water in the gutter behind him with a touch of whitewash - perfect territory for these feisty pelagics.

Boats

The swell throughout this week has been consistently up, making beach launching at Lancelin difficult and dangerous for small boats to leave the bay. It is still looking like land-based fishing is the go until the swell dies down, but as you can see in the great tailor snap above from Peter Fullarton there's no shortage of epic fish on offer off the beaches!

Shore-based

There was a couple of good days this week where land-based anglers did very well on the tailor and school mulloway. Southern beaches have been relatively clean of weed, although if you're headed north there's not many clear patches until you're past Wedge Island. If you soak a bait and start accumulating weed on the line, try and find a clearer patch to improve your odds. Casting lures to reef breaks has negated the weed problem somewhat and accounted for some great greenback tailor this week. The bay's beaches have seen catches of both yellowfin whiting, herring and yellow-eye mullet. The jetty produced decent numbers of squid along with tailor, skippy and herring. Baitfish have been sheltering under the jetty which has attracted Samsonfish that have been raiding the schools.

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

Boats

Nasty weather kept crews inshore this week but good catches of sand whiting came from Wylie Bay and West Beach. Wylie Bay also offered big flathead as did Dempster Head. Skippy to 3kg have been caught at Cook Rocks, while big squid have been in Esperance Bay with the port area also producing big King George whiting. Unfortunately it's still looking too big on the swell to allow any boats out this week but thankfully land-based fishing is still producing the goods.

Shore-based

Quagi Beach has fished well for flathead and skippy, while Warrenup has yielded salmon and gummy sharks. Big schools of salmon have been parked in the western corner of Roses Beach, while skippy to 2.5kg have been taken at 14-Mile Beach. Wylie Bay has held big sand whiting along with King George whiting and flathead, while Bandy Creek Boat Harbour has produced skippy and King George whiting. The Town Jetty and Taylor Street Jetty have fished well for squid and garfish at night.

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

There’s been little relief from the gnarly weather this past week but hopefully a window can be found next week for crews to at least fish King George Sound and target some delicious King George whiting. Squid fishing is likely to be challenging for a bit with all the dirty water about. The wind should drop right off on Monday if you wish to head out in a larger vessel but expect that swell to remain quite high.

Shore-based

The wintery conditions have kept shore fishers at home too with wind, rain and big swells limiting activity. Bream are an option in the King and Kalgan rivers if they’re not flowing too fast or are too muddy -- try fishing soft plastics in deeper water near structure. Otherwise, old faithfuls such as the town marina and Emu Point could produce herring, skippy and whiting. If a sheltered beach can be found it could offer the same species, along with tarwhine and juvenile salmon. All the dirty water about has squid chasers cooling their heels but consider having a crack for rainbow and brown trout along with redfin perch as they are really starting to go nuts in the freshwater dams, rivers and streams.

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

Boats

Crews that have found weather windows have done well on tuna in 12-16m depths straight out from town. Trolling skirts has produced a few, although conditions for that have been mostly unfavourable and better tuna catches have come from finding fish on the sounder and throwing small-profile slugs and 80-100mm stickbaits at them. Samsonfish have popped up around structure, especially when burley has been used and decent skippy have turned up in the burley trail as well. Sand whiting have been found closer in with quite a few herring among them, while squid have been holding down deeper with weed banks in 7-8m fishing well. It’s been a similar story for squid in Geographe Bay, where they have been found along with small King George whiting and herring. Sunday arvo and all of Monday looks better for the boaties but expect it to be windy outside of those windows.

Shore-based

A few pink snapper were picked up between the cold fronts on both sides of Bunbury with drone fishers faring the best around Preston and Myalup. The Bunbury Cut and around Back Beach has produced a few chopper tailor and herring, while getting a feed of squid has been harder than normal at Busselton Jetty due to the dirty water. The structure has also produced herring, but there have been no reports of pink snapper, mulloway or Samsonfish taken from the end of the jetty during the blow. Bream fishers have done best in the Blackwood River and down in the Nornalup Inlet.

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.

An absolute cracker of a broodstock rainbow trout landed by @leanbackfishing_ before being returned back to the fresh waterway that it was stalking. Plenty of these cracking fish were caught this week so get out there!

Few redfin perch catches were reported this week but at Waroona Dam, Drakesbrook Weir and Harvey Dam rainbow trout up to 40cm were in reasonable numbers, with most caught on lures. Most of the trout have come from stiller waters, although fast-flowing feeder streams have fished well at first light. Soft plastic minnows, shads and grubs in natural colours have performed well, while Berkley Powerbait Trout Nuggets are also usually reliable. Hard-bodied lures such as Razor Edge Scouts and Wigston Tassie Devils work well at times, as do old-school spinners such as Mepps and Celtas. Rainbow trout are always at chance at Honeymoon Pool on the Collie River and the upper reaches of the Collie have been holding big redfin perch. Further south a couple of unstocked rivers have thrown up a few wild rainbow trout.

Make sure you don't miss out on Troutfest which kicks off at Drakesbrook Weir on September 7th from 10am-2pm! This is always a very popular family-friendly event that allows everyone to roll up their sleeves and help us release beautiful rainbow and brown trout into Drakesbrook Weir, along with plenty of other fun activities such as pop up stalls and free fly fishing tutorials. C atch the highlights from our previous Troutfest event here and bring your family down!

Wanting to know where 66,500 rainbow and brown trout are going to be stocked over the next year? Click here to see the number of trout being stocked in all the dams, rivers and brooks!

Mandurah and surrounds

Mandurah

Boats: When conditions have allowed it some decent yellowtail kingfish have popped up on the lumps in 30-40m depths, straight out from town. They have been hitting skirts and deep-diving minnows and at times Samsonfish have turned up as well. In clearer patches of water a few bluefin tuna have been found. The inside of the Five-Fathom Bank could be a good option for sand whiting when conditions become friendlier and big King George whiting should turn up soon as well. Sunday arvo and Monday look best at this stage.

Land-based: Bream fishing in the estuary’s marinas and canals has been steady and they have been kept company by a few skippy and plenty of herring. At the Mandurah bridges juvenile salmon have been mixed in with herring, while at the Dawesville Cut it has been mainly herring plus the odd skippy and small King George whiting at the estuary end of the rock wall. Big swells have carved up the beaches either side of town, but if a calm day can be found a bit of burley should bring in herring and skippy.

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: It’s been hard work this week but a few crews found weather windows and managed feeds of sand whiting, herring, skippy and the odd King George whiting, mainly in Cockburn Sound, Mangles Bay, Pamelia Bank and behind Garden Island. Squid have been hard to find but the clearer water in 5m-plus depths has produced some, especially inside of Garden Island and on the sand bank back near D9. Try Sunday arvo or Monday if you want the better boating conditions.

Land-based: There have been rumours of a couple pink snapper landed at Secret Harbour and further south between the cold fronts, but there has been little else of substance from the beaches. A bit of burley has however worked well, drawing in smaller species including herring, snook, chopper tailor and skippy from beaches such as Port Kennedy and Kwinana and from the rocks at Point Peron and Henderson. Snook have been consistently caught at Rockingham and Palm Beach jetties, while herring and garfish have been caught at Woodman Point, while the Ammo Jetty has offered herring and snook. A few chopper tailor have showed up at Long Point, which has also offered herring. Dirty water has ruled out most land-based squidding, but conditions should improve over the weekend and into next 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

Catching sand whiting and skippy is not only very easy throughout our inshore metro waters, but they also provide a delicious feed. After a welcome break in our nasty weather, @rush.gang.fishing managed to find these two popular species which have been in great numbers off our northern beaches and around Fremantle.

Boats

Whiting have been the main species targeted this week with sand whiting around in much better numbers than their King George cousins, especially in the 7-10m depths again out from Cottesloe. Sand whiting have been in similar depths off City Beach and at the Windmills with one or two King George whiting. At the Five-Fathom Bank skippy catches have been good and the odd Samsonfish has turned up. Stragglers has held skippy too, along with herring and tailor. Squid chasers have fared best in the clearer water away from the Fremantle heads with the Coogee area producing a few. Inshore from Fremantle a burley stream has usually led to a feed of herring and skippy. A mulloway around the metre mark was pulled out of Mosman Bay this week. Sunday arvo and all of Monday are looking better on the forecast for the boaties but expect it to be windy, wet and choppy outside of those windows this week. Hopefully the better spring weather arrives soon!

Get your entries in for Fremantle Sailing Club's epic Yellowtail Kingfish Competition coming up on 7 September! Scan the QR code to enter or click here!

Shore-based

Pink snapper catches have been steady at North Mole this week with tide changes and dawn and dusk the peak times. High tides have produced a little better. A common bycatch for pink snapper chasers at the North Mole this week has been flathead around the 50cm mark, which have been taking mullet strips. Dirty water has ruled out land-based squidding and even getting a feed of herring and skippy has been difficult, but burley has often brought them on the bite on the inside of North Mole, at South Mole and from the South Fremantle rock walls. Skippy have shown up at these locations as well. Tailor fishing has been sporadic, but the rock walls at South Beach and Coogee have been fairly consistent for tailor up to 45cm. Just-size chopper tailor have been caught from the northern rock walls which have also held good numbers of herring. Bigger tailor have been caught from the northern beaches, along with the odd pink snapper. At Cottesloe and Floreat herring have been the main catch but the odd decent skippy has also been holding in the deeper gutters. In Fremantle Harbour burley has brought in yellowtail, herring and skippy. Bream fishing has picked up in the Swan River with the better spots being Canning Bridge on slack tides and the stretch from the Causeway to Narrows, where soapy mulloway have been among the bycatch. Bream have also shown up around the yacht clubs at Crawley, Claremont and Nedlands as well.

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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