Fishing Lure

Offshore fishing has been good with Rankin cod, red emperor and coral trout caught out wide, while blue-lined emperor and bluebone have been caught closer to shore. Sailfish have been in good numbers off Gantheaume Point, which along with Entrance Point has offered bluebone for crews in close. However, the sharks have started to become a problem around Gantheaume Point. Good threadfin salmon have been caught at the Fingers, while a few small barramundi have come from Crab Creek. Willie Creek and Crab Creek have also held good numbers of mud crabs, while the odd tripletail has been taken around the moorings in Roebuck Bay. Today’s forecast is looking decent and tomorrow evening looks okay as well, but the rest of the week is looking rough with strong easterlies expected. It’s best to stay closer to town next week if ducking out.  

Northerly winds have been persistent and midweek rain fronts haven’t helped crews fishing the west side. Despite this, there have still been patches of half-decent weather with black marlin and dolphinfish being surprisingly active. Spanish mackerel were in good numbers at Helby Bank and good wahoo and dolphinfish were landed out from South Lefroy. Sharks have been behaving themselves and crews fishing the bottom have done well on pearl perch and goldband snapper in 90m of water, while the under-60m depths have produced red emperor and Rankin cod. Plenty of Chinaman cod and spangled emperor have been holed up in the lagoons around Tantabiddi. Spanish mackerel have also been active at the Muirons, along with shark mackerel, tuna and queenfish. Red emperor, coral trout and Rankin cod have been rewarding crews fishing the bottom at the Muirons. Rain has made Exmouth Gulf dirty, and the water temperatures have been much lower than on the western side. The Shoals have offered a few small Spanish mackerel, blue-lined emperor, small Rankin cod and the odd coral trout. If clear water can be found squid should be worth targeting in close. This evening right through next week is looking inviting for the boaties on both the Gulf side and west side so make the most of it.

The Exmouth Game Fishing Club have posted the King of the Reef winners for the longest of each species and mystery length to their Facebook page for the month of May! If you haven't already, head to their website at egfc.com.au to enter now for only $30/person or $60/family and get amongst the prizes!

The northerly winds have made fishing a challenge on the Exmouth Gulf side, but there have been some excellent catches. A Spanish mackerel was landed off Learmonth Jetty, which has also produced some nice golden trevally and queenfish along with a few mangrove jack. Bait schools have been plentiful and trevally, queenfish and the odd mangrove jack have also been landed at Bundegi, with the flats around that way also producing giant herring and wolf herring. In the marina, bream and small cod have been swimming with juvenile giant trevally, brassy trevally, small queenfish and mangrove jack. The tip of the Cape has copped the northerlies, but sheltered locations there have produced spangled emperor and decent queenfish. Spangled emperor have also been taken around Tantabiddi.

All the beaches east of town have been thick with big schools of salmon averaging 5kg. West of town, Roses and Warrenup Beaches and Pincer Point have produced gummy sharks and mulloway, while the first carpark at Fourth Beach has been a salmon hotspot. King George whiting have been the main species caught in Bandy Creek Boat Harbour and KGs have also been active at the town foreshore. Squid catches have been decent from the Town and Taylor Street jetties, with the latter fishing better for garfish and herring at night. Woody Lake has been the pick of the bream spots.



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 widespread and in good numbers with some of the better spots including Reef Beach, Gull Rock, Cheynes, Frenchman Bay and Sand Patch. Land-based squidding has been favourable in Frenchman Bay and at Whalers Cove, with the odd King George whiting also caught. No reports of salmon have come in, but when the swells have been down pink snapper and dhufish have been landed from the rock platforms around Lowlands. Make sure you wear a lifejacket whenever you fish here though and if you don’t have one you can loan a lifejacket for free from all the store locations listed here. The town marina has produced herring, decent squid, a few skippy, bream and cuttlefish, while a few blue swimmer crabs were scooped in Princess Royal Harbour. Bream fishing has been good in the King, Kalgan and Hay Rivers. At Emu Point the recent rain has made the water murky and little has been caught, although pink snapper are a chance there over the coming days. Sunday arvo and Monday morning look safest for land-based fishing before the weather goes haywire from Tuesday.

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. 

The rock walls at Coogee, North Mole, Hillarys, Two Rocks and Mindarie rewarded pink snapper chasers this week with a couple of mulloway landed at North Mole and Hillarys as well. Most of the rock walls continued to hold good numbers of herring, while North Mole produced King George whiting around the 50cm mark this week. Before the swells picked up squid were in good numbers at North Mole, but after that they fished better at South Mole, where skippy and big tarwhine were also landed. The rock walls in South Fremantle have been producing squid, cuttlefish, tarwhine and herring. The northern beaches have produced good numbers of pink snapper and drone fishers have picked up the odd dhufish as well. Weed has been a problem at most beaches, but Floreat has offered herring, sand whiting and skippy. The lower and middle reaches of the Swan River have held a range of species including herring, tailor, juvenile flathead, yellow-eyed mullet and tarwhine. One or two of the tailor landed there have been around the 50cm mark. Some good mulloway have been caught at Canning Bridge and upstream from the Causeway to Bayswater, Bream fishers have done well fishing the flats on the run-out tide on overcast days around Optus Stadium, with Tilsan Minnows working well. Good bream have also been caught in the Canning River near Shelley Bridge. It’s looking great on the forecast for land-based fishing over the coming days as well and pinkies are a strong chance off the rockwalls and beaches.

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!