METRO:
There has been some excellent pink snapper action for shore fishers. They have been taken from rockwalls, including the moles, and have also been caught from beaches south and north of the river. There have been a few dhufish caught by shore fishers using drones as well.
There are still good numbers of southern bluefin tuna near Rottnest Island, and also at Direction Bank. Anglers haven’t needed to go deep to find dhufish, pink snapper, baldchin groper and breakea cod, with fish caught in depths of less than 30m from Rockingham north to Mindarie.
There have been some nice King George whiting off Mindarie, while skippy have moved in around inshore structures in numbers, with samson fish often following them. This includes along the Five-Fathom Bank and Three-Mile Reef.
The odd dhufish has been caught at the latter. Squidding continues to be excellent right throughout the metro area, with the waters off Fremantle one of the better locations.
The moles are producing skippy, herring and squid, as well as runs of pinkies and the odd mulloway. Herring are good along the beaches, with Cottesloe, City Beach and Rottnest Island all fishing well for shore anglers, as well as Ocean Reef Marina.
The Swan River is now pretty quiet after all the rain, with black bream around structures in the lower reaches. Prawning has been fairly quiet.
Off Mandurah, there has been some good inshore fishing, with dhufish, King George whiting and pink snapper in 10-20m. Squid are worth chasing in close. An unusual catch at the Dawesville Cut was a southern bluefin tuna. There have been plenty of skippy and herring in the Cut.
DUNSBOROUGH:
Squdding has been excellent, with plenty from the Busselton Jetty to the cape. Herring are fishing well around the headlands, at spots such as Eagle Bay, Point Picquet and Castle Rock. There are some residential salmon moving around, but they don’t stay in one spot for very long. There have been good numbers of pink snapper in the shallows around the storms, on both sides of Busselton and up towards Bunbury.
A number have been caught from shore, and inshore boaters have been doing well in the bay in 16-25m. The bay is also producing some nice dhufish. Dhuies have also been taken off the west coast, while there have been southern bluefin tuna out from Bunker Bay and Eagle Bay. Along the west coast, big herring have responded well to berley at Injidup. Some nice tailor are also being taken in that area.
GERALDTON:
There has been a fair bit of weed along the beaches, making shore fishing tough for the most part. However there have been mulloway to 1.15m caught north of Port Gregory and tailor have been hitting the sand closer to town. Tailor have also been taken from shore around Greenough.
Inshore fishers have been getting them to 75cm along inshore reefs in that area. Squid have been caught off the north side of the Batavia Marina and whiting have also been caught in that area. At Pages there have been school whiting to 30cm and bigger yellowfin whiting. Dhufish have been caught around African Reef, along with coral trout and a few pink snapper. There have been plenty of squid in close. Pelagic action offshore has been quiet, but there have been some signs of surface activity with fish chasing bait.
KALBARRI:
There is still as few Spanish mackerel around for offshore anglers, mainly north of town, and they are in good sizes up to 20kg. However, tuna have disappeared for the time being.
The water out from town is very clear at the moment. Bottom fishing has been productive for mixed bags of pink snapper, baldchin groper in good sizes, the odd dhufish and coral trout along the cliffs south of town. The odd snapper has been caught land-based around Pot Alley and Eagle Gorge.
Beach fishing for tailor has been a bit quieter, but there have been a few at Red Bluff over 40cm. A 25kg samson fish was landed at Wittecarra, where dart, herring and garfish have been more common catches. It has been a bit swelly at Wagoe. In the river, whiting are improving in the shallows and green mud crabs are being caught around jetties and rocky outcrops. Mulloway are slow at the moment, with cod near the jetty and marina.
PORT HEDLAND:
Inshore action has quietened as water temperatures have dropped, but there have been queenfish in the shallows and creeks. Blue salmon are still fishing well in the creeks. Wide offshore has been amazing, with the bait starting at 80km out and plenty of longtail tuna and big Spanish mackerel feeding on it.
One angler boated a 34kg Spaniard south of town. Bottom fishing is also going really well with red emperor and saddletail seaperch being caught in good sizes. The blue manna run is in full swing and most boats are fishing around the harbour and doing well.