Best of Australia?
Hi ya'll!
I'm an American species hunting fisherman who is excited about my first chance to fish in Australia next month! However, I'm having a hard to narrowing down where I should focus my fishing efforts. I would greatly appreciate any direction from members of this board.
As of now, I intend to spend a few days in Perth, Sydney, and Cairns and try and catch a few different species of fish in each location. I know these are pretty big cities, and the fishing may not be the best. Are there any other places that fishermen in Australia consider to be good fishing places? I've heard Mackay, Broome and Exmouth being mentioned before, are they worth the effort for me to get to them?
I'm especially interested in catching species of fish from the coral reefs. Are there any land-based piers or jetties where people tend to catch a lot of reef species? In general, I will be land based, so any suggestions of piers where people tend to catch a wide variety of species would be greatly appreciated.
Lastly, I would love the opportunity to fish with anyone who would be willing to meet up with me! If you're interested in seeing the 700+ species of fish that I have already caught across the world, please feel free to explore my blog.
Cheers!
Eli
Tradewind
Posts: 756
Date Joined: 18/09/12
Our Demersal ban is from the
Our Demersal ban is from the 15th of October so if you're not in Perth before that date you'll need to find a charter to target Sambos otherwise i'd recommend a charter to chase Pink Snapper seeing as you have limited time
ChroniclesofEli
Posts: 7
Date Joined: 04/09/16
Thanks very much for your
Thanks very much for your prompt reply! I should be in Perth before that date... are there any websites that list available charters, or can anyone recommend a charter? I'm actually going to be a lone traveler, so I don't know if the charters would be willing to add me to another party, or if I would have to rent the entire boat by myself?
Noxious
Posts: 504
Date Joined: 22/12/11
If you are fishing Perth I
If you are fishing Perth I would give Jazz Charters a call. If you are willing to travel aboyt an hour north of Perth get onto Reel Force Charters out of Lancelin. Great charter and well operated, we cleaned up on Reel Force about a month back.
ChroniclesofEli
Posts: 7
Date Joined: 04/09/16
Thank you for the
Thank you for the recommendation! I will call them up and see if they can fit me in!
sunshine
Posts: 2610
Date Joined: 03/03/09
If the weather is any good I can take you out
Chasing dhufish, baldies and black arse.....am retired so am free except for sea rescue duties
ChroniclesofEli
Posts: 7
Date Joined: 04/09/16
Would love the opportunity to
Would love the opportunity to fish with you!! I've taken a few skiffs out myself, so I make a pretty decent deckhand. I'll shoot you a PM!
resurgence
Posts: 578
Date Joined: 23/04/14
The major species that are
The major species that are targeted around the Perth area this time of year are pink snapper, West Australian Dhufish, baldchin groper and samsonfish. The first three are demersal species and are highly sought after as tablefish. Samsonfish are a member of the Seriola family, very similar to Amberjack. Note as previously mentioned that around the Perth region there is an annual ban on all demersal species that runs from October 15 to December 15.
ChroniclesofEli
Posts: 7
Date Joined: 04/09/16
Wow, thank you so much for
Wow, thank you so much for that reply! Awesome information! I'm not a huge fan of billfish fishing, but it's hard to pass up a good opportunity to pursue them.
I will definitely have to try and make it up to Kalbarri for those tropical species you mentioned!
EL SYD
Posts: 599
Date Joined: 16/08/10
Northern Territory. ... make
Northern Territory. ... make sure you register for Million Dollar fish.... ( Just google it for registration ).
Got a shot at a $1000,000.00
If landbased in Darwin give me a message and I will take you for a cast on a weekend
ChroniclesofEli
Posts: 7
Date Joined: 04/09/16
Thanks for the heads up! I
Thanks for the heads up! I wasn't planning on making it all the way up to Darwin on this trip, but you can be sure I will be back at some point to fish up there! Are there any unique species of fish that you guys target in that area? I would assume there are some tropical species of fish there?
lachieH
Posts: 1126
Date Joined: 02/03/13
Perth
If you are looking for some river species close to Perth, the swan river is the perfect place to target them! The main fish that you will catch in the swan are black bream and bar-tailed flathead (I'm pretty sure they are both unique to Australia) and these are great fish. The black bream is regarded as a sport fish and aren't great eating anyway and you can target those in the upper reaches of the swan (around Maylands area) or the canning River (around Rossmoyne/Shelley area). Fish the dropoffs with lures that are deep divers of about 40mm and that will usually get the bream firing. Also when fishing for bream you might encounter a yellowtail grunter which are very annoying but another species to tick off the list.
when going for the flathead fishing the dropoffs with similar lures will work, but maybe further down River around the east Fremantle and Applecross area.
for both these species (black bream and flathead) make sure you use fluorocarbon leader of around 4-6lb for bream and 8 or 10lb for flathead.
hope this helps!
Lachie
Fishing the swan for bream, it's just an obsession
ChroniclesofEli
Posts: 7
Date Joined: 04/09/16
Thats an awesome suggestion,
Thats an awesome suggestion, Lachie! I will definitely make it out to the rivers to fish for those species. If you're around, would love to share the bank with you!