With this weekend’s weather ramping up to the predicted ferocious storm, the beach fishing can only get better for those willing to brave the conditions! In the past week or two anglers have been reporting great catches from the beach… And not just salmon either! Mulloway have seemed to be in absolute abundance as of late, from both the river and beach. From Jurien to Mandurah, anglers have been getting stuck into good sized fish on both live and dead baits. We have seen a pattern in the last couple of months where anglers were catching a lot in the deeper water offshore where the fish would school together, now it seems they have come into the shallower water accessible to anglers from the beach, making it an always challenging but very rewarding option. We aren’t too sure how long they will stick around in these numbers however, so it is worth having a crack.

Additionally snapper catches from the local beaches and rock walls are continuing with no signs of slowing. Captures have been reported from the stretch of beach Floreat to Trigg and in the Yanchep / Two Rocks area. The key to hooking one of these prized fish is to use fresh bait. Tailor fillets or whole sand whiting caught from the area you intend to fish works best and with this weekend’s storm should do nothing but activate them even more! The increase in swell will stir the beaches and rock walls up, mixing a lot of favourable food for snapper into the water, so for those keen to knock a land based demersal off their bucket list, Sunday night through to Wednesday looks like a promising period to be targeting snapper.

Small schools of 3-4 salmon are scooting through the shore breaks between City Beach and Trigg. Being mobile to keep up with them is essential along with a pair of quality polarized sunglasses to spot them and time your cast. The usual haunts like Mew Stones and Wend End of Rotto are still producing with the odd report from within the sound.


Chloe Baker with a Solid Salmon!

Excellent squid fishing to be had at Parmelia Banks in the Cockburn Sound. It only takes a few drifts to easily pick up your bag number and the sizes are in the upper range with 30cm hoods quite common.


Great catch! Austin Spencer with a Swan River Sambo - it would have been tricky amongst those bridge pylons!

The river also seems to be fishing exceedingly well for the regular inhabitants such as bream and flathead, with a lot of fish coming from throughout the whole system. Bull sharks and samson fish have been reported in the river recently, with a small bull unfortunately washing up in the Belmont Ski Zone. Tailor are being caught in Mosman’s Bay to East Fremantle. This same stretch should soon be the scene for the annual king prawn run.

Exmouth on the Fly!

Bluewater Tackle World Manager Rohan Smith with a Queenfish on Fly

Rohan Smith just returned from the annual "Boneheads" fly fishing only trip to Exmouth, hosted by the Saltwater Flyrodders of WA in conjunction with fly fishing guru Peter Morse. The event is intended to promote fly fishing and explore the range of species, large and small that can be caught on fly, and to refine methods. Over the years the group has caught everything from bream, tuna, milkfish, bonefish, spaniards, cobia, permit, marlin, sailfish and many more. In fact, the species count is now sitting on 193 different species caught on fly over the years and we will be trying to crack the 200 next year. There is always a great mix of experienced anglers and those newer to the sport. There is a limited number of spots offered each year with past attendee's given first option, thereafter being opened to newcomers, first in, first served. 
 
This year the dominant species was large queenfish, while fishing was not on fire by any means, perseverance found good fish but they were in a fussy mood most of the time so finding them didn't guarantee a hook-up. Chis Hedges who had travelled down from Karratha for the event, and I teamed up for the second half of the week and covered a lot of territory exploring the gulf with mixed results. The highlight fish for me was a 99cm queenfish sight cast crossing a shallow bank. Other crews fished for everything from Billfish to Blue Bastards with "team" Gavin Day and Terry Clarke having a consistent week with lots of queenfish close to the metre mark, chunky size golden trevally and some good size giant herring making up the bulk of their catch. Gavin Day won the fish of the week prize with an awesome 1.14 metre giant herring. Tony Ong and Steve Bradbury spent most of their week searching out more difficult species such as permit and blue bastards They had plenty of shots at both species and both ended the week with a couple of very nice blue bastards up to 85cm each.

For those interested in fly fishing or are wanting to learn Bluewater Tackle World Joondalup is hosting an Introduction to Saltwater Fly Fishing on the Thursday 25th of May at 6:30pm. The event is FREE and will have door prizes and discounted fly fishing tackle! 

Check the event on our Facebook page

www.facebook.com/events/1904382339847597/