Fishing with John Curtis - 27/05/2017

 GENERAL FISHING:

Weather for this weekend appears to be reasonable if not a little on the chilly side. Tidal movements in the Swan Canning estuary indicate that Saturday, Sunday and Monday nights should be good for dabbing prawns in the lower reaches of the estuary. With sunset around 5:20PM and virtually no moon, it will mean that the prawns will make their run to sea. Rug up and keep warm and a feed of succulent prawns could be the rewards for effort although I will temper it with the warning that no one has told the prawns.

During the week I was having a discussion about angling and angling safety with an angler who regularly fishes from rock platforms down south when chasing salmon. He has been fishing these platforms for more than 30 years and has always used a safety line to tie off on, after an unscheduled dip After a recent trip he noted several people fishing in the same area and most had a life jacket or had tied off using a safety line. It appears that the message is starting to get through. The key I believe is education, making anglers aware of their responsibilities for their own wellbeing. Recfishwest has made available sets of free lifejackets at many popular fishing locations from Quobba in the north to Esperance in the south-east. These jackets are for loan and are to be returned to the pickup point when finished with. (There is a listing of locations where you can obtain a loan jacket at the end of this blog.)

Following a review of rock fishing accidents, a reviewer suggested that more signage be installed at dangerous locations. During my discussion about rock fishing safety we noted that several of our younger, and some not so young anglers, tended to access areas that are just too dangerous to fish in the prevailing conditions. This is where education comes in and the more we talk about it, and the more people understand why we recommend that they don’t fish at certain times, the less it is likely that someone will be lost. However it is still the responsibility of the individual who makes the decision as to whether or not they fish from that location. All the signage and education won’t stop preventable accidents. It is an unfortunate thing, but we do lose people too often when fishing from the rocks. With next weekend being a long weekend and many anglers planning a trip south to chase salmon it is a timely reminder. Take care when fishing from these rock platforms. Be aware of the prevailing conditions and remember that no fish is worth your life.

Remember, if you go rock fishing...

  • Tell someone where you are going & when you’ll be back.
  • Never fish alone.
  • Wear light clothing and appropriate footwear with non-slip soles or cleats.
  • Wear a life jacket at all times.
  • Watch your intended fishing spot for 20 minutes to get an idea of the conditions.
  • Plan your escape.
  • Use appropriate Public Safety Equipment.
  • Stay alert. Don't ever turn your back on the ocean.

 

If you go in…

Stay calm, swim away from the rocks and remove any heavy or waterlogged clothing. Float on your back and await rescue, or if you’re capable, swim ashore to the safe area you identified from your initial observations.

Do not jump in if someone is washed into the water. Use your rope or something that floats to help rescue the person. If there’s public safety equipment nearby, know how to use it. Dial 000 or your local volunteer sea rescue number to get help.

 

There is an old adage that says “You can’t catch fish if you don’t have a line in the water”. So, get out of that nice warm bed and put on the thermal undies and some warm clothing, and get on down to the beach. It’s at least 5oC warmer in the water than it is on the beach. If it’s only 5 or 6 degrees in the city, it’s almost guaranteed to be 12 - 14 degrees in the water.

Thursday is the official start to winter and this heralds the start of the land based snapper season. Already several good fish have been taken. Remember, snapper are extremely responsive to berley, so if you are chasing these iconic fish from the shore, chop up some old bait mulies or similar and throw a handful in the water every so often where you are fishing. One other point worth remembering is that they have come in to feed off the rocks looking for the rock crabs and mussels that have been washed off the rocks – so don’t cast too far - keep your baits in the catch zone close to the rocks. Several anglers have been fishing in the shallower waters behind the Three Mile Reef just out from Hillarys during the week when swells and seas were down and were rewarded with some very good fish.

Winter is due to officially start on Thursday and we can expect the following by the way of meteorological conditions for June. Average temperature for the month is 19.4°C with the average minimum being 8.6°C. We can expect 1 day where the temperature will go below 2°C. We will average 6 hours of sun per day and the average rain fall is 130mm spread over 15 days. Maximum wind gust is 106 Kph.

As the winter season settles in we can look forward to having some of the bigger winter tailor making an appearance in catch bags. Fish up to 3 kg are not uncommon for this time of the year, and locations to start looking for them would be on the northern beaches. They have also been quite prolific offshore around the rock outcrops and islands out from Fremantle.

Herring are the main catches along our metropolitan beaches at this time of the year. With the judicious use of a little berley often, almost anyone can take home a feed of fish with a little effort. It is a similar story in the lower reaches of the river where there are plenty of fish to be found. The list includes herring, skippy, flathead, flounder and tailor to name a few.

 

If you have some fishing information, have caught a good fish and have a picture of it and want to brag, or have an item that may be of interest to other anglers and wish to share it, you can send the details to abc720saturdaybreakfast@yahoo.com.au and I will try to incorporate it into the blog.

 

WHAT HAS BEEN HAPPENING AT POPULAR FISHING LOCATIONS:

MANDURAH:

The Cut is still quite productive and if it starts to get a bit blustery you can always find somewhere to fish, out of the breeze, and still catch fish. There have been a few salmon taken at the ocean end along with some tailor. Small King George whiting are also being caught here as well but many are undersize. Please return them carefully to the water and you can catch them again next year when they are a little bigger. The estuary is also producing some good sized bream upstream using fresh prawn for bait. There are still a few tailor being caught from the northern beaches but the main catches seem to be whiting and herring with an odd tarwhine. Skippy are starting to make their presence felt as well. The good news is the number and size of the herring that are around. They are real little footballs. In amongst the herring are a few tailor and salmon, particularly on the southern beaches. Just off shore, in front of the estuary mouth, there have been some good fish caught. Also the areas around the James Service reef have been very productive. Small snapper, yellow-fin whiting, King George whiting, samsonfish and assorted small reef fish have all been on the bite. A few Westralian dhufish are being caught out in 20 m and 30 m of water, with odd pink snapper and samsonfish along Five Fathom Bank.

SECRET HARBOUR / PORT KENNEDY / WARNBRO / ROCKINGHAM / SAFETY BAY:

Mulloway are making a return to the beaches and jetties in the area with some good fish taken from the jetties during the week. There have been plenty of herring along this stretch of coastline, along with some salmon reported from Kwinana jetty and Tern Island. Reasonable sized whiting have also been taken in numbers. Anglers report good catches of nice tailor to 50cm and occasional mulloway around 10 kg on the beaches between Long Point and Secret Harbour. Anglers chasing squid suggest that Warnbro Sound has been producing a few good specimens. There are also a few odd salmon still being taken, along with tailor and snapper. The snapper size seems to vary according to location so it may require a bit of moving around until a school of larger fish is found. There are good King George whiting being caught, along with some skippy in the upper areas of Warnbro Sound. Squid are everywhere and are being taken by both boat and shore based anglers. Lures and baits are accounting for them and size and numbers are good.

COCKBURN SOUND:

Most anglers fishing in the Sound are taking their bag limit of herring along with good sized skippy and some garfish. King George whiting have been taken at the southern end of the Sound and out towards the island at the northern end. There have been a few snapper taken of an evening. There are still good numbers of salmon and snapper being taken by boat anglers within the Sound.

KWINANA / NAVAL BASE / WOODMAN POINT / COOGEE:

Anglers’ reports from this area also indicate that there are a few small schools of salmon around Woodman Point, so it would appear that there is still a chance for local anglers to catch them. Mulloway continue to be taken from this jetty and patient anglers prepared to brave the cold of an evening have been rewarded. There are also good numbers of yellow finned whiting around, along with plenty of herring. Squid are plentiful and a jig or a bait drifted under a float should work wonders from the various platforms around the area. There are still a few scaly mackerel being caught from this area.

ROTTNEST ISLAND:

There has been some good land based fishing all around the island, with plenty of herring everywhere. Good skippy and salmon have been taken from locations around the West End and plenty of herring, wrasse and tailor along the south side of the island. In sheltered waters there are King George Whiting on the sand patches adjacent to weed banks.

FREMANTLE / INNER HARBOUR / LOWER REACHES OF SWAN RIVER

There have been reports of a school of salmon at the North Mole last week, providing fun for all, and some scares and excitement for the herring anglers. Anglers who have been putting in the time have taken some good snapper from the rocks at varying times. There are reports of one angler landing several fish during the past week. Fish have averaged between 4 and 8 kg. Other species being caught from the Moles include herring along with skippy, tarwhine, tailor, snapper and mulloway. Put in the time and effort and you will be rewarded. Squid are also being taken in good numbers from both of the moles and in the lower reaches.

LEIGHTON / COTTESLOE / SWANBOURNE

There are still sufficient herring and tarwhine around to keep groyne-based anglers very happy if swells stay low and allow you to fish from the rocks. Most anglers fishing this area report big herring during the day with reasonable numbers of tailor during the afternoon and evening. If you want to make the long walk into the Swanbourne Drain, this area has been producing herring and tailor during the week.

CITY BEACH / FLOREAT / SCARBOROUGH / TRIGG ISLAND

Floreat Beach and Brighton Road are still producing herring, whiting and tarwhine and after dark there have been reports of a few small sharks and an odd mulloway being taken. Early morning anglers chasing herring also report taking some large skippy from these beaches.

Reports indicate that some of the beaches have a bit of weed about but where there are clear patches there are fish. Catches from this area have included herring, whiting and tarwhine during the day and a few good tailor during the evening.

HILLARYS / OCEAN REEF / MINDARIE

Beach anglers have reported that the popular spots in this area have been producing tailor and herring if you don’t mind a bit of weed. A few tailor have been taken from the rock walls of the marinas, along with herring, tailor and an odd salmon. Anglers fishing from the Mindarie Marina have been landing a few tailor of an evening. Several anglers tried to find snapper from the groynes during the recent blow and some went home without a scale and others caught a few small samsonfish and tailor but no snapper.

YANCHEP / TWO ROCKS / MOORE RIVER

This is the area for big tailor. They are still around in reasonable size and numbers with the majority of catches coming from the north around the Club Capricorn/ Two Rocks area. There have also been reports of a few mulloway being caught here. There are good numbers of herring and skippy around as well. Last week anglers fishing from spots to the north of Two Rocks caught their bag limit of tailor, taking fish that averaged around 1.5 kg. At Moore River, anglers fishing a little upstream were catching black bream up to 30 cm. There are occasional reports of snapper and mulloway being taken by beach anglers between Two Rocks and Moore River.

SWAN AND CANNING RIVERS

In the lower reaches of the Swan River, anglers report a variety of species including skippy, herring, tailor and yellowfin whiting. There are also reports of several good catches of flathead. One angler reported hooking up and landing a Zambesi bull shark, also known as a Swan River whaler shark. These have been in the area around East Fremantle.

Also in the river, there have been a number of good sized mulloway hooked and landed in the lower reaches, and we could see an increase in mulloway activity as the fresh water starts to flow and flush out some of the bait fish. There has also been a bit of squid activity in the lower reaches and anglers would be advised to carry a squid jig in their tackle if you plan to fish the lower reaches of the river.

On the bream front there hasn’t been a lot of activity this week, however areas that have been producing good fish are up around the Canning Bridge and Mount Henry bridge in the Canning River and between the Causeway and the Windan Bridge in the Swan. Several fish up to 30 cm have been taken during the week.

BOAT FISHING:

Anglers fishing in and around Cockburn Sound have been scoring well with the bread and butter fish. In the southern suburbs anglers fishing the Five Fathom have caught harlequin fish, numerous jewfish and snapper, King George whiting and baldchin groper.

Small boat anglers fishing the Three Mile reef have been catching big skippy and catching and releasing a lot of undersize snapper. There are also reports of short finned pike and small samsonfish. The grounds out from Scarborough have been producing pink snapper, with some fish getting up to 80 cm. However the majority of the snapper caught in this area are just undersize. Put them back and we will have plenty of fish for next year.

Offshore fishing has been good with reports of small medium and large snapper being caught. Some of the larger fish have been taken in waters as shallow as 10 – 15 metres. Last Sunday, one report from an angler fishing out from Two Rocks told of catching baldchin groper, breaksea cod and two 10 kg Westralian Dhufish and dropping two larger fish at the boat side. There are also reports of baldchin groper, King George whiting and breaksea cod being taken from the broken bottom and coral right along the coast from north of Mandurah up to north of Two Rocks.

There are still a few good Westralian Jewfish around but they seem to have quietened down a bit. Anglers fishing around Rottnest and Garden Island report good catches of King George whiting, samsonfish and baldchin groper. Anglers fishing around the west end of Rottnest are still taking the odd spanish mackerel and tuna as water temperatures are still fairly warm for this time of the year. Boat anglers fishing out on the back of Direction Bank report catches of ruby snapper, blue eye trevalla and grey banded cod from waters between 60 and 90 metres.

 

____________________________________________________________________________

A fish in the hand is worth 10 in the water!