Awesome thread Adam, I'll think about it and get back with my top 10 (might only be top 5) after I finish work tonight.. need to put a bit of thought in it.

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Jay Burgess

Spot 86
Spot 97
Spot 212
Spot 93
Spot 101

Hehehe, only kidding, though there are a few local spots that I cherish above the likes of Exmouth and Coral Bay, only because I fish them more often.

Like Jay, I need time to think about them a bit more before posting a serious reply.

Without a doubt... the ocean, somewhere the waters warm and the fish are a plenty

Exmouth (coral bay), Shark bay, walpole, northern creeks(no particular one they're all good) too many to name

Geez i love fishin!!

Tackle Dangler

are you meaning land based fishing spots Adam?

Yep, meaning places you can either go to fish landbased or taking the boat.

Mine would be:

Exmouth - The boating is superb with the possibility of catching so many species, from gamefish, to table fish, pelagics. If boating isn't your style then you can fish from the beaches and still catch huge monsters, squid, table fish and have a great time doing so regardless of which way the wind is blowing.

Walpole - Love fishing my home ground, there is some of the best black bream fishing the state has to offer with heaps of by catches which will keep almost anyone entertained. You can fish from land or by boat, the scenery is magnificent and there's always other alternatives to keep you busy if the conditions aren't suitable for fishing. There is also untapped deepsea fishing and the rock fishing, whilst dangerous, provides opportunities to catch fish of all sizes depending upon the anglers experience. Not even to mention the 4wd driving which is another exciting part of every fishing trip.

Perth - Often it is hard to fish in Perth metropolitan waters and get a decent catch, but when you do it is extremely rewarding. With the discovery of the samsonfish aggregations at the back of Rottnest there is a prime opportunity for WA to become a sport fishermans paradise, if it isn't already.

Augusta - Magical deep sea fishing, surfing, 4wd driving, wineries close by to keep you partner happy, beach fishing for herring and salmon in season. Also prime for diving and crayfish.

Here's just a few locations and experiences that sprung to my mind. :)

Turtle Bay...... :), levillian shoals

Hill River mouth

And just to be a lamb, Exmouth, moreso Peak Island, Muirion Islands, 200m line out from n/west reef (thanx Ryan.... :) :) )

Pt Walter spit in summer, spots there teeming with noice flatties...

Myalup beach, many many memories there.

The sound

Redgate beach, @ Marg's, never been succesful on big stuff there, just love the spot though, and always catch a feed.

hmmmmmm too many more, a couple of stand outs mentioned above though

Bloody hell mate - make it hard why dont you

Exmouth - just for pure variety

Kalbarri - always get a nice feed

Port Hedland - only been up there once but got some real good fish, and damn good muddies too!

Onslow - been once and only had a tinny but had an absolute blast on all kinds of things

Greenhead/Leeman - good fishing for the old dhuies and you dont have to go far

Perth - hard to go past as there is still some good fishing to be had and you can always do the Mindarie/Two Rocks thing if you want. Plus great crays and diving so is up there if you ask me

So many others I think you could just lump WA in as a whole!!

Cheers

Gully

Exmouth
Exmouth
Exmouth
Exmouth
Exmouth
Exmouth
Exmouth
Exmouth
Rotto
Perth

Havent really been anywhere else up north besides kalbarri and shark bay which didnt take my fancy :p

Ok here's mine;

Rowley Shoals - Possibly the best sportfishing Australia has to offer, if not the world. No, I haven't been there but it's number one on my to-fish list. We've all seen it on fishing shows, we've all seen the recent pics on fishwrecked - how anyone could argue against that is beyond me. With YFT, Wahoo, Dogtooth Tuna, Spaniards, GT's, Sailfish Coral Trout, many Emperor Species... the list goes on, truly a sportfishing mecka.

Dampier Archipelago - Home ground for me, with 42 pristine islands the scenery is truly incredible. GT's, Coral Trout, Chinaman, Sailfish, Marlin, Blue-Line Emperor, Red Emperor. Easy to fish the lee side of one of the islands if the wind picks up.

Warroora Station - Coral Bay is Awesome, Warroora Station is F&@*#n Fantastic. South of coral bay, it's remoteness (all camping, you need to be self sufficient, no sealed access) means it escapes the fishing pressure you get further north at Coral Bay and Exmouth. Never saw another person while we were there, had a complete stretch of beach and our own section of the Ningaloo Reef all to our selves. Beach fishing was fantastic, with huge Spangleds the norm, big reds and spanish mackerel just outside the reef.

Monte Bello Islands - Again, this is a spot I haven't been to but is second to the Rowleys on my to-fish. I can positively vouch for it based on all the fantastic stories I've read. Only 120km from Dampier or roughly 80km from the fortescue creek mouth means it's in easy reach of reasonable size trailer boats. GT's, XOS Mangrove Jacks, Sailfish, Coral Trout, Red Emperor.. I think you get the idea. Easy to fish in the lee if it is windy. Bloody fantastic scenery.

Balla Balla Crk - Easily the best spot for XOS Black Jewfish in the Pilbara if not the whole of WA. Good spot for threadfin in the cooler months and barra in the warmer months. Geographe shoals just offshore offer fantastic reef/sport fishing. Easy access from Karratha and Port Hedland.

Well that's my TOP 5. Would like to end with a note on our Capital City.

With the discovery of huge schools of samson fish off Rottnest, Perth is becoming a mecka for jigging enthusiasts. I would love to pay a visit during the Sambo season! Instead of heading north for barra, anglers will be travelling to Perth over summer to jig up some huge Sambos! Easily the best Metro fishing of any capital city in Australia - except possibly Darwin.

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Jay Burgess

I think you have come up with a fantastic top 5. I can't argue with that, so I will add to it if I may.

Land based:

Quobba - Balooning mecca, always worth a fish, usually can find a spot with the wind at your back. Garths rock, the caves, whistlers rock, high rock, the list goes on. Pelagics and great snapper / baldie country - downside the dangerous swell and the "happy moments fish" (I know I copped one in the thumb trying to fillet one for bait and nearly ended up shooting myself to end the pain.)

Steep Point & Zuytdorp cliffs - another landbased mecca just as per above.

Offshore:

Abrohlos islands - Shallow water dhuies. baldies and heaps of XOS fish...gives anglers the best of northern and southern species all in one spot. Just a couple of crayfish there too, but don;t tell anyone I told you.

Anyone mention Esperance yet. Can't go past the bay of isles, trouble is you need good weather and that southern ocean aint too warm. But it certainly is very fishy.

Rivers & Streams:

The mighty Fitzroy for barra and threadies. Shame about the mud and sandflies but.

Love the Blackwood river for bream, big yellowfin whiting and just the tranquillity of the place. Same goes for the Kalgan in Albany where you can always catch a KG and some big big pippies.

Not exactly my top ten, just posting a couple more options for everyone to choose from.

Rowley shoals is high up there on the "when i get enough money ill go there" list.

easily the monte's. then would have to come dampier and exmouth though steep point is bloody awesome for land based fishing!!

Jeez how did I forget the good old Abrolhos Islands. Havent been there for a long time but the fishing is just plain old awesome.

Esperance/Duke of Orleans Bay/Cape Arid - all wicked fishing both from beach or boat.

Thats it Im not playing this game anymore its too damn hard to narrow it down hence I will pick 1 spot out of all of them

1) WA

There easy as :)

What sorta money is it for an abrolhos trip? I know they go from 2-4 days sometimes, what sorta moola you lookin at for one of those short trips?

No1 Onslow is my prefered place to tow the boat.Too many places to fish off Onslow,out behind Thevenard Island is good for Trout,Snapper,Reds,Cobia,Mackies you name it,simply brilliant.
No2Exmouth would be my next favourite,magic water plenty of reefy bottom,wether your in a boat or casting lures of the beach just an awesome place to have a line in the deep blue.
No3Shark Bay only been there on a few occations but this place has a lot to offer in the fishing and tourist depts.Pink snapper haven,but has a variety of finned critters,BlueBone,NW Snapper,Mackies,Reds,Tailor,Mullies even Dhuies out wide.Landbased fishing is also up there,places like Steep Point,Big Lagoon,Turtle Bay magic spots.
No4 Dampier,use to fish these waters quite a bit have'nt fished Dampier for 2years but still regard it as one of the best.My favourite spots were Nelsons Rocks catch a mixed bag and the biggest Squid.The Patch another great spot for Snapper,Reds,Trout Mackies and Sails.The Pipeline another good spot it's a man made reef gets hammered by the locals but produces good quality fish,if all else fails I'll be at the pipeline.Trout, Snaps,Reds,Macks,Trevs,Sharks even seen Sails playing.
No5 Broome Jetty,never fished in a boat of Broome,but have fished off the Jetty many times and have always caught fish.Night fishing off the Jetty can get you Barra in season,Mullaway,Trevs,Cod,Shark.
Casting lures early morn rising tide I've seen Mackies,Trevs,Queenies
gang tackling any lure thrown at them,just an awesome thing to witness. This is my top 5 get back with the others.

"My favourite spots were Nelsons Rocks catch a mixed bag and the biggest Squid."

We've gone past nelson rocks heaps of times on our way out to the patch from courtenay shoal. What kind of fish did you catch off nelson rocks? Any Jacks out there? Wouldn't mind giving it a shot if you think it's worthwhile.

Nelson rocks on left with Rosemary Island in the Background.

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Jay Burgess

G'Day Jay, we always caught Bluelined Emperor,Coral Trout,Trev's I got a decent Chinaman there once. It's lousy with smaller varieties but if you anchor and burley the bigger fish will come. The Squid are in the weedbeds to the left side of Nelson Rocks I've caught some monsters there in millpond conditions. Lets know how you went next time you fish the area. CHEERS

hmm thats harder question than it seems,
probs would have to go with
1. being exmouth cant beat it there-billfish, predator fish, reef fish, gt ecs...
2. mackeral islands top fishing of the island itslef-fish similar to emouth
3. broom nice beautiful waterways there and fresh water fishing-baramundi cod, bracooda, jacks ecs..
4.ahbrolis-dhuie yeloow tail kingfish
5.coral bay
6.perth/mandurah
7.waren river-great salmon

jonya

Number 1 to 6: Onslow Western Aussie a relaxing place to be and all the species.

Number 7 to 9: Coral Bay WA as the above.

Number 10 ( can't locate it lost it in the Archives )

Gee mate thats way toooooooo hard.

I like every where there are fish!!!

seems like most people have opted for the north but salmon season on
the south coast from Albany round to Augusta can produce some rewarding battles and the breathtaking coastline is the cream on the cake.
Inlet fishing is a real test of knowledge and skills in stalking black bream, King George etc and trolling for salmon trout is great fun,
they really put up a fight for a small fish. Good eating too, all that omega 3 and stuff. The Southern Ocean is an unpredictable sea but an untapped goldmine for variety.

A huge coastline with lots of inlets and magnificent pristine beaches from Augusta to Esperance...all exceedingly fishable.

North is the place to go ,but for us sou'westers its not around the corner.All the above mentioned spots north you can't go wrong,but my no 1 spot has to be the patch off Dampier.Great variety of fish that fight and taste good.Ah those were the days.Down south,for boaties the 4 mile reef off busselton is no 2 and land based ,hamelin bay when the salmon are running.Thats if the pro's let you on the beach.Far to many to come up with,Myalup ,Castle Rock,Redgate,and Peppy Beach for allnight mulloway stays.

The patch is a bit hit and miss... sometimes it goes off and other times it's just dead.

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Jay Burgess

numberr 1 spott- gnarloo station

Landbased: Steep point, red bluff, dampier, madfish bay(denmark), ganthium point(broome), Rottnest, roebuck bay, flatrocks (LOL).

Boat fishing: Rowley shoals, ahbrolis, exmouth, coral bay, darwin, and soon to add montebello islands in May, cant wait.

These are the best spots i have fished when i travelled around australia. My first barra, sailfish, red emperor, coral trout, big GT, queenfish, spanish mackeral, cobia, fingermark, red bass, spanish flag and mangrove jack came from these places and since ive been back in perth i havent caught anything that could match any of these fish coming aboard (FOR VARIETY THAT IS). Although the sambos, dhuies, snapper and tailor keep me more than occupied here so Perth is my last entry for both boat and land fishing.

But I hate to break it to you mate but last time I checked Darwin wasn't in WA.....???? (Hehehe)

That trip to Flat Rock sure must have messed your memory up a bit. Are you sure Sherbert didn't spike your drinks?

Yeah right oh mate Ill remove darwin from the list and put in Carnarvon jetty instead. Caught me biggest to date mulla from ther she wieghed in at 16.2kg. Always pickn on the young fellows you bluddy pensioners i didnt go to school that week. Told you that its a good site for learning! LOL. cheers Andy ha ha ha ha ha .

Just stumbled over this one and gave me something to think about for a little while, came up with these.
-Monte Bello Islands. Went through there on the STS Leeuwin in 95, having never heard of he place. Was my 1st trip up north and got into some decent fish.
-Abrohlis Islands on the Leeuwin again in 2001. Conveniently anchored over a school of pinkies one night.
-Gnaraloo. Fairly unhammered shore based fishing. Big Tailor and sight fishing for Spangled Emps in a foot of water.
Exmouth- Sheer beauty of the region, and the anticipation that fishing there brings.
Dwellingup-Another spot with top scenery and always produces a feed if your prepared to move.
Perth- Sambo Jigging. 'Nuff said.

No1 would have to be the Rowleys - had the pleasure of being a decky on one of the deep sea trawlers back in the mid 80s have fond memories of getting smoked on 24kg inside the lagoons by monster trout, massive longnose emporer & GTs - getting spooled on Bedwell and Cunningham Is was too frequent. Will get back there one day.
No2 - Scott Reef
No3 - Turtle Bay, DHI
No4 - The Montes
No5 - Dampier Archipeligo
No6 - The Mackeral Islands
No7 - Abrolhos Is
No8 - Perth metro
No9 - Hamelin Bay
No10 - Windy Harbour - Been there once but weather was atrocious - talking to the locals its like that 95% of the year and thats why the fishing is so good - if you can get out ????

well i,d have to say my home ground..

being sw bank areas and west of canal rocks ,anywhere from 7miles out,and over the contour lines..(heh cant, give to many secrets out) besides my home..

exmouth ,dirk hartog island for sure 

landbased deffinately kalbarri and smiths beach/mitchell rocks 

rowley is great but $$$$ reqiured to visit regularly

exmouth always calls me back

cape lambert is always kind

this weekend onslow will be next to make the list from all reports

Lancelin
I would have to say lancelin is the spot for me every time I go up there to visit the oldys, we do real well and it don't cost me a cent. (onya old boy)

jurien bay
Its a good spot as well we normally do alwrite but the fish is getting harder to find.

Shark bay
Clean up at shark bay but the drive pullin a 7.5m cat from midland, Long. Haven't been for a couple years so when I get back there, I can only hope I bring back the same memories

Abbrolhos island
Love the fishing there CLEAN UP go every year around may.

Coral bay for sure i can go fishing and the missus can do her thing without bugging me

1/ Broome (anywhere)
2/ Kalbarri
3/ Point Sampson
4/ Anywhere out from Canal Rocks
5/ Wyndham
6/ Blackwood River
7/ Onslow
8/ Steep Point
9/ Quobba
10/ Fitzroy River

Cheers
Dale

I'm not scared of banana's

Callsign: AS144

but i must say the best landbased for me would be down at busselton jetty!hook up my first salmon about 3-4 kg but didnt manage to bring it up,it was too heavy line snap!!!nv been out on the boat! so just waiting for a good time for a spot as a deckie...hehe
NO PAIN NO GAIN!!!

GOZZY FISH MARKETS

ALWAYS GUARANTEED TO GET A FRESH FEED THERE LOL

______________________________________
IF IT BLEEDS,.........WE CAN KILL IT.

Land based - Swan river at Guildford and Long Point and bloody hell - basically any spot not over run with people

Offshore & River - Blackwall Reach, Shark Bay, The Blackwood, Geographe Bay 300m off Busso Beach Resort (KG'S) The Coral Lumps off the Cape - and so on and so on - antwhere you can float except the seweage works - it's hard to fillet the mullet.

The Swan River - Love the prawns and the crab diving and just the easy anytime fishing of the river.

The Floreat Drain - Had lots of great sunny mornings with my better half lazying in the sun, my lttle girl making sand castles and my mates and I catching as many herring as we could eat for lunch!

Bunbury Back Beach - Been fishing and spearfishing there since I was a little kid many great family memories of that beach

Eco beach near broome

Groote island

beagle bay

Hillarys

Mandurah estuary

monties, monties monties oh and abrolhos, 4 days and counting to monites campaign 2008!!!
Deckhand and member of the Gotone Woodvale team

places ive fished and love
onslow
exxie
pnt samson
dampier
busso and south
perth

places im hanging to fish
coral sea
rowley shoals
monties
abrolhos isles
the " exmouth plateau",, 150 odd kms north of exxie and 150odd kms westish of onslow,this place would rock Biiigg Time ...any one need a deckie pick MMMMMEEEEE !!!!!!!!!

and any where theres a puddle of water with a chance of gettn a hook up wheather it be a fish a crustation or just a cold beer im keen
always in it just the depth that varies

hehe yeah Mitch I've been eyeing off the Exmouth plateau for a while now, need a good boat to get out there and good weather :)

one day jay one of the big charters out of exxie or onslow will be doing overnighters or may bee three day charters out to there .ill be on it you can bank on it mate!!!!
checkeed it once on a top of the heap gps .the contours and sheer drops in the ocean floor were bulls@%#$t .reckon theres bound to be big doggies ,gts, you name it
cheers micth
always in it just the depth that varies

definately dogtooth I reckon, perhaps GT's on jigs too. Don't think it gets shallow enough to pop for GT's though. Also be Ruby Snapper etc..

i just looked on my sea map programme the exmouth plateau is still bloody deep. what depths have u boys seen it come up to?

Deckhand and member of the Gotone Woodvale team

from memory 50 or 60 metres up to 20very quick an not far of this 100 odd.the gps unit i was looking at would of run into the very high 1000 of dollars .ill pm ya

always in it just the depth that varies

*Exmouth ( off the reef in the park)
*Exmouth ( Naval Jetty for GT's)
*Kalabrri ( Pot Allie and surrounds)
*Kalabrri ( Chinamans)
*Rotto ( NW corner, chicken run ~ Fish Hook Bay)
*FADS off Rotto
*Hamelin Bay ( shore on the southside, boat off the main NW section)
*5 Fathoms Banks ( south section)
*Guildford Bridge (around the corner to the north.)
* Busselton Jetty ( an icon family fishing spot)

Tony

Full-time piscatorial-idiot, in The Vines. "It is always in season for old men to learn." Aeschylus (525-456 BC) Greek poet.
Supporter of Meals on Reels

yeah thats what i thought noah!!! good luck jigging that! dont think my stellas would hold that much line!

Deckhand and member of the Gotone Woodvale team

just looked at the chart.. Exmouth Plateau, very deep, not what I was thinking of.

Rankin Bank.. that's it.

1--Glomar Shoals noth of Dampier,got busted off on nearly everything we put in the water and caught nearly everything as well
2-- a spot we called the M C G ,about 38 nm NW of Port Hedland,comes up a fathom and the same size as a footy oval.Just anchor and start fishing
3 --Gnaraloo -- many excellent catches over many years
4 --Hamelin Bay --good for salmon and biggg tailor from beach and good bottom bouncing from there north as far as Canal Rocks
5 -- Emu Springs for beach fishing before they shut the gate years ago.Good tailor mulloway ,gummies and hugesilver bream
6 --Quobba area, always done well there.even last Tuesday with 2 x 20kg +tuna ,snapped off deliberately to watch them swim off.
7 -- Island off here in Carnarvon--say no more.
8 --Exmouth always good results
9 -- Jane Bay/Black Rock before sanctuary restrictions
10 --Last but not least is the Monties,haven't been on the inside but who needs to when you've done it all around the outside

noha ,jay im 95% it was the exxie shoal i was looking at, and yep most of it is real deep but there was one or two spots that defiatly came up a fiar chunk .have to admit ide had a few sherbets when looking and chatting about it
always in it just the depth that varies

I'll start with 5

1. Broome. Everthing here from Barra to Black Marlin

2. Exmouth. We will be back soon saw enough to want more of it

3. Quobba. Fond memories fishing Garths

4.Shark Bay. Shore based or boat good variety

5.Perth . Haven't fished there for a while now but still plenty to offer

This could all change in a month after a trip from Broome to Exmouth via the Rowley Shoals stay tuned

 Places fished and enjoyed land and sea

1- Montes (land and boat/diving)

2- Walpole (land and boat)

3- Exmouth (land boat/diving)

4- Hopetoun (good shark/mulloway fishing off beachs, Boating) good 4wd'ing

5- Broome (boat)

6- Isrelite Bay (pinky's and sharks off beach) good 4wd'ing camping

7- Bremer Bay (land and boat) Good 4wd'ing camping

8- Cheynes Beach (land heaps of salmon/groper, boat) good 4wd'ing and camping

9- Jurion (boat)

10- Northern Creeks (early days)

abrolhos

broome

dirk hartog

makeral islands

coral bay

jensons inlet

the trench back of rotto

around albany

sw bank

perth fads

all these spots have caught me a arrangement of fish with some top memories fishing with family and friends,some which are departed now