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Where are they biting at the moment

When the stars align

Submitted by Madmerv on Wed, 2018-01-24 06:52

 With work, weather and family all taking their toll on our fishing time it is great when the stars align and things just go your way.

Tuesday the 16th was one of those days. I had the day off and my buddy Darren was going to finish work a bit earlier than normal. The wind was forcast to blow a bit easterly and drop off in the arvo so plans were made and an arvo bash was sorted.

I made a quick trip up to see Mick at Shorecatch and got a bit of his majic mulie shred, the best pinkie attractant IMO that you can buy.

We launched at Mindarie with a pretty high tide and headed out to some new ground we have been exploring in the last few months. Just in the 28-30m range. 

The plan was to sound out some spots while waiting for the wind to drop and the sun to go down a bit. The sounding was difficult with very little to show up and the area we were checking has a very small difference in height as well as ground composition. Basically if you dont know that there is a possibility of something being there you would miss it. A great spot because everybody else misses it..Lol

We had about 1.5h before sun down so we set up a few drifts to see if there was some random bottom action before we anchored up and berleyed. Good move as Darren snagged up a 5.5kg Dhu and a few random small snapper were hooked and released.

With 1 Dhu in the esky and the wind dropping off we decided on our spot and launched the pick. The majic shred was bought out and a small but steady stream if chunks were sent drifting down. It didnt take long for a few of the smaller pinkies to pick up the scent and Darren the stink baiter soon had a size one to add to his Dhu.

As the sun got close to the horizon the shred was increased and pretty soon my Abrolohis paddle tail loaded up with a solid strike. It did a few good solid runs but just didnt have that pinkie head shake we all like to feel. The last 8-10m was just a weight so we had pretty well called it by the time a 7.9kg Dhu was visiable. Netted her aboard and had just removed the hook when my second rod, yes i stink bait also, did a bit of a twitch. As i took it out of the rod holder it loaded up and took off with enough head shakes for me to call a pinkie before the reel stopped unloading. A nice tussel later and a good 5.5kg pinkie was added to the bag.

The sun was just kissing the ocean as we pulled the anchor and headed back in leaving them on the bite.

 

IMG_0706 by Merv Hall, on Flickr


Saturdays effort

Submitted by Coastrunner on Tue, 2018-01-23 12:26

Hit the 50's out of Bunno on Saturday morning, wasn't pretty out there but we picked up a feed.


Bluewater Metro Fishing Report 19/01/2018

Submitted by Bluewater on Fri, 2018-01-19 16:35

 

 

Fishing Report
Bluewater Tackle World
Friday 19th of January 2018
 
Sam and a good dolly!

A rat king that Sam landed off the FAD

Young Sam has been at it again this week and killing it on soft plastics. He spent two consecutive mornings fishing the FAD’s. Getting there very early on the first day meant the dollies were on the chew and they landed 4. They also dropped something massive which they suspect was a solid tuna. Day 2 they hooked up to and landed a couple of rat kings and another dolly. Sam reckons the light gear was awesome fun on all these fish, who could not resist ZMan 7” Jerk Shadz in Coconut Ice

The tail end of the cyclone we copped early in the week meant plenty of mulloway, tailor and small sharks have been landed from all along the northern beaches.

Mindarie customers and brothers Mick and Dan were chasing dhuies (successfully) in the 40’s and picked up a solid Spanish mac off the bottom so it won’t be long now before they will be in numbers behind and along the 3 Mile Reef. It is definitely worth trolling a lure or two when travelling between spots. 


Mick's metro mackie! Well done mate.


Mick and his dhuie!

Customer Brody went on a solo mission out of Two Rocks on Tuesday night and after landing a couple of dhus, keeping one, also landed a very respectable nannygai fishing in 30m.


Nannygai have no dramas feeding at night, just look at that eye!

It is a productive time of year to chase the elusive mulloway in the Swan River. Good reports have been coming from Claremont and Mosmans through to Ashfield and Bassendean. Early morning, prior to sunrise is seeing big runs with live bait proving too tempting for some big fish. Make sure when securing a live bait to use that you stick to legal size limits as they still apply in this situation. Also with the amount of prawns providing food for the Mulloway, the Chase Baits Flick Prawns in 95mm or 125mm size are a great soft plastic option and bring a whole new exciting dimension to fishing the Swan for big Mulloway. It is important to find not only the deeper holes but also the bait schools when picking a place to fish. This applies to land based and boat fishing. A good tip when fishing from the boat is to double anchor just off the hole to prevent the boat from swinging with the wind and current. Tides are important and it is suggested to fish an hour or two leading up to the high tide and an hour after with the slack water on the turn being the most likely period to see a hook up. Moon phases also come into the equation with the new moon and a day either side being the best phase to fish and the full moon with a day either side being second best to that!

This year is so far proving to be quite productive for whiting in the Swan but it does take time and persistence to locate the fish. Staff member Troy found them again this week and although boat traffic made it tough where he was fishing, he still landed some good fish. It would also seem from the whispers in the stores that customers are still getting into giant herring, including some very big fish, so if you are up for the challenge come in store for a run down.


Troy and a Swan river yellowfin.

If you have any information or photos that you would like to include in our weekly fishing report, please email customerservice@bluewater.net.au.

 


Quick camp out down the beach with kids

Submitted by Chook1204 on Fri, 2018-01-19 15:28

 Took the kids for a camp out down the beach, was surprised at a few of the catches, a big tailor to one of my sons and a huge flathead to my bro in law couple pics of the kids smiles tell there excitement 


Ningaloo Station

Submitted by kirky79 on Thu, 2018-01-18 11:01

Another  years annual pilgrimage up north has been and gone. We towed the tinny upto Winderabandi Point for a two week stay. We wanted to get back up there before the government gets its grubby hands on it.

Absolutely love this place, but the wind can be a bit tedious especially at this time of year (Boxing Day onwards). And so it was for the first 3 days. However Windi is well sheltered from the southerlies, so spent a few days resting,swimming, and towing the kids around in the ski biscuit. Managed to get out with the young fella on the 4th day. We had to stay inside the reef as it was still a bit windy. We managed a feed of Red throats and a nice Charlie Court for dinner but it was pretty quiet. I only got outside the reef for 1 day, trolled around for a couple of hours for zip, there wasn't even any birds working. Which was a bit of a shame. 

We got a few nice fish off the beach on our last few days. Must admit it was a bit of a fluke though. I had spotted and caught 2 Blue Salmon from a pretty big school right up against the rocks, so I called my wife over to have a cast at them. Her first cast sailed wide of the school, I was in the process of telling her about how far off she was when her rod doubled over and started losing a bit of drag, this was no Salmon. She carefully glided a nice size Spango up the beach!! Stoked. She ended up catching 3 Spangos to my 2. We went down there again on the top of the tide the next day and picked up a couple more and a few more Blue Salmon which cook up pretty good fresh. 

All in all was another great trip to paradise. I didn't do as much fishing as I normally would but still had a great time. Spending quality time with the family in an amazing place. Cheers for reading.

Chris.

 

All 

 


Quick dash up to Lano

Submitted by Hutch on Tue, 2018-01-16 18:27

 Quiet night but managed a few fish. Shark bay squid, blue mack and XL mulies from Shore Catch doing the job.

Somehow got a ray and a herring both on the same hook, a first for me and mrs got her first little mully. Finished the morning off bagging out on big herring all around the 30cm mark.


Good feed of crabs

Submitted by still trying on Sun, 2018-01-14 13:18

 went down to Mandurah this morning got 18 crabs in 40 mins and 3 pulls of our line and the last 2 in the first 2 nets of the next only had about 6 undersize in total and 1 that was big but soft so went back all about 250m from the ramp. Peppered and plain crab for lunch.


Bluewater Metro Fishing Report 12/01/2017

Submitted by Bluewater on Fri, 2018-01-12 15:35

 

 

Fishing Report
Bluewater Tackle World
Friday 12th of January 2018

The reports of yellowtail kingfish this year have been epic with most inshore reefs up and down the coastline holding the bait they are after. The small bait covering these reefs in plague proportions will eventually draw the kings in if they are not already there when you rock up so sitting, waiting and watching near likely ground will mean that you are eventually rewarded with a shot. Small bait! So keep that in mind, if a translucent stickbait which is usually subtle enough that size doesn’t matter is not working. Try switching to small metals like the 21g Iron Candy which matches the bait size perfectly to get the hook up, although stickbaits like the Nomad Riptide 125s and Jackson Kaiken 110s in clear colour have rarely been refused it pays to have a backup. If all else fails, a live herring will usually do the trick.

On the back of the reefs mentioned above is where some Spanish macs have been sitting. The water is now more than warm enough with reports of it being 23.5⁰C and higher in areas off the metro coastline .  A handful of them have been caught when the winds have dropped enough to allow boats to get out there and troll the edges of these reefs. Southern bluefin tuna are still thick south of Rotto and are being found in most depths even right in shallow with kings and the likes, hammering all that small bait.

The 40s is where the majority of the demersal reports have come from this week including a dhuies, pinks and baldies. Behind Garden island in this depth, there have still been reports of queen snapper, nannygai and the odd blue groper being landed. It is also the time of year when harlequin, swallowtail and queen snapper get landed off the back of Five Fathom Bank.  

The river is an ideal place to fish this time of year, especially if the winds are preventing any boat or beach fishing. There are still reports of  giant herring being landed around the flats near Point Walter and Como. The tailor run has slowed a little but there are still plenty of schools cruising the drop offs in Claremont and Nedlands and the average size is up. Flathead are keeping to gentlemen hours if getting up at 4am for the sunrise doesn’t appeal to you. Fishing the lead up and after high tide are when flathead can be very active and more so the warmer the water is. These conditions draw them onto the flats throughout the river where they sit to ambush prey. Hardbody lures around 70mm with a baitfish or shrimp pattern are very effective in tempting a flathead to strike. Staff member Troy was back at it again this week landing over a dozen very sizeable whiting in the river all on surface lures. His lures of choice were the Bassday Sugapens and Jackson Ebi Panics.


The whiting Troy landed in the River were very respectable indeed.

Crabbing has really fired up in the Swan with many boats picking up their bag limit and drop netters using the jetties from Claremont up to the Narrows are getting a feed as well. Mullet seems to be the bait of choice lately. Mandurah is also producing better catches with both scoopers and those using drops nets getting a feed. If its crays you are after there are still plenty to be caught in 30m and deeper.

We are now in marron season until the 5th of Feb and some great catches have been reported already. Be sure to check all the rules and regs on the Fisheries WA website before heading out.

Kelvin with a good marron.

Lastly don’t forget that the second day of the Abalone Season has been confirmed to go ahead this Saturday (13th January 2018) by fisheries.


Life long customer of Bluewater Frank achieved a lifelong goal on his recent trip to Exmouth by landing his first billfish and boy did he do it in style. After a stubborn hour-long battle, a 100kg+ Blue Marlin surfaced boat-side and Frank’s expression says it all.

 
Frank’s mate Chris Lee also had a great trip topped off with this awesome GT.

Perth Fishing Safaris had a ripper trip up North. Their report is as follows:

"What a top trip away to the northwest last week!!  Guiding these 4 champion blokes to some of the best landbased fishing platforms in the country for 5 days/4 nights was an absolute pleasure. 

Although inexperienced at rock fishing, the lads managed to push beyond their comfort zones and drag some serious fish away from the sharks. Between them over 8 sessions they landed a list of species including cobia, shark mackerel, school mackerel, spangled emperor, golden trevally, brassy trevally, sharks, mulloway, blue threadfin and more. 

Fish of the trip was Vinnie's 40lb cobia, with 4 landed in total and around a dozen or so lost from pulled hooks, sharks and bust offs. There were plenty of small mackerel around too, but nearly every fish we hooked was eaten by sharks!"


Vinnie Flynn with a 40lb Cobia (131cm)

Mitchell James with a nice Brassy trevally

Mitchell James and Vinnie Flynn with a pair of 12-13kg Cobia.

If you have any information or photos that you would like to include in our weekly fishing report, please email customerservice@bluewater.net.au.

 


Wedge Island - Beach Fishing

Submitted by JorgoF390 on Fri, 2018-01-12 00:05

 Hi there all 

Heading up to the beach between Didy Bay and Wedge on Saturday arvo for a fish - just wondering what the beach conditions are and is there much sea weed around - hoping to bag a few tailor and possibly a Mulloway 

Thanks in advance 

 

Tight lines all!!!


Greenhead new years trip

Submitted by Niko on Sun, 2018-01-07 06:14

 Spent the new years long weekend in Green Head with the future wife fishing off the boat. First time so no spots just a nice getaway. Winds were up so fishing was uncomfortable especially for me, travacalm natural dont work for me apparently... on the plus side was very happy with the 530 freedom sport in the conditions although did get a bit wet at times.

First day fishing i got an octopus on line which was new for me but fishwise nil, while i was burleying up Courtney got her first Dhu! At 540mm not a beast but a keeper and was on her new combo aswell so she was stoked. Otherwise she caught a few wrasse and an ocky aswell.

Second day towed the boat to Jurien Bay and stayed within the islands as the wind was up over 15kn. Fished the bay for some more wrasse untill we both got stitched up by a ray, took my bait and swam into her rig aswell. 

Last day hit Green Head again but staying in shallow due to winds, got some small coral trout and a nearly sized break sea before hooking another ray that resulted in my shimano terez snapping in half...

All in all not my best fishing trip but was a good weekend away anyways, cooking fresh dhufish on the bbq for lunch was the best way to finish 2017. now i get to buy a new rod. 

 


American Couple Fishing Adventure in Thailand - BKKGUY

Submitted by bkkguy on Fri, 2018-01-05 23:07

 

Jim and and his wife Tammy fished with us for 4 days fishing trip in Thailand.

They have great fun fishing and landed many big fishes during the 4 days fishing trip.

There is a saying that a picture tell a thousand words. I would say a video will tell a better story.

As usual I will let the video clips do the talking.

Day 1- Giant Snakehead fishing trip.


Highlights photos of the day.


Jim his first snakehead (toman) Thailand. 




Tammy and her giant snakehead.





 

Bluewater Metro Fishing Report 05/01/17

Submitted by Bluewater on Fri, 2018-01-05 15:18

 

Fishing Report
Bluewater Tackle World
Friday 5th of January 2018

Metro waters are offering up a mixed bag at the moment and if the weather would play ball, who knows what else would be getting landed. Northern species such as golden trevally, painted sweetlip and dart have all been landed in recent weeks. Tiger squid are at least as far down as Jurien. There has also been a big increase of more “southern” species also being landed including lots of queen snapper, some good nannygai and a big blue groper and, although these species are present year round it’s the number of them coming over the side which is exciting to say the least. Mackie reports are popping up all over the joint, in the Sound, the Three Mile and West End. And even a swordfish swimming off ammo jetty? We could be in for a ripper couple of months, and staff and customers alike are itching to get out.

Mike and his son Daymon popped into our Joondalup store before heading out over the break. Their report is as follows:
"Hey, just a big thanks to the team at Joondalup. We dropped into the Joondalup store and had a quick chat with the guys about fishing off Two Rocks. We picked up some bait and a nice new Tackle World shirt for my son Daymon. Anyway, we followed the team’s advice and fished around the cray pots. Ended up with a nice bag that included snapper, baldchin and breaksea cod. This included this ripper baldie to my 10-year-old son Daymon Hay. Caught in 30m on a Shimano Stradic 5000 with 20lb braid.
Thanks heaps for your help guys!
Mike Hay”

Daymon's very chunky baldie
Customer Lee managed a couple of good dhuies out from Mindarie and in general the reports from the 40m mark has been positive. Anglers have been pulling their pots in around 30m (catching some big reds) and heading out to the 40m to get into the demersals. The back of Garden Island and Carnac, around the 14m-20m mark, has still been producing plenty of pink snapper, however the highlights have defiantly been a number of very large dhuies caught on the same ground.

 
Lee's two dhuies taken just 10 minutes apart.

On the mulloway front, fish have been taken on northern beaches, with good bait presentation being key. If you can, source fresh bait on site for best results. Customer Ian also landed his first mulloway this week in the river which weighed in at 17kg. A fish he will never forget, congrats mate!

 
First mulla! What an awesome fish for Ian.

There has been a fair bit of bream activity this past week. Zman Grubz rigged on the lightest jighead as possible has been producing fish to 37cm by Morley customers. In the Canning, staff member Pete has been getting into some of the bigger fish on Zipbait hardbodies, whilst his son Evan has been having a blast catching plenty of smaller bream on coral prawns. Further north in the Moore River staff member Ando had a solid session on surface. Using the new Nomad Dartwing 70m, he had bream climbing all over the lure in windy conditions, landing a few and losing some bigger fish.


One of Pete's fish on a Zipbait

 
Ando's first fish on the brand new Nomad Dartwing 70mm.

Tailor are still being taken around The Narrows on surface stickbaits and poppers, which make for very entertaining fishing. Around Point Walter big grunter and bream having also been hitting surface lures and there are some good reports of whiting in the shallows.
  
Customer Sam had his first crack at using soft plastics in Stark Bay at Rotto and found out just how effective they really are. On his first session he landed herring, a flatty and a couple of flounder from the beach and later in the day landed a snook when jigging them under the boat on his new Daiwa Gen Black/ Shimano Caius 150 combo he recently purchased from us.
 
Sam and his snook.

Myaree Customer Michael “Dimi” Dimichele landed two cracking fish at a recent Steep Point trip. He landed a good Mackie spinning and a massive longtail ballooning.



The mack and longtail were the highlights of Michael's trip.

If you have any information or photos that you would like to include in our weekly fishing report, please email customerservice@bluewater.net.au.
  

Albany

Submitted by jayce on Fri, 2018-01-05 15:10

 Spent a few days down in Albany between christmas and new years and actually got a bit of decent weather for once.

Spent a couple days out chasing squid and did pretty good with about 45 over the 2 days. Average hood was about 28 and biggest was 36.

spent a couple days out messing about with the kids catching a few king george aswell wich was good.

Not many photos this time as took most of them with snapchat and fogot about normal photos.

 

Couple that i did take. 

 

 

 

Cheers Jayce

 


Not a total waste of a morning

Submitted by Bing on Fri, 2018-01-05 14:35

Headed out for a fish in the available weather window yesterday, I was hoping to get the first YTK on the deck of my boat... Things didn’t go quite to plan but had fun with the bycatch. Last trip I tried targeting KGW but the sambos were hungry.


Did a few nautical miles today and got rewarded

Submitted by Meeuwissen on Thu, 2018-01-04 14:20

 Went out of ocean reef today went to the Gemini Wreck the kept venturing further did 50nm total under 60 litres loving the new boat. In by lunch for dhuie burgers 


Anyone having a crack for mulloway

Submitted by Meeuwissen on Mon, 2018-01-01 13:11

 The next few days? I'll being giving the narrows A go for the first time with a boat, hopefully get a few livies and flick a lure around too


Bluewater Metro Fishing Report 29/12/2017

Submitted by Bluewater on Fri, 2017-12-29 16:54

 

 

Fishing Report
Bluewater Tackle World
Friday 29th of December 2017
 
Morley Customer James and a whopping dhu.
 
Pink snapper have been firing all along the coast with reports of quality snapper fishing from Lancelin to Busselton and most places in between. Around Perth, Five Fathom Bank and 3-Mile Reef have provided some absolute horses in the breaks in the weather. Working plastics around pots is highly effective and there is also the chance of breaksea cod and dhuies when fishing this way.

Sambos have also been rampant around the pots and can be heaps of fun if you locate a decent school. Yellowtail Kingfish are still marauding bait schools around the reefs and the captures of at least two golden trevally this week in metro waters suggests a bumper metro pelagic season is about to explode.



Young Morley customer James has had a blast recently, catching some cracking samson fish and dhufish off Lancelin and Two Rocks.

There have been some fantastic catches of crabs in the Swan, with anglers doing well in depths varying from 7-20m. Mandurah crab catches have also steadily increased with both those using drop nets and scoops managing to get a feed provided they put the time in. The cooler weather this summer means they are smaller on average than last year, but the big ones are out there. Farther south, holiday-goers and locals have been starting to catch more crabs in Bunbury.

Cray reports have slowed right down because so many people have pulled their pots in for the season, however the 30m+ mark is producing plenty of good sized crays. Divers are also still managing plenty of reds in shallower grounds.

One of Brody Laroux's many hauls of crays this year

There has been a heap of flathead being taken off the metro beaches with Morley customer Ian picking up 13 in one morning. Chopper tailor have also been rampant around the Dawesville Cut and further north from Quinns beach onward the reports are still consistent. Other catches that have come off the beach recently include shovelnose, mulloway and numerous shark species.

The river is a hive of activity with stacks of bony herring, prawns and glass shrimp about. The conditions this week scream MULLOWAY with evening high tides and approaching full moon. The lower reaches are holding plenty of tailor, juvenile salmon and herring, creating some insane light tackle action. The bream are also firing with good-sized fish being picked up.  If you haven’t caught bream on artificial lures, now’s the time to try as this offers a whole new challenge. Effective retrieves for a hard body lure include a slow roll or a twitch, twitch, pause and with soft plastics is to fish them slow with a few hops and with long pauses. The reports of giant herring have fired up again but it is only the anglers who put in some serious time who have come up trumps.

0
Staff member Pete has been nailing some good bream on Zipbaits. 


Young fishing prodigy Evan with a chopper from the river he caught during a fish with dad

If you have any information or photos that you would like to include in our weekly fishing report, please email customerservice@bluewater.net.au.

 


Walpole Whiting

Submitted by tcarroll on Fri, 2017-12-29 13:40

 First time fishing the Walpole inlet this morning. Cruised down towards the mouth of the inlet at the ocean and pulled the tinny up on a little sand island. Stood on the island and fished a narrow channel probably only around 1 to 1.5m deep and pulled out some of the biggest and fattest sand whiting I have ever caught. For reference, the KGW was 34cm. The big fish were as fat as my forearm. Plenty released as well. Great first impressions of the inlet which seems very healthy which is great to see!! 


Exmouth Heavy Tackle

Submitted by Glen.vit on Fri, 2017-12-29 12:22

Heavy Tackle season in full swing with large numbers of billfish being caught. I have been dropping more Blues than landing unfortunatley but gotta keep trying. Here are some pictures and a video of a blue bite from a double hook up.

WHATCH IN HD

https://youtu.be/srzuv0vLATQ


Mandurah crabs

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 2017-12-28 08:43

 been too long between getting out due to work/weather.

have taken the kids out the last couple days chasing crabs with good results, only taking an hour to get our 20.

has been trying with the rough conditions and inexperienced deckies but we got there in the end....


Local Beach Bash

Submitted by Hutch on Mon, 2017-12-25 08:57

 Headed down to the local beach with Pirate a few nights ago hoping a good fish night swim past. We put in a good effort but only managed a few of the less desired species. Nothing special but they still put a bend in our rods


Bluewater Metro Fishing Report 22/12/2017

Submitted by Bluewater on Fri, 2017-12-22 15:03

 

 

 

Fishing Report
Bluewater Tackle World
Friday 22nd of December 2017

Customer David with a solid dhu onboard Saltwater Charters
 
The reports of demersals are flooding in, even though the breaks in the weather have been few. Plenty of cray pots means plenty of pink snapper in the vicinity and the reports have been exceptional around the likes of 5 Fathom Bank.  Dhufish too, have been falling to all kinds of offerings as they hang around the ‘delicious’ scent of rotting cray bait. In the 40m mark and beyond, there have been more big dhufish captures and plenty of lucky anglers have got Christmas lunch sorted!

Another dhu landed on Saltwater Charters

The mind-boggling weather we have had in the past week has provided land based anglers with the chance to get into some winter-style pink snapper fishing. Horrendous swell, gusting winds and teeming rain meant the pinks ventured in close for a feed and a few crews did very well. Customers Austin, Mitch and Anthony landed 7 and lost plenty more, the biggest going 99cm.

The boys, Austin, Mitch and Anthony and a ripper session on the pinks.

It’s bluefin tuna galore out there with plenty being caught on the troll by prepared anglers. Casting to them has been just as effective and arguably more fun. We are still waiting for the real pelagic madness to kick off that involves the likes of Spaniards, dollys, yft and even a billfish.

Staff member Muzz loves chasing crabs and sent us in the following this week, including his favourite recipe.
“This time of year, is an exciting time to start looking for big blue manna crabs in the lower to mid reaches of Swan River and Canning River. It can be a fun and uncomplicated way to fish with the family by boat, wading, diving or land based.

Baited drop nets keep it simple and are available at very affordable prices. They are easy to use and can be dropped in from jetty edges and tied off. Then while either fishing or relaxing the pots can be pulled, checked and hopefully have one or several big crabs inside. When using drop nets from the boat, you will generally drop several nets in a line, up to ten nets are allowed with the rope tied off to a 100 to 150mm float. Once all ten are out you can double back to the start to check nets, get your catch and rebait if necessary. Mullet, tuna heads or spleen all make great crab bait.

Scooping for Blue Manna crabs is much more hands on and involves wading in knee to waist deep water. You will need a scoop available at all Bluewater stores and a strong head lamp, torch or underwater light to penetrate the water as this is best done at night. Once you spot the crabs you need to approach gently then scoop them with a swift smooth action keeping in mind that they will attempt to retreat sideways.

Swimming for crabs is also an effective way to chase them on warm nights. This would be done in the same shallow water that you scoop in but does allow you to go a little deeper. Using a scoop with a shortened handle makes it easier to swim. With this you will also need a water proof light, mask, snorkel and fins. For those up for the challenge you can also grab the crabs by hand wearing a thick glove to avoid being nipped.”
 
CHILLI CRAB
  • 2 teaspoons peanut oil
  • 4 green (uncooked) blue swimmer crabs
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 2 fresh long red chillies, finely chopped
  • 1 tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger
  • 60ml (1/4 cup) tomato sauce
  • 2 tablespoons sweet chilli sauce
  • 2 tablespoons dry sherry
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup firmly packed coarsely chopped fresh coriander
  • Steamed Jasmine Rice, to serve
 METHOD
  • Heat the oil in a large wok over high heat until just smoking. Add the crab and stir-fry for 5-7 minutes or until just cooked (the crabmeat will turn white when cooked).
  •  Add the garlic, chilli and ginger, and stir-fry for 1 minute or until fragrant. Add the tomato and sweet chilli sauces, sherry and sugar, and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes or until sauce boils and thickens slightly. Remove from heat. Add the green shallot and stir until just wilted. Add the coriander and toss until just combined. Spoon steamed rice among serving bowls. Top with chilli crab and serve immediately.
 If you have any information or photos that you would like to include in our weekly fishing report, please email customerservice@bluewater.net.au.
 

 


last night crabs

Submitted by Pedro the fisherman on Fri, 2017-12-22 07:37

 Crabs 

 Got a feed walking around bunbury last night plenty of prawns /mullet jumping and a few gardies around nice night for it .Not big crabs but a feed none the less.


Dirk Hartog Island Trip Report (Video & Pics)

Submitted by shorething on Sun, 2017-12-17 15:18

I don’t normally post many reports as I only really fish on holidays.. but I was lucky enough to get up to Dirk Hartog Island for the first time with a group of mates back in November. Wow! What a place. Had 8 nights up at Urchin Point and didn’t see another person until the last day, how good is that! We had good weather overall which was lucky for the time of year. Not lots of pelagic action but it was the best land based bottom fishing I’ve ever had. Certainly wasn’t a fish a cast but we put in the hours and we’re rewarded with lots of species and awesome feeds. Didn’t lose many to sharks either which was handy, think we lost 3 fish to them all trip.

Personal highlights included seeing everyone get fish, the epic views at Turtle Bay, the amazing coastline all over the island, personal PBs for Baldy, Pinky & Coral Trout (wow they are good on the chew).

Filmed the trip and chucked it on our YouTube channel if you wanna have a watch: https://youtu.be/hvADyaJwIjE

Its a mix of fishing but also some fun stuff and a heap of footage showcasing the epic island landscape. We don’t do a lot of fishing videos though it’s something I’d love to do more (so I can do more trips!). Will drop some photos below too.

A big thanks to Kieran and the DHI crew for what they do on the island, for the barge over and enabling us to have such an amazing experience. The fishing opportunities are endless and I reckon we barely scratched the surface. A 2nd trip back would be so good but really I’m just really grateful I got to go once. If you’re thinking about heading up there then make sure you give it a crack!

Cheers!


Top end to a Great Cray Season

Submitted by JohnF on Sat, 2017-12-16 15:11

Briliant cray season came to an end today with us pulling the pots out prior to the upcoming weather. We did a tag team with Bodie this season with a target of four figures between the two boats, and we got over the line today.

This big girl was one of the better ones, most of the big ones were tarred or egged this season, this one was clean but we released her to live another day and make more little tasty critters. 

We had sharks follow us around every few days over the past 4 weeks, but today these two got pretty frisky, fighting over the old heads we were throwing over, at one stage they went crazy and saturated us, awesome sight! 

 


Bluewater Metro Fishing Report 15/12/2017

Submitted by Bluewater on Fri, 2017-12-15 16:05

 

 

Fishing Report
Bluewater Tackle World
Friday 15th of December 2017
Vic & his son Zane landed this bucket list sambo on an Enitce Ringer Jig onboard Saltwater Charters this week.
 
With the conclusion of the demersal ban at midnight we will be able to go and target these tasty critters that inhabit the depths of our coastline again. Granted it may not be this weekend with the less then average weather forecasted but when the opportunity presents itself the lucky ones will be out there making the most of what really is great fishing considering it is off a metropolitan coastline.
 
Customers and staff alike have been chomping at the bit to get dhuies, snapper, baldies and the likes back on the menu. So if you are going to be targeting dhuies the 30 -40m mark would probably be a good place to start considering the number of crays in this depth at the moment. Pinkies will be cruising up and down the lines of thousands of craypots out on the water but if you fish the pots be careful and notify the pot owner by tying a knot, rag, etc into their line if you lose you gear to their pot.
 
Fishos chasing crays have been coming up trumps in the 25 to 30m mark as they follow the whites on their march to the continental shelf. The divers are still catching plenty of reds in shallow and some have been huge.
 
Zane & Dan experienceing the best of the West Australian cray fishery has to offer on board saltwater charters

The surrounds of Rottnest Island and the inshore reefs are yielding reports of plenty of small yellowtail kingfish. Although not big in size they provide plenty of fight on light tackle and there are always much bigger models in same area as well. There is a good chance of coming across samson fish and even amberjack when targeting kings, as well as shark macs and eventually Spanish macs will also begin showing up. The barges off West End are holding schools of large samson fish but as has become the norm, sharks are proving to be a headache. Anglers fishing schools in the 40m mark have been landing plenty of fish with minimal dramas caused by the “taxmen”.  Southern bluefin tuna have also been making regular appearances all over the place so it would be crazy to go out without a light casting rod to make the most of it if you come across them.
 
Big squid have been caught in Cockburn Sound and people are still reaching their bag limits of tasty calamari. It is worthwhile dropping smaller fresh baits in the same area for a feed of King George whiting as you drift over the sandy holes in between the weed beds.
 
Whiting are plentiful in Mandurah but the wind is proving to be a problem. At times depending on the tide the flats are also full of chopper tailor and massive herring, given away by showering schools of tiny bait fleeing for their lives. Crabs are showing up on the flats too but covering ground has been important in catching bags of size and numbers.
 
Land based there have been plenty of chopper tailor along beaches but fish to 60cms have been landed north of Two Rocks. The wind has held a lot of people back unfortunately but those who have fished however have caught. Herring have been abundant and so have sand whiting for those trying to catch a feed. With the coming moon phase and atrocious weather, the chance of a snapper or mulloway is going to be crossing a lot of anglers’ minds.
 
The demersal ban concludes after today, but with the weather forecast being what it is this weekend, the Swan river would be a better option to wet a line, at least for the next few days. Lots of glass shrimp have been invading the shallows around the Burswood area so the bream, grunter and tailor are having a feast. There are still plenty of tailor throughout the Swan and the sizes are better than they were 4 weeks ago. The shoreline and flats in the Nedlands stretch and near the Canning Bridge have produced good numbers of flathead and there is always a chance of hooking into a giant herring. Schools of bony herring further upstream are being hammered which suggests that there are some mulloway lurking below. Crabs in the river are becoming more abundant in the usual deeper holes.


Even bream of this size are thrilling to catch when it is on topwater as staff member Pete knows all too well


Staff member Ando was also shocked to come across this lamprey in the Swan this week
 
If you have any information or photos that you would like to include in our weekly fishing report, please email customerservice@bluewater.net.au.

Just to hype everyone up even more Muzz from Morley sent in one of his dhuie recipes.

COOKING DHUFISH
It can be best to keep it simple when cooking quality eating fish. Sometimes simply pan frying in a little oil or butter can produce the best results. If you are feeling a little more adventurous though and don’t want to ruin a nice fillet of fish this lemon pepper recipe is aa easy and delicious option.
INGREDIENTS
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 2 tablespoons white wine
  • 2 teaspoons lemon pepper seasoning
  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
  • ½ kg Dhue Fish fillets
DIRECTIONS
  1. Melt butter in a small saucepan. Add wine and seasonings and mix well. Brush butter mixture over fish.
  2. Bake in preheated 200-degree oven for 10 -15 minutes or until fish flakes easily with fork.

 


Mate’s Nice Lizards

Submitted by Mick C on Tue, 2017-12-12 21:57

Mal’s recent catch in the Clarence River at Iluka with plastics across the flats.

Is the flathead the only thing we don’t catch bigger in the West?  


And then it begins ...

Submitted by snuffs on Mon, 2017-12-11 13:01

Definite increase in activity of late ... with consistent Tuna starting to congregate at my usual hunting grounds ...

- This weeks recipe: Seared Dukkah Tuna washed down with a Ballast Point Tuna IPA :)


Dingy Fishing at its Best

Submitted by Mick C on Sun, 2017-12-10 21:30

Putting young kids onto fish is always worth the effort.  Going back to your own childhood with a bit of dingy fishing works too.

When weather allows, I take out kids from the MAAC Juniors for an inshore hunt.  Could avoid the Hillarys ramp at 8am this morning by being able to launch at Hillarys Yacht Club dingy/tender launching facility (no cars allowed on the ramp, 750kg mass limit, and you do it all with a winch).  Was by myself for the whole time in boat launching bliss!

Picked the kids up from the beach at the MAAC for a couple of hours on the water.  Callum kindly makes me a burley combo for these trips and his mix today was awesome.  We had schools of fish around the dingy the whole time and the kids were getting a fish a cast – lots and lots of different species.  One young fella got his first ever size eating fish and couldn’t stop talking about how he was going to have it for dinner, as his family had planned to buy fish for the purpose.  We kept the bigger herring and the skippy so they could all have a good feed.

We were called in for the sausage sizzle with the fish still biting, and it was a pleasure to watch the kids walk proudly up the beach into the crowd of the Children’s Christmas Party with their catch.  A great hour or two with fine young men.


Quick Trip North

Submitted by greyheads1 on Fri, 2017-12-08 20:17

Had 4 (and a bit) days to zip up to the northern ledges and just about timed it right with the sharkie run.

John's Jigs did the damaje on the shark macs, and the new feathered bucktails produced some great cobes.

Callum - great job on the bait from shorecatch so thanks for sorting that out.

Day 1  - 3 cobia landed from 7 hookups, 1 lost at gaff rest to sharks as well as a couple of shark macs :( Spango went 68 cm

Day 2  - 1 cobia landed two dropped, lots of shark macs wrestled past the sharks, couple of pinkys later on off the ledges. Rescued a big turtle overturned on a reef?!

Day 3 - 1 big cobia landed and again a couple lost to sharks, loads more shark macs around, had a ~ 15 kg Spanish throw the hooks from a water level ledge (Anthony - thanks for the intel). Fishing buddy managed to cast (accidental hook up on back swing) in a JC Customs rod and stella reel - belonging to someone else - DOH! Then a couple of pinks and a yellow spotted cod. 

Day 4 - another cobe landed, fishing buddy threw on a mask, fins and belt and jumped in at Garths, the video is pretty sick, the stills tell a bit odf the story........and more shark macs

early doors Day 5 - pair of Cod and a pinky to finish.

 

Demersals were tough going - may have been the pressure as the barometer never got above 1006 throughout, but the pelagics made up for it.