Hi

I have recently moved to perth and haven't had a chance to do much fishing.

I was planning on heading down to floreat drain tomorrow. I've checked the tide and it looks like it will be droping to low tide while im there. I was wondering if its worth fishing at low tide or am I better off trying somewhere else?
I would appreciate any feedback.

Cheers

Paddy

The Offshore Angling Club held their September field day on the weekend just gone.

I thought I might post a quick report.

Weed situation was terrible and the wind was strong and westerly. In certain spots conditions were so bad that 5oz sinkers weren't even hitting the bottom, with rigs getting snared in weed on the way down and towed along the beach! Never the less some awesome fish were beached including a decent mulloway to 8.5kg and an almost 5kg pink snapper.

Most of the success was had at the Moore River mouth as it was open, and those that ventured further north to seabird and the like struggled, with exception of club member Tony who got a decent haul 'somewhere around lancelin', though he was not forthcoming with too many specifics . Three club members snared their first Mulloways on the outing, not bad going. They say the first is always the trickiest, this has the lads excited for next month.

Check out the report and some photos here:
www.beachfishingwa.org.au/reports/2013/september2013.html

Cheers,

D80

Spent last weekend around Dongara. Towed the tinny up but large swells meant it was shore based only. Managed a couple of hours of good weather and caught a few good size Taylor from 50 to 70cm. Richter plugs are the go for fishing small gaps in the reef from the shore. I was using my Azusa 862 with a sol2 300h and these plugs were casting like bullets, even with a strong headwind. Had a great session for about an hour before they shut down. The weather was a bit shitty for the rest of the time but I did find some good reef to fish when I get back up there.

the tailor were firing on the wkend at my local beach in hillarys, they came on the bite after sundown and were all a decent size (35-45cm) but no greenbacks.

good to know you can still get a decent feed close to home.

cheers

 went out and braved the weather last night for a bream hunt. Heaps of bream with a couple of standouts like this one between 35 and 36, not too bad a night I guess. Cant wait for some warmer and sunnier days. Bring on the flattys!!

Went out today with a workmate, in search of a couple of Dhueys'.
Just invested in a new GoPro Hero3 Black, was hoping to get some good footage today.

Headed west from point peron and found a large school of yellow tail kings on a mark I had! they were everywhere Around the boat from surface to bottom....werent interested in baits, so brought out the 200gm jig and on immediately. Realised they were 55-60cm jobs and not worth our time so moved on. (on video)
Went out to the 40's to the WNW from there, in a recon mission (no marks)....Started out slow, with only a queen snapper and breaksea landed (On video). Not a Dhuey in sight 
Then found them around some more to the south, 4 landed in 4 drifts all between 46-49cm. Then my mate jagged bottom. After losing 4 rigs by this 'early' stage in day to old sunken cray pots and him basically learning the bottom bashing ropes, I wasn't going to lose another. So back around and pull this f'ker out. Out it came, boasting a 55cm somehow connected. Dhuey (NO video!! - curse of the Dhuey arising)

Fluffed around a bit, then mate picked up another u/s Dhuey, and I just turned on the GoPro (so I had thought!) and bam! Big hit, big solid runs....DHU BOY....this dhu I called for 10kg and fought well all the way to the top. Solid Dhuey runs and all......landed the fish and to my amazement the GoPro had missed all the action......
I've been trying to get some good footage of big Dhus and every time it's on, we lose the fish and every time it's off, we land a big dhu.

After that with a full bag, headed in around 130pm.

Turns out the Dhu weighed 9kg. Beautiful specimen and very healthy.

Well, I won't be launching the boat for 3 months, and in 2 it's montes. Until then, tight lines everyone!

Youtube Videos: www.youtube.com/user/XSpence85/videos

Having just moved house and now located NOR i thought i'd try out the local rockwall friday night.

After about an hour of soaking baits and catching rays / port Jacko's i had an awesome run that made my daiwa 4000 and light spin rod (35g casting weight) piss.

About 10 mins later saw colour.... beautiful silver colour to be exact. then it all turned pear shaped... i was trying to pull him close to the rocks where a fellow fisher was ready to gaff, as i got dragged him in about 2m off he dove sharply down and i just couldnt turn him, he ran again, busting me off on something. SHIT.

about half an hour later the bloke next to me had a hookup. he had much heavier gear and the fish was dragged in to within gaff range fairly quickly. I scrambled down and gaffed it for him. He was stoked. went 12.5kg. There was another caught as well, so it is good to see some fish around. I'll be back to finish the job later this week.

cheers

made the drive up to moore river on sunday to take my 2 years and 2 months old for her first fish. she has been practising her reeling in and is getting pretty good, although she can't cast yet. moore river was chosen as the destination as there seem to be lots of little fish around which is obviously the most important bit for kids - quantity over quality.

after i cast the line out i handed over to Laura and before too long she had her first fish. a monumental black bream of about 15cm. we ended up catching about six which she kept in the bucket for a minute or two each before releasing. didn't actually get a pic of any of the fish as my old man took a couple of photos on his camera, but you get the idea.

once i get her hooked i can justify buying a bigger boat

p.s. shoes and pants lasted about 2 minutes

p.p.s pretty proud of herself

 managed to sneak out last wednesday for a snapper bash in the sound... ended up landing 3 and loosing the biggest at the top when the hooks fell out haha the ones I kept went 71 and 79 :)...its good to be eating fish again haha

Long time reader - first report.  Dad's picked up a new Trailcraft this week and we headed out to Cockburn Sound on Saturday morning - our first time back into boating for about 15 years. 

Tried at the D9 from about 7am for a couple of hours, saw a few others have some luck but none for us.  We moved on to some more shallow water looking for smaller fish and struck gold with my missus bringing up a king george whiting as soon as her line hit the water.  We fished on to pull up 5 KGs - just over size 29-31cm but still a pleasant surprise for us newbies!  The herring came on the bite and we pulled up about a dozen and a half.  We headed back to the D9 to finish up but again no luck.  Went home and had a great meal for the family!  Only problem now is the wait to next weekend.

hit the water at 7:30ish covered a few spots in close for 3 undersize pinkies and an undersize dhuie , with no schools showing up and not alot of action headed out , for an undersize dhuie a just oversize dhuie and 2 , KG's  travelled a bit of ground and had too work hard

but came home with a feed , the worst part was i was out fished by a work mate who accounted for all the dhuies hahaha , i think my good run is coming to an end with the only keeper i managed was a KG

Took my old mate out fishing this morning to our secret spot (ha ha) in Cockburn sound. He had not caught a pink snapper for nearly 20 years. Ended up with 2 each by 8-30am, biggest one was 99cm, weighed 11kg. You will get one next time Carlos. Good conditions, good mates, can't ask for more than that.

 Well headed out 9:00 with one member tradewinds GLEN. 7 Dhuies tagged 2 dropped 1 kept around 6-7 kg and 1 baldie released. and we are home  before lunch.Good to meet you Glen.

 Hi all just wondering if anyone knows what the weed is like around s bend ATM and also if there are any fish reports in the area! Thinking bout a quick fish around there thanks ads

Warning to anyone fishing asi watch ur cars as some c$nt tried to flog my lightbar off my patrol I had my big rod out with a livey on and I was standing there after I packed my other gear up for the night and was about to call it quits I look over and a new cars rocked up but nobody walked past me on the groyne straight away alarm bells rang when the car raced off and I then wound in my livey n started heading towards the carpark where two young blokes (could be completely unrelated) rolled up in a van and were asking about vehicle access to the groin. They didnt look like fisherman to me so I gave em a few tips anyway on where to fish. I then reversed out where I had parked and then left the carpark n flicked my highbeams on hit the lightbar switch and no leds wtf I thought so I pulled over and instinct told me someones tried to flog it checked the cable and of course cut ready to be unbolted. F^cken wankers. Spent the last two nights fishing there and caught two port jacksons a few whiting too small to keep and a few tiny bream. The place isnt very active atm. Well from my recent experiences. Only reason ive been going there is because its close but I dont think ile waste my time anymore. 

 Thinking of going out for a all brighter tonight where would be the best place to target any mulloway or snapper thanx for any advise

So call me unAustralian for choosing to skip the second half of my beloved Hawks thrashing the shit out of the Swans. After all I am a bloody nervous football watcher. It was worth it...for it was the last real chance I had to get some fishing in before my two weeks off came to a sad conclusion and back to the drudgery of paid employment. Headed to my local marina, checked  out the conditions (good) and joined the other fishos. Probably chose the most shittiest spot for rock hopping and trying to get fish up (as I was to find out) seeing as everyone else had the more accesible spots.

Anyway, I threw out a selection of mulies and hezza fillets as bait and was getting harrassed by pickers, which I assumed to be those bloody Port Jackson sharks. After an hour or so I finally get something; a snook whose eyes were bigger than its stomach. It's dispatched into the esky as fresh bait. Was starting to get the feeling that tonight was going to be a bust but decided to put down the 12 footer and grab my 8ft spinning combo rigged with a running star sinker, 20lb braid and a single 4/0 hook and try and catch the snook that was smashing the bait.

A few minutes in I hook onto something that was a bit feistier than a snook and got it to the surface and watched it thrash around as I jockied for position but the bastard got washed into the rocks and then *ping*, half the leader is busted off. Undeterred I rig up again and this time I reach into my burley bucket and use a few pieces of smelly yellow tails. I get a sudden strike but nothing turns up and as it quietens down, I go for the 'hail mary' cast. It's time to head home when I feel a few shy little taps but it turns out anything but shy as it's firmly hooked and begins making the reel sing. Now here comes the tricky bit. There is no way to actually get down to the water ledge as the rocks are huge and awkward and worst of all, slippery. I had no gaff or net. So here I am, dancing around, rod in one hand and my other hand acting as balance as I try and get this sucker in, as it utilizes the wash to good effect and peels off line as soon as I get it near to the surface. I was half thinking it was a stingray as there were no real head shakes or anything. I've bounced to my left and tried to get in as close as possible and this thing has been washed in between the bloody rocks!

Here I am, dancing around like a cat on a hot tin roof as I try and spy it with the flash light on my work phone (which is far better than the shitty head light attached to my noggin) when I see some reflection. Then i see a head looking straight up and thought "Nahhhhhhhhhhhh can't be!'. Yet as I try and get a closer look, I slip and in the process (as I found out a little later) snap the end of my rod However I regain my footing (cursing my stupidity and recklessness) place the rod down and begin hauling it up by hand when......

You could've knocked me down with a feather. It was my first ever LB snapper!! This thing is utterly knackered as I safely land it on the rocks. I clutch it tightly under my arm, broken rod in the other and proceed to merrily dance to my gear, happy as a pig in mud and then back to the car. Here i can see that the tip of the rod, with three of the guides, snapped clean off (FAAAAACK) and my tape measure also met it's death in between the rocks. Measured it up at 63 cm. Now, with the tax money we recently recieved all i have to do is convince the missus to hand some over for a new rod....and a landing net as well..... I am sure she will understand, particularly if I catch a snapper every now and then.

Oh yeah......CARNA HAWKS!!!

 Headed out this morning for a quick asquid session with Captain Mac we were fishing out from the rock wall in 3- 4 metres and things started off slow but that didnt last long before the first one was on board with Pete ready with the net and a decent size it was,two minutes later  another and it went quiet for awhile until Pete said lets make a move next thing you know Im on to another squid and this continued every time Pete mentioned this we shifted to Garden Island for a quick drift but came up bubkas,Pete being the great host had iced cold cokes on board (Sensible skipper running a dry boat) imo 

We had another go at the original spot before calling it a day to return back to the ramp to give his tub a wash and try and clean the slimy suckers ended up with 7 squid and 1 cuttlefish

The daughter was very happy with fresh calamarri and a caesar salad for dinner

Thanks again Pete for an enjoyable morning and the chinwag

Bit of a late report this one but a week or so back I managed to sneak out with a mate in his little Tinnie for a quick fish. We nailed 3 good Spanish Mackerel over a metre, a couple of spottie Macks and this big 95 cm, 19 Kilo Gold Spot Estuary Cod.
I forgot to take a pic of it on the tape for the record board!! DOH....

Went out a couple weeks ago after a mate from work said his sounder was broken but he had a spot written down. I usually head out from Port Douglas and the Daintree so I was keen to fish out of Innisfail.

I'm usually an early morning fisho but this was a night fish, so we left my place about midday for the 1:45 or so drive down there.

We were met with wonderful conditions and comfortably cruised out to the inner reefs. First couple drops and couple small but legal coral trout hit the deck, then we decided to have a look around while we still had some light.

We found quite a few good looking spots and had a couple more drops, with a slow but steady flow of various reefies coming onboard.

Just before last light we figured that the best spot was the first one so we headed back. About 7.30pm the current started getting stronger and the bite kicked off a lot better, we ended up with about 30 fish I'd guess with trout, scarlet seaperch, saddletail snapper, spangled emporer and reef jacks all making it into the esky.

Highlight of the trip was when my bait got absolutely smashed, after three good runs on about 9kg (at a guess) of drag, my new PB reef jack came onboard at 73.5cm. I was pretty stoked.

Unfortunately later in the night the sharks turned up and we lost some really good fish which I'm picking for saddletail snapper, bit of a shame but that's fishing. Funniest catch of the night was a spangled emporer neatly missing its tail thanks to a shark.

After months of reading every landbased thread for Exmouth we finally made the trip up in the last week of August for 5 days, I had unrealistic hopes of targetting queenies and gt's along with some decent fish for a feed during the day and multiple sharks at night.

Unfortunately not many photos were taken of anything but the sharks so don't have others to include here. With the exception of the yellow fin bream the fishing was tough, with hide tide being around 2pm and 2am each day we were there and fairly strong southerlys the majority of the time. 

An excess of yellowfin bream were caught but only a handfull of legals, luckily for them we didn't know how good they tasted untill after we left so the majority were released. The only other notable captures were a 40cm goldspot and queenie at Bundegi along with a small diamond/pennant trevally at the marina where there was a few decent sized parrotfish crusing along the rocks.

Came close to being spooled a few times only to be busted or bitten off, really regretted not bringing heavier wire with me especially after all the other crap I bought for the trip which didn't get touched.

Went out on the glass bottom boat on our last day and was told by the skipper that it was extremely rare to get such a calm day, was definitely worth the money getting to see countless barracuda resting in the deeper water around the coral formations, a 1m+ cod cruising around and few spanglies, baldchin and lone coral trout hanging around under a large coral. 

While it wasn't everything I (unrealistically) expected it was definitely worth the drive and my best trip north so far, already planning our trip back next year

Thanks for reading

First night landed this little black tip then came close to being spooled on my spheros 18K only to busted off after it stopped

Little lemon landed while the federal police came down for a look during their patrol

Some of the missus catches

 

 

 

 

 

Tantabiddi and the glass bottom boat on the last day

 

 

 

 gummy sharks from shore? Are there any popular spots

 Hey guys anyone been getting into some herring lately? Need to get some more baits.

i have plenty of burley and such but I'm curious if there is protected spot in this weather that'll produce for me?  Not just herring but gardies and yakkas also, any BB species to be used for bait , I'm not picky haha I'm land based also.

thanks pegz

Last night the 3 of us went out from Freo, things started pretty poorly with the lumpy swell around and after moving spots several times and losing our reef anchor and one KG, we were just about to call it quits, when we decided we would give it one last try with our only sand anchor left, and it was worth it as we got into Pinkies, flathead, KG's, Snook and few other by catches and one decent Occy which we threw back, got home around 1am but was so happy to be talked into going out.

Cheers all!

Muskellunge (Esox masquinongy), commonly called "muskie" or "musky", come from the Ojibwa word maashkinoozhe ("ugly pike"). Personally, I find them as the fairer cousin of the Northern Pike. The mystique surrounding these often difficult to target fish also elevate them into a class of their own. A trophy muskie is truly a highly regarded prize.

Coming out of fishing hiatus just for a special lifer trip, I had the pleasure to take Richard and his son Tristan on their quest to catch a lifer muskie this weekend. Our location is a muskie factory with a great population of smaller individuals - the average size here is in the high 20-inch to low 30-inch, with the occasional 40-inch plus. We only had 1.5 days to find them, so instead of fishing some trophy waters, I wanted to have quantity in our favour.

Day 1

Friday afternoon, we arrived to set up camp first. Rain was in forecast so securing a dry refuge was crucial. By 3:30pm, we finally launched the little dinghy into the tannin waters of (not-for-your-eyes) and started plugging the shorelines.

After an hour of fishing, the usual muskie haunts were pretty vacant, so we fished toward Rocket Bay to see if one of these little rockets could be found. Along the way, Richard caught a 1lb Largemouth Bass with a frog patten Jitterbug.

The mouth of Rocket Bay was enclosed by a point topped by healthy green weeds and patches of lily. I have caught some nice bass off this point in the past. Casts were made to deliver the muskie bucktail inches from the shoreline vegetation and pull them out of the shallows over weedline. One cast produced a THUMP as soon as the lure landed, follwoed by deep headshakes and an impressive jump, and an incidental catch was brought into the net. We didn't tape measure or weight this fish, but I would guess it was around the high 3 to low 4 range, making it a potential personal best Largemouth Bass. A great catch, BUT it wasn't a muskie!



Once inside Rocket Bay, we started the drift down one side along the weedline. If we positioned the boat on the line, it was possible to cast into the shallower weedbed and the deeper basin at the same time. Casting ahead and behind the boat would allow the angler to work lures parallel along the weed edge. Boat position was critical fishing here, but the wind was making our job difficult.

After covering the entire length of the bay, the wind hasten and the drizzling rain became a steady shower. Rain or shine, the decision was to continue fishing with our limited time.

We drifted deeper into the back end of the bay where it was usually too shallow for bigger muskies, but it was here where my lure was stopped during the retrieve. Initially guesses of another bass turned into a happy revelation when a long body came to the surface. Just a little 26-inch muskie, but target nonetheless. Poor little guy was bit by a slightly larger muskie.



After seeing the muskie, Richard switched on the hunting mode. He swapped his Jitterbug for a black buzzbait. As we turned out of the back bay to work down the other side of the bay, his buzzbait was stopped by a small muskie. Unfortunately, due to some issues, his first muskie experience turned sour when the fish jumped off. The rain was coming down pretty hard now but we fished on. Tristan was a trooper donning his rain jacket and manning the live bait line.

We saw a giant floating yellow banana and Michael finally arrived to join us. The four of us plugged the shoreline pretty well but failed to garner another hit. The intensity of rain increased exponentially by the second and now it was torrential and horizontal. The wind was constantly pushing the boat toward shore, so Richard and I decided to call it a day for Tristan's sake. Michael decided to wait out the storm.

As expected, when we finally got back to the launch and hauled out the dinghy, the rain stopped. It was a bit late to launch again, so we simply returned to camp. Later, we found out Michael was reward with a 30-inch muskie after dark on a buzzbait.

Everything was drenched and even the tent seams had small leaks, but we did start a campfire, had dinner and roasted some marshmallows. Since the ground was so damp, the amphibians were crawling about, including this beautiful Blue-spotted Salamander (Ambystoma laterale).



Day 2

We had a late start to the morning knowing Tristan would appreciate a few more hours of sleep. After breaking down camp and having breakfast, we were finally on the water by 9am. We covered some of the usual muskie haunts again but found nothing but a couple of Largemouth Bass, so onwards toward Rocket Bay we went.

Michael was already there but reported a very slow morning. We made a drift down the left side of the bay with no love. While drifting down right side of the bay, Richard finally hooked up with the right kind using a firetiger Husky Jerk. Another 26-inch muskie, but a lifer nonetheless!



We made a drift down the left side of the bay again and I hooked up near the mouth of the bay. It was an even smaller 23-inch model, but so very beautiful.



Fishing was pretty slow in the bay and we decided to explore new territories. We found one nice looking shallow bay and I had a small muskie followed the bucktail.

Fishing back in the main deeper areas again, we drifted down the shorelines until we hit a little shallow saddle area. My initial cast was fouled with some green weeds, but the follow up cast was grabbed by a little one. By this time, it was already 2:20pm and Tristan had all but given up on the live bait rig. He had been extremely patient with the two fish heads in the boat but obviously showing a bit of frustration for his lack of excitement. I handed the rod off to him so he can land his first muskie as well.



Exploring more areas, we found this turn in the shoreline where there were three downed trees within 30 feet area and a floating dock 15 feet to the right. In total, we tempted 4 muskies from this spot, but all of them showed varing levels of interest without a solid hookup. Michael was the closest after the same muskie hit his Figure-8 three times but failed to hook up on each hit! I saw the biggest fish of the trip which was a 30-inch plus muskie following the bucktail, but the fish dropped off the chase upon seeing the boat. Frustrating...but that's typical of muskie fishing.

We finally found the bay where Michael caught his lifer Tiger Muskie and regular Muskie. This spot produced only a hit for me today. We continued to push on deeper into the unknown until we reached another promising shallow weed shelf. A couple of casts later, I was rewarded with the 3rd muskie of the day at 4pm.



We fished another hour in the area and decided to troll back to the launch for no further love. It was a decent day of muskie fishing. In the past few years, I typically experienced more follows from bigger fish and less fish landed. This year, we landed a few smaller fish but didn't see anything over the 30-inch range. Perhaps it was the time of year, or perhaps it was the low pressure that blew through the overnight. I know there are bigger fish in the area...so maybe Thanksgiving weekend will allow us another try at it. Regardless, we had a fun weekend of muskie fishing and I was glad Richard landed his first ever muskie and Tristan got to hold one of his own as well.

Heading down to denmark around new years and am planning to wet a line. Have fished there 2-3 times before and literally have not hat a bite or lost my bait. Can I Please have some advice for fishing down there on what my target species should be and how I should be rigging up for them. I will be using a boat with a colour sounder if that helps. Thanks

 Whats everyones thought on fishing there tonight with the wind ? 

Any big fish show up there such as rays/sharks/mulloway ? if we burley up enough ? 

 Never been to the 3 mile reef before

Could anyone pm the cords? 

What type of fish will i expect to catch? Anychance of some sharks and pinkies? 

 Hey guys going to esperence in a couple of weeks whats it like their this time of the year?

I heard bandy creek is good for mulloway and the bread and butter

also the tanker jetty for squid ?

will there a few salmon around? Or to late?

im staying at the seafront c/p and i will have my bike so ill be stuck to just around town

i will have my mulloway gear and my bream gear 

cheers