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 [email protected].