West Coast
WA
Inshore anglers delight in July METRO
Jacob Crispe
Recent rain has seen the freshwater influence once again take over the river systems in the Perth metro area. Although the fishing will be tough in the rivers, those anglers who enjoy fishing from
feature of this column is the mulloway. They will definitely be pushed towards the river mouth where they will sit and wait for the food that the fresh pushes down the system. The area around the E-Sheds will be your best bet to target them and if the freshwater influence reduces, they will push further up the system. Just
A great feed of herring caught by Shaun Beard and his wife Jaye down in Mandurah. It’s great fun on the light gear. remember that structure and bait will concentrate where they might be. The tailor that were in good numbers throughout the system will also be
will be on offer. Herring, skippy and King George whiting will be spread along the majority of our rock walls. Fresh baits will be the best way to target them, and
Madeline Close showing her dad how to catch 5-star fish with this top shelf baldchin groper.
Alex Rowles-Verner caught this lovely mulloway at Rockingham jetty on a live whiting.
Cade Brown with an absolute donkey of a West Aus dhu, weighing in at 23.5kg! Cade says this beast hit the smallest bait he has ever dropped!
Shannon Edwards pulled this awesome inshore pink from 8m of water! our rock walls, beaches and in our inshore waters can look forward to some excellent fishing. SWAN RIVER As mentioned, recent rain has played havoc with the fishing in the Swan. It doesn’t mean that the fish aren’t there, it just means you need to work a little harder to find them. Black bream will sit deeper in the water column, staying out of the freshwater that will sit more toward the surface. Try looking at deeper water locations and fish with fresh baits or heavier soft plastic presentations. Small vibes can also produce the goods in this situation. The other species that has become a regular 108
JULY 2021
fishing in July should be good. The usual suspects will be available like mulloway, small sharks and tailor. Tailor numbers will increase this month, as will the size of fish available. Some big tailor have been reported from our beaches. An 83cm monster is just one of many good tailor that have been caught, and this trend will see many beach anglers targeting them this month. INSHORE Inshore anglers get excited as the fresh will result in even better numbers of snapper, skippy and King George whiting congregating in our inshore waters. The highlight will be the snapper. Southwest swells
pushed towards the mouths of the systems. Fresh mulies will be your best option to search these areas to find some fish, and then small metal lures will be an option to target them once you find them. ROCK WALLS AND BEACHES Our rock walls and beaches will be the beneficiary of the freshwater flush. The usual suspects
Mark Derwin with a horse metro pink snapper while drone fishing a very metro beach!
Jay Simpson is an expert hunter-gatherer when it comes to putting a good feed of whiting on the table.
of course use berley to keep them in your vicinity. Keep an eye out for those southwest swells that occur in the month of July as these swells produce the big snapper fishing that all rock wall anglers love. Use big baits and heavy sinkers to reach the areas that these big snapper swim in. Tailor too will be around when these swells stir up the water along the rock
walls. The best times for them are the normal low light periods. Cottesloe, City Beach and the Ammo Jetty will be good places to start your tailor journey. Squid will be a little harder to find as they tend to not like the dirty water as much, but what you will find is they will be bigger in size, making them well worth exploring for. Like June the beach
bring the snapper into these waters in huge numbers. These swells are very much like a natural berley trail, and the snapper take full advantage of it. Areas with 10-15m of water will be best using unweighted baits and a little bit of berley. If I were going to start somewhere it would be at Five Fathom Bank or 3 Mile Reef. Skippy are the other fish To page 109
