WA
West Coast
Preparation is the key MANDURAH
Jesse Choy
With winter setting in, we are definitely seeing larger swells, plentiful amounts of rain and water movement to go with it. When you are
a lot more feasible during this time of the year. Smaller baits such as cubes of squid, pilchard or prawn are a good way to go when hoping to catch a few herring or whiting from the beach. Fishing for these smaller species will often provide constant fun,
Taking the time to set up early means that you can find areas that are mostly free of seaweed. The sunlight doesn’t always help with targeting the species we are after, but it can certainly be a useful tool. incapable of getting to that dream session, it can be a great time to get into the tackle box and organise what chaos is inside. Being organised just means that when the opportunity to fish arises, you are fishing effectively and not spending as much time looking for tackle or missing out on bites as a result. Fishing from the beaches, large swells make for some great gutters but also have large amounts of seaweed that can make some of your larger species harder to target. Constantly checking baits is very important in the winter months, as it can be quite easy for the seaweed to build up on your rig and make the fish hesitant to bite as a result. Not only will the weed provide issues with landing fish, but it can also be extremely painful if you are trying to soak baits for an extended amount of time in hopes of something bigger. Targeting bread and butter species from the sand can be From page 108
that will be prolific around our inshore reefs. They will be widespread with most areas holding good concentrations of fish. King George whiting are a popular target in July. Like the skippy they will found right across our inshore waters. Windmills to the area in front of Fremantle will be worth a look. The key is broken ground, sand patches, a little berley and to keep moving until you find fish. Sand whiting will also continue to be a popular target. Drifting the shipping channel is the most productive way to target them. Squid will be on many anglers’ bucket list
with simplified rigs providing a way of getting around the debris floating around with the tides. Although land-based pink snapper are abundant along most of Mandurah at this time of the year, it is worth sticking to areas that have a bit more rock or sand contour nearby. As we are constantly reminded, these fish are very opportunistic and will use their big paddle tails to hunt for food when conditions get especially rough. Fishing from the sand can be difficult in winter, so spending the time to look for clean sections of fishable water is ideal, with a great alternative being some of the rocks around the cut or town. As a general rule, the weed can move quite freely through these areas, thus they will be some of the first spots to clear up and also your best spots to try soak bait for a
Dready can always count on a reddie! They’re not always the hardest fighting fish, but they are always beautiful. this month. Although the numbers available will drop, the bigger models come out to play and there are not too many anglers who don’t like
The author caught this beautiful pink snapper on a snelled hook rig with mullet bait. To increase his bait’s durability he added some elastic wrap – this can be particularly useful if casting hard or aiming for long distance. good sized pink. Using a break out sinker to anchor baits, like fresh mullet, herring, whiting or squid, is ideal. Bream are starting to really fire up, with a few river mulloway kicking about too. If you are going to chase these fish, focusing in the lower parts of the rivers on a run-out tide is quite effective and will quite often pay off. Although both species can very much hunt their prey, they are also very opportunistic and will wait for schools of bait to wash downstream with the heavy currents. Whether you fish light or heavy will depend on the daily conditions, but gearing up to do both will only help the cause if your initial method does not provide the result you are chasing. If chasing fish on the river, it is worth using lightly-weighted fresh baits and opting for natural colours or profiles when fishing artificial lure. Fishing for freshwater species can be quite fun and is a very popular choice at this time of the year. This type of fishing offers great shelter from winter conditions, as the local dams and streams are often protected by high sides that dampen wind down to bearable levels. As always, the mobile approach
A 2.5” bloodworm grub has, and always will be, a top bream plastic. is heavily favoured and will turn up results when getting out there chasing a few trout or redfin. Although fishing smaller patches of water can produce particularly well, freshwater bodies are quite full of water at this time of the year and fish have a greater
catching big squid. OFFSHORE Anglers will continue to enjoy good fishing on our offshore grounds. Areas
An absolute steam train of a samsonfish caught by gun angler Chris Webster. He still manages a smile while holding that beast up.
Paul Coelho caught this 114cm beast of a mulloway on a yakka and paternoster rig with 7/0 Owner hooks.
like the back edge of Five Fathom and most of Rottnest will hold good numbers of our favourite demersal
species. Areas with 25-50m of water will give you the chance to catch a good feed of samsonfish, dhufish or
area to frequent in. When picking lures, be sure to go for something that allows you to fish different depths, but also something that allows you to fish those depths while you look around and find different areas that will potentially hold fish. snapper. It pays to look for less obvious structure when you fishing these areas. They get less fishing pressure and you will be surprised at the results you can get. Deep dropping is also an option this month. Just keep an eye out for weather windows and get out and enjoy fishing for species like 8-bar, Bass grouper, hapuka and blue-eye trevalla. Although some of your river fishing options won’t be as good in July, the great fishing on our inshore grounds and from the beaches and rock walls will certainly make up for it. Like always, it is just a matter of getting out there and enjoying it. Catch you next month. JULY 2021
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