WESTERN AUSTRALIA Esperance

ESPERANCE Murray Johnson

Water temperatures have continued to drop, and this has brought with it the species that love the colder conditions. The fishing has continued to depend on the weather. We’ve been getting the usual winter storms, but they have been interspersed with some nice, sunny, still days.

One of the main targets at this time of year is, of course, the salmon. Salmon love these conditions, and have be caught in good numbers too. The best beaches to target mulloway are 14 Mile, Rossiter and Thomas River.

The fishing in town will improve now that the tanker jetty is back in operation. We are seeing big numbers of good-size herring, plenty of squid with tubes up to 40cm, lots of garfish at night, and smaller skippy off the jetty to half a kilo. The best rig has still been a no. 2 berley blob, a 1m leader, a no. 4 longshank hook and green lumo tube. You just cast and retrieve the rig like you would do with a lure.

When it comes to squid

some King George whiting going 35cm, along with some flounder, and also herring and garfish at night. Boat-based anglers have been catching good numbers of squid and herring in the bay, mixed in with some snook and the occasional flathead. Heading around the islands, you can still catch good queen snapper, smaller samsonfish, breaksea and sea sweep. If you get the opportunity to go wide, there are still plenty of nannies going 55cm, plenty of breaksea, queen snapper, samsonfish and yellowtail kingfish.

VIC MERCURY DEALERS

ALBERTON ALBERTON MARINE 39 Johnson Street Alberton P: (03) 5183 2344 F: (03) 5183 2219 W: albertonmarine.com.au MELBOURNE MELBOURNE MARINE CENTRE 393-399 South Gippsland Hwy Dandenong South P: (03) 9703 2003 W: melbournemarine.com.au

BENDIGO BENDIGO MARINE & OUTDOORS 160 Midland Highway Epsom P: (03) 5448 3988 W: bendigomarine.com.au MORNINGTON PENINSULA MY MARINE Cnr Nepean Highway & Ponderosa Place Dromana P: (03) 5987 0900 W: mymarine.com.au

MELBOURNE BL MARINE 612- 614 Plenty Road Preston P: (03) 9478 1420 F: (03) 9470 4638 W: blmarine.com.au SHEPPARTON BOATS AND MORE 207 Numurkah Road Shepparton P: (03) 5822 2108 F: (03) 5821 2908 W: boatsandmore.com.au MORWELL CRAWFORD MARINE 71-77 Chickerell Street Morwell P: (03) 5134 6522 F: (03) 5134 6455 W: crawfordmarine.com.au ECHUCA EADES XTREME MARINE 24 Sturt Street Echuca P: (03) 5482 2333 F: (03) 5482 2133 W: xtrememarine.net.au BRAESIDE JV MARINE WORLD 878 Springvale Road Braeside P: (03) 9798 8883 F: (03) 9798 7554 W: jvmarine.com.au

MORNINGTON PENINSULA NAUTICAL MARINE 141 Hotham Road SorrentoSalmon are a prime target at this time of year. Imagecourtesy of @lachy_warren. made their way back down P: (03) 5984 1666 from the west coast in big E: info@nauticalmarine.com.au numbers. Schools can be seen W: nauticalmarine.com.au along the whole coast, but specific areas to target around TOORADIN town are Salmon Beach, Forth P&J MARINE SERVICE CENTRE P/L Beach, Nine Mile and Roses. Big schools have also been 101 Tooradin Station Road Tooradin seen at the Duke of Orleans, P: (03) 5998 3107 Alexander and Poison. E: pjmarine_services@bigpond.com

Along with the salmon we’re starting to get some tailor, which can be as big as 75cm. Anglers are also GEELONG PORTSIDE MARINE CENTRE reporting skippy to 6kg, 36-38 Geelong Road Portarlington plenty of herring, and flathead. P: (03) 5259 1110 Bronze whalers also frequent E: info@portsidemarinecentre.com.authe salmon schools, and smaller soapy mulloway can W: portsidemarinecentre.com.au MELBOURNE THE MARINE SHOP 6 Holland Drive Melton P: (03) 9747 0588 F: (03) 9747 3999 W: themarineshop.com.au MELBOURNE TRIPLE M MARINE 117 Northgate Drive Thomastown P: (03) 9465 8787 F: (03) 9466 1418 W: triplemmarine.com.au Oli Stevensonn with a nice harlequin. Image courtesy of @olistevensonn.

fishing on the jetty, some of the best results lately have come on the Yo-Zuri Finance-Q in a BLSK colour (a silver/blue pattern) in 3.5 size. The other jig we’ve had good success on is the new Shimano Sephia Flash Boost Clinch in the Prawn K colour (an iridescent, multicoloured pattern). The best time is early in the morning, at dusk and into the night.

The local lakes are producing good numbers of black bream, with some anglers catching up to a dozen fish over 40cm. Bandy Creek Boat harbour is still producing FISHING IN JULY

As winter progresses the water temp will continue to drop, and more and more salmon will be caught in the coming weeks. We should also see more and bigger skippy getting caught, and more mulloway coming in.

We can also expect more gummy sharks to come into the system this month. You can catch them with a standard paternoster, baited with a pilchard or strip of herring on an 8/0 snell or 5/0 gang depending on the bait. The best time is just after dark, the same a mulloway. Some of the anglers targeting mulloway will run a sliding sinker rig so the baits can travel with the mulloway. These fish have sensitive mouths and often will just lip the bait rather than grabbing it, so you want to run a very loose drag.

This month the bream fishing will continue to improve with the water levels rising, and the squid will remain in good numbers too. • Established in 1986, Southern Sports and Tackle specializes in the supply and servicing of fishing equipment. They have an extensive knowledge of the local area and provide all brands, whether you’re fishing from beach, jetty or boat. Come and chat to the friendly staff at Shop 16, The Boulevard, Esperance or phone 08 9071 3022.

WA MERCURY DEALERS

BUNBURY BLUEWATER MARINE 18 Hawkins Street BUNBURY P: (08) 9791 1499 F: (08) 9791 1497 E: bluwater@bigpond.net.au W: bluewatermarine.com.au

EXMOUTH EXMOUTH AUTOMOTIVE & BOATING 5 Griffiths Way EXMOUTH P: (08) 9949 2795 F: (08) 9949 4795 E: exautomotive@bigpond.com W: exmouthautoandboating.com.au

MANDURAH MANDURAH OUTBOARDS 53 Gordon Road MANDURAH P: (08) 9581 7224 F: (08) 9581 6305 E: james@mandurahoutboards.com.au W: mandurahoutboards.com.au ALBANY RUSTY’S MARINE U2/205 Chesterpass Road ALBANY P: (08) 9842 1022 E: rustysmarine@bigpond.com W: www.rustysmarine.com.au ROCKINGHAM MIDWAY MARINE 43 Hurrell Way ROCKINGHAM P: (08) 9527 6963 F: (08) 9527 6964 E: info@midwaymarine.net.au W: midwaymarine.net.au

HENDERSON THE BOAT BUSINESS 1/5 Contest Link HENDERSON P: (08) 9437 5144 F: (08) 9437 6144 E: mark@theboatbusiness.com.au W: theboatbusiness.com.au

WANGARA HI TECH MARINE 12 Uppill Place WANGARA P: (08) 9309 2888 F: (08) 9309 2397 E: sales@hitechmarine.com.au W: hitechmarine.com.au