Karratha

Rains with a pinch of trout

DAMPIER/KARRATHA Troy Honey

The first couple of weeks of February saw most of the Pilbara receive welcomed heavy falls that managed to give some of the coastal creeks enough water to flow, but for the better part it was inland around the Karijini

Spangled perch are native to WA. They are a small freshwater species that can grow to 300mm in length but most commonly around 150-200mm. They are edible, although usually taken only for survival purposes. They are found right across the Pilbara in the creeks, rivers, billabongs, and gorges.

Fingers crossed we see

A 74cm bluebone will put any angler and gear to the test. However, Scott Medling made light work of this horse when making the most of a windy day and using the islands for protection.

and Chichester national parks that received enough water to really get going.

Although this wasn’t quite enough to stir up the barra creeks it was certainly enough to help spread the redclaw and spangled perch around some more. Redclaw are a pest in WA, with the only area where they were legally introduced being Lake Kununurra in the Kimberley. They are a welcome pest in the Pilbara, with most people able to enjoy both the fun of catching them and cooking them and to date, have no known risk or damage to the local ecosystem.

From page 122 numbers, strong runs when hooked and excellent table fare. Most fish came from Roebuck Bay along with a few reports of tripletail and northern black jewfish.

Wind was challenging for the demersal fishers up to the first week of February and from there it was smooth sailing allowing many anglers to finally get out wide and chase a feed. Sharks continue to be the predominate challenge though and travelling that bit further to deeper, cooler, less fished waters is the key to a good days fishing. Those that have headed out past the 40mtr mark and into the 50m mark have been rewarded with good catches of red emperor, saddletail snapper and ranking cod. March will continue to produce the same environment for demersals with the warmer water closer to shore which intern drives shark activity higher. There are fish to be caught in waters of 20-30m such as coral trout, bluebone, golden snapper and blueline emperor to name a few but the key to catching them will be to move around and not fish the same spot for too long and attract the sharks. Also finding less commonly fished ground can prove to be worth the extra travel time as these areas don’t often see the build-up of sharks that learn to follow the boats.

The rains will bring out the mud crabs that bury themselves in the mangrove flats normally waiting for the full moon to come out and feed where they can see during the night. The rains will confuse their cycle up a bit, so it is worthwhile dropping a few nets, along as the water is not muddy. Another crustacean to target will be the cherabin, which will be being flushed in rivers such as the Fitzroy. Using cast nets, work the pools along the riverbanks that have formed from rains. The next couple of months of March and April will be prime times to chase these Kimberley delicacies.

Lots of options for everyone and, as always at this time of year, be extra vigilant of crocodiles in the warmer waters.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has read my Broome reports over the last nearly four years and equally thank the support from all the Broome anglers who submitted their photos and tales of their catches, I couldn’t have done it without you. This is my last Broome report as my other life commitments have grown. I am very happy to be handing the Broome reporting over to one of the best Kimberley anglers there is and I am sure many of you know. I feel safe knowing he will do an outstanding job. I will let him introduce himself in the next report. If you see me on the Broome jetty chasing bluebone or anywhere along the coastline fishing, be sure to come over and say hi.

many more days of good rains as we head into March as the creeks and rivers still need a lot more rain to really get going, and many species need this to complete their breeding cycles. Barra catches around Karratha have been patchy. There have been a few reports of great catches in both size and quantity, but they are few and far between. Further north around Port Hedland there have been some very good catches, with several fish over a metre being caught on a regular basis during February. In Karratha, Airport and Nickol Creek have produced good barra along with threadfin salmon, flathead, bream, queenfish, trevally and the occasional mangrove jack.

The two most caught fish over the last month were without a doubt bluebone and coral trout. The Karratha region has very healthy stocks of both species, and due to most catches coming from shallow waters of 15m or less, anglers are getting them past the sharks. If you catch undersized fish or exceed your bag limit, you can safely release the unwanted fish because barotrauma is of little concern in these depths.

Bluebone will continue to be active throughout March in the warmer waters. It’s on the larger tidal days that they

While Karratha is well known for its bluebone fishery, it is the coral trout that is really making its mark of late. All around the islands in the archipelago, north past Point Samson, south past 40 Mile and Mardie and out wide around the Monte Bellos, the entire region is alive with coral trout, which are arguably the best table fare of all fish species in WA, if not Australia. Coral trout can even be caught from shore right along the coastline in the Karratha region, often by anglers targeting species such as bluebone with baits or chasing species such as giant trevally with poppers, or spangled emperor with lures liked bibbed minnows.

Fishing for red emperor during the wet season is certainly more challenging, but they are still around as Scott Medling proved on a trip out in February to deeper waters off Dampier.

really start feeding strongly, especially in the lead-up to high tide when they move in close to shore around the rocks in search of crabs or to get stuck into a feed of oysters. Crabs and oysters are the bluebones’ most preferred food.

Barred cheek coral trout are common throughout the Dampier Archipelago. The author caught six in less than 20 minutes while drifting soft plastics in 15m of water.

There are some great shoals in the archipelago such as Hammersley & Courtenay that hold good numbers of trout. Some of these trout exceed 700mm in length and are well known for taking large poppers and stickbaits being cast by GT anglers. Trout will rise over 10m of depth to hit lures, even ones being retrieved at speed.

Coral trout legalities in WA are one per person bag limit, and they form part of your demersal quota. The size limit is 450mm. Trout varieties commonly caught here in Karratha are barred cheek and common coral trout. Footballer and passionfruit coral trout are found in the region, but they’re rarely caught. It is a very healthy coral trout fishery in Pilbara waters and one we are very lucky to enjoy. Like bluebone, coral trout become extremely active in the warmer wet season waters and unlike many other demersal species, they don’t head out to deep waters in search for cooler

When targeting barra in the Karratha creeks it’s anyone’s guess what other species can be enticed. Phil Anderson found this out when a thumper of a brassy trevally decided he wanted his lure.

conditions.

Blue swimmer crab time in Karratha is just around the corner, with the official kick-off being Easter weekend. Not to say they aren’t around, but finding ones over the 127mm size limit is challenging. Dropping your nets in bays such as Nickol or Dampier at this time of year is always risky too, as the sharks are prevalent and can destroy all your nets in a matter of minutes. Once the water cools 5°C or more in May and June, the shark numbers will drop in the shallow bays as they head out to cause terror for the anglers chasing red emperor and rankin cod.