South Coast
WA
Lots to do for land-based anglers ESPERANCE
Murray Johnson
The south coast has been enjoying a mild autumn, with plenty of calm days and opportunities to go fishing. There have been good numbers of salmon along the coast, with sizes up to around 7kg. Smaller schools have been spotted at local beaches like Salmon Beach and Fourth Beach. The salmon are also being caught by anglers fishing 11 Mile off the reef and, further out of town, Roses
and Munglinup to the west. To the east, there are plenty of fish at Alexander Bay and Thomas River. The salmon will continue to school as we head into winter and the water temperatures change. The best rig is still a standard paternoster with a pilchard on a gang, and a 3/0 circle hook below with a bit of squid on it. This lets you cover all your bases so you can still catch those fussy eaters. If bait fishing isn’t for you, any shiny lure will work such as a Halco Twisty. Weights range from 30-70g depending on the rod you’re using.
There are good numbers of skippy being caught, with samples around that 4kg mark showing up. The best beaches have been Thomas River, Stockyards and 14 Mile. We are also seeing plenty of small bronzies being caught, with Roses and Munglinup beaches producing plenty of bronzies. Out to the east, Thomas River, Poison Creek and Israelite Bay have also been yielding bronzies. There are still plenty of herring around, with local jetties yielding good numbers. Squid are starting to come back in as well, and there are
Oli Stevenson with a trophy mulloway. Image courtesy of @olistevensonn.
plenty of garfish at night. Bandy Creek Boat Harbour is still producing plenty of small King George whiting, smaller herring, flathead and the occasional bream and flounder. The local lakes are still producing numerous bream up to 40cm. Rainfall events have increased the water levels, which has helped to improve the fishing. When it comes to lure choice for the bream, soft plastics are still a standout. We like the Daiwa Bait Junkie 2.5” Minnow in any of the natural colours, rigged on a no 2 hook with a 1/16-1/12oz jighead. A lot of guys are using 4-6lb braid and 4lb leader, but you can still get them on 20lb if you’re rather fish heavier. It’s a trade-off; when you go really light you will lose the bigger fish, but you’ll catch more fish overall. Good leader choices include Black Magic Fluorocarbon and Daiwa J-Thread FC 4-10lb. Moving on to fishing in the bay from a boat, you can get good catches of squid, plenty of sand whiting, and there are also snook and bluefin tuna coming through. Additionally, we are seeing the occasional in-close pink snapper, plenty of queen snapper, sweep and even
Lachy Warren with a healthy gummy caught while salmon fishing. Image courtesy of @lachywarren. some nannygai in around the closer islands at the moment. Out wide, there are good numbers of samsonfish, with plenty of samples over 20-25kg. There are also loads of smaller yellowtail kings (around 8-10kg), plenty of nannygai going 65cm, and good numbers of pink snapper out wide up to 11kg. There are also plenty of breaksea and queen snapper on offer. Looking to the future, we will see the salmon schooling up after they come back from Perth, and they will stay close to the shoreline for a while. Squid fishing will improve with the cooler water temperatures, and we will still see plenty of sambos and yellowtail kingfish coming close to the shoreline.
Shore-based anglers can also start targeting the bigger skippy, which can go up to 7kg, and there are also plenty of small mulloway on offer. If you’re prepared to drive you can go to Cocklebiddy for 3-4 nights and catch bigger models of mulloway, along with good pink snapper. It’s a good trip to make, particularly in summer. • 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.
It’s an autumn pink paradise BUNBURY
Whiteys Tackle and Camping
With the opening of the demersal season, thoughts turn to the inshore pink snapper fishery. These pink slabs are in close to shore at the moment and are in large numbers. The rough weather presents a good opportunity for the pink snapper to forage for food that gets bashed around and dislodged during and following the numerous cold fronts that will be coming through over the next few months. Due to the fact that they move around a lot looking for their next meal, the best results usually come in the form of setting the pick and getting a solid berley trail going, bringing the fish to you. Some days it will only take minutes for them to appear and once they come up in the berley trail the fishing is generally hot with fish coming one after the other. A berley that consists of fish frames, old bait and scraps works a treat but can be a messy job to do at home. Nowadays though, there is quality frozen berley options available in-store that are perfect for the job. Once the berley trail is established all you need to 96 MAY 2023
do is present an unweighted or lightly weighted mulie/scalie on a gang or snelled hooks with hook size determined by the bait used, 4/0 to 6/0 sizes are the most common. Black bream are a popular target over winter with the
There are certain plastics on the market that have a large amount of scent built into them to provide the bream a smelly scent-filled target in the dirty water. In this situation some of the most successful plastics would be the Berkley
colours that give off a bit of flash doing the damage. Rigged with a solitary treble hanging off the rear end, these bream magnets will bring the fish from far and wide and with such a small profile lure the hook rate is exceptional! Cast in close to the timber let it sink down, but be ready to strike and engage the bream because he will race out and nail it and be back to his lair given the chance. If you are in the mood for sitting back on the riverbank and chilling out, a small ball sinker running down to a baitholder or shiner hook
This pink snapper was caught landbased on a drone by Scott Storey. laced with a fresh strip of mullet will usually fool these cunning fish. Look for creeks or runoffs feeding into the main branch of the river
Harry Fowler with a decent rainbow trout caught on a ZMan Slam Shady Grub. Collie and Brunswick rivers always holding a few, while they can be tough to find sometimes the quality makes up for it. With the cooler freshwater flowing leading into the river the winter bream do get sluggish and that means time to get out the soft plastics and vibes. Slow your retrieves down using long pauses and small movements are the key to targeting winter bream.
Gulp soft plastics and/ or the ZMan soft plastics smearing in a scent. Generally, you will need a little bit more weight on the jighead to counteract the harder flowing water, so look at using between 1/16 and 1/8 jigheads with a hook size to suit your plastic choice. In regards to vibes, the River2Sea Baby Vibes are an absolute killer with either the darker colours or baitfish
Kristy Diable with a decent dhufish caught using a Vexed Bottom Meat and a nice fresh piece of occy.
because good chance bream will be waiting to pounce on any offering flowing into the river. Other news on the boating front; dhufish are a hot target with local anglers catching these fish in the 30-35m range. You can target these fish with quality bait like fresh octopus or mullet, otherwise give jigging a go. This method of targeting dhufish is super fun and can entice a bite out of aggression, meaning you can catch fish even when they aren’t feeding! • As always call into the store to get the latest info on where they are biting! And the crew at Whiteys Tackle and Camping in Treendale are always more than happy to share their knowledge of the southwest and fishing techniques so don’t be shy, come on in and say hi, show off your catch and ask any questions you may have.
