Lancelin

LANCELIN Peter Fullarton

October and November would be my favourite fishing period for the year in Lancelin. We have crystal-clear water in the bay, tailor and tuna are going off, mulloway are still around and the weather is usually fantastic. the boats leaving the bay target them. Recreational fishers have been asked to reduce the take on demersal species by a further 50%. GPS technology become popular with recreational and commercial fishers, and this led to dhufish and other demersal fish being more efficiently targeted. Boats can now go straight to the best spots without spending whether they be recreational, charter or professional. The larvae resulting from these protected areas can then disperse on the currents. Instead, fisheries minister Don Punch has proposed an unacceptable 8-9 month ban on fishing for demersal species. We ‘the recreational fishing community’ were offered an 8-9 month ban as our supposed ‘consultation’ to have ‘our say’ on how the restrictions will affect our lifestyles. Reductions need to happen, but DPIRD can be more concerned about cost and convenience of compliance rather than the

You don’t need to be too far out to find dhufish, as Chris is able to prove fishing out of his Hobie.

The fun factor can be through the roof, with lots of opportunity to chase fish on lures. I would rather rate the days’ fishing on the fun factor than with the kilograms of meat in the freezer. Some people seem to get caught up in the fillets and wanting to stock the freezer before the demersal ban kicks in on 15 October, and then stop fishing when the freezer is full. During the ban, there is still plenty of fun to be had. It’s hard to beat some fresh whiting or squid for a feed, or the mountains of tuna lurking offshore for a bit of fun, or even pulling lobster pots!

Demersal species are of prominence at Lancelin, and probably 80-90% of time looking for fish.

Recreational boats have also greatly increased their range and reliability with 4-stroke outboards. So even far offshore, the fish have nowhere of safe refuge.

In the past two decades, all the spots have been found, and while not everyone has all the spots wired, combined efforts have seen all the places fish congregate found and marked. This has affected the dhufish’s ability to behave normally, and to aggregate in big schools for breeding purposes.

A long-term solution would be protection for dhufish to aggregate and breed undisturbed by fishers using GPS. A series of no-take areas excluded to all fishers, enjoyment of our pastime and cost to small businesses.

With 2030 set as the benchmark for a recovery, what’s the plan after that? We will have another 500,000 new West Australians and an older population with more time to spend fishing mid-week. A 9-month ban is no long-term solution; in 2030 we will still be in the same boat with increasing fishing efficiency of the recreational fleet, more people on the water and more people for the professional fishing industry. Most likely the increasing pressure on stocks will lead to further bans until the demersal fishery is much like the abalone fishery, which is just a few scant, mad days per year.

Pink snapper breeding aggregations were given significant protection, which is a long-term solution for this species! We are already seeing the benefits, with many fishers along the coast reporting good numbers and so many small fish they are a pest.

Dhufish and breaksea cod have been caught inside the white bank where smaller boats even kayaks can target them. While further offshore, baldchin groper have been more predominant in the catches out from the 30s.

In the next few months crays will be close to the shore until late November when the white migration sees them heading out deep again. Now is prime time to dust off the dive gear and have a look under some ledges or drop a few pots from the tinny.

Tuna can provide some

insane fishing sessions at this time of year, and though they’re not overly large along our coast, there is normally pretty good numbers about. Matching the gear to the size of the fish lets them show their speed and agility.

Samson fish have been featuring in a lot of the catches while chasing demersal species around structure in the 15-30m depths, but most the fish are not huge at around 5-10kg. Baitfish have been finding

refuge under the jetty at night and in the early mornings the sambos often come in to maraud the bait schools and can be caught on live baits, stickbaits and poppers.

Plenty of small whaler sharks and the odd mulloway have been caught casting larger baits in the evening along the beaches.

Tailor have been active until mid-morning and late afternoon, with fish around 50cm common. Gutters and reef breaks are holding larger

fish to 80cm. Beach fishers should make the most of conditions now, as floating weed tends to become more of a problem late this month.

Drone fishers had a dream pink snapper season, but once the ban starts you can try drone fishing for King George whiting. The first thing to do is establish an area of broken weed and sand holes, which could be anywhere from 2-300m from shore. The depth only needs to be 2-4m.

Once you identify the ‘drop zone’, keep dropping berley pellets in dissolving mesh, or you can add a berley cage to the rig. Try a three-hook paternoster using with no. 1 circle hooks, as they tend to hold better in the jaw for the longer retrieves. It’s hard to go past squid for bait, though prawns with shell on generally won’t fail either.

Local fishing identity Scott Mcdonald has been catching and releasing a few sambos off the jetty.

After popping up some tailor earlier in the morning, Huxley pulled this odd-looking snapper off a 150m drone drop.

It’s prime time to be casting lures off the beach, and Huxley Taylor managed this nice one on a Halco Roosta Popper.

There’s plenty of baldies on the flats out from 30m.