Metro

The demersal fishing ban comes into place from the 15th of October, and will run through until the 15th of December. This annual closure ensures that our demersal species have the opportunity to spawn in peace, ensuring we have good fishing well into the future.

Having said that, there are plenty of other fishing options, to give you an excuse to go and wet a line. Swan River

As we move closer to the warmer months

Paul Coelho has been catching a lot of nice squid from the rocks around Freo lately. of the year, the shallow flats of the Swan come alive with fish, and with anglers targeting them. The three main species to be caught in this shallow water (ankle to waist deep) speedsters of our waterways.

Other options this month are tailor and of course mulloway.

Rock walls and beaches

October for me is all about squid. Their numbers

Jake Walker taming one of the Swan’s ghosts of the darkness. This beautiful mulloway measured 125cm.

are flathead, bream and yellowfin whiting.

Flathead are by far the most popular of the three that I have mentioned. They push out of the deep water up onto the flats, feeding up on prawns and small baitfish. Although they can be targeted using bait, most keen flathead anglers will use small hardbody lures or blades. Baits tend to get cleaned up by the many toadfish in the river before any flathead gets a chance to see them, and using lures allows you to avoid them so you can actively fish an area until you find a concentration of fish, and then focus on that area.

Targeting yellowfin whiting using surface lures tends to also kick in around October. It is something this author loves getting out and doing, but I have found the Swan whiting can be very challenging to catch using this method. For me, the better option has always been to head over to Mandurah and target them there, but I know plenty of anglers who say the opposite. All I know is that it is great fun to do.

If we happen to get an extended run of warmer weather, giant herring are also on the cards. For many anglers they are the unicorn of the Swan, i.e. impossible to catch there. However, giant herring are definitely there to be caught. Small metals and stickbaits are the lures of choice. One thing is for certain, you will know when you have hooked one, they are one of the true a successful capture. Find those ink stains and you are in with a fighting chance.

Other bread and butter options are King George whiting, skippy and the everpresent herring. As always, berley is a very important component of targeting these species. Get a good berley trail going, use fresh baits and you will be one step closer to taking a feed home of these tasty fish.

Tailor have been prolific along all of our beaches, and this is set to continue through October. They are well worth targeting because the average size has been between 40cm and 50cm, with the odd larger model in amongst the smaller fish in the schools. Remember where there are tailor, the mulloway will not be too far away. It can pay to have a fresh (legal-sized) tailor fillet out in the gutter you are fishing, because you never know when a mulloway may come along.

Small sharks (black tips and gummies) can also be attracted to these schools of feeding fish. Mullaloo or Cottesloe beaches are great beach fishing options. Remember there is no shark fishing allowed at Cottesloe beach. Inshore

A bit like the rock walls, squid and King George whiting will be the mainstay targets for the month of October. Squid will be found in shallower water, around 2m to 6m. Look for broken,

will increase (not all big, but plenty of them) and most of our rock walls are viable options to try and catch one. If you are unsure if they can be caught where you are fishing, there is always that tell-tale sign to keep an eye out for: the ink stain left behind on the rocks after

Harley Jarosz with a pigeon pair of pinks. These fish were caught in a 1-hour session between Harley and his mate.

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weedy ground and then hop a squid jig over the top of it. Jig colours don’t seem to be a factor (everybody has their own favourites), but it does pay to change your jigs on a regular basis if you are not having any success. Once you find the right jig and the right area, either anchor or do repeated drifts over the area, as squid tend to hang around in groups.

King George whiting can be found in similar water, just a little deeper, between 4m and 10m. You can get good results fishing the sand patches amongst the weed using fresh baits (squid is a fantastic bait). If you are having no success you can either berley up or keep moving until you find an area with more fish.

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Kai Grover Boyle with a nice flathead caught flicking lures over patchy ground around the rock walls. towing lures behind their boats or casting stickbaits or lures at bait balls that have been pushed to the surface by predators. Additionally, yellowtail kingfish are always an option at the South West end of Rottnest Island, and jigging for samsonfish around structure is another great way to put a bend in a Corey Hill with a thumping 53cm King George whiting he caught land-based while casting a whole squid on snelled hooks.

fishing rod.

Deep drop fishing is always an option as well, although the weather, as always, is the key to getting out and doing it.

I hope you enjoy everything that October has to offer, and I look forward to catching up with you next month.

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