Fishing Monthly Magazine | April 2022

Page 117

WA

West Coast

Autumn fishing flourishes MANDURAH

Jesse Choy

April marks a great time to get out fishing, with the autumn weather offering a pleasant experience temperature wise and lots of different fish on offer as well. Whether you are hoping to experience fishing around offshore Mandurah, or perhaps around one of the dams, there is plenty available for every type of angler

around until you find where the crabs are abundant. A chunk of spleen, mullet or chicken neck bait is ideal and be sure to check your pots regularly. Fishing either the Dawesville or Mandurah channels into the estuary will yield results, with species produced dependent on what you are targeting. Anglers are reporting that there are good numbers of prawns around at the right time and also some good-sized squid

tailor still getting around at our northern most beaches despite the fact numbers appear to be thinning out. Using a simple 3-way rig, with a small star sinker, gang and pilchard is ideal for targeting these fish. Using bigger presentations like chunks, strips or fillet baits will produce, and who knows what you may catch at this time of the year. Plenty of school sharks are willing to sniff out fresh bait and for the lucky

systems. Bait is a great representation that fish are nearby opportunistically hunting, so be sure to try your luck around bait school as fish start to be less reserved with the cooling of temps. Fishing the low to mid stream sections of the systems is likely to yield some cracking black bream, with the odd mulloway also thrown in for some great rod bending action. If fishing in the rivers on bait, prawns are a great option and a small chunk of fresh mullet will work well too. The 40-60m zone remains a good place to be, if you are chasing a mix of dhufish, pink snapper or baldie offshore. Reports indicate that it is also worth drifting lightly weighted baits back in shallower water for good results. If targeting pelagic fish, there has been an abundance of big tuna schools and the odd metro mackerel still getting around. If chasing mackies, it is well worth trolling 2m divers like the

Good squid like the one pictured can be hard to come by in Mandurah, but they are around if you spend enough time looking for them.

Driving on to the beaches can be a great option, as you can fish directly from your boot. and whatever fish you may be looking to tick off. If you are going to head into the estuary, the flats are currently bountiful and full of life. Fishing sand patches with weed between, there are some good yellowfin whiting, the odd tailor and salmon trout too. Plenty of blue swimmers are making their way around, with those scooping and drop netting both reporting regular hauls. If it is viable, drop nets are most effective due to the fact you can move

patrolling the rock lines, particularly at night. If fishing around the bridges or rock points, there is some good whiting around, the odd skippy and plenty of herring for those who are after a bit of fun. A bit of squid, prawn or cubed pilchard lightly weighted on a small hook is ideal and will produce a great variety when fishing around these locations. If you feel like getting the sand between your toes, there are some great sized

fishermen there is also some chunky mulloway getting around in the gutters. If fishing some of our southern beaches, you are likely to still come across some good sized tailor, the odd pink snapper showing up on the cast or drone and also some gummy sharks if you are spending a bit more time down on the beach. There is plenty of bait in the rivers, with some big mullet and an abundance of small prawns littered throughout both

From page 116

only demersal species available, dhufish, Breaksea cod, red bite fish and baldchin groper are also available in 30-50m of water. Yellowtail kingfish will remain a popular target species in April. They have been around in big numbers (particularly off the West end of Rottnest). Trolling and using live baits will be your best options to target them. OFFSHORE Fishing around the FADS continues to be one of the main focuses of our offshore anglers. The main target species have been Spanish mackerel and mahi mahi

Paul Coehlo has been getting into some absolute cracker Swan River tailor on surface lures.

Bream are quite a good looking fish, the further you look into their patterns and colours! ever-productive red head or chrome pink around and following a good reef line with contour close by. If with the odd wahoo also being caught. The mahi mahi numbers seem to be endless and the size of the fish are getting bigger. Using live baits or stickbaits has been the most successful way of targeting them. They are great fun to catch and eat well as well. Deep dropping is always an option as long as the weather allows. 150-500m is the zone you are looking for. Any structure on the bottom will more than likely hold fish. The best part is that any fish caught from these depths, generally is great eating. While you are searching for likely looking areas, it is well worth trolling a lure behind

targeting tuna, anglers are reporting that jellybean skirts are producing well, so too are smaller

presentations like 4” plastics and 30-40g metal slices rapidly retrieved back to the boat.

Freo legend Anthony with excellent pink snapper, sent in by the boys at Anglers Fishing World. the boat, as there are plenty of tuna about, which will willingly take a lure. I would like to wish everybody a happy Easter

and I hope you have the opportunity to wet a line. Don’t indulge in too many Easter eggs and I will catch you next month. APRIL 2022

117


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook

Articles inside

Freshwater

11min
pages 122-123

Lancelin

4min
page 118

Exmouth

3min
page 120

Mandurah

4min
page 117

Karratha

5min
page 121

Metro

4min
page 116

Augusta

6min
page 114

Bunbury

5min
page 115

Eildon

3min
page 100

Tournaments

24min
pages 108-112

Fun page/Sub

3min
pages 105-107

Shepparton

5min
page 99

Ballarat

7min
page 97

Hobart

5min
pages 81-83

Phillip Island

5min
pages 90-91

Albury/Wodonga

4min
page 77

Geelong

5min
pages 86-87

Canberra

4min
pages 78-79

Offshore

5min
page 80

Lithgow/Oberon

5min
page 75

Batlow

3min
page 76

Batemans Bay

5min
page 71

Central Coast

8min
page 69

Forster

5min
pages 66-67

Sydney South

4min
pages 62-63

NEW SOUTH WALES Pittwater

9min
pages 58-59

Sydney Rock

4min
page 60

Sydney North

4min
page 61

Testing Booth: Tokuryo Line Lab

11min
pages 54-56

Cape York

3min
pages 48-49

Sustainability of morwong stocks

10min
pages 52-53

Freshwater

13min
pages 50-51

Cooktown

4min
page 47

Hinchinbrook

4min
pages 44-45

Townsville

6min
pages 42-43

Gold Coast

5min
pages 22-23

Northern Bay

5min
pages 32-33

Noosa

6min
pages 34-37

Easter holiday fishing

12min
pages 8-11

Southern Bay

3min
pages 28-29

QUEENSLAND The Tweed

6min
pages 20-21

Jumpinpin

5min
pages 24-26

Starlo’s back to basics

6min
pages 16-19
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.