Augusta

AUGUSTA Anthony Gillam

Winter is in full tilt and didn’t the West know all about it! Massive wind and rain storms buffeting the state over the space this was a good choice for the intrepid few who donned rain gear and tried their luck. Plenty of King George and yellowfin whiting have been located throughout the inlet and along the coast. It just relied on being able to safely get out for a fish. jetties and also out along the beaches of East Augusta and Jays Beach. They love glass shrimps, which live in abundance throughout the area, and a couple rigged on a small hook will soon elicit a bite. Cast out into a channel and slowly retrieve the line for the best results. Quite often there will be King George whiting and herring in the same location so a mixed bag often results. River prawns, squid strips and cockles will also result in a bag of fish.

As the nights get to single digit temperatures it is the perfect time to rug up and head down to the Town and Ellis Street Jetties chasing yellowfin whiting under the bright lights. It seems that the colder it is the better they bite. Throwing a metal slice lure out into the dark and winding it into the highly lit areas will likely

How about this for a thumping samsonfish? It was successfully released after an arm stretching fight.

of several weeks made fishing a rare activity. But there are rainbows to be seen even among the worst weather and the lucky few who had a chance made sure they got in a quick fish with some good results.

When the weather is a bit rough, quite often the only place to throw a line is in a sheltered bay along the coast or up the river. Lately

The large amounts of rain recently have washed dirty water right through the river and out into Flinders Bay. This resulted in discolouration of the water of Hardy Inlet, until the change of the tide allows the saltwater to turn it clear and blue again. The positive result in this is that the yellowfin whiting have made their way down to the A group effort resulted in this lovely specimen of WA dhufish while bottom bouncing in Flinders Bay.

Bernice Gillam with a Kraken sized cuttlefish taken as by-catch off the rocks when fishing for skippy.

result in hits from chopper tailor that have been attracted to the area. If you are lucky some in the 50cm range will zone in for a heap of fun. Although they are not the best eating fish, fresh for breakfast is always a great start to the day.

The whale season has really taken off with dozens of humpbacks and southern right whales migrating through the bays and providing a welcome distraction on the days when it was not possible to wet a line. Their acrobatic displays are a sight to behold and their ease of movement never fails to amaze. If you get the chance to go on a whale watching cruise then take it, you will remember it for the rest of your life.

When the weather did ease off it was only for the odd day or two but plenty of bigger boats hit the ramps and headed out to the deeper waters chasing demersals and pelagics. Smaller boats played it safe and hit the close in reef or sand patches looking for some of the fat sand whiting that Augusta is known for. It paid off in spades for many with dhufish and pink snapper seemingly everywhere. There are large numbers of juvenile snapper around 40cm at the moment so care needs to be taken when bringing them up from the deeper waters to prevent barotrauma and allowing for a greater success rate for the survival of released fish. Baits of squid or octopus have been well received, as have mulies, mullet and herring. Soft plastics in the 7” range and Vexxed bottom meat jigs with herring fillets as usual score some great fish.

The beach fishing scene during winter can be nasty but on the calm days there are plenty of herring, skippy and whiting around. Places like Cosy Corner, Foul Bay and Deepdene always provide a feed but there is nothing stopping you going for a wander along any of the other numerous beaches in the area as all will produce if you look for gutters, holes or channels. Areas of reef will also provide tarwhine and flathead if you drop a bait as close to the edge as possible. Fishing off the rocks continues to be one of the most productive pursuits for land-based fishers, can also be deadly. Choose a spot that allows you the chance to seek refuge from any king waves and don’t let calm conditions fool you into thinking you are safe. Rogue waves are just that and can quickly result in being thrown into the water. People have died here after being washed off by king waves. • Unpredictable weather can quickly affect the fishing conditions and

A trip to Black Point resulted in a nice sized pink snapper for this young angler who will be hooked on fishing for life now.

especially for bread and butter species. Winter skippy and herring are everywhere and are of a great size. To work them into a feeding frenzy introduce a small but frequent berley mix of pollard, fish oil and mashed up mulie. Try the rocks at Ringbolt, Dead Finish or Skippy Rock or the rockwalls at the marina.

Rock fishing can be very productive in Augusta but it slippery rocks are a recipe for disaster. Please remain vigilant when rock fishing; wear a life jacket and tie off to something solid. You can hire one for free from Augusta Xtreme Outdoor Sports at 66 Blackwood Avenue Augusta -the local tackle shop and font of all local fishing knowledge. Look for the big green sign on the roof, it’s right next to the BP Service Station.

WA South Coast

Options are still there for determined anglers

BUNBURY Whiteys Tackle and Camping

Although we are getting to the end of winter there is still a bit of average weather rolling through, which can make some of the regular types of fishing difficult.

Beaches can be washed away and, combined with the dirty water and weed, makes it nearly impossible to fish. Boaties will get the advantage of fish being in closer to shore but if it’s blowing 20 knots+, well you’re staying at home. Most passionate fishers start getting itchy casting arm (including myself!) when kept off the water

Despite the winter weather, Mark found a couple of reasons to keep fishing.

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The Protector Series 270-degree awning is priced at $2,490 plus shipping, and stock is limited. For more information visit campkingindustries. com.au, or look up Camp King Industries on Facebook. - FM hardbodies, including OSP Dunks and Daiwa Spikes but I prefer the sinking variety of lures at this time year. I find getting a lure slowly bumping slowly along the bottom with lots of pauses will get the bream interested enough to pick it up and hopefully that super sticky treble or jighead will find its mark.

Plastics are probably the most commonly used lure this time of year but there are a couple of extra tips to help you get better results. Make sure you use scent on your plastics or a

DIMENSIONS

Length packed away: approx. 2.3m Spread from vehicle: approx. 2m Length open: approx. 4.3m Weight: 24kg There have been some large squid in the bay. type of plastic that has a lot of built in scent. The water is dark and murky this time of year and you need every advantage you can take, so as well as vibration and sound adding the scent in will trigger the bream.

Beach goers can expect to find some good numbers of tailor patrolling the beach and the odd mulloway in between cruising the gutters. Like all beach fishing you don’t always need to cast the furthest to find a fish, quite often a metre long mulloway can be in behind the wash on the drop off with in just a stone’s throw. Berley up for your herring and keep a few for dinner and the rest presented butterflied or a live bait can be presented as irresistible bites for the mulloway. Worst case you have a tussle with some rays or banjos but it’s all good fun!

This time of year also brings large squid into the bay to spawn. These guys are normally very

for an extended amount of time so start looking into options to get out there.

In my books, the humble black bream is the ideal target to fill in these rainy days, and you can find them in all the estuary and river systems throughout the South West. When the rains are flowing and the river is pushing fresh hard, target the downstream spots and if there has been torrential rain don’t be surprised if they get pushed completely out of the river. Locally when we get a bunch of cold fronts that bring big M&M-sized rain there is constantly reports of black bream being landed around The Cut, which is basically in the ocean.

As you would expect the water becomes super dirty this time of year and you need something to get their attention. A small sinker to hold ground and a small circle hook loaded with a nice chunk of mullet (the fresher the better) will give off the required stink to get them over and commit to a nibble. You can even do this type of fishing without the rods and reels by using the humble handline loaded with 12lb mono and chucked on a stick embedded into the bank.

For the more adventurous, give the lures a crack but remember there is no point fishing the top part of the water column because the bream will be sulking in the brackish water that sits below the freshwater on top. Better results will come by using deep diving bibbed Sam with a beautiful coloured squid.

aggressive and willing to attack most jigs. My favourite jig would be a red foil jig that seems to get a lot of attention in the discoloured water or don’t forget about the old favourite in the glow colours that can really standout in the low light conditions that winter delivers. • As always call in to Whiteys Tackle and Camping at 1/143 Grand Entrance in Treendale for the latest advice and for what’s being caught around the place to get your line tight and drag screaming!