Mandurah

New Year potential

MANDURAH Jesse Choy

This month we welcome a new year, with many new possibilities and memories to make too. Who knows where the year will take us, though you can be assured that this month will be a cracker for those out casting a line in hopes of landing a few fish. Small cubes of pilchard will work well, although tailor tend to prefer a full pilchard rigged on a 3 way swivel with a spoon or star sinker and gang hook setup.

The estuary is currently teeming with life, with crabs, whiting, tailor and herring all being the best option for the light estuary anglers. If using lightly weighted baits, the channel edges or drop offs are ideal and will produce a mixed variety of fish. If you are an angler that likes to use lures such as metals, diving minnows or surface lures, you will generally want to target the flats.

An ideal option when flat fishing is to find smaller channels or some sandy bottom with weed beds nearby and you will generally find that the bait seek refuge here with larger more predatory fish close by.

Up in the river systems there are reports coming through that bait schools are surfacing throughout, making both rivers viable fishing territory from top to bottom. Fishing schooling bait will generally yield results, although most river anglers will have stories of finding good results in fishing less obvious, secluded areas and quite often landing better quality fish. Mulloway, bream, grunter and tarwhine are all likely catches when fishing the timber or surrounding areas.

Summer is a great time to be out on the boat letting the surrounding water cut through the heat. Although you will find heading out to fish at first or last light will be a mackerel, mahinahi and the odd tuna also ready to be trolled up or cast to. Warm water generally inspires local the taking.

Beach fishing is well worth the crack during the summer, as we are typically free from unfishable amounts of seaweed and the larger swells that the colder months are known for. Tailor are the number one pick for anglers fishing from the beach, with an abundance of fish passing through just about every stretch along our town around first or last light. Although fishing in the middle of the day will definitely yield results, fishing a light change will be most pleasurable for anglers whilst also allowing you to put your bait in the face of fish when they are most hungry.

Aside from tailor, anglers will find plenty of herring, whiting and tarwhine getting around if you are purely after some fun. For the more serious angler, there are some truly cracking mulloway, so be sure to spend some time fishing fresh baits around different gutters and also take note of the conditions you are fishing in.

There’s nothing like a thud when fishing soft plastics. Ben Paull from Mandurah Fishing Community knows this all too well with a beautiful pink snapper falling victim on soft plastic.

Mandurah generally has some great warm water fishing, whether it’s up one of the river systems, from the boat, beach or rocks, which ultimately means there is something for everyone when it comes to fishing in January.

Fishing from the rocks or from one of the surrounding platforms is a great option if you have children with you or are just after some consistent fun with breadand-butter species. If you are lucky or persistent in fishing these areas, you will also come across some great sized skipjack trevally as by-catch, with tailor and resident salmon trout likely to be around too. better option, when faced with some of the hottest days we will experience all year. Anglers will find that there is a great variety on offer, with crayfish still on the menu, pelagic finfish. like Spanish fishers to target some of the more elusive pelagic fish as they are only about for a limited amount of time, but there are still great numbers of the usual demersal species around and there for

River mulloway are abundant in this smaller size. However, you will come across bigger models that make quick work of light line in and around the timber.

From page 116 can be done using lures or ganged mullies. The key is to find areas of broken water/white water and troll slowly beside them. If the tailor are there, the action can come fast and hot. The odd kingfish can be around these schools of tailor too, which can be a nice surprize.

The red rush will also continue through January. Many anglers will be taking the opportunity to get out and catch a few lobsters. Success comes from A great swag of blue manna crabs caught in the Swan by Ian Moyle and company.

Ayden Zahradkas is stepping up to the plate and providing his house with some lovely calamari.

knowing the depths the run is occurring. Your local tackle store can be a great source of information regarding this. OFFSHORE

With the FADS now in place, many of our offshore anglers will focus on fishing around them. This is no real surprize as their presence attracts all manner of species, like mahimahi (dolphin fish), Spanish mackerel, trophy sized wahoo and all three of

Metals are a great way of covering ground and presenting moving enticement to hungry predators, like tailor. Check out @Tidal_blues on Instagram to see more of what these local legends get up to.

Skippy on micro jig? Corey is definitely a machine when it comes to targeting fish in unorthodox ways.

our tuna species.

Live baits are by far the best option to target these fish. Getting a live well full

While heading out always keep your eyes peeled for any signs of birds. Most likely they will be letting you know catch them. It can be super frustrating too, as fish that are present one minute can disappear the next. The best skippers have a great knack of sneaking up on these fish, skirting the edge of the schools, almost keeping the fish in the dark until they see your lure. It takes a bit of practice, but the results make it all worthwhile. A quick tip, trolling through the middle of a school is unlikely to catch you a fish.

As ever, good deep drop fishing is available. Settled weather patterns can be few and far between but when they do occur, fishing our deep water (300-500m) offers a great return of some of the best eating fish in our waters.

Overall January is another bumper month of fishing in our Perth metro waters. I hope everyone enjoys some time, in, on or around the water in January and I will catch you next month.