Lancelin

LANCELIN Peter Fullarton

School holidays are upon us again, and a great way to keep the kids occupied is to take them fishing. Lancelin is a perfect day trip distance from Perth, or there are plenty of rental holiday

There’s been a great run of pink snapper this year. It doesn’t seem to matter where or how you fish, land-based, kayak or dinghy, they have been turning up everywhere. Sambos aplenty on the inshore reefs.

houses for extended stays with parking for boats.

Weather will be our biggest issue with short, cold and sometimes wet days we must expect at this time of year. Dress up for the cold weather, having warm dry clothes makes fishing a lot more enjoyable and will keep the kids interested in fishing

longer. Waders are great to keep dry and warm fishing off the beach, just be sure no one is going into the swells where they can be pushed over by a wave, the waders can fill with water and cause a drowning!

Lancelin Jetty is a safe place to take the kids for a fish. Daytime sand whiting are the most reliable species to target. The secret to getting a good haul will be to cast towards the shore away from the blowfish that are accustomed to the usual tourist offerings. Whiting have small mouths, so to get a good hook up rate we use small hooks and baits. Long shank red hooks in #8-10 help attract the bites and are easy to remove, as for bait go for something red again helps attract them so bloodworms or beef heart are a good choice.

As the sun sets the blowfish become less active and more species move in feeding around the jetty. King George whiting, snook, pike, tailor and skippy are

frequently caught, although herring are the staple that most will go home with a bucketful. The herring can be on mass around the jetty, but often not everyone can easily catch them. There’s lots of bait and lures that are successful. The local fishers have it sussed, so fishing next to someone who is reefing them in, watch and learn from what they are doing. It’s a great time to be chasing a few squid and blue swimmer crabs off the jetty too.

South end of bay for most the year is usually full of seaweed along the near shore. Winter storms clear the weed and make the beach

near Grace Darling Park a great little spot to take the family for a fish. There are quite a lot of species that turn up here including King George, yellowfin and sand whiting, herring, skippy, tarwhine and flathead to name a few. It’s a great little spot to hone some skills on a light spin outfit casting small lures like vibes, plastics and hardbodies. Cobbler can be speared here after sunset too.

Back Beach can be surprisingly easy to fish for the older kids. Winter swells scour out the near shore gutters making the deep water quite close to the beach, while the shallow banks further out break the worst of the wave strength. Mulloway and big tailor will always be a chance, especially at the top of the tide, sunrise and set.

Big swells can make it difficult to launch boats and dangerous to leave the bay. If the swell is down, the bay’s waters are crystal at this time of year. The clear waters make it a great place to fish artificial lures. Different areas of the bay will hold different species, weed beds and reef have snook, pike, squid and tarwhine. Broken bottom is more likely to hold KG whiting and flathead, while the deeper holes are where the largest skippy can be found. Herring are widespread throughout the bay.

When the swell is down and it is safe to leave the bay, most boats are looking for the demersal species Lancelin is famous for. Most of the larger

boats head out wide towards direction bank, catches are largely dominated of dhufish, pink snapper, baldchin and breaksea cod. Boats fishing in close have not been missing out, dhufish and breaksea cod have been caught from the lumps inside the white bank. While setting a berley trail on the inshore reefs has been a reliable way to get the attention of skippy, pink snapper and samson fish.

Beach fishing for tailor has been very hit and miss, with more miss of late. If a storm has recently passed they are more likely to be found in the shelter of the bay. North point of the bay is a good place to cast some baits. After the seas settle, it usually takes a week or two for the big tailor to come back into the near shore reef breaks

and gutters. Whereas snapper will be in looking for feeding opportunities immediately after if not during a big blow. After the winds ease from a passing storm, snapper will certainly be on the cards.

The average size of sand whiting is up along the beaches with fish possible to 30cm at some locations. While gathering a good feed of sand whiting, it is a good policy to send one back out as a fresh or live bait. Mulloway patrol the near shore at this time of year and you never can

tell when one is likely to be passing. Although the new and full moon is when they most actively hunt the shore break. Don’t cast too far either as mulloway are often actively hunting at the edge of the sand disturbed by swells.

Stormy skies and yet more pinkies. More snaps from the dinghy, stopping in some random spot and they’re swimming up to the boat!

Cuttlefish are always a welcome by-catch offshore. If you feel that long tug-tug take it easy winding slow and steady to prevent pulling the hooks.