WA
West Coast
They’ll be dam good fishing MANDURAH
Jesse Choy
June is a great time to check out the dams for a spot of freshwater fishing. Regardless of the spot you choose to fish, all of our local dams hold both some good sized redfin and trout. When heading up to the
around rocks and then fish habits are able to be honed by their habits on the day. Opting for lures is a great option when fishing fresh as they offer plenty of versatility, with regards to retrieves and the applications, which they are useful. Making use of spinners, shallow diving bibbed minnows, deeper diving minnows and even
rivers, you are also likely to come across some river mulloway and some good sized ones at that. If you are fishing up the rivers with bait, lightly weighted river prawns are hard to look past, with mullet and pilchard cubes also being great options if you are hoping to get stuck into some fish in the rivers. If using lures, prawn or bait
from 10-30m of depth and either work soft plastics on the drift or anchor up. If anchoring up in attempt to bring on a pink snapper bite, a good berley trail is always great assistance and will complement lightly weighted baits drifted down the trail. Anglers are also reporting that there is some good mixed bags showing up, with a large variety including bald-chin, break sea and some great sized schools of tuna working bait on the top water column. If you are fishing from the rocks at Dawesville or Mandurah, there is a good mix of species available. Reports indicate that there is some stray tailor getting around, plenty of herring, the odd pink snapper and sporadic schools of salmon making their way around. What bait or presentation to use will be dependent on
Tailor off the rocks are a fun fish to catch, which are both willing to smash baits and lures of all sizes.
Wayne landed this pink snapper casting off our local beaches. Although a drone will help, it is absolutely not needed to land some quality fish. dams it is preferable that you cover a bit of ground, whether that is by walking the banks or launching your kayak and exploring different sections of your chosen body of water. When covering ground you are able to become a lot more successful by gauging whether or not the fish are holding on structure, like vertically submerged trees, deeper sections of water,
fly can be quite effective. River fishing is also a great option if you want to get out and have some fun in the calmer waters. Legal sized bream are quite prolific throughout the river systems, though there are some bigger specimens around if you spend the time covering ground and trying different presentations. As the water starts to dirty with an increase of flow in the
imitations are ideal as they replicate what is in the river well and fish can be more partial to the presentation as a result. Fishing from the boats, there are plenty of dhufish from 20-80m, pink snapper are also beginning to really show their presence as we feel the winter conditions start to pick up. Fishing for pinks, it is a great idea to sound around in waters
what sort of fish to catch, but a mix of moderately weighted soft plastics and good quality fish bait will work well. If you are able to find a weed free section of beach around Mandurah, the possibilities of what you may catch are endless.
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of Rottnest island. The size of the fish can vary from smaller fish around 60cm to 1.2m monsters that will try and rip you out of the boat. So much fun. Both southern bluefin and yellowfin tuna are likely to be about in June. Keep an eye out for birds to tell you where these speedsters may be. As I mention in every report, should the weather allow our deep drop grounds hold some amazing table fish just waiting to be caught. You need the right gear (good tackle stores will definitely be able to help), but the reward is well worth it. June should see a transition happen in our fishing in the metro area. It doesn’t mean that the fishing is no good, it just means that the routine you have got into over recent months will need to change a little. For me, that is one of the great things about fishing, figuring out what the fish are doing. I will catch you next month.
Rainbows are a gorgeous fish that grow to a size that can provide a lot of fun for anglers.
Joe Orifici showing us how the ‘Big Kahuna’ gets it done with a triple header of 5-star sandies.
Soaking larger baits, there is still a good chance at catching mulloway, some larger stray tailor and even some land based pink snapper. If you are droning, options as usual are quite endless, though it can be difficult to contend with lumps of seaweed that lie
further out and though it can quite often result in lost line; it will definitely be worth trying. Using smaller baits there is a lot of fun to be had with the family, with a good chance you will encounter plenty of great sized herring, whiting and silver bream too.
Black bream are often overlooked as a target fish, but an increasing amount of anglers are chasing them on lures and enjoying the thrills that go with it. JUNE 2022
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