Lancelin

LANCELIN Peter Fullarton

While winter may have arrived, great fishing opportunities still exist from the boat and beach in between the passing fronts. Whales are on their annual migration, seeing these majestic creatures leaping out of the water or slapping the surface with pectoral fins

Nolan Unwin hit the sand and landed a beast shovelnose shark while chasing mulloway. He carefully released it after removing the hook.

and flukes, adds an extra element to the day’s fishing.

The last few years there has been a pod of killer whales frequenting our area during the migration. I was lucky enough to come across the pod, it’s a sight when those massive dorsal fins appear. Occasionally a whale will curiously come right up to the boat, otherwise you are required to keep a safe distance: ‘No vessel, whether powered by a motor, paddle or sail, may approach closer than 300m within a 60-degree arc to the front or rear of the whale, or 100m to the side of the whale.’

Some demersal species are known to move inshore at this time of year. Dhufish are one, so high 20s and 30s can be a productive depth. Breaksea cod are another, for the next few months we get an influx of those big pinky orange specimens on the shallow lumps. Fish for them, along with the odd dhufish, using the sounder to send soft plastic lures to the drop-off edges of lumps in 10-15m. There are plenty of suitable grounds near the bay so it’s great for a quick fish in the tinny. Many say they are best eating fish in the sea, and it’s hard to argue.

It’s been harder to find larger dhufish in the numbers they once were on the inshore reefs, but snapper have been everywhere. Size and numbers seem to be increasing season on season, with offshore small ones a pest! Perhaps we are seeing the benefits from protection of the spawning grounds in Cockburn Sound. Surprisingly, the largest snapper at Lancelin often come from within a few hundred metres of the shore.

Drone fishing has really opened snapper to the shore fishers. Rather than having to wait for rough weather to bring them into casting range;

in Lancelin that’s when it’s near impossible to get a line out along most of the beaches! Getting the bait out that little

further to the near shore reefs has seen a boom in land-based catches, even in fine weather.

Pink snapper are quite active under the moonlight, so if wanting to specifically target them consider the moon status as to fish pre-dawn or post-sunset. Now that we have a few years’ experience at chasing snapper on the drone, we are starting to work out where and when they feed. One thing that has been very surprising is how shallow some of the feeding grounds are, less than 3m can find some very large fish.

It’s been a cracker of a mackerel season this year with plenty of school and Spanish caught trolling lures or garfish baits. The water is cooling and the first winter storms have arrived, some may have forgotten about them. They are still here through June, and it is probably the easiest time of year to get one to bite. Look for schools of pilchards or blue mackerel that gather at the back of the white bank in 15-20m. When feeding they are less timid to take the lure or bait. Use a Sabiki jig to catch a blue mackerel and rig as a live bait to tow around the school, it’s usually not very long at all before it is hit.

If you sight birds offshore, tuna are likely to be what’s causing the commotion,

mostly southern bluefin and striped at this time of year, always a bit of fun on matched gear.

Skippy have been schooling along the inshore reefs, success is greatly enhanced using berley for these tough little fighters. Floating cubes of pilchard down the berley trail will get the results and going light for the challenge with a 2-4kg outfit will increase the fun factor 10-fold, testing your ability as an angler. The activity is likely to attract the attention of pink snapper and samsonfish, so it is always worth tossing a larger bait out the back on a heavier rig too.

Chopper tailor numbers have dropped, most of the fish move north following the warm water. The ones left are less active, with best bites around the new moon. Larger green back tailor and mulloway can be caught around structure like reef breaks and gutters.

At the time of writing, the mulloway action has been slow trickle start but it should be in full swing by now.

Winter is the best time to chase sand whiting from the shore, size is up compared to the warmer months. Some good feeds can be caught from the jetty, casting towards the shore during the day. Lately there has been a good run of yellowfin whiting along the bay’s shallows, and when the sun goes down they can be caught under the jetty’s lights along with the usual schools of herring that move in.

Tarwhine are another winter fish that are great fun on the light gear, mostly found on or near reef or weed. There have been heaps in the shallows in front of sea rescue, casting small soft plastics and vibes has also caught skippy, herring and the odd flathead here as well.

It was a difficult summer to get onto the squid in any numbers inside the bay, mainly due to water quality from seaweed wrack. Now the bay has been getting a flush out from larger swells, squidding has greatly improved. Improvements in water quality has also seen some good blue swimmer crabs caught from the jetty.

Find the bait, find the fish! This mack was full of chopped up slimies, but still fell for the red and white Halco Laser Pro.

Tuna are back closer to the beach. This little stripy was caught from 10m.

Last bait of the day! After a slow session the truck packed and ready to head home, John Scully managed to pull this 8.5kg snapper out of his hat. Lee Hannam tackle testing his new Alvey baitcaster on a quality dhu.