South Coast
WA
Angling targets in early autumn ESPERANCE
Murray Johnson
Esperance has been experiencing its normal summer winds, but there have still been plenty of fish caught, including good-size bull herring and salmon. On the local beaches we are also seeing plenty of flathead, smaller skippy, and the occasional bronze whaler and small mulloway. The best local areas to fish are still Salmon Beach and Fourth Beach, with the reef at the first carpark at Fourth producing the best fishing. The best time to fish is late in the afternoon. When targeting salmon off the beach, the standard approach is a 4/0 gang baited with a pilchard, and a reasonably heavy leader. Further out of town, Roses has been producing good numbers of salmon, and more sharks have been sighted there. Anglers have also been encountering the occasional tailor. Munglinup Beach has been super soft to drive on, but when it’s
accessible, or you’re prepared to walk, there are good numbers of salmon on offer, plus herring and smaller mulloway. East of town, there have been good catches of salmon at Duke of Orleans, along with bronze whalers. Alexander Bay has also been producing plenty of salmon and bigger herring. People are also getting nice skippy there, up to around the 0.5kg mark, which is a good eating size. At Israelite Bay there have been catches of smaller mulloway, the occasional gummy shark, and plenty of small bronzies. There’s a lot of side drift there, so bring a wire surf rig (grapnel sinker or breakaway sinker). The most popular rig is your standard nylon paternoster with 60lb leader, and a 5/0 tarpon gang or a 6/0-7/0 snell holding a bigger bait such as a pilchard or strip of herring. Personally, I like to use a 3/0 kahle during the day, and a 5/0 kahle at night. Remember to check your bait every 15 minutes to make sure that the pickers haven’t taken it.
In town itself, the jetty fishing is seeing plenty of good herring being caught, along with the occasional squid, and plenty of garfish at night. Anglers have also been picking up the occasional small tuna off the jetty, mainly bonito. Most have been taken on herring baits fished under a float. Tailor Street jetty has also been producing the occasional King George whiting. The majority have been taken baits of prawns, cockles or bloodworms on a paternoster rig with long shank no 6 hooks. You can also get good results by using pre-made tinsel flash rigs, such as Black Magic Whiting Snatchers or Whiting Whackers, for that bit of extra attraction. These rigs use recurve/ circle hooks, which nearly always hook the fish in the lip, so they’re quicker to remove. At Bandy Creek Boat Harbour there are good numbers of small bream, King George whiting, flounder and flathead. There are numerous herring there as well.
The bream lakes have been producing good numbers of fish up to the 40cm+ mark (approx 1kg). One of the best producing soft plastics has been the 2.5” Bait Junkie Minnow in the blue colour, worked with a slow retrieve. Moving to boat fishing in the bay, we are seeing some smaller bluefin tuna being caught. The best areas have been the back of Charlie and Cull islands, and also out near Lion Island. Good results have been coming on the Halco Laser Pro160 in pilchard colour, and any of your jet head trolling skirts. If you want to try something a bit different, you can try casting stickbaits like the Ocean’s Legacy Keeling. These lures have been producing good fish of late. Closer in there are sand whiting, herring, and snook, and around the closer islands there are still good numbers of queen snapper, smaller breaksea and the occasional samsonfish. Out wide there are plenty of big schools of tuna, and for the bottom fishers there are good
Oli has been getting into the bream. Image supplied by @olistevensonn.
numbers of nannygai up around the 60cm mark, mixed in with your normal breaksea, harlequin and queenies. There are also 20kg+ samsonfish on offer, along with the occasional small yellowtail kingfish. FISHING IN MARCH March is when the salmon will keep coming in closer and schooling in bigger numbers before they start their migration down towards Perth. Off the beaches, along with the salmon you’ll also still get plenty of whalers
who are shadowing the salmon. Tailor should be in bigger numbers as well, and plenty of big bull herring will still be around. • Established in 1986, Southern Sports and Tackle specializes in the supply and servicing of fishing equipment. They have an extensive knowledge of the local area and provide all brands, whether you’re fishing from beach, jetty or boat. Come and chat to the friendly staff at Shop 16, The Boulevard, Esperance or phone 08 9071 3022.
Beach brawlers in Bunbury BUNBURY
Whiteys Tackle and Camping
At this time of year there is nothing better than heading down to the beach after work to chase tailor.
ever-reliable metal slugs for some high-speed spinning action. Slugs in the 10-70g range are great, with the weight determined by what your rod is capable of casting. If you’re unsure about your rod, look for a gram rating on the rod blank.
on a 3/0-4/0 chemicallysharpened gang with little or no weight, tied to the mainline with some 20lb fluorocarbon leader. This technique requires a more hands-on approach. Make sure you include a few pauses in your retrieve, as this
earlier and earlier. The salmon give the shore-based angler a consistent sportfishing target and depending on water temperatures and if it has dropped enough, we should start seeing an increase in numbers over the next month. If I’m planning to chase salmon, I leave the bait at home and flick a lure at the schooled up fish. Schools from the beach will look just like a weed bed, only it will move! Just tie on a lure and start casting. My favourite lure is a pre-rigged soft plastic in the 5-7” range, as this allows me to fish the whole water column and I can sink it down to where the salmon are holding. When a school of salmon is coming your way, don’t cast directly into the middle, try to get your lure landing 5-10m in front of the leading fish
Brendan Stemp caught this mulloway on a soft plastic.
Mitchell Cooper releasing a tiger shark. It’s great to relax with the sand between your toes and the waves lapping at your feet while you enjoy the afternoon sea breeze! These conditions usually get the tailor hungry and aggressive, making them a great target for throwing hardbodied lures and soft plastics. Look for a likely gutter and start casting the 104 MARCH 2023
If flat out non-stop spinning is not your style, try a bibbed minnow. Twitching and pausing the lure during the retrieve will imitate an injured baitfish, sounding the dinner bell to any tailor nearby. When the tailor are being fussy (whether it be from angler pressures or from an overabundance of baitfish), my go-to technique is a mulie
can convert fussy feeders into hook-ups. Belvedere and Buffalo beaches are popular options, but a little bit further north towards Myalup and Preston can turn on some red-hot fishing at times. Salmon are coming! These prolific sportfish are approaching fast, and each year they seem to be arriving
This tailor couldn’t resist a chrome slug.
and watch as the fish that lead the pack peel off and attack your offering. Ideally a 6-10kg graphite rod in the 9ft range (7ft is better in the boat) will suit this style of fishing perfectly. These types of rods are strong enough to cast large lures and put some real grunt on the fish without taking all the fun out of it. A commonly forgotten target from the beach during this time of year is the almighty shark. There are quite a few anglers in the area who target the sharks that are following the schools
