Esperance

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ESPERANCE Murray Johnson

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ALBERTON ALBERTON MARINE 39 Johnson Street Alberton P: (03) 5183 2344 F: (03) 5183 2219 W: albertonmarine.com.au MELBOURNE BL MARINE 612- 614 Plenty Road Preston P: (03) 9478 1420 F: (03) 9470 4638 W: blmarine.com.au SHEPPARTON BOATS AND MORE 207 Numurkah Road Shepparton P: (03) 5822 2108 F: (03) 5821 2908 W: boatsandmore.com.au MORWELL CRAWFORD MARINE 71-77 Chickerell Street Morwell P: (03) 5134 6522 F: (03) 5134 6455 W: crawfordmarine.com.au ECHUCA EADES XTREME MARINE 24 Sturt Street Echuca P: (03) 5482 2333 F: (03) 5482 2133 W: xtrememarine.net.au BRAESIDE JV MARINE WORLD 878 Springvale Road Braeside P: (03) 9798 8883 F: (03) 9798 7554 W: jvmarine.com.au

Esperance is definitely heading towards the colder weather, but along with that comes plenty of opportunities for good fishing. There are still sunny, calmer days for us to get out and enjoy ourselves, and plenty of fish being caught.

For anglers fishing off the tanker jetty in town, the squid are out in full force, with plenty of samples over 1kg. The best time to catch them is early in the morning or late in the afternoon. At the moment, most are getting caught using a pin jag on a float, with a herring for bait.

Those using squid jigs MELBOURNE are still having good success, with white and light blue patterns working well. MELBOURNE MARINE CENTRE 92 Hallam South Road Hallam The size 3.0 Black Magic P: (03) 9703 2003 Squid Snatchers have been W: melbournemarine.com.au a standout.

Along with the squid MORNINGTON PENINSULA there are still plenty of herring, and some garfish coming through at night. We MY MARINE Cnr Nepean Highway & are also seeing some smaller Ponderosa Place Dromana skippy being caught, and the P: (03) 5987 0900 occasional bronze whaler W: mymarine.com.aubeing caught. Bandy Creek boat harbour has been yielding plenty of smaller King MORNINGTON PENINSULA NAUTICAL MARINE George whiting, small 141 Hotham Road Sorrento P: (03) 5984 1666 E: info@nauticalmarine.com.au W: nauticalmarine.com.au TOORADIN P&J MARINE SERVICE CENTRE P/L 101 Tooradin Station Road Tooradin P: (03) 5998 3107 E: pjmarine_services@bigpond.com MELBOURNE THE MARINE SHOP 6 Holland Drive Melton P: (03) 9747 0588 F: (03) 9747 3999 W: themarineshop.com.au MELBOURNE TRIPLE M MARINE 117 Northgate Drive Thomastown P: (03) 9465 8787 F: (03) 9466 1418 W: triplemmarine.com.au

When it comes to beach fishing west of town, Munglinup has been being hugely successful, with anglers hooking mulloway over 50lb. There are also plenty of bronze whalers and skippy going 3-4kg.

East of town, the choice beach has been Thomas River, with good samples of mulloway around 20lb (around 1m), plenty of salmon, and skippy around the 3kg mark.

Those still willing to head out to Israelite Bay are still having success on gummy sharks, small

There are plenty of tuna around. Image courtesy of @lachy_warren. If things are a bit quiet, it can be worth trying a squid jig on a paternoster rig, and getting the jig down to the weed line. This is a good option if the current is running fast and you have a fast drift. You can use either one or two jigs, and have a longer leader down to the sinker so it will clip the weed and the jigs will sit above it. Around the islands we are seeing plenty of sweep, queen snapper, breaksea cod and the occasional small sambo. Those heading out wide into the deeper water are still catching plenty of nannies up to 60cm. Again, there are plenty of breaksea, queenies, the occasional harlequin fish, samsons and yellowtail kingies. Gummy sharks are also prevalent at this time of year, and the best way to target them is to drift off the bommies/lumps. Drift the flats for 100m after the bommie. You’ll find that the nannies sit part way down and to the side, while gummies sit further out on the flats. Plenty of samples up to 15kg are being caught. As winter sets in, the fishing opportunities will change, with colder water temperatures and more rainfall. Along the beaches Lachy Warren with a nice harlequinfish. you can chase mulloway Image courtesy of @lachy_warren. from any of the flowing rivers and creeks, and skippy, the occasional we’ll see a continuation of flounder, and plenty of black the bigger skippy coming bream. The Bream Lakes through, with samples up in town got a top-up from to 7kg being caught. The the rains, and have been salmon should also start to producing quality fish to return from the west coast, over 40cm. The bream are with bigger schools starting getting ready to spawn, and to turn up. are feeding up in preparation. • Established in 1986,

At the local beaches we Southern Sports and Tackle are seeing plenty of smaller specializes in the supply salmon around. The schools and servicing of fishing are cruising the west coast but equipment. They have an plenty of fish are still staying extensive knowledge of the local. The best beaches are local area and provide all Fourth Beach, Salmon Beach brands, whether you’re and Roses close to town, fishing from beach, jetty or and there are also plenty of boat. Come and chat to the opportunities out of town at friendly staff at Shop 16, The Alexander, Thomas River Boulevard, Esperance or and Poison Creek. phone 08 9071 3022.

mulloway, plenty of big tailor and good-size flathead up to 80cm.

There are still good boat fishing opportunities in the bay at this time of year, weather permitting. A few bluefin tuna are hanging around, with plenty of snook, lots of herring and squid galore. It’s not unusual to get your boat limit of squid in a 2-hour period. After you have hooked a squid and you’re winding it in, a good tip is to get someone to throw another jig behind it. That’s because the squid are competitive and aggressive, and will follow each other to compete for food.

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