West Coast
WA
Spring delights ahead MANDURAH
Jesse Choy
Stepping into September, locals should take note that there is a blue swimmer ban in place as of the 1st, which serves to protect current breeding stock and also ensures they have a bright future in years to come. Blue swimmers are
Fishing from the beaches, there is plenty of herring, silver bream and some good tailor showing up in the gutters. If you are fishing for larger species, there is a few smaller mulloway getting around and the odd good-sized fish showing up if you are soaking your baits a lot longer. Though it is a tad early in the year to effectively spend your time targeting the larger models, we
come across some form of fun. Numbers of blowfish are starting to come back, which can be seen as a pain to many but it also indicates that the water quality and food sources can support their numbers. Reports from around town are showing marine life as a whole is in good standing with plenty of herring, skipjack trevally, silver bream, King George and good calamari getting around
Perch are seen to many as a nuisance, but they have an undeniable beauty when it comes to their display of colours. Trout fishing is a great target when heading out on a freshwater mission, with anglers catching great quality fish to 50cm particularly when fishing around first and last light. Fish can be caught all day long, though the change
of light is usually a trigger to fish, signalling the first or last time to feed for the day. Good-sized redfin can be found throughout all of our local dams, with lures proving easy to use for all skill levels and is very productive when
it comes to finding fish. Don’t be afraid to try lots of different things when out fresh, as the two main targetable species are very partial to different offerings and will often help you dust off some of the less used bits of tackle in your box.
You just can’t beat setting a rod out, laying down and waiting to hear that rod go off! targetable most of the year throughout the estuary with many people coming from all round WA to chase them, so it is important to allow the blue swimmers to do their business and they will once again become a viable target from December 1st.
all know you need to have a line in the water to find success and you never know what you results you may achieve in the process. If you are fishing from the rocks around town or Dawesville, both casual and serious anglers are bound to
Many of the jetties around town will produce squid, but sometimes it can take a few jigs and trying at different times to work them out. 108
SEPTEMBER 2022
on a tide change. Soaking bigger baits from the rocks can be especially rewarding, though you generally need to spend a lot of time fishing to encounter success and is why targeting some of your smaller more available species can be just as fun. If you are aiming to fish the estuary itself, there is a good chance of coming across a number of species and finding your fix of fun. Anglers can expect yellow-fin start to show up in reasonable numbers as the weather becomes much nicer this time of the year and the fishing will only get better as we move closer towards summer. Although the whiting do not completely disappear when the weather turns cooler, the warm sunny conditions are conducive to the numbers and their flat roaming habits in the estuary. With the wide selection of baits in the estuary, there is also a good chance of coming across resident salmon trout, herring and the odd tailor, which are willing to take both bait and lures. As usual, our sheltered river waters offer a fun spot of fishing, with both the Murray and Serpentine being quite productive this time of the year. If you are after some good fun on light gear, there is plenty of good-sized bream, grunter and the odd mulloway getting around. Best baits to use when heading up the river are lightly weighted pilchard cubes, mullet and river prawn. If using lures, a good option is to opt for lightly weighted plastics fished deep in to the structure, as well as hardbodies or metal blades.
If you are after something different, fishing canals for bream can be an exciting way to fish the rivers or town.
Michael Palassis with a 60cm salmon that weighed 2.2kg he caught near City Beach.
