It's good news week this week... at least if the Liberals get elected here on September 6th. We began with the announcement last Sunday that the Libs will re-open Logue Brook Dam to fishing, swimming, canoeing, waterskiing etc; reversing a Labor closure earlier this year. The Water Corp are very fond of management by exclusion; apparently it's criminal to fly-fish around a water reservoir, but no problem to drive a bulldozer around it. The Liberals have made the first step towards dual-use water catchment areas. There's a lot more to be done yet.

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Liberal leader Colin Barnett also announced, at the opening of the Boat Show on Wednesday and again on radio later in the day, that Labor's over-the-top new fisheries regulations would be immediately overhauled, in consultation with those directly affected. Those two announcements married well with Recfishwest's election policy announcement from earlier this week, crossing a couple of things off the list. Now they just have to get elected.

Meanwhile Labor Fisheries minister Jon Ford is ricocheting around trying to keep up with the real world; in May he told the charter industry that their customers would have a bag limit reduction of Cat 1 fish from seven to four; in July he said they wouldn't be allowed to fish from October to December; and now in August he's put the bag limit back from four to seven, but told the charter industry that all rec anglers will go from seven to four come October; and next month, if he still has a job (heaven forbid), he's going to tell the charter operators they (and commercial fishermen) can fish for the 'Vulnerable 5' between October and December if they have a history of it, but recreational anglers on private boats can't. What an absolute mess.

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This week's Bluewater Tackle World special is IFISH DVDs - buy two IFISH DVDs and get $10 off. See those and other specials here. This special is also available in-store.

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The Perth Boat Show is on now at the Perth Convention Centre, and finishes on Sunday 24th.

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Here’s a preview of this weekend's Sunday Times fishing news, with a bit of extra stuff...

PERTH METROPOLITAN

Husband and wife team Allen and Raylene Hunton had a great day on jewfish out from Mindarie, with other reports of success for that species and pink snapper coming from 40m deep water adjacent to northern suburbs. Another creative fisher found a school of fish near Rottnest and used a knife jig to jig up some jewies. Darren Cox spotted a 5.5m great white shark about 8km out from Mindarie, the huge creature circling their boat a couple of times. Matt Checksfield, who won the weekly prize in this column recently, caught some good pink snapper from Cockburn Sound using his kayak, and has repeated the effort with a 67cm pinkie taken on a deep-diving minnow lure.

Squid numbers aren’t quite the same as a couple of weeks ago, but they remain a worthy target, Woodman Point, Rockingham Jetty and Mindarie water all yielding squid, Barry and Alexis Taylor making a good catch near Mindarie. Early morning is best at Woodman Point. The squid appear more active with a northerly wind.

Bigger fish are rare for beach anglers, heaps of smaller species such as herring making up for that, Grant Street among better places to try, whiting too plentiful for both shore and small boat fishers. North Mole has been a herring hot spot, some skippy there as well, the herring biting from deeper water than usual. Jason Earle bagged skippy, tarwhine and a couple of herring from Mindarie Marina walls.

Black bream were active in the Nedlands area.

BUSSELTON

Pink snapper quite close to shore were a highlight for Geographe Bay boat anglers, the trophy fish coming from water between the coastline and the Four Mile Reef, the species also prevalent about 13km out in the Bay and 5km off the Cape. Big leatherjackets turned up in 10-13m of water in the Bay.

A touch of rough weather may be needed to stir up the blue manna crabs, plenty about but they’re quiet during calm conditions.

Don Guest had some fun with salmon from the shore at Bunkers Bay, while on the west coast some terrific whiting have been caught, including king george, a few herring and the odd good tailor brought in.

Greg Baird and his kids found black bream biting well at Wonnerup, along with some yellow-eyed mullet.

WALPOLE

Busselton identity Rusty Ellis and Peter Mattaboni and his extended family visited Walpole to fish the estuaries for black bream, and in ideal conditions found plenty of them to enjoy excellent angling, some herring caught but whiting surprisingly absent.

LANCELIN 

Perth fisher Tony Vines and some of his mates made the trip to Lancelin for an offshore outing, the party returning with seven jewfish, three breaksea cod and a good harlequin fish. A huge great white shark was spotted out from Lancelin.

Josh Thompson fished the beaches north of Lancelin on Saturday night for some mulloway and good tailor.

EXMOUTH

There's a new Exmouth-only newsletter on the site here, with a nice pic of a good spangled emperor that Alf lemm caught from his kayak. There'll be another newsletter up next week.

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Got a 4WD? Please join us on Convoy for SIDS and Kids Day, October 12th 2008 - see you there!

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Bluewater Tackle World News comes from Bluewater, 21 Scarborough Beach Road, Scarborough, Western Australia - phone 08 9245 1313 - www.bluewater.net.au

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