Bluewater Tackle World News for January 3rd

Welcome to 2009 to all our customers, and best wishes for a healthy and happy New Year. May all your hopes, dreams and resolutions be realised.

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The one customer we can't welcome to 2009 is Brian Guest, a much-loved friend who was taken by a shark just south of Perth, on the morning of December 27th. Rest in peace, Guesty.

Brian was an outstanding member of the community at large, and an especially enthusiastic lover of fishing, diving and boating. He spent much of his free time in Bluewater stores, but a lot more of it with his family and friends enjoying a wide variety of pursuits that we are also passionate about. He was absolutely a kindred spirit. He was also one of the nicest guys we've ever had the privilege of being friends with.

Brian's farewell will be on the beach just down from the Cote d'Azur car park, Port Kennedy, at 10am on Wednesday the 7th of January. Friends are welcome.

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A few new regulations came into force for Western Australia's lower west coast at the start of this month. Some notable points include an increase in the minimum size for pink snapper from 41cm to 45cm south of Lancelin, before it increases to 50cm next year; and a reduction in the bag limit for pink snapper from four fish to two fish.

There's also a reduced mixed bag limit for Category One ("high risk") fish, from seven down to four; and a sliding-scale boat limit that puts a ceiling of eight Cat One fish on a boat with four people or less on board, and then two more fish for each additional person. The combined result here is that whereas last year a boat with three people (for example) on board could theoretically take 21 Cat One fish, now they can take eight. The boat limit also applies to charter boats - a charter boat with 18 people on board could last year legally land 126 Cat One fish, and now can land 36 - though of course such figures are rarely approached anyway. Deckies are rarely that keen on cleaning that many fish!

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This week's Bluewater Tackle World newsletter special is 25% off Reflex men's and women's Aqua Shoes, one of the most popular products we sell. See them and all the other specials here.

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

PERTH METROPOLITAN

Tailor remain the highlight for beach anglers right along the coast with some good patches of yellowfin whiting about, south of Wilbinga a hot spot with good size tailor and bull herring among them. Tailor action is occurring right up to Seabird, some mulloway also landed, especially with the suitable moon conditions. One chap dropped in to say that on the previous day North Mole tailor had really fired up, with good-sized fish caught close to shore and many bull herring about too. Small whaler sharks were beached off Floreat.       

Despite strong winds keeping smaller boats from venturing out earlier in the week, some great jewfish catches were made, one fellow’s best 15kg, another group boating three between 10 and 15kg, off Two Rocks the most consistent area. Craig Spooner was joined by Bluewater Melville’s Nick Bailey in a trip also out from Two Rocks, the pair enjoying a red-letter day with jewfish to 21kg, a 4kg baldchin, the largest breaksea cod Nick has ever seen, snapper and harlequin fish. Samson fish are plentiful in the 40s and out deep, and quite a number of sharks are active in the 100m+ samson fish territory.        
                                    
Mike Edwards has being experimenting with a new jig style called a Kanji Clicks, catching and releasing Cockburn Sound squid, both light and dark colours performing well, especially just on dusk. We have these in the Scarborough and Melville stores now, Morley and Mindarie next week. Sand whiting provided an option for small boat users at the top of the Sound.

Chidley Point is a good spot to try for chopper tailor but you need to check for the 30cm size limit. Flathead fishing is promising around Matilda Bay and Jo Jo’s. Fish Market Reserve and surrounding spots were better bream-chasing areas.

MANDURAH  

Experienced hands reckon crabs are more plentiful close to shore rather than in deeper areas, but this should change once the weather is consistently warmer. Some estuary tailor trollers are scoring bag limit catches, including many good fish but again the legal size must be checked though plenty are 35-40cm long. Small minnow style lures are working for the tailor, blue patterns among better fish takers. The Dawesville Cut holds smaller species including herring, yellowfin whiting and small skippy. Tailor numbers have improved about the White Hills area, more fish of better size. San Remo tailor have been a little on the small side.

Russell McCarthy has been taking home his bag limit of terrific yellowfin whiting from the shore towards White Hills, fresh blood worms by far the best bait and his colleague Neil Grant picked off over 100 king prawns during a two hour session.

GERALDTON

Graeme Maunder reckons it’s the best tailor season for years, with quality fish from Nine Mile, most about 50-55cm, mulloway to 90cm about and many, many herring towards the northern end of the reef. Flat Rocks, Clinchs, Duncans and all the way through to Lucys excellent for tailor, herring and some reasonable size whiting. Early mornings are better but the bite can continue through until mid-morning. S-Bend bags included some whopper mulloway, 16kg the biggest landed.

A couple of legal-size jewfish were caught from shore at Flat Rocks.

Closer to Geraldton, West Beach and Royces yielded good mulloway, many about 90cm with the odd fish to 15kg, tailor around 35-40cm, some quite large herring and striped sea pike widespread, South Gates and Greenough Points hot for pike but herring, chopper tailor and good whiting were caught there as well. Separation Point, Greys beach and the back of the Live Cray Factory turned up chopper tailor, herring and plenty of pike, lots of stingrays and small sharks.

Batavia Marina’s fishing platform held many good herring and pike, late evening better for the pike, and a surprising by-catch for herring anglers, small salmon up to a kilo nabbed. Drummonds and north spots have been awkward to fish courtesy of the weed, but when possible chopper tailor and school mulloway were on.

Boat action was conditional on the winds, larger craft doing okay around the likes of African Reef for small jewfish, sweetlip, baldchin, coral trout and mixed reef species.
Dinghy users scored on the large number of herring and pike about, and some small skippy, especially over weed banks, Pensioners Bank yielded a few mackerel but they have quietened off. Laurie Parke caught and released a good coral trout while passing Pensioners Bank and took another couple of decent sized trout later.

Near town crabbers did well but the most action occurred in the hour just before high tide.

CERVANTES

Rohan Smith and Nick Bailey landed tailor to a kilo, bull herring and a small whaler shark during a lightning trip to Cervantes.

EXMOUTH

The latest Exmouth-only newsletter is on the site here, with a nice GT caught and released for Aaron Lewis. There'll be another newsletter up for Exmouth by next weekend.

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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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