Bluewater Tackle World News for January 15th

There's a long weekend coming up for us, with Australia Day on the 26th. If you're going to enjoy it like you should, you might need a beach towel for the occasion. Check out our Aussie towels

at www.bluewater.net.au/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=1816 . Good stuff.

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Peter Newell, one of Australia's best lure designers, passed away last week. Taken early by illness and before his time, Newell was often credited with the body shape design that is now best known as an RMG Scorpion. Its nice to know that until the end he was still talking about making lures and fishing with his many mates that went and visited him in hospital.

He was the inspiration for many other lure makers.

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There's no Bluewater Tackle World newsletter special this week, because we're snowed under with orders and haven't caught up with last week!

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

PERTH METROPOLITAN

Champion angler Paul Willis has given potential Sunday Times Swanfish entrants (to be held on 14-15th March) a clue by catching and releasing a 43cm black bream from Nedlands territory. Waters near the Sandringham Hotel have also been yielding good size bream. Tailor trollers well downriver have done quite well. Juvenile samson fish are providing plenty of sport, especially on light gear, all small samsons best released quickly.

Tailor activity is the highlight of beach fishing, fair numbers appearing from Swanbourne north, with the Trigg Blue Hole going well. Try to find gutters behind reefs in northern waters, these making top spots to try for tailor, with a hope also of hooking a decent mulloway. Kenton Libby tried this option, and he’s been catching tailor up to 50cm. He also has just caught his first-ever mulloway after a long time chasing one. Bull herring and other bits and pieces complement the bigger fish activity. North Mole has turned on a few surprises, among them squid, the odd bonito and gummy sharks.

Small sharks featured in beach catches, Burns Beach notable where gummy and bronze whalers were mixed with tailor and herring catches. Quite a number of sharks appeared at the Ammunition Jetty and sand whiting turned up at City Beach.

Chances are the sharks are in close feeding on massive schools of scalies and mulies off the coast at present. Scalies have even been caught in worthwhile numbers on sabikis rigs from the Hillarys Boat Harbour jetties, an uncommon scene. Our sales of sabikis rigs and white plastic buckets have skyrocketed!

Boat fishers have enjoyed excellent fishing in the great conditions, with jewfish catches terrific. Craig Spooner’s best jewie for the week was 15kg, Kane McNamara fishing with him bagging one of 10kg, and baldchin included in their bags, the group working water out from Two Rocks. Mindarie’s Jason Rushton caught six legal jewfish, keeping one, Rushton suggesting all boaties carry a survivor reviver, a release weight system which improves the survival of released fish, proven best practice for demersal reef fish. King george whiting are coming in from 30m of water and close-to-shore reef fishers should find herring and garfish willing biters.

Samson fish are aggregating and many are being caught on knife jigs, Bluewater Melville’s Nick Bailey and Matt Garwood caught and released big samsons from Blue Juice, Bailey’s biggest 35kg while Dave Woolford from the Mindarie store scored an over 40kg samson fish. 

BUSSELTON

Busselton anglers are quite excited at the options available to them. Shore action in the Bay has been making an outing worthwhile, some whiting around. Wonnerup drains have produced some fair bream, lots of garfish from shore and jetties, some really big fat ones in the schools, heaps of herring about too. The Four Mile is good for skippy and samson fish, while the Twelve Mile has pleasantly surprised some parties with nice jewfish and the odd pink snapper. Squid are okay for this time of year, a few tailor schools moving along the Bay’s shoreline, crabbing going well near town.

On the west coast tailor are a feature and there are plenty of herring. A massive school of salmon, early for the season, was spotted north of Augusta recently.

Around Cape Naturaliste jewfish action has been enormous, a number of big ones boated, the best 26kg, many 8-12kg jewies coming in, along with top quality baldchin and breaksea cod, and an occasional pink snapper has been a bonus.

Pelagic species are expected to increase markedly in numbers soon, masses of baitfish schools offshore, including juvenile flying fish, some southern bluefin tuna and conditions look ideal for billfish action in the coming months. .

JURIEN

Tailor and herring are the mainstay of beach fishing. South Point and Hastings Beach have been notable and yellowfin whiting are also plentiful, skippy abundant.

Small boats don’t need to venture too far out to record good catches, jewfish and baldchin the rewards for working 30-40m deep country, spanish mackerel always a chance. Further north Green Head and Leeman waters contained some excellent blue manna crabs.

EXMOUTH

This week's Exmouth-only newsletter is on the site at www.bluewater.net.au/catalog/article_info.php?articles_id=285 .

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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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