Happy customer Chris Engel sent us a happy snap of himself and a good GT from a recent holiday to the Andaman Islands. A great capture considering Chris wouldn't see too many trevally around his home in Luxembourg - one of Europe's smallest countries.

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A handful of Perth anglers this year have come across marlin a fair way off the  coast, but have yet to get a tag in one.

Scarborough staffer Johari Rochfort had his own story of a marlin encounter during the week. Fired up by recent reports of marlin activity behind Rottnest, Johari ventured offshore with keen game fisherman Peter Harvey in search of a metro billfish.

After taking a strike from a sizeable blue marlin, the anglers watched as it took one leap before peeling 400 meters of 37kg mono before shaking the hook.

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The warm water which has brought all manner of game fish to Perth waters this year has also produced some good fishing for anglers further south around Cape Naturaliste. Darren Warner was hooked up to a decent samson fish offshore from Canal Rocks when it began behaving strangely.

After playing the fish to the boat, the crew discovered an estimated four metre marlin hanging on. The billfish spat out the mangled sambo boatside.

Out a little wider around Naturaliste Reef, the currents have carried good numbers of dolphin fish and spanish mackerel.

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Some unusual pics this week from a lucky angler in Canada - and another trophy fish trying for a free feed.

A trophy sized 56lb pike grabbed the 36lb fish he had hooked first and hung on long enough to make it into the net. 

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Here is this week's Sunday Times fishing column -

METROPOLITAN

Deep sea fishing has been a tad touchy, with plenty of work required for jewfish and pink snapper. Many undersize fish have been released. Grounds in 40-45m of water adjacent to the northern suburbs have fished well. King george and baldchin gave anglers some reward and there have been heaps of samson fish in the 15 - 20kg range aggregating around pinnacles.

The FAD's are turning on excellent dolphin fish action with Hillarys FAD the hot spot. Graeme Stewart and Joff Weston did well with lures, and a nearby craft named I Wish also caught dollies.More dolphin fish have been spotted near the wreck of the Derwent. Masses of bait schools are reported from north west of Rottnest with marlin activity well out. Rottnest's West End is still among the hot spots with Spanish and shark mackerel plentiful.

Trollers have put in plenty of time closer in off the back of the Three Mile reef but results havn't been great with only the odd mack taken. 

Jared Lofts and Dave Ridge ventured about 8k off Mindarie in a 4.5m craft. Lofts took a 9kg jewfish on his spin outfit with the pair also boating king george to 60cm.

Hillarys and Mindarie Marinas have held fair numbers of herring, skippy and whiting with high tide best. Small salmon are widespread along the coast with some bigger fish turning up at times.

ALBANY

Salmon are the rage following a three-week run. Spots such as Sand Patch and Salmon Holes have been drawing quite a crowd. The fish are not huge but fun at around 4 to 6kg and metal lures are working well. Good schools are still passing through the area.

Deep sea fishing is not up to the usual Albany standards, but putting in the work will yield red and queen snapper and breaksea cod. Smaller craft are bringing back fair hauls of king george, skippy, flathead and herring. Squid are scarce and numbers not expected to increase much for a few weeks yet. Some great blue manna crabs were pulled from estuaries.

There's no shortage of bream right from Walpole to Bremer Bay, with a variety of sizes among catches. While the best are towards 40cm long, most action has been coming from the hordes of little fellows about.

DONGARA

If you're looking for a spot of deeper water fishing, Dongara is worth a try with prized species like coral trout and jewfish widespread.

EXMOUTH

 This week's Exmouth newsletter can be viewed here.