First up an oldy but a goody. A little while ago, this slightly second hand hook rig was returned to Bluewater Exmouth, where the crew had rigged it for marlin with a Black Bart Big Breakfast pusher.

The lure was monstered by a billfish described as "absolutley massive" - no kidding!

The fish went nuts beside the boat for a while, but no tag went in before it earnt its freedom.The Exmouth staff reckoned the hook must have lodged in the corner of the big fish's jaw, beofre being levered open during the boatside fireworks.

Opening a stainless game hook isn't easy!

***

Ever wondered what can be done with all the plastic rubbish collected from the world's seas?

Enter the Plastiki - a boat which is soon to set sail from San Francisco to Sydney to raise awareness of the rubbish floating on the currents.

The Australian designed boat was made from 12,500 plastic bottles.

Check it out here.

***

All through the year, spangled emperor are a great shallow water target for light tackle lure anglers in the Exmouth region - and readily attack soft plastics, minnows and even small poppers.

Pictured above is Bluewater Exmouth's Jeni Gates with a recent catch, and a cool underwater shot sits below.

Check out the lure this fish ate here.

***

A pair of Swedish backpackers are the proud new owners of Bluewater's trusty old van, and will soon be touring the highways of Oz.

While we have said our goodbyes - the spirit of Bluewater remains with the bus with the backpackers adamant they didn't want the bright decals removed from the panels.

The van may be coming to a town near you...

***

Here's a preview of this week's Sunday Times fishing column...

HOT SPOTS  

METROPOLITAN

A run of mulloway from the shore north of Two Rocks has been a highlight. The best fish have weighed up to 17kg with tailor, herring and fine whiting boosting bags. Some of the tailor are rumoured to be of terrific size. Skippy have come from the One and Three Mile Reefs.Marina walls working well for them and garfish continue to be a treat right along the north metro coast. North Moleis another hotspot for the garfish. Some skippy and herring around both the moles and squid another reward for North Mole fishers. Salmon have been caught from North Mole on occasions.

Squidding is keeping some jiggers smiling as numbers are excellent - both in Cockburn Sound and reef systems such as One and Three Mile to the north.

Rottnest continues to yield yellowtail kingfish and the pleasing quantities of quality baldchin groper are another highlight.  Baldies ahve also shown in the 30 to 40 metre depth range off Ocean Reef and Mindarie. Bigger boats way off the back of Rottnest in super-deep water have brought up some interesting fish - including a huge sea bass, hapuku and ruby snapper.  

ALBANY

Cable Beach, Albany Salmon Holes and Sand Patch have been fairly reliable for salmon with areas east of Albany fishing. Bremer Bay is one of the prime spots.

East of town is also better if you're after skippy, Cheynes Beach, Bluff Creek and Little Beach are all holding good size fish. Herring fishing along the whole coast is surprisingly patchy with a fair bit of leg work required to track them down.

A winter feature for experienced anglers is to pursue samson fish from large rock headlands such as West Cape Howe, Blow Holes and around Cheynes, and a few of these powerhouse fish have been brought onto the rocks.

Deep sea fishers taking advantage of fair conditions are bringing back good mixed bags of dhufish, pink snapper, red snapper, breaksea cod and occasional harlequin. Leatherjackets are a curse in the region with many rigs coming back up hookless.

River temperatures are very low, and subsequent fish activity is not as hot as usual. The bream have been prefering soft plastics and baits to hard bodied lures. The Bremer and Pallinup Rivers are fishing better than most - both in numbers and size of fish. River mulloway action is minimal.

GERALDTON

Local action is generally very good with dhufish a prize for shore fishers from a range of spots. Greenough fisher Allan Joynes landed one of 7.3kg while chasing mulloway from First Point at Greenough. Dhuies have come from areas as far south as Flatrocks with the low swells permitting anglers to work quite close to reef edges.  Water conditions have been so good at times that small dinghies have been launched from places were it is usually not possible - bringing close-in reef holes into play and quality dhufish decked from water as shallow as 1.5m up to 9m.

Mulloway made another solid contribution for shore fishing. Anthony Rogers bagged a 12kg fish from Southgates with many others doing well there. Chopper tailor are a bonus with a high tide best as it pushes weed closer to shore leaving clear spots behind. A highlight for whiting chasers were yellowfin to 35cm from Drummonds, with some weighing up to 500g.

Trevally were prolific offshore and divers spotted some Spanish mackerel hooning about Point Moore. In deeper areas around South West Banks bottom fishers have taken baldchin, dhufish and samson fish. But all the talk is about the vast numbers of coral trout in the region with some of the best up to 750mm. Baldchin groper fishing was exceptional closer to the Abrolhos Islands with some of the best near 6kg. Pink snapper plentiful out there but mackerel and tuna activity has eased. There are still small mackies around and small yellowfin and striped tuna are common.

CARNARVON 

Ballooners along the Quobba coast have hooked longtail tuna and there were some cobia taken with  odd mackerel. Sizeable spangled emperor were also nabbed from the shore.

Close to town the tailor action is on the increase, although fish are not there every day. Yellowfin whiting are about in large numbers with the general size terrific. Yellowfin bream are another willing biter. Squid came from weed banks and a few mulloway hit the beaches around town.

Pink snapper in a range of sizes are the highlight for boat fishers.  

EXMOUTH

This week's Exmouth newsletter can be viewed here.