Spanish mackerel have been caught trolling deep diving minnows along the back of the reef at Tantabiddi and out towards the Muiron Islands. The minnows are also picking up the occasional yellowfin tuna, wahoo and bottom fish. Colour hasn't been an issue but the shallow diving lures are not getting as many strikes as the deep divers.

Bottom fishing has been as productive as ever with reports of red emperor, rankin cod and spangled emperor making up the bulk of catch. Matt Roberts from Margaret River is in town on holiday for a couple of weeks, and has been making the most of the less windy days. Matt has been taking his 4m dinghy out from Tantabiddi and enjoying good catches of red emperor in depths of between 100 -110m of water.

Billfish are still being hooked mostly on trolled skirts, with a few mahi mahi an added bonus. Trolling the deeper contours should find you fish. Richard Black and Travis Rumballe had a successful double hook-up on sailfish on Richo's boat on the west side recently. The local charter boat “Freespool" skippered by Dan O'Sullivan also fished during the week, and tagged 3 black marlin for the day, with a couple of missed strikes from suspected sailfish.