April and May are usually the best months of the year as far as weather conditions go for Exmouth, and this year is no different. It’s been a great run of perfect boating conditions now for a few weeks and everybody seems to be making the most of it, with more excellent fishing reported in the past week.

Pelagic fish activity is firing along the Tantabiddi stretch. Plenty of billfish are being encountered with most fish surprisingly being reported in less than 60m of water.  Fishing tackle representative Colin Fieldhouse was in town for business during the week but managed to slip out for a quick afternoon fishing session from Tantabiddi. The action was red hot with Colin catching a couple of big mahi mahi a 15kg wahoo as well as three strikes from billfish resulting in small black marlin being tagged. It was Colin’s first billfish from Exmouth waters and was released after a couple of photos. The mahis have been a nuisance at times for those chasing billfish, with the bulls often attacking every lure in the spread causing tangled line. With the size of the mahi mahis being up to 10kg, they certainly are not the most co-operative of fish to handle for a quick release when they come to the boat.

Col Fieldhouse and Ant Simper keep a bull mahi mahi under control

Bottom fishing is as reliable as ever, with most boats fishing west of the Muirons reporting good catches of rankin cod, spangled emperor and red emperor as well an assortment of other desirable species.  Goldband jobfish, pearl perch and robinson’s sea bream are the main catch out from Tantabiddi, with most of the boats concentrating fishing in depths of between 90-110m of water.

A few queenfish and trevally have started to show at high tide along the access roads on the west side.  The big schools of hardyhead baitfish haven’t arrived in big numbers yet although the a few turning up at Trisel access, so it won't be long.

Text and pics © Bluewater Tackle World