Spanish mackerel have been prolific at Tantabiddi along the back of the reef. Big schools of spaniards in the 8-15kg range are common, with double and triple hook ups a regular occurrence once the fish have been located. Trolling deep diving minnows along the 20-30m contour line and keeping an eye on your sounder for bait schools where the mackerel will be feeding has been the best way to target them. 

Bottom fishing in the same depths has been good too, anchoring up and fishing lightly weighted baits down a berley trail has produced mainly big rankin cod, spangled emperor and coronation trout although with this sort of fishing you never know what will turn up. In the last week alone we have heard of green jobfish, red bass, cobia and even wahoo taking baits drifted down a berley trail.

Plenty of tuna can found in Exmouth gulf. Mackerel tuna and longtails have been busting up all over the place. Out from Bundegi has been one of the more consistent places to chase the tuna, with the ever reliable indication of diving birds a sure bet that the tuna are around.

Large numbers of small queenfish and trevally have been schooling around the entrance of the Marina, with the late afternoons being the best time to go chase them. Small poppers like the 95mm Owner Tango Dancer (which are a perfect imitation of the hardyhead baitfish) have been most successful.

Fishing in the marina itself has been good after dark with mangrove jacks, spangled emperor and various cod species all taking baits fished along the canals. Liam Wright was fishing down there with his brand new Shimano outfit which he had just purchased from us here at the store, and his first fish on the outfit turned out to be a 3kg estuary cod which took a small piece of prawn bait.

Bluewater Exmouth's Adrian Gribbon, with one of the marina's finest mangrove jacks.

Those chasing a feed of squid haven’t been disappointed, with good numbers being caught south and north of the Marina. Inside the reef at Tantabiddi has also produced a few squid too. Drifting along the broken weedy bottom with a couple of different coloured prawn style jigs is the go.