Cookie, who runs the local Aqua C charter boat “Caprice”, took Aldo De Paoli and Salvatore Cicchelli from the Italian (you could have guessed that bit) restaurant “Pinocchio” for a day out fishing in the gulf during the week. The boys had a great day with Aldo catching his first sailfish which was caught on a trolled Halco Laser Pro lure. The sailfish was duly released after a couple of quick photos. A couple of big spanish mackerel later and some tasty bottom fish topped off what was surely a memorable day out. Pictured this week is Salvatore with one of the mackerel they caught.

From all reports the west side of the cape is starting to fire up in the billfish scene as well, with more and more people coming in to the store telling us about the small black marlin they are encountering whilst trolling out from Tantabiddi. Schools of yellowfin tuna and huge dolphin fish have also been encountered in the same waters. Some of the dolphin fish have exceeded 12kg which is particularly large for these waters. When the weather has obliged, bottom fishing has been productive out west of the Muiron Islands with reports of red emperor and rankin cod in particular coming from depths ranging from 30-70m of water.

Shimano and Penn reps Col Fieldhouse and Gary Veenvliet visited Exmouth this week, and were fortunate enough to be taken out the back of Bundegi reef by a couple of locals where they had a great afternoon session throwing around soft plastics and poppers at huge schools of queenfish that are present in the area at the moment. The queenies averaged 4-5kg each and certainly gave Col and Gary a good opportunity to test out some of their new fishing gear.

Fishing on the flats at Old Bundegi has been worthwhile for the queenies too, with the late afternoon low tide the best time to wade out and throw some lures or flies around. Small metal slices and poppers have proved most effective with a quick retrieve encouraging fierce competition amongst the queenfish schools.

Don’t forget that the Exmouth Game Fishing Club’s annual “Betta Electrical Billfish Bonanza” is being held on the 18^th-19^th of November, with the briefing night on the 17^th. Entry forms are available from Bluewater Tackle World Exmouth, or through the EGFC. The entry fee for adults is $60 and $25 for juniors. The entry fee includes meals on both the Saturday and Sunday nights. With all the recent reports of Billfish in local waters, don’t miss out, as this is sure to be a hotly contested competition. For further information call Jeni on 9949 1315.