|
School holidays are upon us once again and the town is busy with holiday makers, all keen to get out and experience a good time on and around the water. Before the rush, I managed to get out for a few hours one day last week and catch myself a bonefish on fly. This is something that not many women in Australian waters have ever done, so I was feeling quite proud and thought I would show you a pic of it this week! These speedy sportsfish are difficult to catch because they can be so flighty. They are very resilient and not any good for eating: making them great for the sportsfisherman.
Jeni from the Exmouth shop scored a good bonefish on fly on Thursday last week, while the rest of us were working... hmmm... nice catch. West side of the Cape.
Dave Brown from Fremantle is up for a couple of weeks and has been fishing off his kayak inside the reef off Mesa Camp. He's had success on the Squidgy soft plastic lures. He caught a 47cm spangled emperor. He also got blitzed on what he believes was a trevally that came close to his kayak a few times, but the fish ended up winning the battle.
Ryan and Luke Smith from Victoria are travelling around Australia with their parents. The two boys have been catching bream and estuary cod at the marina. They were fishing one afternoon when a huge school of trevally came through and swam past. They tried all they could to try and catch one of them, but had no luck. A few of the local school kids have also been fishing the Marina as often as possible, making the most of their time off, and from what they have been reporting in here at the shop, have been catching and releasing plenty of trevally, small mackerel and the occasional queenfish, all on soft plastic lures.
Tim Miller, local painter from Exmouth was fishing down at Lefroy Bay with friends from Geraldton in a 12ft tinny. They had huge hump back whales jumping within about ten meters of the boat while fishing. It was all very exciting and scary at once. The crew caught some Robinson sea bream, rankin cod and spanglies. Tim caught a red emperor on his brand new Shimano reel and in the shallows they caught some massive squid. They also got some big ornate rock lobster before the end of season and had a seafood fest over the few weeks holiday.
Some massive longtail tuna have been caught out in Exmouth gulf over the past recent weeks. The biggest we have heard of has been 19kg but there has been plenty around the 12-15kg size busting up on big schools of baitfish out from Bundegi and out towards Exmouth reef. Those fishing on the bottom near Exmouth reef have reported good catches of blue-lined emperor, spangled emperor, various cod and a few Spanish mackerel which have been taking unweighted baits fished at the stern whilst at anchor.
Text and pics © Bluewater Tackle World |
|
Four guys from Perth aboard the boat Catatonic have been experiencing some great days out fishing off the Muiron Islands, Peak Island and the west side of the cape. They were trolling for mackerel off the islands when a small black marlin hooked up to one of their Halco Laser Pro Crazy Deep (190DD) lures. The fish danced at the stern and there was mayhem on the boat. There was enough time for the video camera to come out, but we’ve been told the footage needs to be watched with the sound down! The marlin finally jumped off and we’re not sure if the angler or the skipper was to blame, or if it was just luck. They have also had some success with catching rankin cod, spanglies and even a nine-kilo red in 18m of water.
Local Exmouth resident Gino with a 16kg cobia taken not far out from Exmouth marina.
July is one of the best months for Spanish mackerel in Exmouth and this year is no different. Tantabiddi has been a hotspot with many anglers reporting double hook-ups on these speedsters once a school of mackerel is found. The mackerel have been predominantly found in depths between 20-30m of water and as usual all the deep diving minnow lures have been catching well, with the Rapala X-Rap 30 and the deep diving Mackerel Maulers being a couple of standout performers.
Bottom fishing is has been as productive as ever with plenty of red emperor, rankin cod and spangled emperor being taken west of the islands. More and more people have been reporting success using the Gillies Ockta weighted jigs. This week we even had one customer hooking a marlin on one of the jigs on its way down to the bottom. Unfortunately, as is quite often the way with marlin, it threw the hooks after a couple of exciting jumps. Other reported catches on the Ocktas include big spanish mackerel, bluebone, spangled emperor and plenty of rankin cod.
Jeni from the Exmouth shop scored a good bonefish on fly on Thursday, while the rest of us were working... hmmm... nice catch. West side of the Cape.
Fishing around the west side beaches has been a little quiet of late with a distinct lack of baitfish present compared to previous years. Spangled emperor and the occasional bluebone are being caught by those getting up early and fishing the access roads at first light.
Whiting and yellowfin bream are finally around in good numbers off the local gulf beaches. Fishing on the rising tide in the mornings, combined with local prawns for bait, is the best formula for success. Anglers need to be aware that this year the legal size limit on the yellowfin bream is 30cm .
Text and pics © Bluewater Tackle World |
|
Ben Martin from Perth is up here fishing for a week with his Dad and friend. He's been out off Tantabiddi in his 5m runabout. He caught his first two mackerel, after many years trying, using a Halco Laser Pro 190 on a 15kg outfit. He is also chasing a billfish or two and will try his luck at south passage for a sailfish using a Black Magic lure.
English visitors Aaron and Jason are here briefly and want to attempt to catch a fresh fish for dinner. They've never experienced this before, because at home they just buy it from the fishmonger. They've purchased a couple of small outfits and a whiting pack, and will target whiting and bream using prawns. They've never had to fillet their own fish, so they've also had to ask about how that is done too.
Matt White and Trevor Scorer have been spearfishing lately, and coral trout have been plentiful. Matt had a close-up encounter with a dugong that was very inquisitive and friendly. The gorgeous creature came up and nosed him, making the experience unforgettable.
Not only have spearfishos been up and close with dugongs, but anglers have been up close to whale sharks too! This magnificent whale shark came up to an anchored boat in just 25m of water off the Muiron Islands. It stayed at the stern of the boat and even had a rub on the hull!
Andrew Cooper was fishing without his son Braden and caught a 1.2m mackerel. He was also trolling and picked up a malabar cod in the Gulf. This was all using one of Braden's lures! Andrew is keeping the lures now, but Braden says he is not letting his dad go out without him again...
Tony and Maureen are here for a few months and enjoying the fishing Exmouth has to offer. They have been catching blue lined emperor, mackerel and spanish flag in the gulf in their tinny. They have been using the local squid and say the results are great.
Alf Lemm has been targeting fish in his kayak off Mesa Camp. He has landed gold spot trevally, spangled emperor, many charlie courts and had a few screaming runs from fish that were never landed. Alf and his wife have been enjoying fresh fish for dinner each night. He has also landed a few long toms up to 70cm and his wife Annalise is ready to have meat for dinner now.
The school holidays are not far away now, so it's good to have activities for the kids to do. If the weather is not good, why not give the kids some casting practice and set up a target in the back yard with a light outfit. Casting plugs are a great way to improve accuracy of casting small lures and soft plastics.
Text and pics © Bluewater Tackle World |
|
Long-time Exmouth resident and fishing legend Desmond Ryan went out reef fishing last week to christen his new electric reel. Much to his delight the first fish to be landed on the Japanese-made reel was a gleaming red emperor. Des and his fish are pictured this week, although we don’t know which is gleaming the most: Des or the fish? Onboard the boat they also caught rankin cod, gold band job fish and tomato cod using fresh local squid.
Des Ryan looks reasonably happy...
Alf and Sue Lewis from Hovia in Perth are here for a month and Sue enjoys fishing from the beach while Alf goes out in the boat. Sue has been enjoying catches of bream and whiting off the beaches south of the marina, while Alf has come home with nothing....? The two are enjoying just catching enough to eat every day fresh, appreciating what Exmouth has to offer without wanting to take anything away.
There have been wolf herring showing up in the gulf with young kids Tom and Luke Jardine from Falcon landing a few near Wapet Creek using small hard bodied minnows. They also caught three doggy mackerel trolling with Dad in the boat using 190 Laser Pro lures.
Young siblings Ella, James and Matthew Catterson from Ballarat are on the road for three months with their parents travelling through the centre, up to the Kimberley and down to Exmouth. So far in Exmouth they have caught trevally, cod and flathead from the town beach and off the marina. They have seen dolphins and love the Exmouth area.
Ian Hallet from Perth has been enjoying catching golden trevally, queenfish and giant herring around the Westside using the Berkley gulp soft plastics. He also caught a big black spotted tusk fish, but informed us that he doesn’t eat fish at all, but loves catching them, so he let them all go!
Text and pics © Bluewater Tackle World |
|
A blue marlin weighing 212kg was weighed recently, showing that the big fish are still around at this time of year. Brad, the lucky angler, caught the fish on 24kg line using a Pakula lure caught aboard a local billfish charter boat. The fish was filleted and there were plenty of fish dinners for the crew that week!
This 212kg marlin was taken on 24kg tackle from the charter boat Freespool II, from West Coast Billfish Charters
Peter Smith visiting with Andreas Kolm from Perth for two weeks has been having success with squid, mulie and scalie mackerel baits on coral trout, a 70cm spangled emperor and big blue bone around the Muiron Islands. They even managed to land a flathead, to their surprise. The two have been enjoying the fresh fish each evening for dinner, not to mention the fantastic weather.
Rebecca Kenny has just moved into town with her partner Chris who is working at the health food shop. Rebecca and Chris headed down to the marina to try their luck at a few fish in Exmouth and Rebecca caught six fish including flathead, bream and fingermark using mulies for bait. Apparently there were a few other guys there too, including local well known angler Joe Reynolds, but Rebecca caught more than anyone!
Richard Allen from England is another person who has recently moved to Exmouth. He has been targeting all sorts of species and came in to ask what a fish was that he caught. From his descriptions, it was a bonefish that he caught on squid. He now knows that he is one of the few people in Australia to have caught the highly prized species. Many people spend thousands of dollars travelling the world to find these fish.
Kane Rae, aged three is travelling with his family around Australia. His dad decided to get them all rigged up with fishing gear and Kane was given his first rod and reel. They took it straight to the marina and using fresh local prawns Kane caught and released his first two bream. He’s now hooked and wants to go everyday on their trip around Oz .
Text and pics © Bluewater Tackle World |
|
Tracey Widdup from Australind has been having an absolute ball up here in Exmouth. She has been catching everything from squid to mackerel, spanglies to coral trout. One of her most amazing captures was the fish pictured this week, or part thereof! It was a rankin cod that was caught in just 20m of water. She was bringing it in when a shark took one bite and all that she landed was the head. What you can see weighed 5kg! She still managed to get a good feed from the remains, despite the shark taking the majority of the catch.
Tracey Widdup with her five-kilo rankin cod
Josh Middleton and his father Brian are up again from Perth for three weeks. These guys regularly visit Exmouth for recreational fishing. Josh caught his first marlin on a pink Richter Soft Oscar on a single hook rig. The two also caught mahi-mahi, job fish, red emperor, robinson sea bream and pearl perch during their stay.
Local resident Jason Harrison was helping a visitor launch a boat when he got an invite to go fishing. Jason caught his first spanish mackerel and was rather pleased with his efforts: good karma resulted in a good fish! Vi Rew is travelling with her husband Bill and was trolling inside the reef at Tantabiddi last week when something hit her in the back. Vi screamed and turned to her husband behind. Sitting in the bottom of the dinghy was a massive squid that had jumped in the boat. It was a super lucky catch, but I reckon the squid ink would have been flying once that squid realised what he had done.
Kaye and Doug Williams have been camped at Winderabandi and Doug was testing out his new custom built marlin stick when a 150kg black jumped onto the Black Magic Super Stripey #3 lure. They managed to land the fish and release it, leaving a big smile on their faces. They also managed to land large female mahi-mahi, wahoo and mackerel.
The Yardie Creek Caravan park fishing comp is on again this year raising funds for the RFDS. It is $5 to enter and the money at the end of each month is split into two: half goes to the RFDS and the other half is given to the winner in the form of a gift voucher for Bluewater Tackle World Exmouth. The winner is decided by the staff at Yardies. At the end of the season every entrant is put into the barrel for a major draw of a Shimano reel and fishing package from Bluewater Tackle World Exmouth. Make sure you get your entries in each month to help this good cause .
Text and pics © Bluewater Tackle World |
|
Just what is it that is making the fishing scene so good at the moment? If it hasn't been crabs thick in the gulf, then it's the squid off the gulf beaches, octopus eating all the crabs in the shallows, the dolphin fish amongst the weed out wide, or the large reef fish in shallow waters. Whatever it is, it certainly shows how healthy the fishery here in Exmouth is at present. Perhaps it is a result from the massive rains we had earlier in the year? Perhaps this created nutrient flows into the gulf? It would be good to find out. The prawn season is the best Kailis has seen for a long while according to staff and it's great to see everything looking so positive.
Sharon's 150kg black marlin
Have you seen two really happy and smiling people lately in Exmouth? My guess is that it is probably Scott and Sharon (soon to be) Forbes. They went out on Freespool II and caught their first marlin each. Scott's was about 40kg and Sharon's was about 150kg! Not a bad effort for their first billfish. The two fished with Peter Pakula, who was mentioned last week. Peter has said he wants to be back again in October for the sailfish. Thanks to WestCoast Billfish Charters, Peter was able to visit Exmouth to test out his new lures that you can troll slowly, which is something I'm sure many people will be doing in future with the ever increasing price of fuel.
Whalesong II has been back in town and catching dolphin fish on fresh squid on the way here. Andrew Goldsworthy from Hillaries was also in to the dolphin fish around the floating weed out wide. Andrew said there were tonnes on tiny baitfish underneath the weed and dolphin fish from small to large sizes. He also fished in the shallower waters and caught mackerel, coral trout and nor-west snapper. A fresh Thai red fish curry was on the menu that evening!
Someone has found the mackerel. Burt Straw from Mindarie caught a 23kg and a 25kg mackerel using a mulie with a squid skirt over the top. He's also been in to the coral trout, spanglies and queenfish. Meanwhile in the marina Braden Cooper and Luke Collins have been doing well on poppers with queenfish, trevally, barracuda, small mackies and had one big mackerel come in close .
Text and pics © Bluewater Tackle World |
|
The reports are coming in thick this week with fishing being enjoyed by many of the holiday makers. Last Sunday, Kevin Harris from Baldivis caught the fabulous black spotted tusk fish that is pictured this week. He caught it from his 12ft tinny off Tantabiddi using a hand line. It was 76cm long and weighed an impressive 10kg.
Meanwhile Carolyn Thurston from Perth is up here with her husband, and caught a 90cm giant trevally in the waters of the gulf, out from the marina. The husband and wife were fishing in 21m of water using squid as bait, to target reef species for the table. It took quite some time to land the fish, but the pair decided to release the GT and try for some tastier species.
Robyn Schomberg, staying at Ningaloo Station, visiting from Newport Beach, has been catching a mixed bag including coronation trout and red throats. Her husband Alan caught a 1.2m spanish mackerel and some tuna.
Val and Jim Butt from Perth are up here for two weeks and have caught a 71cm rankin cod, a few chinaman cod, red emperor and spangled emperor. They have enjoyed the fresh seafood and will be taking a few fillets home after vacuum sealing them.
Wayne Baddock and Jim Nelson from Margaret River have caught a 20, 30 and 50lb wahoo through the week. They were using a blue and white 7m Halco lure and a surface pusher. They've also landed some magnificent trevally amongst the weed at the back of the reef. They have been releasing most of the fish they have been catching. They then went to the Muirons and caught and a 22lb red emperor, 15lb coral trout and hooked a sailfish. They also caught scarlet sea perch, but said the bait they were using is highly secret: it obviously works well!
Peter Pakula from Pakula Lures Australia was in Exmouth this last week and held a rigging session with his new products. It was a quick trip and if you missed out this time, make sure you can make it next time. The session was a great success and we hope to have in back again next year to showcase more products and ideas .
Text and pics © Bluewater Tackle World |
|
|
