Wow, what a wild week it has been for fishing in Exmouth. There are numerous people reporting marlin literally crawling all over the water and one boat crew has reported getting 14 different species of fish in one day! Hopefully that will continue through to Gamex.
Meanwhile, from the shoreline there has been reports of queenfish, jacks, squid, and trevally in the marina, including the one caught on fly this week from young Braden Cooper. Robyn and Allan from Canberra once lived in Exmouth. In fact their daughter Beck was born here. Now Beck is a teenager and along with her brother Jordan the whole family have returned to Exmouth for a holiday. The family were down at Bundegi with others on the beach when a predatory fish chased a smaller bait fish about 50m from the shore. The predatory fish tossed the smaller fish in the air several times and put on a performance for the beach-goers. The smaller fish was estimated to be about 40cm long and we believe it may have been a small billfish feeding on the queenfish that have been roaming the inside of Bundegi Reef.
If you have been sleeping in lately, you have missed some sensational mornings. Nearly every morning this last week the dawn has been spectacular with glass conditions in the gulf and amazing colours reflecting off the clouds on the horizon. The town beach has had schools of baitfish shimmering on the glass surface and on some mornings you could see the tail and dorsal fins of fish cruising in the shallows. On other mornings the predatory fish were smashing up the baitschools in all directions while pelicans also chased the bait: it really is a beautiful paradise here!
The Clubhouse for the EGFC at the marina is in full swing with Gamex crews in town. Anyone is welcome to get down to see the weigh-ins each evening between Sunday and Friday from 6-8pm. Although 2/3 of the 64 boats are targeting the tag and release sections, we expect some fish will be brought in to be seen by all. Look out next week for a full report on results.
Braden Mangrove Jack