John Deeprose and Alex Scorer from Perth went out on a fishing charter this week. The day was sensational with rankin cod, snapper, chinaman, tuna, cod and even an unexpected catch of a black marlin onboard. The vessel was trolling at the time with a punter’s brand new green $80 lure on his line when the marlin connected and displayed an amazing aerobatic display for the whole crew aboard.
The billfish haven’t stopped showing up and international angler Tom Evans is still out chasing a world record on fly. He has achieved state and Australian records during his month-long stay in Exmouth and is extremely impressed with the waters off Exmouth. In one day they had the opportunity to catch striped marlin, black marlin and sailfish. They also had an estimated 300kg blue marlin at the stern one day and have raised anything between 3 and 15 fish a day. This all sounds great for the upcoming Betta Billfish Bonanza in mid October. The Exmouth Game Fishing Club will be holding a rigging session the week prior to the event for those anglers wishing to learn more about targeting billfish and what to expect on the water at this time of year.
Bluebone have been showing up in the waters around the west side for shore-based anglers. A prawn bait works best for these tasty fish and once hooked, hold on! You can see these fish feeding close to shore if you are wearing a good pair of polarised sunglasses. There are many of these fish in the waters around Norwest Cape if you jump in for a dive, but they are protected from spearfishing, along with any other resident reef fish, within the marine park. In fact there is no spearfishing at all between Tantabiddi and Winderabandi: if you’re not sure what the rules are on spearing and you want to get in the water to shoot a fish, drop in to the local Fisheries or tackle shop and ask.
Long tail tuna have been congregating in the gulf around Exmouth reef. One customer caught 18 in one day up to 12kg. All of these except one were released. Gulf mulie bait schools are thick around this area and birds have been seen bombing and feeding when the predatory fish feed on the bait. Sailfish have already shown up and it’s looking like exciting days are ahead for anglers in the gulf.
John Deeprose Chinaman