I am still amazed at how incredible the fishing has been lately (touch wood!). I’m sure it has something to do with all the rains earlier in the year. Kailis has had a bumper year with the prawns as well and the whole ecosystem here at Exmouth seems to be extra-healthy.  The bait schools on the west side continue to amaze tourists and locals, while the billfish has been good through these colder months too. The reef fishing hasn’t disappointed either and Spanish mackerel have been reported on both sides, along with wahoo. The crabs in the gulf have been phenomenal and if you haven’t had a feed of blue swimmers this year, then what have you been doing?

Carl Latham, from Emerald in Melbourne, is here for 10 days and has been having some amazing experiences at Ningaloo. He and the family swam with the whalesharks and have been fishing off the beaches on the west side. Carl enjoys the benefits of lure fishing by walking the shoreline and exploring new areas in search of fish. He was rewarded with some incredible sessions watching bait schools being herded by predatory fish at dusk. He also caught new species for himself including giant herring. Carl is not interested in keeping the fish and changed trebles to single barbless hooks at the rear of the lures and is itching to catch a queenfish while here.

Many people have been catching fish and unsure of what the species is they’ve caught. You can get a common species brochure or the comprehensive guide and it’s always good to have that handy when fishing. If you are not sure, then it is always best to carefully handle the fish and let it go. Some species of late that we have seen photos from customers include giant herring, chinamon fish, tusk fish and sweet lip.

Michael Jacob caught his first billfish on fly last week and there seems to be a few keen anglers willing to try something different with billfishing. On the day Michael caught his, the crew raised 6 billfish for the day, teased up 5, got the hooks in to 3 and were successful at tagging one.

Catching billfish on fly is challenging and Ryan Mumford went out this week and also caught one that is a pending Western Australian record. The fish is pictured this week and weighed 26.6kg and was caught on 15kg tippet.  There will be a fly fishing section in the upcoming Betta Billfish Bonanza in October, as well as the international tournament again next March.

Mumsy Black on fly