Anglers enjoying the sunset on town beach have been lucky to see some great evenings this week with glass conditions and a high tide with a few bream cruising the shoreline. The relaxed atmosphere of people sitting on their chairs as boats cruise back to the marina, the sun sets and people walk their dogs along the beach is one to enjoy: catching a fish as well is purely a bonus.

Early morning has been the optimal time to chase mackerel lately. You have to be keen though and ensure you are well and truly on the grounds with lures in the water before dawn. Once it reaches 9am, the mackerel tend to sit deep and not be interested in the lures as much. If you are not an early riser, then berleying up with mulies and sending out a floating whole scalie mackerel works well to bring the fish to the surface.  The mulies will attract the species such as mackerel, but it is advised not to cut up fish baits, as that will attract the sharks.

The Exmouth Game Fishing Club has got the Ultra-Light fishing Tournament coming up very soon in August. If you are good at patience, skill and light line fishing on 1,2,3,4 and 6kg line, then this is the event for you. Juniors and women (no offence to others intended!) tend to be good at this style of fishing, so come on girls and kids, jump onboard a boat and get involved with this fun week-end competition. There are plenty of prizes up for grabs including Maui sunnies, Anima prints, vouchers from businesses and all sorts. For further information drop down to the club, into Bluewater or check out the website www.egfc.com.au

Lane Golden Trev

The weather has been fairly ordinary for anglers through these holidays. Of course, if the weather is really bad, there are plenty of good fishing DVDs these days and servicing your gear is always a good idea, not to mention getting rigs ready, particularly if you are reef fishing. Different options such as fishing the marina and the creeks in the gulf for shore based anglers can result in new species to add to your list of encounters as there are many different species in this area. If you’re not sure of what you’re catching, it is best to release the fish. There is a basic free guide that the Department of Fisheries produce available at the local tackle shops. There is also a comprehensive book on identification of the species you are likely to catch in Exmouth and the North-West. 

Jack and Jasmine Murray are on holidays with their parents from Kalgoorlie. The brother and sister have been busy catching charlie court cod, bream and whiting and they told me they caught a 37cm dart. They are trying to get some photos of their catches to enter in the monthly fishing competition, so we may see some next week.

We have had some reports on sad wasting of good fresh fish through bad filleting at the marina. If you’re not too flash at filleting the fish, don’t forget that you can cook up the frame on the bbq that has all the missed pieced of flesh on it. The meat close to the bone is sweet and wings hold a lot of meat also. A quick dusting with herbs or brush with soy, honey and ginger turn it into another meal or two. Fish heads can be boiled up on the outside bbq to use for all sorts of dishes including seafood chowder, fish cakes and seafood sausage rolls with a sweet and sour dipping sauce. Plus, the water that you have left over from the cooking up of the head can be used as stock. We are lucky to get fresh seafood and have a great resource that is often overlooked by people who only ever relate fish to fillets you can purchase in a cryavac pack at the supermarket. 

PICS: A few shots of queenfish caught in Exmouth that were released.

Roosta popper, treble barbs crushed

Releasing one of many queenfish found around Exmouth.

Queenfish

If you would like to get in to the trevally inside the reef, a good berley trail and patience is recommended. If you prefer to be on the move, then ensure you are wearing a good pair of polarized sunglasses to spot the fish as they move through the shallows. Soft plastic lures and small C’ultiva shads work exceptionally well. You can also pick up spangled emperor doing this. This style of fishing is not limited to a boat and shore anglers can attract these species as well. If you prefer to sit and wait for the fish to come to you with bait, then squid is recommended.

Shark mackerel have been making raids on the baitfish schools at the end of the northern marina wall of an evening. There have also been mack tuna and the odd queenfish amongst the mayhem. Patience is the key to an amazing sight. The sun sets and then like a switch the water erupts as the predatory species have a last effort at eating before darkness sets in. The odd fish have been swimming by all day, but this sight on dusk is a must-see. If you are lucky enough to see it, you won’t forget it.

If I say that the weather is good one week, it seems to turn, so, this week I will say that it has been bad. HOPEfully next week it will be good! It has been a bit drizzly and windy of a morning, but there is always something fishy to do here. Winter time can bring other species into the area and one such species is pictured this week. Suze Gerovich caught this sweet pink snapper using a soft plastic south of Coral Bay. You can catch these fish in the Exmouth gulf and off the west side through winter. They are good eating if you want a feed, and picturesque if you want to release them after a quick pic.

Suze pinky

An elderly regular visitor to Exmouth last year made a promise to himself (and the fishery) that any spangled emperor over 65cm was being returned to fight another day. One morning this week whilst fishing low tide along the beaches down wreck road he landed a spangled emperor measuring 74cm: a great catch from the beach. He proudly kept his promise and released the feisty spangly.

If you’re looking for something for the kids to do these school holidays, then getting them out in the fresh air away from computers, TV and out of phone coverage is a positive step. Fishing has many benefits for individuals and families. If you’re not sure where to start, drop in to the store and ask what is biting where, what the winds are doing and work with the tides to improve your chances of catching a fish and keeping the kids enthusiasm high. 

The news on the funding for the construction of the new Tantabiddi Boat ramp has been well received by all boating enthusiasts. The new ramp will have two lanes and reach further out to launch boats in the shallow waters at the existing boat ramp. There will also be facilities for alighting passengers, which will make it much easier for charter vessels during whaleshark season. The congestion through peak times has been frustrating for many and this will be a welcome relief for the community.

Pictured this week is Taygen Dray with a small trevally caught on a soft plastic from the shoreline. This is a typical species you can find all along the coast here that respond well to small lures. Setting some berley in the water helps bring these species into range. These hardy fish are great for catch and release and usually swim in schools, so be prepared for multiple hook-ups if you’re down on the beach with a few kids.

Golden golden

If you haven’t been out to catch a squid lately, then you have been missing out on some great calamari dinners! The squid have not stopped showing up in the waters both around the east and west side of the cape.

Angler Aaron Lewis is pictured this week with a coral trout that was caught on a popper. Aaron was chasing giant trevally and caught this inquisitive fish in waters close to shore. Aaron did also catch some trevally on his trip and caught a good mix of species that were nearly all released….except for the trout that is!

Reef fishing has produced a few good catches of gold band job fish and pearl perch lately, while the red emperor have been rather thin on the ground.

The surprising factors for people fishing in the deep blue, has been the amount of marlin about. We had one customer report over 12 marlin raised in one day! The fish have been feeding well over the last few months since Gamex (where 446 were tagged) and now many are around the 60-70kg mark. One particular angler is coming all the way from the USA to Exmouth for one month to target billfish on fly.

The Exmouth Game Fishing Club are now gearing up for the Ultra-Light competition. If you would like more details on this competition then check the website www.egfc.com.au

Aaron's Coral Trout

The bad weather with northerly winds and rain had dampened a few tourists thoughts, but that has been taken over by the brilliant sunshine and calm conditions that we usually have at this time of year.  In fact, one visitor was particularly pleased when he brought in a mackerel estimated at 15kg off the rock wall at the marina in front of the EGFC clubhouse! He had a standing ovation from the people there having morning tea after the short tussle on his spin rod. The fish was much larger than people first thought and the angler was extremely chuffed.

The Exmouth Classic fishing competition was a great success with 19 boats and loads of prizes. The fishing that weekend was not fantastic, but the presentation evening was full of smiles, great prizes and good cheer from the crews. The prestigious section of champion boat was taken out by team ‘Pussy Galore’ and several juniors were full of smiles when they received prizes for simply fishing! The tournament is to run again next year around the same time. Meanwhile, crafty anglers are getting geared up for the next event which is the Ultra-light Tournament in August, followed by the Billfish Bonanza in October. Now that there is a clubhouse, the club is busy with several events throughout the year.

PIC: The happy winning team ‘Pussy Galore’ Mark Horn, Brad Spiers, Jasper Spiers and Turk Sales.

Team Pussy Galore

The Exmouth Classic fishing competition is on as this is being written and full details will be in next week’s report. There are 18 boats entered and although the weather looks ominous, the fish are biting well.

The blue swimmer crabs have continued to show up in the gulf and this is a good option for those windy days! (and we’ve had a few of those lately!) Meanwhile the queenfish along the shoreline in the gulf, particularly Bundegi, have been feasting on the baitschools of hardy heads. Other predatory species such as trevally, mackerel and cobia hang off these schools and feed sporadically throughout the day, so if you see a baitschool, it’s worthwhile having a cast around it. Small poppers and metallic lures cast off the edge of these schools works well and barbless hooks are recommended for a better hook up rate and easier release (it’s safer too!).

The crew from Exmouth Meat Supply love their fishing after seeing meat all week, and Aaron from there was stoked when he landed a 72cm spangled emperor off the beach at night after work. He won’t tell us the exact secret spot, but we’re sure he was using the local squid for bait.

We believe that the billfish have decided to call Exmouth their permanent home, as they continue to show up for visiting anglers: not that anyone is complaining about that! The colder weather certainly hasn’t deterred the fish. Some anglers chasing reef fish out wide have been trolling surface lures on the way to and from the grounds, which has resulted in catching a billfish for a bit of fun, while breaking up the journey.

Pictured this week is Brett Stevens from minigolf, who was beaming with smiles after catching this giant trevally in the Exmouth Gulf. The fish had some old battle wounds on it that were healing well and after a few quick photos the fish was released. These fish are very hardy and we’ve seen many caught with battle wounds like this one.

The Exmouth Game Fishing Club is hosting the Exmouth Classic in mid June, so if you’re keen to get out and target a few reef species, then grab an entry form from Betta Electrical or one of the local tackle or fuel shops. The opening of the eatery in the clubhouse is Friday the 4th of June! Nemo’s, as it will be known will be open for lunch Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 10-2 and dinner on Friday, Saturday, Sunday from 6-9. For bookings call 9949 4567. Profits go towards the clubhouse and non-profit organisation of EGFC.

GT Brett