Augusta

AUGUSTA Anthony Gillam

As usually happens, before you know it winter has arrived, the temperature has dropped and the rain is in full swing. But that doesn’t mean the fishing needs to stop and, as usual, Augusta continues to produce in good numbers all year long.

To finish off autumn the weather was mild and calm with some lovely warm days to lull you into a false sense of security that winter was going to stay away for a while longer. Then before you knew it thunderstorms hit and the temperature dropped like a stone.

On the lead up to the end of the season there has been some fantastic fishing in both Hamelin and Flinders Bay with the warm waters conveyed south on the Leeuwin current keeping the warm water species in the area but causing the salmon run to be the worst I have seen for many years.

There have been large schools of yellowtail kingfish all over Flinders Bay and although they like cooler water, you will frequently come across them when there is an obvious change in water temperature from the usual; as an example from 19-23ºC as is the case with the Leeuwin current. You will often pick them up on a troll right at the temperature change and if you concentrate on the area

A nice kilogram of skippy that happily swallowed half a slimy mackerel on a 5/0 live-bait hook, also off the rocks.

Bernice Gillam takes a day from running Augusta Xtreme Outdoor Sports to tangle with the salmon still making the run up the coast. This one was off the rocks and caught on a mulie.

once you find it then you will certainly end up with a good bag usually of similar sized fish. The odd monster kingie will turn up and give you a run for your money but with a bit of patience you will be able to play them in to the boat. They are excellent eating but should always be brain spiked and bled before being placed in a salt water ice slurry to drop their temperature as quickly as possible to maximise their quality (as with all fish).

The bluefin tuna numbers have also shown no sign of dropping off with some great schools obvious due to the surface bust ups and bird activity that go hand-in-hand with the feeding fish. The food source has been varied lately with not only schools of mulies, herring and garfish prevalent but also the much smaller bluebait. This means that depending on what they are currently feeding on you will need to adjust the size of your lures to suit as they will often not even look at something that is too different to their target. Using feathered tuna skirts will always produce results but the good old reliable Halco redhead in various sizes will also work very well.

As the whales enter the bays on their northern migration the demersal fishing has become a lot more exciting with the chance of an up close and personal encounter with these amazing beasts a distinct possibility. There is nothing more thrilling than concentrating on lifting Another thumping example of the dhufish coming over the side of the boat when fishing with Leeuwin Marine Charters.

Blake Gillam trumps the family with a jetski caught southern bluefin tuna trolled near the islands on a Halco redhead lure.

a dhufish from the bottom when a humpback decides to appear along side spyhopping to see what is going on.

The dhufish and pink snapper numbers continue to be very strong around the 12-50m depths. With the calm weather conditions over the last few months there have been plenty of opportunities to get out wide and deep. It always pays to take the opportunity to explore the area for lumps and bumps especially when the chance to motor slowly along getting a great read on the bottom without having to contend with chop or swell. It doesn’t always come down to an underwater mountain either, some of the best fishing can be found on a tiny bump on a relatively flat bottom. Once you have located something interesting try drifting over it a few times with a bottom bait or large soft plastic to find out if it is a worthwhile bit or real estate. If nothing promising happens then move on to the next spot and so on. Before long you will start mapping the area which will narrow down the amount of travel time on your next trip. Your sounder will let you name the waypoints however you like, why not rename them with something that will identify it to you as a worthwhile location rather than one of a hundred sets of numbers.

The Blackwood River and Hardy Inlet has remained relatively clean and although there have been several large rains, the usual dirty water hasn’t resulted, it has however pushed the crabs out to sea and they are currently a pretty rare sight in the river. The bream have remained throughout the system and it is not uncommon for them to be right through to the town jetty. They don’t seem to be very interested in feeding the further down the river they travel so to catch a feed it is still a safe bet to try up towards Alexandra Bridge from Molloy Island. River prawns and small hard bodied lures will work but due to the large number of juvenile fish it makes more