Mandurah

MANDURAH Jesse Choy

April marks a great time to get out fishing, with the autumn weather offering a pleasant experience temperature wise and lots of different fish on offer as well. Whether you are hoping to experience fishing around offshore Mandurah, or perhaps around one of the dams, there is plenty available for every type of angler around until you find where the crabs are abundant.

A chunk of spleen, mullet or chicken neck bait is ideal and be sure to check your pots regularly.

Fishing either the Dawesville or Mandurah channels into the estuary will yield results, with species produced dependent on what you are targeting. Anglers are reporting that there are good numbers of prawns around at the right time and also some good-sized squid tailor still getting around at our northern most beaches despite the fact numbers appear to be thinning out. Using a simple 3-way rig, with a small star sinker, gang and pilchard is ideal for targeting these fish.

Using bigger presentations like chunks, strips or fillet baits will produce, and who knows what you may catch at this time of the year.

Plenty of school sharks are willing to sniff out fresh bait and for the lucky systems. Bait is a great representation that fish are nearby opportunistically hunting, so be sure to try your luck around bait school as fish start to be less reserved with the cooling of temps. Fishing the low to mid stream sections of the systems is likely to yield some cracking black bream, with the odd mulloway also thrown in for some great rod bending action.

If fishing in the rivers on bait, prawns are a great option and a small chunk of fresh mullet will work well too.

The 40-60m zone remains a good place to be, if you are chasing a mix of dhufish, pink snapper or baldie offshore. Reports indicate that it is also worth drifting lightly weighted baits back in shallower water for good results. If targeting pelagic fish, there has been an abundance of big tuna schools and the odd metro mackerel still getting around. If chasing mackies, it is well worth trolling 2m divers like the

Driving on to the beaches can be a great option, as you can fish directly from your boot.

and whatever fish you may be looking to tick off. If you are going to head into the estuary, the flats are currently bountiful and full of life. Fishing sand patches with weed between, there are some good yellowfin whiting, the odd tailor and salmon trout too. Plenty of blue swimmers are making their way around, with those scooping and drop netting both reporting regular hauls. If it is viable, drop nets are most effective due to the fact you can move patrolling the rock lines, particularly at night. If fishing around the bridges or rock points, there is some good whiting around, the odd skippy and plenty of herring for those who are after a bit of fun. A bit of squid, prawn or cubed pilchard lightly weighted on a small hook is ideal and will produce a great variety when fishing around these locations.

If you feel like getting the sand between your toes, there are some great sized fishermen there is also some chunky mulloway getting around in the gutters. If fishing some of our southern beaches, you are likely to still come across some good sized tailor, the odd pink snapper showing up on the cast or drone and also some gummy sharks if you are spending a bit more time down on the beach.

There is plenty of bait in the rivers, with some big mullet and an abundance of small prawns littered throughout both ever-productive red head or chrome pink around and following a good reef line with contour close by. If targeting tuna, anglers are reporting that jellybean skirts are producing well, so too are smaller presentations like 4” plastics and 30-40g metal slices rapidly retrieved back to the boat.

Good squid like the one pictured can be hard to come by in Mandurah, but they are around if you spend enough time looking for them.

Bream are quite a good looking fish, the further you look into their patterns and colours!

From page 116 only demersal species available, dhufish, Breaksea cod, red bite fish and baldchin groper are also available in 30-50m of water.

Yellowtail kingfish will remain a popular target species in April. They have been around in big numbers (particularly off the West end of Rottnest). Trolling and using live baits will be your best options to target them. OFFSHORE

Fishing around the FADS continues to be one of the main focuses of our offshore anglers. The main target species have been Spanish mackerel and mahi mahi with the odd wahoo also being caught. The mahi mahi numbers seem to be endless and the size of the fish are getting bigger. Using live baits or stickbaits has been the most successful way of targeting them. They are great fun to catch and eat well as well.

Deep dropping is always an option as long as the weather allows. 150-500m is the zone you are looking for. Any structure on the bottom will more than likely hold fish. The best part is that any fish caught from these depths, generally is great eating. While you are searching for likely looking areas, it is well worth trolling a lure behind Freo legend Anthony with excellent pink snapper, sent in by the boys at Anglers Fishing World.