Karratha

DAMPIER/KARRATHA

Troy

Honey I can hear you laughing already, cold in the Pilbara? Yes, it actually can become very cold in the mornings and nights with 2021 certainly feeling a lot colder than previous years. For the southerners visiting the region of Karratha I am sure it is very enjoyable weather, especially with the idyllic 28ºC it reaches during for the majority of sunlight hours but for the hot weather conditioned locals, it is freezing.

Well, are the colds starts worth it? Yes, they are. Getting an early start in the cold and dark mornings is certainly a benefit towards making the most of the daylight hours, but what I am referring to is more the wind. June and July in Karratha has seen cold windy mornings being the more common conditions, but we have had ample afternoons and evenings where the wind has dropped off, balmy temperatures and silky smooth oceans. What this provides are opportunities to target demersal species, such as red emperor, in the dark during tide changes. Any fishing in the dark obviously has risk associated with it so it goes without saying that all safety precautions should be in place to avoid disaster.

Once set up, fishing for demersals in the dark can be a very rewarding one, in fact, the best catches of red emperor, saddletail and rankin cod I have seen have come from sunset or night time fishing. Baits are the go to option here as well as many of the glow in the dark jigs and soft plastics. It still gets cold here in Karratha at night, but early starts for the day aren’t the only way to go.

Demersals, such as red emperor and saddletail, as well as rankin cod, blueline and spangled emperor have all been firing during July and this will continue throughout the next months of August and September. Head out past the 40m mark behind the island for your best chance to get amongst

them. The low tide change has been working better than the high tide change but both changes are the most productive time, especially when lined up with a sunrise or sunset. Cobia, chinaman fish and trevally are also being caught by the demersal fishers and all three are great fighters if that is what you are chasing.

Bluebone fishing has been hit and miss around the archipelago as can be expected in the cooler months, but they are still there, but you just need to work a bit harder for them. Using their natural diet of rock crabs or fresh caught octopus will put you at the forefront of success, as well as fishing the spring tides

during the last couple of hours before the high tide change through to an hour afterwards. Fish close to the shore, over rocks and bommies from very shallow to deep waters of around 10m. This is where the bluebone will be feeding during this time.

The blue swimmer crabs are really starting to thin out in numbers in the bays, but the king prawns, which are plentiful right now, can be found from Nichol Bay right around past Cossack. During the calm nights that we are experiencing during this dry season, you will find the prawns feeding in the moving tides, with Nickol Bay being a great place to start. Using a bright night light to light

up the water and a prawn dab net, try either motoring slowly along or anchor up and dap for the prawns as they pass the boat under the light. They are attracted to the light so it is more of a case of the prawns will find you over you finding the prawns. The king prawns are big and sweet, but you will have to battle the trawlers who are out there working the region hard.

Threadfin salmon are being caught in the bays and creeks in surprisingly good numbers and size for this time of year, with the spring tides again being the best time to target them. One thing you find in the northwest

of Western Australia is that the larger tides are generally the most production times to fish. It is often more ideal conditions for a day on the water during the neap tides, but the larger tides carry a lot more food and this is what stirs the fish up to feed more. No run, no fun, as they say.

The local creeks are all getting a great workout with masses of tourists camped out and searching for every hungry mud crab they can find. The mud crab population in the Pilbara is a very healthy one although I do have some reservations with the extra pressure it is receiving due to Covid. Fingers-crossed

the international borders are opened as soon as possible to get thing back to normal and find a good balance between anglers and fish stocks. Although, my fingers are really crossed for swift and strong action on the massive shark problem that threatens the fish populations more than any other factor currently.

A hard fighting chinamanfish caught on PE2 tackle by the author in 15m of water behind the islands. The author nearly lost a good sized Spanish flag during a recent session to the hungry gold spotted cod that chased the flag all the way to the surface before taking a bite and finding himself a part of a double hook up.

While generally not as prized as the iconic red emperor, blueline emperor are still a 5-star table fish that make you work for it all the way to the surface.

FRESHWATER Peter Fragomeni

Winter has been colder than normal in WA. This has resulted in some anglers refraining from venturing inland, but those who braved the cold got into some reasonable trout and redfin. The northern dams have been a bit quiet, with the better catches coming from the lower regions around Pemberton. This should change soon, with late August normally turning on some warmer weather, resulting in more activity on most of our waters.

One area I don’t report on is the hundreds of little private farm dams scattered throughout our South West. They are stocked by individuals, mostly with trout; however, some dams have a large population of redfin perch of varying sizes. Redfin dams don’t fish well for trout but do produce large specimens on occasions. The Western Australian Trout and Freshwater Angling Big Murray cod continue to show up in undisclosed locations. This one fell to a surface lure worked slowly at night. Cody Willis is the lucky angler.

A dedicated team put some hard work in at Pemberton, which had been hidden for over half a century, and the water flows once again.

A classic photo of the first trout ponds in Pemberton,

installed in 1941. Photo courtesy of Simon Holland.

Although not a recent photo, this well-conditioned rainbow was caught at the end of summer. For some reason they are doing better this year, maybe due to a reduction in redfin numbers resulting in more available food. Ben Kelly trolled this up after releasing a similar rainbow in the previous pass.

Association (WATFAA) have a number of these dams stocked with both rainbow and brown trout. You must be a member to access these waters, and strict rules apply in order to retain access from the landowners that use the water for irrigation and livestock. The club has an impressive accommodation setup in the town, with around six rooms and central kitchen, all fairly new. Fly fishing can be excellent on these small dams, which range from only a few acres to some that are quite large. Lures are also allowed, but bait fishing is prohibited on these dams. If you are interested, contact the club for more details.

While we are in the area it would be appropriate to mention the vast history of trout acclimatisation that dates back to the early 1900s. Trout were imported from Tasmania and originally hatched in ponds at Albany. Later

on, around 1940, the Trout and Game Acclimatisation Society headed by a local school teacher Cyril ‘Sticky’ Clue built a set of ponds on a creek not far from where the current hatchery is today. Trout were hatched in these ponds and distributed throughout the local streams. It wasn’t

until a large trout over 10lb was caught that the true success and potential of the area was realised.

These original ponds were abandoned when the new hatchery was built on the banks of the Lefroy Brook and were lost to the forest and its ability to regrow back to its native state. Well, a few local anglers that form the Southern Forrest Freshwater Angling Club, along with the Pemberton Visitors Centre and the Pemberton Heritage and History Group, decided to locate these ponds and spent countless hours clearing the area in order to create a tourist attraction. It’s a great project and I’m sure it will draw lots of tourists when it’s completed. Thanks go to Simon Holland for providing the information and reports on the area.

AUSSIE NATIVES

Not a lot of reports have been coming through, with just a couple of large winter cod being caught by those anglers willing to put the time in. The promise of providing a sport fishery

for the general public has unfortunately not gained much traction of late.

WAROONA DAM

A few trout are still making their way to the net, but a lot of hours are put in for the result. A good stocking of trout will make the fishing interesting this spring, with water

temperatures starting to rise in the later part of August. Redfin numbers have dropped off but a few decent models are still being caught on minnowstyle lures and soft plastics fished both from boat and shore. DRAKESBROOK WEIR

Local angler Jonah Chiera has been hitting the weir of an evening and has been getting into a few redfin, although the average size has been on the small side. He has been fishing most of the shoreline but better success has been coming from those who fish deep from boats or kayaks.

Trout have been slow, but things will pick up later in the month when stocking should commence, making fishing the shoreline more productive.

LOGUE BROOK DAM

I fished this water recently with mixed results. It seems one day the trout were willing to hit any lure or fly yet the next day they refused to play the game. I had some success casting larger flies at night in between the drowned bushes at the

rear end of the dam, but they lacked the size of the previous year. It will be interesting to see how the 400 brown yearlings do in this rainbow water.

HARVEY DAM

Possibility our heaviest fished location, it’s hard to find a freshwater angler who hasn’t thrown a line across this water. The

Big brown trout like this one stocked by Fisheries WA seem to be surviving in our redfin dams. It is believed they are feeding on small redfin and reducing the perch numbers in recent years. This is why we should release the trout, as redfin don’t have a natural aquatic predator in our waters.

increase in angling pressure has seen a reduction in large 40cm+ redfin captures of late. Some argue it’s the extremely low water levels of the past couple of years, but whatever the reason it’s definitely not producing the large redfin it once did. I can remember pulling up as many as 50 fish using the dropshotting technique a few years ago, with a few good size fish in the mix. Still, a number are still getting caught by those keen anglers fishing from the shore. As with other waters, those using boats or kayaks and covering more water are generally getting better results.

Trout fishing has been slow, but August sees the stocking of ex-brood hatchery fish that offer reasonable sport until the hot weather sets in around November.

The annual Harvey Dam Bash will be held in early October. This year it has a new major sponsor, Harvey Water, which leases all the irrigation dams from Watercorp. It’s great to see such a highprofile organization getting behind a fishing event. I’ve found that we anglers have not been given the credit that we deserve here in Western Australia, and not recognized as being an asset to the local economy like perhaps the skiers are.

This year’s event is bigger than the previous one, with even a coffee van, food van and a live band as well. Prizes for tagged fish are planned so it should be a huge success, with 100 anglers doing battle over the Saturday and Sunday.

WELLINGTON DAM

This would have to be one of the most underutilised waters in Australia, with a huge shoreline that stretches tens of kilometres back towards the town of Collie. Wellington Dam sees very little fishing pressure. Up until this year it was home to a scattered population of redfin with the very occasional trout that possibly made its way down from farmland nearby. Thanks to the persistence of the stocking committee there are now 10,000 rainbow trout yearlings being stocked this year. Time will tell just how well they will do, but my feeling is they would have a good chance as the redfin numbers are lower and scattered compared to other dams further north.

GLEN MERVYN DAM

This was one of my

favourite dams back in the 90s but when the redfin turned up it changed everything. These days not many anglers fish it, especially this year as it’s so low. Still, good redfin are getting caught and a few trout are showing up in anglers’ creels.

NORILUP DAM

This small water near Greenbushes is often overlooked by the average angler, but it can be quite productive if fished the right way. There is a large drop-off on one side of the dam and it’s this deep water that you must concentrate on as the fish cruise the edge looking for any available food that’s on offer. I fish this drop-off with a sinking fly line and fairly large nymphs, but be warned - any slip-up and you will find yourself in very deep water. This area was mined for tin before it was flooded so extreme care needs to be taken when fishing this dam. Although trout are annually stocked, redfin are also available.

BIG BROOK DAM

Some good trout have been reported here so it’s definitely worth a look if you are down in the area. the area has put the redfin down but some locals are getting a few down around the weir below the road bridge on lures. Capel River

Still produces a few good redfin in around the Winery. High water flow has hindered fishers lately.

Blackwood River

Very high and dirty so won’t fish until water subsides in late spring. Warren River

This river is still producing some quality redfin with some impressive catches being

taken throughout the whole system. It was once thought that as numbers increased due to overpopulation, the average size would decrease, as has occurred in other waters. However, this particular river has bucked the trend. I would wait until the levels drop but redfin are still being caught in the slow, deep pools on lures and soft plastics cast around the structure close to the bank. Brown trout numbers have been impressive this year so spring fishing should be interesting this season. Lefroy Brook

A couple of WATFAA members fly fished the upper reaches well upstream of the hatchery recently and were rewarded with some medium rainbows in the fast water. The trick was to get their heavily-weighted flies deep to where the trout were stationed. This month could see high rainfall, potentially causing this brook to run a banker, making fishing very difficult. Donnelly River

The Southern Forrest Irrigation Scheme has reached a climax with the outcome of a recent independent review ordered by the government.

For those of you who aren’t aware, it simply involved a dam the size of Waroona Dam to be built on a tributary of the Donnelly known as Record Brook. Water would then be pumped up from the Donnelly to fill the dam in times of high flow. It would then be fed through a series of pipes to irrigate up to 100 properties around Manjimup and Pemberton.

Opposition quickly grew to this scheme, as not only would it destroy some beautiful karri country but it was debateable whether enough water would be available to fill this storage. Save the Donnelly Group fought hard to block this scheme, with one of their arguments being that the flows have reduced in recent years and the model used was out of date. They also wanted the area preserved, as the site was close to a particularly huge old karri tree that even I didn’t know existed.

The outcome of the CSIRO report quoted the scheme as not fit for purpose. The report found holes in the Department of Water’s modelling and suggested that new gauging stations should be built to assess current water flows.

In effect, the scheme is dead for the foreseeable future. In a way I was of the opinion that if an environmental flow was factored into the scheme then that much-needed water would have benefited the Donnelly through summer when it dries up in the upper reaches.

Late August is an exciting time to fish our inland waters, and with all the stocking going on it won’t be hard to find a fish or two. Remember an inland freshwater licence is required if you are over 16 years old, but concessions apply. Stay warm and safe, take only what you need and leave only footprints. Tight lines.

Wendy Jane onto a nice rainbow from a club farm dam near Pemberton. Dams like this offer great fishing and untapped potential in the area. The historic trout ponds are marked with this sign upstream of the town swimming pool on a small stream.

RIVERS Murray River

Running high and discoloured so give it a miss until late August. Northern Jarrah streams

A few keen freshwater anglers have been chasing the spawn runners that run upstream from the numerous dams dotted along the scarp.

Collie River below

Wellington Dam

Although there is limited flow some trout have shown up in the lower reaches in the deeper pools.

Collie River above

Wellington Dam

A fair bit of rain in

The recent decision by FFRG (stocking committee) to stock Waroona Dam with large ex-brood trout has resulted in a reasonable fishery. This rainbow was caught on a weighted brown nymph fished on a floating line.