Mandurah

MANDURAH Jesse Choy

September marks a change in season, with plenty of options for adventurous locals seeking a spot of fishing. If you are planning on heading out, we can expect to see a noticeable prawns or squid will result in plenty of fun if you are seeking species like whiting, silver bream or herring and occasionally you will still come across the bigger fish. If dropping baits out, you are likely to encounter pink snapper, perhaps a breaksea cod or even a dhu. Persistence is key, so lightly weighted soft plastic or shallow running bibbed diver can also be very effective for the purpose of letting the fish know you are there.

Pink snapper are showing signs of aggregation on the inner reefs, reminding us that the demersal ban is not far away. As schools move in closer to spawn, numbers of fish can be found from our local beaches and will span to just beyond the five fathom bank. If pink snapper are your goal, it will definitely pay to present lightly weighted baits in shallower waters. Anglers continue to prove that fishing artificial will produce, but it will in fact require a degree of persistence if you are to stick that lure into the face of a willing fish. Picking a plastic can be thoughtless yet effective, though you will generally want to stick to a natural presentation that looks like it belongs in the surrounding environment.

The estuary is worth navigating, particularly if

Kelvin caught this beautiful dhu with his Swell Pro while fishing midday!

change in comfort levels as the days fill with more sunlight and the evenings become more tolerable as a result.

Although the seaweed situation along the beaches has largely cleared up, be sure to keep on the lookout and plan accordingly as there is still smaller patches lingering along the shoreline. Tims thicket, white hills and preston offer a good variety if you are keen to go check out one of the drive on beaches. If chasing something bigger, switching the smaller baits out for a fillet or whole bait may entice the stray mulloway or tailor cruising around chasing the smaller fish and bait. Casting stick with durable baits that enable a good soak time at your chosen distance and be sure to remain attentive to your surroundings as they often offer up information.

Winter tailor are scarce, but still somewhat available whilst shore bashing some of your shallow inner reefs and rock walls. Heading out in the boat to target some of your inshore reefs will increase the likelihood of turning up a few greenbacks, though there is so much else to target if you are able to get out. Targeting whitewash with an unweighted mulie or scalie is ideal and may turn up the odd pink snapper if you are lucky. If using artificials, it is worth mentioning that a you are mobile on a boat or kayak. Though the seasonal blue swimmer ban is currently in place, there are definitely good amounts of yellow-fin and herring about to keep you entertained. If trolling in the heart of the estuary with metals or shallow bibbed divers, there is also the chance of coming across the resident salmon trout population and the odd tailor too. Heading up into the rivers is likely to produce much more of a fun fishing session, with black bream majorly present in your low to mid-stream sections of the river. If fishing heavier or in deeper holes, there is also

the chance of hooking up to a mulloway.

Now is the ideal time to explore your local freshwater options, with places like Waroona and Harvey being very good ones at that. There are multiple bodies of water within a close drive, which are viable in terms of fishing, but these two options are hard to pass up due to the potential they hold.

If targeting redfin or trout on baits, a very lightly weighted worm will be ideal and particularly so if the fish are hungry rather than aggressive. If using lures, targeting fish on

spinners as well as decently weighted plastics will work very effectively and can be a great way of exploring during the process. Divers will work well if you are able to discern that the fish are maintaining a certain depth but will not always prove effective when fishing some of your shallow water that fish can hang in.

Great fish like this black bream are littered throughout our systems, they can just be very difficult to land. This one fell to a shallow crank.

Tailor, although scarce at this time of the year, can still be found and thoroughly enjoyed.

Browns are especially beautiful when they are in pristine condition and are showcasing their colours.

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some good sambos and yellowtail kingfish about. It is a matter of trolling to find them, berleying to keep them in your vicinity once you do, and fishing unweighted baits or soft plastics and hang on. The area between Duffield Ridge and Cathedral Rocks is a good place to start.

Tuna (bluefin and striped) and bonito (Watson’s leaping and oriental) can also be found in similar locations. Keep an eye out for birds as they an angler’s eye in the sky. They will give you an indication of where these fish are and then you can cast stickbaits, big minnows or soft plastics into the schools when you find them. OUT WIDE

Deep dropping is a very consistent form of fishing. It’s just a matter of getting the weather window to be able to go and do it. Target species for September are 8-bar cod, grey-band, hapuka, bass grouper and blue-eye trevalla. Every one is a delicacy of the sea.

So here is hoping that our local waterways have the opportunity to clear up, and the fishing will only get better as it does. I hope you have a chance to get out and I will catch you next month.