Tackleworld Exmouth weekly fishing report

It is supposed to be heating up for summer but the cool southerly winds kept most of the boaties inside on the weekend and made shore fishing pleasant for those with the wind against their backs.

It was also a prime time to head into the mud of the creeks in search of crabs, as the wind whisked away the midgies and sweltering heat synonymous with the North West at this time of year.

Interestingly, the town has been eerily quiet, which we believe is the quiet before the storm.

Many locals have headed out already and the tourists are about to hit as accommodation starts to fill to a peak that the festive season brings.

The fishing reports have been a little thin but that’s not because the fishing is slow.

The town beach has schools of bait you can clearly see cruising up the shoreline that periodically gets smashed up by predatory fish.

The bait is hardy heads and you can see them showering as the trevally and queenfish hammer them.

It is so good to simply sit and watch this, but even better to get a small lure among the action on light gear.

Through the week there were continued reports of billfish.

Rhys Clatworthy, who grew up here, has been away for 12 months.

On his first day back, he was invited to go out chasing blue marlin.

The boat ended up getting two blue marlin (he caught one of them), plus a striped marlin and a sailfish.

A grand slam homecoming, what a welcome!

Other vessels out targeting the pelagics had great success with the billfish including one team of two people getting nine shots in one hour, while others have reported seeing 11, 12 and more in one day.

Dolphin fish have also been prevalent. Interestingly, a group of 12 or so Chinese people staying at Mantarays came here and were totally stoked to have caught and released 12 billfish during their stay.

The organiser of the group told us it was his fourth return trip and all his friends could hardly get the smiles off their faces.

Squid have been in good numbers in the gulf lately and we always suggest that you have a few jigs with you, no matter what fishing you’re doing, as the squid can be in all places.

Actually, there has been copious amounts of bait in deep waters off the west side where the anglers have been chasing billfish.

Several marlin have come up and spat out fresh squid, so it would be interesting to know if the schools are squid in some areas?

Fishing at night in the deep waters usually results in the arrow squid being attracted to your boat and they make the best baits, especially for swordfish.

If you’re keen to learn more about rigging for different species, the Rig and Gig night on March 16 for GAMEX is set to be a ripper.

The guest speakers are some of the best skippers in the world and we are very lucky to have them here in Exmouth.

They will be demonstrating rigging techniques and giving tips to help others improve their fishing.

After the talks, there will be a gig to rock on for on Friday night as GAMEX kicks off for the 50th event.