▲TopTHE WILD, WILD WEST!

▲TopSportfishing in WA

by Starlo

Our American friends regularly make the claim that “everything is bigger in Texas”. The Lone Star State is indeed the largest of the contiguous “lower 48” political divisions in that country, and has a reputation for producing almost everything in magnum sizes; from steaks and cattle ranches to oil wells.

Here in Australia, our home-grown version of Texas is the sparsely-populated state of Western Australia; often referred to simply as “The West” by its three million inhabitants. It might surprise many Americans to learn that Western Australia could easily accommodate the state of Texas three times over, and still leave room to throw in California, Massachusetts, Delaware and Rhode Island! I’m also sure that more than a few South Africans would be stunned to learn that their own sizeable republic could comfortably fit into Western Australia twice, with plenty of space left to accommodate Lesotho and Swaziland, as well!

Western Australia is a truly vast tract of land, with thousands of kilometres of rugged coastline that stretch all the way from the cool Southern Ocean at a latitude of 35 degrees, right up to the Timor Sea, just 14 degrees from the Equator.

Thanks to its immense size, small human population and its incredibly broad geographic and climatic span, Western Australia clearly offers the greatest diversity of saltwater angling opportunities to be found anywhere in this country. It also has a well-deserved reputation for producing big fish!

▲TopA DRY STATE

If Western Australia has a down-side as a fishing destination, it is the fact that it is the driest part of one of the driest continents on earth. As a result, there are relatively few significant river systems, apart from a handful in the temperate south west wine-growing districts, and some largely seasonal watercourses in the remote monsoonal north. This puts a distinct geographic limitation on the availability and variety of freshwater fishing on offer, and also curtails estuary angling opportunities in some areas.

Having said that, there are still some surprisingly attractive pockets of freshwater containing introduced trout and English perch (redfin) in the south west, and some truly great barramundi rivers in the far north that also contain large fork-tailed catfish and a sprinkling of smaller sport fish such as sooty grunter.

For the most part, however, when we speak of fishing in Western Australia, we are talking primarily of tidal saltwater fly fishing. Happily, in this department, the sky is literally the limit in the wild, wild West!

▲TopAN UNUSUAL CURRENT

Unlike the western seaboards of most other major continents, the coastal seas of temperate Western Australia are not characterised by the same cold currents that so dominate west-facing shores in California and Namibia. The West’s Leeuwin Current bucks this global trend for much of the year, bringing warm, sub-tropical water and its diverse piscatorial cargo south in massive volumes, and maintaining surface temperatures in the 17 to 25 degree Celsius range off Perth in almost every month of the year.

The end result of this rather unusual current flow is a surprising mix of tropical, sub-tropical and temperate species right along the Indian Ocean coast of mid-Western Australia. In practical terms, this means that tailor are regularly caught right alongside large Spanish mackerel, giant trevally and queenfish. Similarly, southern bluefin tuna, yellowfin tuna, marlin, dolphin fish (mahi-mahi) and wahoo are all encountered off the state capital of Perth at certain times of year, despite the fact that it lies at a latitude of 32 degrees south.

▲TopFAST AND FURIOUS ACTION

One of the most exciting and readily available found in the southern part of Western Australia is the Australian salmon (Arripis trutta). This migratory, schooling fish is found in vast numbers along the cooler southern coast of Australia, making seasonal forays (usually in autumn) into more temperate western waters as far north as Perth and even Geraldton.

Regularly attaining weights of 3 kg, Australian salmon in this region have been known to top 7 kg on rare occasions. At all sizes, they are avid bait, lure and fly-takers, and provide an outstanding tussle on any gear, repeatedly launching themselves clear of the water in spectacular, gill-rattling leaps and tail-walks, interspersed with hard runs and deep, slugging resistance.

A much smaller member of the same Arripis family is the Tommy rough or ruff, known locally “herring”. This little fish is extremely prolific in cooler West Australian waters. With an average weight of just a few hundred grams, the little herring is best pursued on ultra-light tackle. Such fishing provides fast and furious action for these herring, especially when a much larger salmon, big tailor, or a stray silver trevally (“skippy”) of a kilo or two gets in on the act.

Offshore, these same southern waters produce lots of big pink and queen snapper (blue morwong), as well as one of Australia’s greatest and most unique reef fishing prizes; the delicious Westralian jewfish or dhufish. Related to the much smaller pearl perch of the east coast, these beauties are just as tasty as pearlies… but have been known to top 22 kg!

▲TopSAMSON AND FRIENDS

Northward from Perth and on up to Shark Bay, the tailor takes over from the Australian salmon as the most popular inshore and land-based fly rod target.

At Shark Bay, and around fish-rich offshore island archipelagos like the shipwreck-strewn Houtmann Abrolhos, tailor schools mix with an increasing diversity of tropical and sub-topical species such as mackerel, trevally, pink and spangled snapper, cobia, tuna and various groupers.

These waters (and those further south) are also home to a unique and aptly-named Australian species called the Samson fish, which is a member of the Seriola clan, and a kissing cousin of both the yellowtail and the greater amberjack, which it closely resembles in appearance. Attaining weights in excess of 50 kg, the Samson fish was named after mythology’s most famous strongman for a very good reason! It is a genuine tackle buster, and any Samson over 10 or 15 kg in weight will provide a truly memorable battle, regardless of whether the angler wins or loses the encounter.

▲TopLAND-BASED OPPORTUNITIES

One of the unique aspects of the West Australian coastline, especially between Shark Bay and Exmouth, is the number of deep-water localities where land-based anglers can cast a line directly from rock shelves, headlands and cliffs with the very real chance of hooking large pelagic species such as mackerel, various tuna, trevally, queenfish, sharks and even sailfish or marlin — all while standing with both feet planted on terra firma! Key hot-spots in this regard include Steep Point, Dirk Hartog and Dorre Islands (if you can get there!), the Quobba/Cuvier coast north of Carnarvon, and the oyster-encrusted ledges around Coral Bay, Exmouth and North West Cape.

Beyond the Exmouth Gulf and Onslow, Western Australia’s coastal waters become increasingly tropical in nature, and so do their inhabitants. Here we begin to encounter the first scattered populations of barramundi, along with other warm water sport fish such as threadfin salmon, mangrove snapper, black jewfish or mulloway, giant herring, bonefish, permit and the like. Many opportunities also exist for pursuing these targets from the shore, while wading, or by casting lures and flies from relatively small boats in partially protected or enclosed waters.

These opportunities only get better and better further northward, beyond Eighty Mile Beach and Broome, although as we move into the wild and remote Kimberley Region of Western Australia, shore-based anglers need to start taking the threat of large, aggressive saltwater crocodiles very seriously indeed. This is certainly not wading country!

The Kimberley itself is famous in fishing circles for the quality of is estuarine, bay and inshore fishing, with at least 35 species – from small grunter and bream to silver-hued barramundi and huge trevally, barracuda and mackerel — on offer to the angler.

Huge tides (with a daily range of 10 metres or more on the full and new moon cycles) make this area a challenging and potentially dangerous place to fish from a small boat. However, several reputable fishing guides and quality charter services operate in the region, and these provide safe, reliable access to world-class fishing action.

▲TopOFFSHORE SPORT

The offshore waters of the Australian north west are incredibly rich with marine life, including many species of highly desirable sport and game fish. The seas off Broome, in particular, have one of the healthiest populations of sub-adult Indo-Pacific sailfish to be found anywhere on earth. Individual fishers have been known to hook a dozen and more sails a day on these grounds any time from May to October, and with most of these fish in the 15 to 30 kg range.

Considerably further from shore, the seas around a necklace of reefs, atolls and sand cays known as the Rowley Shoals are arguably the “fishiest” waters in all of Australia, if not the world! Here the sailfish are larger, and are regularly joined by marlin, swordfish, wahoo, mackerel, huge barracuda, seething schools of tuna, mahi-mahi, trevally and other pelagic species in amazing numbers and variety. A long-range safari to the incomparable Rowley Shoals can truly be regarded as the saltwater fishing trip of a lifetime!

While this overview of the sport fishing opportunities available in the wild, wild West of Australia has been a necessarily brief one, I hope it has at least served to whet your piscatorial appetite.