Cobia have shown up in the gulf lately. Many of them have been cruising through and attacking bait schools off Bundegi, while others have been spotted at Exmouth Reef. They quite often get attracted to a berley trail, so if you’re in the gulf in a boat chasing some reef fish, then expect a cobia to possibly show up if you set out a berley trail.
There have been many small school mackerel close to shore in the gulf. Some of them have been caught off Learmonth jetty. This week there was a surprise catch of a 60cm coral trout at Learmonth jetty! In fact a few trout have been caught this week by people in the gulf, including an 80cm beauty.
If you haven’t been to Bundegi boat ramp lately, then it’s worth a look to see massive schools of hardy heads that gather there. Queenies have been periodically coming through and smashing up the schools, so it’s worth a try
for one if you’re keen to see some action. The queenfish can jump and show some amazing leaps from the water when hooked. If you stay connected and land one, it is advisable to be careful as they can still be very active and have a few sharp spines that hurt! If you want to use a lure for these species, a small c’ultiva sinking shad works really well, so does a metal lure in about 10-20gm weight.
Sharks been showing up lately with an angler reporting that one jumped clear out of the water as it was chopping into bait schools on the west side. Sadly, they do tend to show up more often with the whales and their babies about,
but the other good thing about this time of year is the sailfish…as they say, where there are whales, there are sails! And there’s been plenty of them lately.
The shore fishing has been a little quiet this last week, but those who made the effort to walk the long beach towards the Navy pier have been rewarded with a few big GT’s after sunset. Don’t forget that there is a 100m exclusion zone either side of the pier. There have also been some big-eye trevally along that stretch of beach. It’s a good long walk and you certainly work your legs, so that spot is great for a bit of healthy exercise too.
