Bluewater Tackle World
Friday 20th of October 2017

 With the demersal ban in full swing, there’s every chance you might be scratching your head, looking for a species that can put a bend in your rod, a feed on your table or ideally both. In WA, we’re lucky to have countless exciting species to target along the coast. Now is the time of year many anglers venture farther afield for a demersal fix but an open mind might see you getting into some insane fishing in your own backyard.
 
If you’re into light tackle sport, tailor in the river are a great target species and offer the opportunity to hook a giant herring as by-catch. Like tailor, giant herring invade the river over summer terrorising the baitfish schools with their dazzling speed and aggression. Both tailor and giant herring willingly attack a lures, particularly minnows, stickbaits, poppers and metals. Please be aware that giant herring are a great sportfish that don’t taste any good and don’t respond well to excessive handling, so treat them with respect and return them to the water as quickly as you can.
 
Troy's tailor was a repectable size to say the least

If getting some relief from the heat with the sand between your toes sounds more like your speed, then the beaches at sunrise and sunset is the place to be. Soaking a bait and sinker gives you a good chance of landing a myriad of bread and butter species including herring and skippy. Tailor and maybe even a mulloway. Just remember size and bag restrictions.
 
Another option is to hit the turbulent white water on the inshore reefs targeting the big residential tailor that make formidable, acrobatic and fearsome adversaries. The ultimate would have to be hooking these guys on light tackle top water in visual surface strikes that are so brutal you almost feel sorry for your little popper/stickbait as its hooks finally connect to evolutionary perfection and it disappears into underwater uncertainty.

Speaking of uncertainty, getting stickbaits lodged into a marauding yellowtail king that wreaks havoc on baitfish trying to use our inshore reef structures as shelter is a sure way to lighten the load of your tackle box. Small to medium stickbaits with a fair whack of translucency to them are a preferred option when trying to fool fussy kings. Terminal tackle and knots have to be up to scratch when targeting the schools of kingfish that are given away by hovering or diving terns locked on to them above shallow structure. Locked drags, skilled boat manoeuvring and sheer luck are keys to landing these fish that more often than not find their home, especially when they exceed the 10-kilo mark.
 
Popping for yellowfin whiting is not a new fishing style, but it is extremely exciting. Bluewater staff and customers alike are left with anticipation between seasons, praying to the weather gods to deliver a stinking hot summer. As the thermometer climbs, the whiting activity increases and the more likely they become to take a surface offering. Their size to power ratio is ridiculous and they are a very testing target on light gear. All our staff have a very good idea how to fool these flats dwelling speedsters and are happy to share.
 
Black bream are defiantly a challenging species when it comes to targeting them on lures. They are easily spooked, often very fussy and the bigger fish can prove too elusive altogether. The lessons you learn whilst targeting them can be invaluable and make you a better angler altogether. Skills learned include patience, reading the environment and being dynamic and resourceful to entice a bite. They fight hard and many agree that the ultimate way to target them is on small surface lures at first or last light. This does however require some constantly hot weather to get them this fired up and feeding off the top.
 
There are plenty of other fishing goals you could be setting yourself if you don’t already have your list while the ban is on. A popular one is sounding out schools of samson fish for some extreme jigging action. This kind of action has put Perth on the map as a bucket list destination throughout the world. Other goals may include chasing a mulloway, figuring out the King George whiting fishery a bit better and consistently being able to take home a feed. Either way we are here to help and look forward to seeing you instore next time you want to discuss your next fishing adventure.


Sambos like this and some much much bigger models are being landed at the moment.