Squid in the sound would be agood start or drifting over some of the sand patches in there with coral prawns picing up some king george whiting , maybe wait till you get used to the sound then venture out to the five fathom chasing dhufish , snapper ect . Near the coathanger is good for skippy and herring , chopper tailor on the walls , flathead on the shallow sand patches out towards point peron , the list goes on . Bait wise anything from small coral prawns , white bait , small bits of fresh squid , pilchard halves ? have fun

There are alot of shallow reefs to look out for when heading offshore from safety bay at low tide (and even high tide). So keep an eye out for them and bommie's when you are on your way out as I have seen people come to grief on them a few times. But i guess its a similar situation all along the metro coast.

These reefs can hold some good fish. We started fishing the inner reefs along penguin island and slowly worked our way outward's as we started finding spots that the cray boats had visited and using the sounder in random locations. Building up spots on the GPS as we drift around the rough area's of the pots (without getting too close to the pots of course, last thing we want is to loose a sinker on the ropes)

Good luck, some good fishing to be had out there.

Mininal gear means room for more beer

just to clear things up?

bommies are things that the germans drop on you out of plains when you are fishing, gotta be carefull

only joking mate they are big lumps of coral / rock / other reef that jack up off the bottom usually a pinnacle type shape or like a big boulder

no really...?

cheers, tommo

keep an eye out for the boils on the surface and there are a couple straght out if you go through the channel markers. if you launch in at bent streetits not a bad ramp but unfortunatley the sand bar is shifting and there is a shwallow bank that can stop you if the tide is low(looked the other day and the bar has shifted into the small channel it had btu hopefully summer it should move again).  if your interested in haeding out past the reef then i would recommmend cruising along the sand bar ad watching other boats heading through the reef as there is a section of reef easy to passs through but to some its not so easy. the tyre wreck in the sound dwon warnbro way has its ussual resident tailor and skaleys and small sambos with the snapper loving it too(watch the snapper bans) it also houses some nice tastey sharks hammerheads  and bronzeys. yummo. down towards the long point end there is nice sand flats for the king george and flathead. the stciks are good at night on a calm day for some big tailor and pike too  with just an unwaited mulie works well.  if you head out past the reefs ovetry first thing in the morning is good for tailor in the wash. very calm days (i mean very calm) burley near the back of it and some big dhuies live there. anywhere along the five fathom bank is god for a look some snapper around atm. squid and herring work well together. if your up for sand whiting and bg ones head to the back of the bank and head out to 32meter mark and drop some nice squid bits down  if you dont get two or three at a time move on 500m north or south and you will find heaps.

Hi Guys,

Thanks for that -  will be a good start... Appreciate the help.

 Have seen the reefs and boils and stuff - don't know the area, so invested in a gps combo with the local mapset - could only afford the Hummingbird 865c, but a very good compact machine - saved me a few times aroun the back end of penguin Island and around the point.

Yeah, I've seen some guys pushing their boats off the bank too - opposite the Fish and chips place on Safety Bay road - go there every day to take the dog for a walk and a quiet beer in the evenings. If you go hard right and follow the bouys it is about 2m, but changes often..

Where is the coathanger, Feral?

Francis, have you seen the holes on the sounder to the seaward side of that island with the sea lions on - about 200m behind the island on the North side - my sounder was very active with a normal depth of 22m quickly going as deep as 34 with the echo screaming with fish? Had no rods on board that day, out testing the boat....

Mike, how far is the Tyre wreck? Is it easy to spot or marked on the gps mapping?

Have heard about five fathom bank - how far out is that?

Thanks for all the tips, guys - can't wait to getout there now - will post big fish pics soon...(hopefully?)

Dave

No i havent seen the holes around there but it sounds very interesting... I wont steal your spot but I might have a lookie around next time we head out :P Might be good for next cray season...

I think the five fathom bank is the next set of reefs out from safety bay...? a few mile past the the initial reefs and behind penguin/seal island. Im not 100% sure if thats correct? Im still pretty new to it all aswell!

Also, me and some mates got some dodgy instructions to find the "tyre wreck". I cant remember exactly how it worked but we were told to line up the tip of long point, with certain cluster of tree's on the land and sound around. We ended up finding some ground on the sounder that looked like a tyre wreck but again, cant be sure if we were on the spot or not. Did end up with some nice tailor and other species. 

Good luck, look forward to seeing some pics :P

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Mininal gear means room for more beer

Runs from Rotto down past Mandurah.
About 2.5nm out the back of penguin/seal islands.
Varies in depth and can be good for all sorts of fish.
You also have coventry reef out the back of the islands which is worth a fish for snapper and other reef fish.
You can usually see the reef as the surf brakes over it on a swelly day. Coathanger is the big bridge that leads over to Garden island. The cockburn sound is good for squid and whiting, you can also get a feed of herring and skippy and the odd snapper. Sound can be a good place to fish if the weather is not 100% as it gets shelterd by the rock wall and garden island.

www.rockyreefmarine.com.au

Is that the reef that you can see white water on in a clear day down the centre of the sound, right on the horizon, in line with Mandurah?

How deep is it there?

I think that is the murray reef.

www.rockyreefmarine.com.au

Is there a map detailing these reefs or is it just local names given to reefs with big scientific names?

Hi Dave, just a quick addition to the rest of the info..Invest in a few paper charts, the DPI charts are packed with info relating to small craft for the area of interest and can be purchased online or from DPI Marine House in Essex st Freo, another good spot is the Chart and Map Shop also in Freo.

Ones you'd be looking for are:

Ocean Reef to Cape Peron 001

Cape Peron to Dawesville 913

Should really be studying these first to get familiar with the area and should always be kept onboard.

Cheers and have fun it's a great stretch of coast!

360 Marine - Luxury Vessel Skipper and Charter Services

mitch@360marine.com.au

Thanks Mitch,

Got the skippers ticket, safety gear, maps, compass, Radio, Epirb And the humming bird gps combo with the charts included - seen the rocks and are careful - thanks for the tip though.

Also took the first trip without rods and bait as not to get sidetracked and went from Rockingham sea rescue round Piont peron behind penguin Island and straight down to Mandurah Channel - I see that these waters can be very dangerous and volitile, hence the Hummingbird - excellent charts ot there showing rocks, but paper charts on board in case of battery failure with normal compass and Radio comms on spare battery..

On the way back went into channel in Warnbro and up to the ramp on Bent street - checking the chart and depth against the new sandbank - fairly good..then to the Blue silo's past a Wreck and down Rockinghams palm beach area, then back to the slipway - good guide to the area though.

The gps shows restricted navy areas, ski zones and the like...pity it does not have battery backup though

 Dave

i also have been given directions to it too even got a nice gps mark too took me straight to the waikiki pub. nice real nice. if you head out down towards long piont its sort of in between the mussel farm and the carpark but it takes some finding when i load the boat up next time ill find it for you or just wait till spring there will be a boat or two on it. The five Fathom bank runs from rottnest to mandurah and more. is only a few nauticle miles out and houses some nice lumps. Coventry reef is out behind panguin island if your looking from waikiki and yes it can be seen breaking some days. the reef you are probbably talking about towards mandurah could be the James service reef. another good spot for bread and butter fish and teh odd snapper.I havent seen the spot your talking about behind seal island tho might be worth a good looky