The last month has proven that the saying ‘fishing is wishing’ is completely incorrect.
There have been some great recent catches off the beaches as well as reports of fantastic fish landed on boats.
With salmon season in full swing, fish are definitely in the area and close to shore.
Many anglers tried their luck at Hamelin Bay over the weekend, with some great prizes given away to the winners of each category in the Sport Fishing weekend for charity.
There have been a number of reports of up to 60 people gathering on beaches in the region, jostling for position to score a salmon catch.
Please remember to leave some room between you and the person next to you, as we don’t want to hear of any nasty accidents with those sharp hooks and people – rather than fish - being caught.
The richter plugs, clone lures and ever popular “smilin’ jack” have been the pick of the lures for keen fishers this year.
There have been some exciting reports of good sized catches of pink snapper as well as large Samson fish (sambos) off the West coast beaches this week.
Boaties have also reported plenty of pink snapper around, particularly up in the Geographe Bay area.
With boating conditions keeping anglers off the seas in the last few weeks, reports on catches further out have been slow to land.
Paul from Down South Camping and Outdoors was able to get out on the water and managed to land dhufish and gummy shark, but found it slow compared to other fishing days.
Divers continue to clean up with great catches of crays when the weather, swell and visibility has suited them. We also received a report from one customer of a nice school of young dhufish underneath the Busselton Jetty, which shows their numbers are strong.
Another reported Baldchin groper off Dunsborough, as well as dhufish in about 20 to 30 metres.
As a small child, one of the most exciting experiences is catching your first fish, and little four year old angler Leo proved that this week, very chuffed with his catch and quite possibly well and truly hooked on fishing now.
If you would like to take your kids fishing, feel free to drop in and see the team at Down South Camping and Outdoors, who will be only too happy to set you up with the right equipment and point you in the right direction of how, what and where to show your youngsters the basics of angling.
Happy Easter and safe fishing and diving until next month,
Roz Cummings, Down South Camping & Outdoors
