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The weather looks beautiful this weekend for Perth with sunny conditions and temperatures in the low thirties - perfect for fishing.
To help with the hunt, WA's peak angling body Recfishwest has put together a weekly report on what's biting and where.
Boats:
Big schools of baitfish along Five Fathom Bank and south of Rottnest Island have been attracting an assortment of predators including shark mackerel, yellowtail kingfish and small southern bluefin tuna.
The tuna have been found along the western edge of the bank while the shark mackerel and kingfish have been lurking near Coventry Reef and in 10m to 20m of water off Parker Point.
A customer of Anglers Fishing World, who fished the Fish Aggregating Devices on Sunday, came across striped tuna between the three devices located in shallower waters and dolphin fish at the western most FADs.
Dhufish and breaksea cod have mostly been caught in 20m to 40m of water and this has been the case whether crews are fishing out from Mandurah, Fremantle, Hillarys or further north. Squid catches remain steady along the seagrass beds off Fremantle.
Shore-based:
Masses of scaly mackerel are holding within Fremantle Harbour and their presence is thought to have contributed to the mulloway recently caught behind the sheds.
Surf fishers have been picking up a few mulloway along the beaches north of Hillarys while tailor have been common right along the coast. There are still a few herring and the odd garfish being caught from the northern and southern rock walls.
The rock walls within Fremantle are producing a few squid early morning and after dark. The lower reaches of the Swan River have prawns following the recent deluge.
Blue swimmer crabs are being pulled from the deeper areas of the Old Swan Brewery, Freshwater Bay and Mosman Bay.
Tip of the week
The weather for Saturday morning is looking good for fishers, so why not go and fish the artificial reef towers?
The towers are an addition to the numerous other artificial reef and habitat enhancement projects complete or under way in WA, funded through recreational fishing licence fees.
The reef towers differ from the concrete reef modules currently installed off Dunsborough, Bunbury and Mandurah and those planned for deployment in Esperance, Exmouth and Dampier.
The towers are the first steel artificial reef structures in WA, with a different layout and construction to the demersal reefs, and on a much larger vertical scale. Designed by Western Australian artificial reef specialists, Subcon, the purpose built reefs are an impressive 12.5m high or the same size as a four-storey building.
To add to its height, each reef weighs a massive 70 ton and is 10m long and 7.8m wide. The costly process of reef deployment at sea was also reduced through a new innovative technique that has never been used with this style of artificial reef anywhere in the world. Instead of being loaded onto a barge and lowered using a crane, the large structure was towed out into position and its buoyancy tanks were flooded to safely and cost effectively sink the towers.
The reef towers were specifically designed to not only house demersal fish species but namely to attract an array of pelagic top-water fish in a similar way to FADs. The lattice-like steel upper part of the reef will provide structure and concentrate small baitfish, attracting predatory pelagics. The purpose built design will also allow demersal species to shelter amongst the large base structure with its various shapes, crevasses and vertical profile.
The steel lattice structure provides a complex habitat with variations in temperature, shade and hydrological effects such as current. The curved steel plates on the tower promote upwelling and the surfaces of the structure can be colonised by macro-algae, sponges and corals to favour a variety of different species and higher abundances of fish.
The wide range of habitats influenced by the reef towers will hold a good variety of fish species, with pelagics such as Samson Fish, Yellowtail Kingfish, Salmon, Spanish Mackerel and Tuna all expected to turn up at the reef as well as demersal species such as Pink Snapper, Dhufish and Baldchin Groper.
There's also a good chance of King George Whiting, Skippy, Flathead, Flounder and even Mulloway that are caught in the surrounding areas. All of these species have been encountered on the established South West artificial reefs but other species such as Yellowfin Tuna and Bonito are also expected to make an appearance.
The reef towers were funded using recreational fishing licence fees and are for all recreational fishers to enjoy. Anchoring right on top of reefs should be avoided as it will limit the benefit they can have to all fishers and the chances of your anchor returning. Similar to the South West artificial reefs, some of the best fish are caught around the structure, not right on top of it. Fish can be targeted by casting or trolling around the area and over the top of the reef as well as drifting near the reef location and jigging or drifting weighed baits in a burley trail.
The reef towers are located in 'the paddock' between Garden Island and Rottnest Island. The final coordinates have been given as 32??? 07.527??? S, 115??? 27.013??? E for Tower 1 and 32??? 07.461??? S, 115??? 26.978??? E for Tower 2 in 44-45m water depth.
