Really?

Just like that?

Walk into a group of locals down at the boat ramp and say.... "Where are your secret spots"?

Mate, as much as we all help each other out here on this forum, we spend a bit of time contributing to others too....

Having 1 post and starting out with asking for secret spots seems a bit much even if you had really good intentions.

Sorry mate, I don't know the area myself, but I probably wouldn't give you the honey hole coordinates if I did.

Maybe someone else will be a bit more neighbourly than I....

Hey it's pretty hard to start with, I can't help you out with spots up that way but I know where your coming from trying to find some. It took me years to get a few good spots, some with help and others, and some with good sounding equipment and lots of tutorials on how to use the sounder.

I would recommend asking guys what depth they are catching fish in, not where, that is the next most important part of the equation. The boat ramp is a good place to hang out sometimes, I tend to drive in when I have time and try and sniff out what is on the bite and what depth, this comes right down to crabs and squid too.

Try and find an old bloke that knows a few spots and take him fishing.

And for what it's worth, where I fish summer is no good, I catch all my snapper and Dhuies from about now thru to the 3 month closure in October.

PS welcome to the forum

Thanks guys
MDSXR6T I was out towards the fads on my plotter today but when I got to the location on the plotter nothing was there. So I'm guessing the location change each year.
I have a 8.5m alloy bullet boat. Built at a local boat builder . So getting into the deep water is never a problem . Been out many times off exmouth. . I saw on my sounder today there was a few wrecks about 5 mile past the fads. In 100-150m of water. Are theses the wrecks I should head to?

I reckon you are too deep.

12 - 20m on a feature and you'll get dhuies.

right on sunset, high tide, bit of breeze and 30m for pinkies in the next 2 motnhs.

Become a fisheries volunteer and as part of your official duties you can hang out at the boat ramp inspecting others catches and asking where they caught them and what they used.

2 weeks of that and should be sweet.

Just plain bizarre. 7mins apart you practically have 2 totally different opinions - still a fish chief.

Yeh but Marks post is for dhuies and snapper. OP has tried that for 2 years without much luck. Not surprisingly since dhuies have been hammered locally. Mine is making the most of a big boat and actually catching a couple of 25kg+ fish which still taste great.

Best advice I could give you is learn to use your echo sounder.
You need to know what coral looks like.
When you find some likely looking ground set up some drifts through the area. Use a sea anchor. When you catch a desired species ie Dhu, baldy, breaksea etc mark the spot in your plotter but carry on with the drift.
Come back to that mark and sound around the area looking at what the ground is like that you caught the fish on and also finding new ground at the same time.
Once you get a few spots that produce fish it's really important to farm them. Don't just hammer the one spot everytime you go out or it will be barron in no time.
You'll catch decent good sized fish anywhere from 15m up in perth metro waters. Sometimes shallower. You just need to spend the time on nice days looking for the ground.
But knowing what your seeing on the sounder is paramount.
Also you don't need big lumps to catch big fish. I've caught some of my best fish on coral no more than 1.5m high.
I've spent over 10 years gathering my marks that will always produce fish. You just need to put in the time.
Sorry the only person I share my waypoints with is my brother.
There's still plenty of good fish out there. There's heaps of dhu's and demersal species all through perth waters. The reduced bag limits and season closures have worked a treat.
Good luck with finding some ground and getting onto some fish.
And please don't be a pinger who drives right up to
a boat which is fishing to see what ground they're on/mark their spot.
Btw what sort of sounder have you got?

ghenley said...
Hi Woodo

I'm running the NORTHSTAR. M84

Ah ok mate. Decent enough sounder then.
I'd suggest sounding over ground in shallower water where you know what the bottom is, like sand, gravel, weed, rock/reef and see how it appears on your sounder (colour, density etc)
Then when your out deeper you'll have a better idea of what your fishing on.
My sounder shows coral in red. Pretty sure the northstar will be the same.
There's a heap of ground out there.
Download the navionics app to your phone. You can spend hours searching for potential ground. Find somewhere that looks like it has potential, get the coordinates and punch them into your plotter on your boat and go searching.

So I was playing with my maps and found a structure shaped like a seahorse. About 22miles out. Looks like something worth a look. Has anyone got any ideas on what tackle I'm thinking soft plastics jigs or hard jigs. Or should I just use bait?

ghenley said..

West of port Kennedy

West, try going east just for a change

With what it cost to get that boat out back of rotto id be getting a carton of emu and
The skank to do a runner up to kalisbrothers!

ghenley said..

So I was playing with my maps and found a structure shaped like a seahorse. About 22miles out. Looks like something worth a look. Has anyone got any ideas on what tackle I'm thinking soft plastics jigs or hard jigs. Or should I just use bait?

The best part here is to find local tackle supplier that looks after you. Talk with them and they will give you some basic ideas and then you need to trial them. Also don't be scared to present different baits. Having sport fished more than not, you soon get annoyed after throwing lures all day to change to the one that they like and then catching your bag limit in 10 minutes

Woodo's idea about learning to distinguish bottom types is very cleaver. Even a few in the know will scuba spots that look interesting. Compare what you see to the GPS and sounder. It takes time but the more effort you put in the quicker it will get easier.

Most people i talk to are getting more fish than ever. They are catching a lot of undersized or just over so be fully setup and well versed on how to use the realise weight.

Drift fishing is a good idea until you get familiar with some of the areas. The section of coast north of Hillarys can get very sketchy and most people who lose their boats are from anchoring incorrectly, or in the wrong spot. But you still need to be fully aware of how to use a drift anchor safety.

Last point is having spoken with people who have survived boat sinking. They all talk about just how fast it can happen. SO i advocate wearing an Inflatable PFD when your fishing. The issue is your eyes are not focused on the horizon or surrounding area and waves can sneak up quickly

Its about making yourself as safe as possible in a wild/changing environment

@ JB, I completely agree with you with regards to wearing a PFD, I wear a self inflating one all the time when fishing alone, but not so much when with company. I probably should!

I also have bought a Personal Locator Beacon that I wear on belt from the time I leave the ramp to the time I return, it cost $500 but that's small change if you find yourself treading water after getting bucked out of the boat after say hitting a whale of flotsam. Best case scenario there is they find you the next morning, worst case.....................

As for learning what your sounder is telling you, I don't dive anymore but I do send down a camera now a days. It settles a lot of discussion on the boat.