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Mackerel (school) **
Most mackerel aren't regarded highly as table fare but most are very
nice
smoked. Easy to fillet. Small mackerel are good bait for bigger
fish and big
mackerel are just plain good fun to catch.
Catching: These fish were caught by floating a light line out from the boat on a
strong running tide. There were a couple of split shot to take the bait below
the surface and we used cooked mussel meat. Any type of mackerel like a moving
bait and the tide did the work for us.
Caught: Rockingham in early April.
Queensland school mackerel ***
An under-rated fish that is excellent when smoked. If you
intend to cook them any other way then it is best to eat them fresh as they do
not freeze well.
Catching: Usually on a float line with 3
ganged hooks. Bait can be garfish or pilchards. Like Spaniards (below) a wire
trace is needed.
Caught: Karratha May-August
Spanish Mackerel ****
Unlike other mackerel these fish have firm white tasty flesh and are excellent
either pan fried in butter or cut into steaks and put on the BBQ with some
garlic and lemon pepper.
Catching: We usually catch Spaniards on float lines using either very fresh or
live bait. If using dead bait then a ganged hook is a good idea. Also use a
strong wire trace.
Caught: Cape Keraudren in May.
Tarwhine (also includes black and yellow fin bream) ****
Highly regarded as an eating fish. Firm white flesh which is excellent coated in
flour and lightly fried in butter.
Catching: Bream are odd fish. Their mood can vary and some days they will bash
away at any bait you give them, while others they will be shy, picky feeders. I
have matched wits with a big pikey bream in crystal clear water for hours. I
could plainly see the fish, which took bait after bait before I finally caught
it when it made a mistake and garbed the bait and turned at the same time. We
usually catch bream on small suicide hooks with lightly weighted lines. Baits
including octopus tentacles and prawn seem to work most of the time.
Caught: Tarwhine caught at Rockingham in April. Pikey Bream and Yellowfin caught
at Karratha in June.
Tarwhine
Pikey Bream
Yellow fin Bream
Herring (or Tommy rough) **
Some people love herring fried in butter but we don't regard it as highly.
Catching: We have caught herring all round the south coast. We seem to do best
when the weather is a bit rough as the fish seem to go crazy at these times and
bite on anything we throw them. Light lines on or just below the surface with
prawn or mussel meat do well as baits.
Caught: These were caught at Rockingham in April.
Australian salmon *
Fun to catch but suitable only as cat food; if the cat is hungry enough. Related
to the tommy rough (above).
Wolf herring *
A surface feeder like long toms and mackerel. They are long slender very silver
coloured fish and are not good eating but they do make good bait. They have huge
fangs so watch your fingers.
Leatherjacket ***
A good eating fish but Fillets are small compared to the overall size of the
fish so we don't keep these.
Catching: We don’t usually target leatherjacket but this one was caught while
drifting over sea grass beds using light line and mussel meat.
Caught: Rockingham in April
Wrasse *
Not good eating. Flesh is too soft but can be pan fried if you catch nothing
else.
Catching: We caught wrasse while reef fishing for other species. Although we did
take the odd one or two when nothing else was biting we didn’t set out to catch
them. When we did it was usually on light line with a single smallish suicide
hook using white bait.
Caught: Back of Garden Island.
6 banded wrasse
Sweet lip bream or slate bream***
Good eating, pan-fried, grilled or deep fried. White firm flesh and not very
fishy tasting. Delicate flavour so don't over sauce it. (May also be known as
Slate Bream or Morwong.)
Not to be confused with sweet lip emperor which is an entirely different fish
that does have a size limit.
For some reason the painted sweet lip (pictured) was not very good
eating but several others we caught at a different location were
delicious. This may account for
some people regarding these as rubbish fish.
Catching: We have caught sweet lip while fishing for emperor over reef. The ones
we have caught were on fairly heavy line with big hooks and big lumps of octopus
as bait.
Caught: 40 Mile in June.
Western Whiptail **
Supposedly a good eating fish but we never seem to catch any that are large
enough to bother filleting.
Catching: We really don’t want to catch these fish but they seem to turn up
anywhere we fish from the boat when going after whiting. When we are fishing in
the north west some of these end up as fillet baits for bigger fish but in
southern waters we let them go. They seem to inhabit open sandy areas and do not
like rocky or reefy places.
Caught: Rockingham in April.
Weedy Whiting. *
Unlike other whiting these are very poor eating. The flesh is soft and
tasteless.
King George Whiting (also school and sand whiting) ****
Some of the best eating fish you will ever catch. Pan fried in butter with or
without a coating of flour these fish are about as good as it gets eating wise.
Catching: We have had great success using light line with a small split shot and
small long shank hooks. Most of the whiting we catch are from the boat but we do
sometimes go after them from the shore. They love prawn meat and mussel meat but
their absolute favourite is worms! We
usually fish over sand with weed nearby.
Caught: Rockingham in April.
King George Whiting
Sand Whiting
Yellowfin whiting
Tailor *
A good fish to catch and release. Soft flesh which does not freeze well. If you
have to eat them then do it the same day you catch them.
Catching: Tailor love live bait and lures but this unlucky one was caught in a
net set for mullet. We have caught tailor on lines using a ganged hook with a
pilchard as bait. Some people put a treble hook on the end of a gang of 3 hooks
with a pilchard as bait. This seems to work much better than just a ganged hook
but isn’t strictly legal.
Caught: Bush Bay in August.
Dart *
Poor eating. May be better if marinated in the same way as Skippy.
Catching: Another species we don’t target but that we catch when going after
mackerel. Usually caught using live bait or lures with heavy line and medium
sized hooks. Hardy-heads or small herring are good bait.
Caught: Exmouth in May.
Flounder/sole ****
Very good eating but almost impossible to fillet. Gut, skin and pan fry whole in
butter.
Catching: We always seem to catch flounder (and flathead) when we are drift
fishing over sandy bottom with weedy patches. They will snap at anything passing
by if they are hungry but we have caught most on white bait.
Caught: Fitzgerald Bay S.A. in June.
Flounder
Spotted sole
Butterfish *
Poor eating and very small fillets.
Catching: We don’t want to catch these but have done so while fishing for bream
from the shore. Light lines and octopus were in use at the time. They have very
small mouths and usually only get caught on small hooks.
Warning: Dorsal fins contain venom.
Caught: Karratha in July.
Golden trevally. **
Probably the best eating of all the types of trevally but best if marinated in
the way listed for skippy.
Catching: Use strong line and big hooks plus a trace. These fish can be a real
pain when you are trying to catch something better as they grab baits and then
tire you out. We have caught them from shore and from the boat using ganged
hooks and pilchards or even on single 5/0 or 6/0 hooks with anything from
octopus to fillet strips.
Caught: Karratha in August.
Giant Trevally *
Not the best eating fish but fun to catch as they fight like nothing else. Catch
and release is the best policy for these fish.
Caught: Karratha in August.
Skippy (small trevally) **
Not the best eating but trevally can be marinated in a mixture lime juice,
tomato sauce and soy sauce which makes it very palatable.
Catching: We don’t much like skippy but have caught plenty in the south west
using simple rigs of 3/0 suicide hooks and split shot with white bait halves.
Caught: Rockingham in April.
Trevally **
We haven't tried eating this species so can't comment but it seems likely that
it will be about the same as other trevallies. It is even possible that this is
just the juvenile stage of the golden trevally but I am not sure of
this.
Bump nose trevally *
Not considered an eating fish.
Yellowtail scad *
Usually too small to bother with but can be gutted and smoked whole.
Fringe finned trevally *
Not usually considered an eating fish.
Blue lined Emperor (also Spangled Emperor) ****
Considered one of the best eating fish in the sea. Good battered and deep fried.
They are known collectively as North West Snapper but they are not snapper at
all. Size limits vary for different types of Emperor so you need to be able to
tell blue lined and spangled emperor from all the other types.
Catching: So far we have caught almost all emperors on octopus, squid or fillet
strips. Usually they are near reefs and close to the bottom. As a rule of thumb,
the deeper the water, the bigger the emperor. The usual rig has been a big
suicide hook and a medium line (usually without a trace). They can be finicky
feeders like bream and the bigger ones seem to give the lightest bites.
Caught: The pictures we took (blue spotted, blue lined,
spangled and threadfin) are from
Karratha between May and August.
Blue lined emperor or grass emperor
Blue spotted emperor
Long nosed emperor
Pink headed emperor
Spangled emperor
Sweetlip emperor
Threadfin emperor
Note: There is a fish I.D. book around that incorrectly identifies blue
spotted emperor as blue lined emperor. Blue spotted has a single line running
from the eye to the nose while the blue lined emperor has a number of blue
streaks below the eye.
Barramundi ***
We think this is one of the most
over-rated eating fish. The flesh, although white and flaky tends to be
tasteless but it is a prized game fish as it puts up a good fight. It is
generally caught in the hottest months in the north west.
It is best eaten fresh as the flavour
tends to deteriorate if frozen.
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Cod ****
Firm white tasty flesh. Pan fried in butter or even oven baked this is highly
regarded. Below are some of the many varieties that can be caught.
Because they are difficult to kill quickly we tend to let most cod go rather
than making them suffer. Of the 5 pictured 4 were released.
Catching: Cod are reef dwellers and we have caught them on all sorts of tackle
and on all sorts of baits. They are generally not fussy feeders and will grab
anything you put in front of them.
Caught: All these were caught at Karratha between May and August.
Threadfin **
Some people rave about threadfin but although it tastes nice enough (if taken
from the sea – as opposed to a muddy creek) the flesh tends to be very soft. Not
a good fish to deep fry.
Catching: We have caught threadfin fishing from the beach using light lines and
small suicide hooks. The closely related blue nosed salmon we usually catch in
creeks but just once we caught one on a reef out at sea. Baits have varied from
octopus to prawn and hardy heads. They are often caught in the shallow waters of
muddy creeks but we don’t like the flavour of fish from this environment.
Caught: Ningaloo in August. / Karratha June.
Spotted Javelin fish ***
Listed as 3 star eating and is quite palatable. Fish books say they grow to 66cm
but we have never seen one even close to this size.
Catching: As yet we haven’t caught a big one of these fish. All the ones we have
hooked have been near the mouth of creeks, usually on light lines and small
hooks with octopus as bait.
Caught: Karratha in July.
Catfish *
Listed as 3 star eating by some books but we don't like them at all. Beware
of the three spines, one on top and one each side. They can inflict serious
injury and the pain they cause is long lasting. If you intend to keep them stun
them by hitting them on the head and then use pliers to remove all 3 spikes.
Catching: I wish I could come up with a way of not catching these but catch them
we do almost all the time. We have hooked them in muddy creeks and in clear
water on an incoming tide. They will take just about anything and are a real
pest.
Caught: Karratha in June.
Trumpeter *
Some people eat these but we regard them as nuisance fish.
Catching: Another fish we don’t want to catch but one that takes all sorts of
baits on small to medium hooks.
Caught: Rockingham in April and 40 Mile in June.
Trumpeter
Yellow tailed grunter
Monocle Bream *
Not considered an eating fish.
Tuna **
A very red fleshed fish that must be bled before eating. Tuna is more like meat
than fish and can be cut into thick slices and barbequed. It can be smoked and
is probably best done this way. Fresh tuna is often eaten raw in very thin
slices with Japanese soy sauce. (Don’t use Chinese soy sauce as it has an
entirely different flavour.)
Catching: Tuna like live bait but when excited will grab anything that looks
vaguely like a fish. We use a float, strong line and medium to large hooks plus
a trace. Any small bait fish will do but we generally use garfish or hardyheads.
Caught: Karratha in July.
Long tailed tuna
Perch ***
Good eating almost equal to the Emperors but the flesh is usually a little
softer. Pan fry or deep fry. They can grow in excess of 40cm.
Catching: A medium sized suicide hook, strong line and a light weight usually
works well for us. As we most often use octopus as bait, we most often catch
perch on octopus but they are happy with almost anything you throw at them when
they are in the mood to bite.
Caught: 40 Mile and Karratha between May and August.
Spanish flag or stripey seaperch
Moses perch
Red tail perch
Mangrove jack ***
Good eating either pan fried or battered and deep fried.
Catching: The wily old jack is a master of dashing out from a reef or from under
a jetty and racing back in with your bait and breaking your line off. We have
watched big ones under Learmonth jetty do this to us time and time again. Strong
lines, medium sized hooks and quick reflexes are needed to land a jack that is
hiding under something. They will take octopus, prawn and small fish baits but
they can be picky on some days.
Caught: Karratha in August.
Often confused with the red tail perch
(above)
Sea mullet ***
Mullet that live in estuary waters can be very oily and have dark flesh which is
best smoked. Sea mullet living over sand flats are large fish with firm white
tasty flesh. They can be done in a variety of ways but are good just coated in
flour and pan fried in butter. Mullet fillets make excellent bait for snapper,
bream, cod etc.
Catching: Almost always in a set or cast net.
Caught: Bush Bay in August and Karratha in July.
Mulloway ***
Firm white flesh but tends to lack taste. Can be done in a beer batter and deep
fried. Smaller fish are often referred to as 'soapies' due to their flavour and
only larger fish make good eating. Very large mulloway are often infested with
worms.
Catching: We aren’t exactly experts at catching mulloway but one had a very
unlucky day when it decided to grab a small octopus bait on a very small hook
attached to a hand line. There was a trace on the line but I don’t think that
made any difference and almost lost us the fish as the knot came undone when we
got the fish to the boat. Thankfully we did have a landing net.
Caught: Bush Bay in October.
Jobfish ***
Jobfish are considered good eating and can grow quite large.
We have only ever caught two and didn't at them so can't comment much on their
qualities.
Flathead. ***
Good eating but beware of the spines. We generally catch flathead when fishing
near reefs for other fish or sometimes when fishing off shore into sandy
patches. Flathead isn’t a strong tasting fish and we rate it quite highly on our
list of favourites.
Hardy head
Only a bait fish but easily caught in a throw net.
Garfish ***
Good eating but full of bones. Excellent bait for mackerel.
Catching: A very light line (4lb) and a very small long shank hook. We use a berley mix kneaded to a soft doughy consistency, they also
like small strips of squid but for some reason don't like octopus very much. The gardies love it. (Recipe:
Tuna cat food, tuna or fish oil and flour.) We catch gardies as bait for bigger
fish and get them from the boat or from the beach. They will almost always come
in when we have a berley stream going. Many people use floats to catch gardies
but we think they make life more difficult.
Caught: Karratha in May.
Long Tom
One of the pests of angling. The Long Tom will usually hit a bait almost as soon
as it touches the water and if there are numbers of them around they will
prevent you from getting to better fish lower down. They have plenty of long
sharp teeth and despite the delicate looking snout they can give a nasty bite (I
Know!). Eating-wise they are not highly regarded even though some specimens are
three feet long and as thick as a forearm. Once filleted they can be deep fried
in a beer batter and they are quite tasty. The flesh is white, firm and not too
strong in flavour.
Catching: Just when you go fishing for something good, along comes a long tom
and snatches every bait that hits the water. This is not necessarily a bad thing
as long toms are quite good to eat despite what many people think. They can be
caught on just about anything when they are around but there are some BIG ones
up north and you will need heavy line with a trace to get them in.
Caught: Karratha in June.
Queen fish ***
Treat the same way as trevally. Large queen fish can be cut into steaks and put
on a BBQ like Spanish mackerel. Queen fish aren't highly
regarded as an eating fish by many people but we like them. Done on the BBQ with
some lemon pepper they are delicious.
Catching: Queenies love live bait and we have rarely caught them on
anything else. We
have tried lures with no success but in less fished areas where the fish aren’t
‘educated’ lures should work well. They jump like crazy when hooked and big ones
can be one of the most exciting fish you will ever hook.
Caught: Karratha in July.
Chinaman fish WARNING
Chinaman fish have been linked to ciguatera fish poisoning and we do not
recommend that people eat them. We have been told that people do eat them on the
NW coast without any ill effects and we have eaten them ourselves but for
obvious reasons we cannot recommend that anyone else takes the risk.
Catching: We have caught small Chinaman fish when fishing for emperor with
medium suicide hooks and octopus but we have caught the big ones on ganged hooks
with a trace and a pilchard as bait.
Caught: Karratha in June.
Juvennile
Adult
Barracuda *
Not considered an eating fish. But the similar looking northern pike can be
eaten but is only rated as two star.
Northern Pike - similar in appearance to
barracuda but are better eating
Grinner *
Not considered an eating fish. Good bait for other fish if
used fresh. Don't freeze as they go very soft.
Catching: Usually we get these while bottom bouncing with small baits and light
line over sand.
Caught: Karratha in July.
Coral Trout **
A prize fish sought by anglers like nothing else. Excellent tolerance to being
frozen if packed properly.
Catching: We have rarely caught coral trout and have got the odd small one when
fishing for emperor. The only big ones we have caught to date were with ganged
hooks and pilchards using very heavy line and a wire trace.
Undersized ones are sometimes caught on
octopus with a heavy mono leader with a single large hook.
Caught: Karratha in June.
Rabbit fish or Spine foot (Happy moments)
I have been told that these are good eating but the risk of being spiked
probably isn't worth the risk. As they have no scales I didn't even consider
eating this specimen.
Tusk Fish ***
These are often mistaken for blue bone (which are actually bald chin groper). We
are unclear about the size limit rules for grass tusk fish as Fisheries give a
size limit of 400mm for Bald Chin Groper but do not specifically mention grass
tusk fish. These are rarely caught at anything over about 360mm and in all the
time we have been fishing the north west we have only ever seen one that was
bigger than 400mm.
Eating wise they have nice white flesh but it does tend to be a bit soft. Their
scales are coated in slime and they are quite hard to handle. Because we believe
the size limit for these may be the same as blue bone and because we catch so
many of them, we regard them as a nuisance fish because although they may be
good to eat, all the ones we catch are under the size limit and have to be put
back.
Bald chin groper, Blue tusk fish and Black spot tusk fish all have a minimum
size limit of 400mm.
Catching: Blue tusk fish are easy to catch and will take almost any bait but the
trouble is finding one that is big enough to keep. In the 5 years we have fished
the north west we have only ever seen one that was size. Bald
chin groper are most often caught using small crabs as bait.
Caught: All these were caught at Karratha between May and August.
Black spot tusk fish
Blue tusk fish
Grass tusk fish
Sand bass *
These can be fun to catch but are poor eating and no good as bait so the best
policy is to let them go.
Caught: Karratha in July. It looks a bit like a black barramundi.
Sergeant Major (not considered an
eating fish)
Shark
***
There are many different types of shark
and we avoid killing any that are bottom feeders like the whiskery, wobbegong,
epilate shark etc. If we do catch and keep shark it is usually reef sharks
between 2-3 feet long.
Fillets should be removed from sharks
IMMEDIATELY on capture if you intend to eat them, and the flesh placed in salt
water. We have found that the is the only way to get rid of the ammonia taste
that seems to be so prevalent in shark meat.
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