Bream

These fish are ideal for land based anglers but they can be hard to catch. They can be very finnicky and timid at times and other times they will nearly pull the rod out of your hands.Bream can be caught all year round but are best during the early winter months when they will appear in big numbers to spawn. Bream are scavengers and will take a huge variety of baits. As a general rule stick to baits such as Prawn, Mullet Gut or Chicken Gut, Flesh baits [Mullet or Bonito], White Pilchards or Yabbies. If your a beginner, choose baits that tend to stay on the hook like Mullet or Bonito fillet, because there will inevitably be a lot of smaller pickers around that will rob you of a soft bait as quick as a flash.These fish will also take Lures and soft plastics and a lot of tournament fishing is done exclusively using these techiques.

With the exception of the big sea bream caught in suitable gutters in the open surf beaches, most other fish will be found where they can find cover or food. Jetties, Snags, Rock Walls, Boat Moorings and drop offs or deeper holes will not only provide cover but are a good food source. Like we said before Bream can be a very timid fish at times so it is important to fish as light as possible or as light as the conditions will allow. Suggested line weight would be between 2-6 kilo range, perhaps a little heavier if you were fishing from the rocks on an open surf beach . Hook size is generally somewhere between a size 1 through to a 2/0 or a 3/0 in a chemically sharpened baitkeeper style.

Bream are considered a small fish with a minimum legal size of 25cm and a bag limit of 30 per person . The chances are you will be catching a lot of smaller fish that you will have to throw back before you land some keepers. A quality fish would be around the 28 to30cm range and fish over 1kg are not that common.

Flathead

Contrary to popular belief, Flathead are a very aggressive feeder and will attack anything that passes their noses that even remotely resembles food if they are hungry.This eagerness to attack a moving bait makes them ideal as a target fish for those just learning to fish with lures or soft plastics. Flathead have a minimum legal size of 40cm and a maximim legal size of 75cm.and bag limit of 5 per person. Although it is common to catch large Flathead over 75cm,especially in the spawning season around the end of August -September, all fish of this size must be carefully released as they are mostly roed female fish. Once again Flathead can be caught all year round, but they are at their best in early spring when they come into the estuaries to breed. The winter fish tend to be a smaller school fish.

Hook size is not that crucial as these fish have a huge mouth. Hook size is more dependant on the choice of bait. Live baits such as poddy mullet, herring, winter whiting and live prawns all work well and catch plenty of fish.The next most prefered bait would have to be Pilchards fished on gang hooks on the drift. If you are fishihg from the bank it is important to keep on the move and cover as much ground as possible. Dependant on where your fishing, a slow drift accounts for a lot of hungry Flathead. Other baits that will catch fish include Yabbies, Prawns, Strip flesh baits and small fish such as Whitebait and Hardie Heads.

When you hook a nice Flathead it is crucial that you keep the fish from breaking the surface. Keep your rod tip down and play the fish up to the landing net or if you're fishing the beach, turn and slide the fish up the bank. When Flathead break the surface they will shake their head violently trying to shake the hook and in doing so, the line will rub against a mouthful of teeth and he's gone.

Tailor

When they are on, Tailor are a great, easy, fun fish to catch and fresh they aren't bad chewing either. Tailor congregate in large schools and travel north up the ocean beaches around the middle of winter to early spring Most of these fish, if they are around the kilo mark are commonly called choppers . The b igger fish up to about 5 kilos are called greenbacks .

If you are bait fishing for Tailor then W.A Blue Pilchards fished on 3/0 4/0 or 5/0 ganged hooks are by far the most popular method.A heavier trace is required as these fish will easily bite you off. Hard metal lures that have some weight to them and can be cast a good distance, make it a lot easier to get out to the fish if you are fishing the beach. In both cases , if the fish are biting the process is the same. Cast as far as you can to get to the fish, as soon as the bait hits the water, start winding. This is a very basic technique and there are all sorts of refinements dependant on conditions. Big Tailor seem to prefer flesh baits such as bonito or mullet flesh on a large set of gangs. These fish don't tend to school up, and you have to be a lot more patient and lucky in order to land a fish over 3 or 4 kilos.

Tailor have a minimum legal size of 35cm and a bag limit of 20 and it is very easy to reach the bag limit when the fish are fair dinkum. Thats why a lot of fishermen love catching Tailor. They are reasonably good sized fish, they fight hard, appear in good numbers and are good tucker, especially when fresh. Tailor are a soft flesh fish and when I say fresh I mean, in ideal conditions, they should be bled on capture and kept in an ice slurry.

Mud Crabs

To catch a mud crab these days you have to comply with a lot of regulation that all fishermen should be aware of. You can only take male crabs. There is a minimum legal size of 150mm from spike to spike across the carapace and a bag limit of 10 per person. Crab pots and floats must be marked with your name and address. Floats must be a light colour and 15cm in any direction [whatever that means]. There is a limit of 4 pots per person. Having said all that it is still worth the effort to chase a few of these much sort after delicacies. The summer months are the best time to go crabbing.

The prefered bait to use and most available would be fish frames. Mullet frames are always a good standby, however baits from kangaroo tail to chicken carcasses and everything in between, are all said to work wonders in attracting the Crabs. If you can enclose the bait in a small mesh of some description it will help the bait to last longer, as it keeps the small fish from picking it to pieces. Put your pots in the mangroved lined rivers, creeks and estuaries and keep them close to the bank. For the best result try and leave them overnight to get a couple of tide changes. Be wary of mongrels out there that will steal your crabs and sometimes your whole pot. If you cable tie the door on the pot it will have to be cut off to access the crabs. This will give you an indication as to whether your pots have been robbed or you're just not catching crabs.

Whiting

To keep it simple, there are 2 species of Whiting you can catch. Summer whiting, that are out and about in the hotter months and Winter or Diver Whiting that as the name implies are about in the winter months.Winter Whiting tend to be a smaller fish with a few dark blotches over them. Both are top quality eating fish. Once again fish as light as possible as there is little chance you will get busted up by another species if you are fishing exclusively for Whiting. Line weight should be 2-4 kilo range with a reasonably long trace. Some fishermen will use red plastic tubing or red or fluorescent beads threaded on the line and positioned at the top of the hook to enhance the bait and attract fish.

The best bait by far for Whiting has got to be worms [Blood worms or Beach worms] I don't think I'll get any arguments on that one. Use a hook appropriate for the size of fish you anticipate catching. Long shank hooks in a size ranging from a small size 6 for the smaller Winter whiting or a 6,4,2 or 1 for larger fish. Winter whiting can be caught in huge numbers in the Bay. Drift in the shallower water until you locate the fish and then away you go. You'll find you can catch fish with the same piece of bait over and over again and before you know it you will have 50 [bag limit] fish in the boat. Small pieces of squid also make ideal baits for these hungry fish.

The Summer Whiting is a larger fish and can grow to 1kilo, although a 600 gram fish is huge. 400Gram is a big fish. Summer Whiting have a minimum legal size of 23cm, bag limit 30 and Diver Whiting have no minimum legal size and 50 bag limit. Once again worms are the best bait, although Yabbies, Pippies and Prawns will also account for good numbers of fish.