Sisters score top spangos

Sisters Alysha and Holley Shaw were fishing inside the reef off Tantabiddi last week chasing spangled emperor and they did not disappoint the family.

They managed to get onto some cracking spangos that measured up to 70cm, using Ugly Stik rods and a 1000 size reel.

We have entered them in the monthly fishing competition, which is about to end for the year.

If you haven’t got your entry in yet, remember every entrant goes into the draw to win $1000 worth of Shimano fishing gear.

You just need to drop into Tackle World Exmouth with a pic and details of any recent fishing story.

The summer temperatures have definitely kicked in with a few days over 40C. The water temperatures out wide are still around the 26C mark, with the shallow waters of the gulf a little higher. We have had continued reports of good billfish, which is good news for the upcoming tournament.

More than a dozen boats have entered already, with another 12 interested in taking part.

Let’s pray for good weather and getting some interesting statistics back for the tagging program.

If you are keen to fish the event, contact the Exmouth Game Fishing Club via secretary@egfc.com. au.

The gulf has had some big bait schools grouping east and west of Exmouth Reef. Some small schools have been encountered by anglers and these have been broken off the big schools by predatory species such as sailfish and bludger trevally swimming with queenfish.

Big cobia have also been cruising the gulf waters of late and feasting on the bait that comes into the gulf at this time of year.

It’s also not uncommon to spot a whale shark in the gulf in December and January, so look out for action on the surface and be ready with rods or snorkelling gear.

There are some great species to be caught in the Exmouth marina at any time of year and we have had some very interesting captures, from sand bass, to tarpon, monster mangrove jacks, bream, flathead, salmon, tusk fish, squid and blue swimmers. Last week young angler Daniel Charsley caught and released a coral trout measuring over 35cm so this is another area where you never know what may pop up next. Daniel also managed to get out on a boat at the weekend and catch some red emperor, gold band jobfish, mackerel and some other great table fish.