Beautiful Bremer Bay

The south coast is an area that I had never particularly fished much before joining Recfishwest. The cool and unpredictable weather of the south, plus the allure of tropical species to the north, had always stopped me from considering the south coast in my fishing plans.

Having visited the south coast a few times recently, I am only now starting to realize the great fishing opportunities it has to offer.

A staff fishing trip to Bremer Bay when I first started with Recfishwest was my first introduction to fishing on the south coast. For this particularly trip we targeted black bream on lures in the Bremer and Pallinup Rivers and it was this experience that made me stand up and take notice of the South Coast as an unbelievable fishing destination.

The south coast has always been a pertinent area for Recfishwest in terms of recreational fisheries management issues. Recfishwest has always allocated significant resources to south coast issues and it is that reason that I have always been keen to experience first hand the fishing opportunities.

In addition to dealing with fisheries management issues, each year Recfishwest conducts a Southern Fishing Clinic Tour encompassing the major town centres along the south coast promoting the message of 'FishSmart SunSmart' and in most recent years the 'Addicted to Fishing not Drugs' message.

Bremer Bay community fishing clinic. See Photos taken during the annual Bremer Bay Fishing Clinics

Recfishwest has also been running a separate community fishing clinic down at Bremer Bay every year since 2001. Like the Onslow, Kununurra and Karratha community clinics we conduct each year in the north, Bremer Bay is always a pleasure to be involved with, thanks to the overwhelming support of the local community.

The local Bremer Bay Tele-Centre does a fantastic job promoting and collecting registrations for the clinic along with the champion efforts of local residents, Ron and Val Harland. Both Ron and Val are assets to their local community and have been instrumental in helping organise these clinics each year.

When the opportunity presented to be involved in this year's clinic I jumped at it. I must admit the fishing clinic was not the only allure, but also the opportunity to revisit the place where I had first fished for bream on lures 3 years ago. This place had held a special fishing memory for me, having landed a 45cm black bream in the Pallinup Estuary - a fact that I remind everyone around the office at every given opportunity.

This year the clinic was held on the 14 January to coincide with the influx of people visiting the region for the school holidays. The magnificent fishing conditions, enthusiastic kids and local support we receive help make this clinic a real highlight amongst the fishing clinic program.

We were fortunate that the weather gods were smiling on us and the day of the clinic provided perfect conditions for fishing. Like previous years, we were again lucky to receive excellent support on the day. A big thank you must go out to Andrew Rowland, Fiona McAleer, John McAller, Katharine McAller, Jim Loftus and the many parents that helped out.

The high demand for the clinics this year meant the day was split into a morning and afternoon clinic. 34 eager kids joined us for the morning session comprising a good mix of local and holidaying participants.

All the kids were keen to get amongst what the south coast had to offer and the fishing didn't disappoint. Many different species were caught, with herring and silver trevally taking a particular liking to the burley trail we set out. A highlight for the morning session was seeing a juvenile blue groper swimming amongst the jetty pylons. The crystal clear water was like looking into an aquarium.

The afternoon clinic provided another full session, with 31 kids joining us. The conditions were a little trickier in the afternoon with the breeze picking up a little, however, this didn't stop the group getting amongst some good fish. One of the participants got the surprise of his life when he hooked up to a sizeable buff bream. The small okuma outfit screamed off line and the young boy did well to stay connected to the fish for about a minute before the fish wrapped him around a pylon. Nearly everyone caught at least one fish and learnt something new.

The day rounded up with some prizes being given away for the memorable catches and keen fishers. All participants received a give-away bag stocked with a Recfishwest tackle pack, DVD, fish ruler, stickers and fishing pamphlets. I'm sure many of the participants are now addicted to fishing and mad keen to go again, if they haven't done so already.

After the clinics - Pallinup Estuary or Bremer River?

Having travelled all the way to Bremer Bay for the fishing clinic it would have been a shame if I didn't have a fish myself. I had organised to go fishing with Andrew Rowland and his partner Fiona McAleer, who had helped out the day before with the clinic. Andrew knows the south coast very well and is a great person to spend a days fishing with.

We had originally planned to return to Pallinup Estuary where we had a great session a few years back. Unfortunately the weather conditions weren't quite as favourable as the day of the fishing clinic, with strong 20-25 knot winds blowing from the south west. The Pallinup Estuary is about 50 kilometres west of Bremer Bay and with it not being overly protected from the elements we made the call to remain in Bremer Bay and fish the Bremer River. We didn't want to travel all that way and find the conditions to be unsuitable for fishing.

The Bremer River weaves it way through beautiful hills covered in natural vegetation. This helps offer some protection from the strong winds that are all so common on the south coast.

Although a beautiful river, I was initially a little disappointed not to be fishing the Pallinup. I had fished the Bremer once before and although we caught bream, the size were nothing like what I had previously experienced in the Pallinup.

Bait or lures?

We initially had planned to fish with lures and maybe tie up at some place that looked promising and bait fish if the fish were proving to be fussy. However, just as we were leaving the ramp to head up river I realized we had forgotten to pack any bait.

The call was made to not turn around and persevere with lures all day. It ended up being a blessing in disguise with Andrew's second cast of the day producing a nice healthy black bream. It was at that stage we thought we might be in for a good day.

It was one of those days that where you expected a fish to be nearly always converted, provided a good cast was made. Baby vibes did the damage and a majority of the time were getting hit on the sink. These lures are a real favourite of mine because they are easy to use and get immediate action on the lure. You can cast them under overhanging trees and the lure starts to go to work straight away as it sinks. Bibbed lures usually take a few feet to dive to the depth where the fish are and this can sometimes be too late.

My preferences with the baby vibes are the gold with a bit of black colorations, but they all seem to work. There are heaps of colours to choose from and are fairly reasonably priced. I like to change the trebles over to barbless owners, making the release of fish much easier as well as being much easier to pull the hook out of your finger if the unfortunate happens. This seems to happen quite regularly with me, so barbless are a necessity.

The fishing for this trip proved to be good all day and by 2 pm we decided to head back to the ramp for an early finish. We landed over 50 fish between us, with plenty of good fish in the 32-36cm range.

The biggest fish for the day was 38cm, however, the most memorable catch for the day would have to be a solid salmon trout that took a liking to a baby vibe. The salmon trout smashed a lure that I was getting ready to lift into the boat after an unsuccessful cast. The eruption of the water and the great fight that proceeded made this a memorable capture on light bream gear.

We ended up keeping half a dozen of the bream for dinner that night. When filleting the bream we noticed how good a condition the fish were in. Their gut cavity was full of fat, indicating the fish were in a very healthy condition and probably getting ready to start egg production.

"Recreational only" fishing areas.

The quality of the fishing in the Bremer River is thanks to it being a recreational only river. Recfishwest has been advocating for the same in the Pallinup for many years. I can only imagine how good the fishing in the Pallinup could be if it was recreational only. The value of a big bream to the recreational sector is far greater than being caught in a commercial net. This is an issue that Recfishwest will continue to pursue for south coast recreational fishers.

I was glad that I made the effort to stay the extra day down at Bremer as this fishing trip will hold special memories just like my previous visit to Pallinup. I'm sure I will return there again some time soon.

Kane Moyle
Policy Officer
Recfishwest

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Headings and links have been added to this website version of the article printed in the "Hotbite" magazine.

These articles are written some weeks before the first of the month of publication, so can only include information known at that time.

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This page last updated on 3 April 2008.