Western Australia Autumn Coastal: Snapper, Squid, and Tailor Firing

G’day crew, Artificial Lure here with your Western Australia coastal fishing wrap, coming to you for this arvo session. Along most of the west coast we’ve had a classic late‑autumn pattern: light offshore easterlies at first light, building to 10–15 knots of sea breeze mid‑arvo, then easing again into the evening. Skies have been mostly clear with just a bit of high cloud, and the swell sitting around 1–1.5 metres on the metro and lower southwest coast, a touch higher further south around Margaret River. Water temps are hovering in the low 20s, still warm enough to keep a mix of summer pelagics and the first of the winter species in play. Tides have been running modest but useful, with a low around the middle of the day and an evening high giving a nice push around dusk. The best bite windows have lined up with that early morning run‑in and the late arvo build toward high. Sunrise came in just after 7am local with sunset just before 5:30pm, so you’ve got short, punchy prime times – make them count. Metro Perth has fished well in close. Inshore reef and broken ground from Hillarys to Rockingham have held solid pink snapper, many fish in the 60–75 cm class with a few bigger knobbies mixed in. Most have come on unweighted or lightly weighted baits – fresh mulies, squid strips, or whole herring – floated back in the berley. Soft plastics in the 5–7 inch range, especially paddle tails in natural pilchard and pink/glow colours, have nailed a few better models when worked slowly along the bottom. King George whiting numbers have been good inside the 20‑metre line off Mindarie and down toward Garden Island. Fresh squid and peeled prawn on small long‑shank hooks have been the go, with a bit of berley to keep them interested. Skippy and sand whiting are thick over the sand holes, so it’s a great time to fill the esky. Up toward Jurien and Lancelin, demersal fishing has picked up on the lumps in 30–60 metres. Dhufish to 12 kg and baldchin groper have been coming aboard on octopus baits, squid, and 7–9 inch soft plastics in dark purple or motor‑oil shades. Slow‑pitch jigs around 80–150 g in silver and lumo have also done damage when the current’s behaved. Down south, Bunbury through Busselton has produced good tailor along the beaches at dawn and dusk, with fish to 50 cm taking metal slices, stickbaits, and whole mulies on gang hooks. A few late‑season Spanish mackerel and tuna have still been spotted wider off the cape, responding to trolled deep‑divers and skirted lures, but they’re starting to thin out as the cooler water pushes in. Squid fishing has been a real highlight right along the coast in the clear shallow weed beds. Jigs in natural prawn and white/redhead patterns, worked slowly with long pauses, have been deadly. A size 2.5–3.0 jig on light gear around the boat ramps and inshore reefs is almost a sure thing when the breeze is down and the water’s clear. For bait vs lure: – Bait: fresh mulies, squid, octopus, and live herring are topping the list offshore; prawn, squid and mullet for the beaches and estuaries. – Lures: 5–7 inch soft plastics, slow‑pitch jigs, 20–40 g metal slices, and small hardbody minnows in pilchard and whitebait patterns are the standouts. Couple of hot spots worth a mention: 1) The 3–mile and 5–mile reefs off Hillarys and Ocean Reef – great mixed bags of pink snapper, skippy, and the odd dhufish on plastics and baits, especially around the change of light. 2) Geographe Bay weed edges from Busselton Jetty through Siesta Park – cracking squid action with a side of sand whiting and the occasional KGW, ideal for land‑based and small boats when the wind’s friendly. That’s your coastal fishing fix from Artificial Lure. Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss a report. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai. Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn