Hi guys hoping to find some help. I'm new to fishing Rockingham to rottnest. I like to get out to the deep water fishing in my 8m boat but really struggling to find the fish. I'm using my charts to find ground. Trying coordinates from WA fishing but just can't find and snapper or the ones I'm really after the dhufish. Be happy to find some sambos just for fun.
If any one willing to PM with some inside info or coordinates be great.
Really?
Just like that?
Walk into a group of locals down at the boat ramp and say.... "Where are your secret spots"?
Mate, as much as we all help each other out here on this forum, we spend a bit of time contributing to others too....
Having 1 post and starting out with asking for secret spots seems a bit much even if you had really good intentions.
Sorry mate, I don't know the area myself, but I probably wouldn't give you the honey hole coordinates if I did.
Maybe someone else will be a bit more neighbourly than I....
Mate what have I got to loose. I'm not having any luck with friends and family as no one has the boats to get out deep. If you don't ask how do you expect to get better. I've been trying on my own for the last 2 nearly 3 years.
Hey it's pretty hard to start with, I can't help you out with spots up that way but I know where your coming from trying to find some. It took me years to get a few good spots, some with help and others, and some with good sounding equipment and lots of tutorials on how to use the sounder.
I would recommend asking guys what depth they are catching fish in, not where, that is the next most important part of the equation. The boat ramp is a good place to hang out sometimes, I tend to drive in when I have time and try and sniff out what is on the bite and what depth, this comes right down to crabs and squid too.
Try and find an old bloke that knows a few spots and take him fishing.
And for what it's worth, where I fish summer is no good, I catch all my snapper and Dhuies from about now thru to the 3 month closure in October.
PS welcome to the forum 
If your after sambo's just go to the sea containers near rotto (115m I think) or even hit up the gemini wreck near two rocks (north I know but you'd think the ramp closure has been good for the area..). Both hold plenty of sambos but the containers are full of sharks that'll smash you all the time. Gemini throws up some tuna, dhuies etc as well.
Otherwise pick your days if your boat is half decent and head out past where the fads are put and chase some bih greybands / hapuka. Wont struggle to find a fish but its a long way out and you need decent gear. I wouldnt waste time chasing dhuies if I had a big enough bost that'd take me wide of rotto.
Thanks guys
MDSXR6T I was out towards the fads on my plotter today but when I got to the location on the plotter nothing was there. So I'm guessing the location change each year.
I have a 8.5m alloy bullet boat. Built at a local boat builder . So getting into the deep water is never a problem . Been out many times off exmouth. . I saw on my sounder today there was a few wrecks about 5 mile past the fads. In 100-150m of water. Are theses the wrecks I should head to?
Yeh I've never had much luck around the closer fads. Other than mahis. Good for a feed and light tackle fun. Sambos will be all over the wrecks in season. No secrets there.
I'd go past 150m and towards 300m. Use circle hooks, octopus and 1.5kg+ sinker. You'll get fish regardless where you are. Sure its a long drop and really hard work pulling up a fish but its far better returning to the ramp with 1 or 2 big fish rather than a few tiddlers after driving all over the ocean.
My dream is to catch a broadbill in the perth canyon but unfortunately it'll probably remain a dream unless I befriend a bloke with 60ft + of boat who wants to spend a night or 10 out there.
I reckon you are too deep.
12 - 20m on a feature and you'll get dhuies.
right on sunset, high tide, bit of breeze and 30m for pinkies in the next 2 motnhs.
Select to expand quoteghenley said..
I was out towards the fads on my plotter today but when I got to the location on the plotter nothing was there. So I'm guessing the location change each year.
I found they tend to drift a little throughout the season but usually not too far away. Maybe they have already brought them in for the winter.
Become a fisheries volunteer and as part of your official duties you can hang out at the boat ramp inspecting others catches and asking where they caught them and what they used.
2 weeks of that and should be sweet.
Select to expand quoteghenley said..
Hi guys hoping to find some help. I'm new to fishing Rockingham to rottnest. I like to get out to the deep water fishing in my 8m boat but really struggling to find the fish. I'm using my charts to find ground. Trying coordinates from WA fishing but just can't find and snapper or the ones I'm really after the dhufish. Be happy to find some sambos just for fun.
If any one willing to PM with some inside info or coordinates be great.
Fishing spots won't really help to much, unless you know how, time and bait to fish them. Best thing to do is start spending time prospecting for locations yourself. Read a map at home throughout the week , look for ground of interest and then start by trying some drifts, record your results in a small book and if you it do it smart, you'll soon have half a dozen good spots of your own..
Spend the time, think smart and you'll be set.
Asking for free spots, you may as well just ask for fillets
Just plain bizarre. 7mins apart you practically have 2 totally different opinions - still a fish chief.
Select to expand quoteyoungbull said..
Just plain bizarre. 7mins apart you practically have 2 totally different opinions - still a fish chief.
every 2nd fisho knows best.
but they never leave rubbish behind. ever. 
Yeh but Marks post is for dhuies and snapper. OP has tried that for 2 years without much luck. Not surprisingly since dhuies have been hammered locally. Mine is making the most of a big boat and actually catching a couple of 25kg+ fish which still taste great.
Select to expand quoteMDSXR6T said..
Yeh but Marks post is for dhuies and snapper. OP has tried that for 2 years without much luck. Not surprisingly since dhuies have been hammered locally. Mine is making the most of a big boat and actually catching a couple of 25kg+ fish which still taste great.
Mark was also making it up and does not own a boat.
Best advice I could give you is learn to use your echo sounder.
You need to know what coral looks like.
When you find some likely looking ground set up some drifts through the area. Use a sea anchor. When you catch a desired species ie Dhu, baldy, breaksea etc mark the spot in your plotter but carry on with the drift.
Come back to that mark and sound around the area looking at what the ground is like that you caught the fish on and also finding new ground at the same time.
Once you get a few spots that produce fish it's really important to farm them. Don't just hammer the one spot everytime you go out or it will be barron in no time.
You'll catch decent good sized fish anywhere from 15m up in perth metro waters. Sometimes shallower. You just need to spend the time on nice days looking for the ground.
But knowing what your seeing on the sounder is paramount.
Also you don't need big lumps to catch big fish. I've caught some of my best fish on coral no more than 1.5m high.
I've spent over 10 years gathering my marks that will always produce fish. You just need to put in the time.
Sorry the only person I share my waypoints with is my brother.
There's still plenty of good fish out there. There's heaps of dhu's and demersal species all through perth waters. The reduced bag limits and season closures have worked a treat.
Good luck with finding some ground and getting onto some fish.
And please don't be a pinger who drives right up to
a boat which is fishing to see what ground they're on/mark their spot.
Btw what sort of sounder have you got?
Select to expand quoteghenley said...
Hi Woodo
I'm running the NORTHSTAR. M84
Ah ok mate. Decent enough sounder then.
I'd suggest sounding over ground in shallower water where you know what the bottom is, like sand, gravel, weed, rock/reef and see how it appears on your sounder (colour, density etc)
Then when your out deeper you'll have a better idea of what your fishing on.
My sounder shows coral in red. Pretty sure the northstar will be the same.
There's a heap of ground out there.
Download the navionics app to your phone. You can spend hours searching for potential ground. Find somewhere that looks like it has potential, get the coordinates and punch them into your plotter on your boat and go searching.
Dont forget to use the zoom in function.
Look for the ugly black birds a few kilometres out. Thats where the sambo`s are smashing baitfish.
Commercial Craypots are also a good indication of decent structure. Gps them and return when there out the way. Or run a quick drift thru them Dont tangle up. Some crayfishmen may want to put you in the pot if you get to close to there lines..
So I was playing with my maps and found a structure shaped like a seahorse. About 22miles out. Looks like something worth a look. Has anyone got any ideas on what tackle I'm thinking soft plastics jigs or hard jigs. Or should I just use bait?
Select to expand quoteghenley said..
West of port Kennedy
West, try going east just for a change
Select to expand quoteghenley said...
So I was playing with my maps and found a structure shaped like a seahorse. About 22miles out. Looks like something worth a look. Has anyone got any ideas on what tackle I'm thinking soft plastics jigs or hard jigs. Or should I just use bait?
I just go with baits when im bottom bouncing. I figure that bottom fishing is about maximisihg your opportunity of a decent feed.
Hard jigs work fantastically well on sambos but its brutal on most gear in deep water (50m onwards) and if you loose a few fish or get sharked you'll blow money on jigs quickly.. If you want more sport there should be some big mahi's hanging around and march / april is always worth trolling out wide if you have 15/24kg gear. You never know whats around and murphys law says if someone nails a marlin or tuna it'll be a small boat whos perhaps under prepared
God I wish I wasn't so poor. Maybe JB can do interest free finance over the next 20 years
With what it cost to get that boat out back of rotto id be getting a carton of emu and
The skank to do a runner up to kalisbrothers!
Select to expand quoteCraig66 said..ghenley said..
West of port Kennedy
West, try going east just for a change
He wouldn't get too far Craig, we're on the West coast here.
ghenley I don't fish so much anymore due to young kids impinging on my surfing time but I'd be happy to crew for you. Got a pretty good idea of ground out from the cut or from Two Rocks north. Pretty well all of it sub 40m and a lot from 6-20m. Especially this time of year. My pb Dhu of 21.6kg came out of 6m inside the 3 mile.
I believe 2rocks is still out of commission so my northern marks are pretty much useless but a Cut launch is a possibility. Have had some HUGE nights on Dhu's in the shallows out of the Cut in the past.
Select to expand quoteghenley said..
So I was playing with my maps and found a structure shaped like a seahorse. About 22miles out. Looks like something worth a look. Has anyone got any ideas on what tackle I'm thinking soft plastics jigs or hard jigs. Or should I just use bait?
The best part here is to find local tackle supplier that looks after you. Talk with them and they will give you some basic ideas and then you need to trial them. Also don't be scared to present different baits. Having sport fished more than not, you soon get annoyed after throwing lures all day to change to the one that they like and then catching your bag limit in 10 minutes
Woodo's idea about learning to distinguish bottom types is very cleaver. Even a few in the know will scuba spots that look interesting. Compare what you see to the GPS and sounder. It takes time but the more effort you put in the quicker it will get easier.
Most people i talk to are getting more fish than ever. They are catching a lot of undersized or just over so be fully setup and well versed on how to use the realise weight.
Drift fishing is a good idea until you get familiar with some of the areas. The section of coast north of Hillarys can get very sketchy and most people who lose their boats are from anchoring incorrectly, or in the wrong spot. But you still need to be fully aware of how to use a drift anchor safety.
Last point is having spoken with people who have survived boat sinking. They all talk about just how fast it can happen. SO i advocate wearing an Inflatable PFD when your fishing. The issue is your eyes are not focused on the horizon or surrounding area and waves can sneak up quickly
Its about making yourself as safe as possible in a wild/changing environment
It is hard to get the lowdown form fishos who have spent many fruitless hours finding the good ground.
But if you google the coordinates of the "Derwent" wreck and "the containers" which are both out in deep water you will find the published info will put pretty much on top of both. Good pinkies to had at either when the conditions are right. On the way in and out you will pass over good ground so keep an eye on your sounder.
@ JB, I completely agree with you with regards to wearing a PFD, I wear a self inflating one all the time when fishing alone, but not so much when with company. I probably should!
I also have bought a Personal Locator Beacon that I wear on belt from the time I leave the ramp to the time I return, it cost $500 but that's small change if you find yourself treading water after getting bucked out of the boat after say hitting a whale of flotsam. Best case scenario there is they find you the next morning, worst case.....................
As for learning what your sounder is telling you, I don't dive anymore but I do send down a camera now a days. It settles a lot of discussion on the boat.
