Jurien Bay has become a favourite getaway for metro fishers and it’s not hard to understand why, writes Western Anglers’ Scott Coghlan in the latest edition of Scott’s Spots.
Jurien Bay ticks all the boxes you want for a few days away from the city wetting a line, as it is just a couple of hours from Perth and has great facilities, plenty of accommodation and, most importantly, superb fishing options.
Jurien is around 220km by road from Perth, and the opening of the Brand Highway in 2010 made the town even more accessible than previously.
Not only that, the drive to Jurien Bay provides some great coastal scenery sure to whet the appetite of anyone heading there for a fish.
Once there the options are varied with shore, boat and even estuary anglers able to try their hand for the range of species available in local waters.
Boaters are particularly well catered for, with a high quality and protected launching ramp inside the local marina.
This offers an excellent starting point for a day on the water, with good facilities including a cleaning table and adjacent bins for fish scraps, and you don’t have to venture far from the marina to be in good fishing areas.
Indeed, blue swimmer crabs can get taken inside the marina itself, along with herring and squid.
Once you’ve broken the shackles of the marina walls, there are great options north, south and west of town, and despite its ever-increasing popularity Jurien Bay continues to provide superb fishing results.
The iconic dhufish is a common catch off Jurien Bay and they even show up in the shallows of the bay at times. Some absolute crackers are taken out wider though and they can consistently be caught on bait, jigs and soft plastics in depths of 15m-plus.
The new Ink Vader from Wilson Fishing is proving deadly on them!
Pink snapper are a Jurien Bay staple, and will be caught across a wide area at times, from the local jetty and marina walls out to much deeper water. After storms they will often be in the shallows of the bay and respond well to anchor-and-berley tactics.
Baldchin groper are another regular offshore catch.
Mulloway are an interesting proposition around Jurien as they are taken from both boat and shore.
The beaches either side of town often produce good fish over a metre long, and a few get caught at the jetty each year, but they also show up offshore for anglers chasing species likes pinks and dhuies.
Samson fish are another common catch for boaters fishing for demersals, and again show up at the jetty at times.
For those more interested in pelagics, Jurien Bay can offer some fantastic action on Spanish mackerel in the warmer months.
Trolling for them along the back of the inner reef can be very productive at times, and they also show up out wider as well.
Yellowtail kingfish are another regular catch behind the reef, while tuna are regularly encountered out wide.
Squid are prolific in the bay and are also taken at the jetty in good numbers.
The jetty itself is a fantastic fishing platform for locals and holidaymakers alike, offering some fun fishing for a surprisingly varied range of species, many already mentioned above.
Hill River, although tiny, also holds a nice population of black bream that can be fun to catch, while the beach at the mouth is renowned for producing mulloway, tailor and sharks.
The beach fishing around Jurien is also excellent, with mulloway, tailor, sharks, herring, whiting and flathead among the species regularly encountered.
For all your local tackle and camping needs, Seasport Tackle in the centre of town is well stocked with all the latest gear.
Owner Shane Younger is a keen fisherman who always has a good idea of what is biting around town and how to catch it.
There is a huge range of accommodation available at Jurien Bay, with caravan parks, home holiday rentals, apartments and motels among them.
There are a number of providers including all the usual booking sites, and Google will soon find you a great place to stay to suit your budget.
The good thing about Jurien is no matter where you stay you’ll always be close to the water and that means there are always fishing opportunities at hand.
