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To celebrate the great fishing opportunities at FADs currently between Albany and Jurien Bay (more to come at other locations soon), we’re giving away some quality prizes thanks to Richter Lures and Madfish Gearsimply for catching a fish at the devices between 1 March – 1 May and sending in a snap of your fish!
Thanks to Madfish and Richter Lures, we have three fish bags to give away to the top three images, along with a load of Richter skirts for 4th-10th place!
PRIZES:
Best photo: An XL Madfish Fishing Bag (to keep your catches frosty) with 10x Richter skirt lures inside.
2nd best photo: A medium-sized Madfish Fishing Bag with 10x Richter skirt lures inside.
3rd best photo: A medium-sized Madfish Fishing Bag with 5x Richter skirt lures inside.
4th-10th place: Each receive a handful of Richter skirts and lures!
HOW YOU CAN WIN:
1) Visit any of the FADs (Can find their exact GPS coordinates here);
2) Catch a pelagic sportfish (via boat or spearfishing) and take a photo of your catch that reflects our responsible fish handling practices (linked below) with the FAD clearly visible behind you. This means avoiding images where there is blood visible, cutting the fish’s throat, having your fingers in the fish’s gills, holding the fish vertically, etc).
3) Message a photo of your catch to our Facebook or Instagram page detailing where and when you caught it;
4) Keep an eye on our socials when we announce the winners after May 1!
These two images are perfect examples of the kind of images that would win prizes – treating the fish with respect, high-definition snaps and with the FADs visible in the background!
Recfishwest is pleased to announce all of the metro Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs) have now been deployed and are in position ready to fish providing great pelagic sportfishing options for this summer and autumn.
This means there are now eight more FADs deployed in the metro region in addition to the six existing Perth Game Fishing Club (PGFC) devices west of Rottnest.
With 14 metro-based FADs now deployed in Perth waters, expect to see a lot more sportfishing action with great species such as dolphinfish bending your rods! Photo credit: Marco Fraschetti.
The latest deployment includes six devices approximately 30 nautical miles off the metro coast from between Rottnest and Two Rocks in water depths of between 130-350m.
In addition, the Mangles Bay Fishing Club FAD and Compleat Angler Rockingham FAD are now in position and ready for action.
Of course, we would have liked to have been in a position to deploy the metro FADs sooner, but from all reports from keen FADs anglers like Tackle West’s Luke Ryan, action on the PGFC FADs has just started to heat up – check out his recent video of an epic dolphin fishing session on the YouTube link below!
Recfishwest CEO Dr Andrew Rowland said, “We’re really pleased we’ve been able to deploy FADs in the metro in time for late summer and autumn – we know from the wealth of positive feedback we received from the three-year pilot program we ran how popular these devices are with metro-based fishers.
“The metro devices are a key component for State-wide FADs program which we now have an ongoing funding commitment from the State Government to support, which is a first for WA.
“The FADs provide a great sport-fishing option for fast-growing abundant pelagic fish and we want to work with the Government to develop more new sustainable fishing opportunities like these that can spread fishing effort and provide real value to the WA fishing community.”
FADs are still planned for Albany and Geraldton and for the first time off Mandurah and Jurien Bay.
Recfishwest is also in talks with the Government over the FAD program rollout for the northern parts of the State.
We will continue to work hard to get the remaining FADs in the water at all locations – stay tuned to all our channels for updates.
Hard-fighting sportfish such as dolphinfish and various tuna species love to congregate around the FADs, make sure you send us your snaps of your catches if you pay the metro FADs a visit!
Recfishwest is pleased to announce that we’ve been able to deploy four FADs off Cape Naturaliste, with additional Perth Metro FADs to follow in the next couple of weeks.
Following on from the success of the three-year pilot FADs program initiated and run by Recfishwest, many fishers have been asking us when the fish aggregation devices are going to be deployed this summer.
Recfishwest submitted an in-depth report outlining the results from the pilot program to DPIRD in May 2022, along with a request for funding of the program going forward.
We have continued to press for funding to allow us to deploy the devices in the southern half of the State this summer – as our pilot program clearly established how effective and popular the FADs have been in creating fantastic new pelagic sportfishing opportunities.
In late December, we received provisional support from DPIRD for the program to go forward.
Since receiving approval to proceed we have pushed ahead as fast as we can to ensure sport fishers can make the most of the FADs this summer and autumn.
Four FADs are readily available to fish off Cape Naturaliste to help spice up the sportfishing in the area as Chris Leigh Cooper found out when he hooked up right next to one of the Cape Naturaliste FADs.
Recfishwest CEO Dr Andrew Rowland said, “Despite the disappointment at the Government’s recent west coast demersal decision, we are pleased to see a commitment to an expanded WA FADs program as part of its package to support recreational fishing.
“Having an established Statewide FADs program is a first for WA – and is a direct result from all the hard work put into the FADs pilot program by Recfishwest and local fishing champions, as well as expertise from Perth Game Fishing Club (PGFC).
“We look forward to hearing DPIRD’s plans for expanding the program in the north of the State and going forward Statewide.”
Recfishwest is also planning to deploy FADs off Mandurah and Jurien Bay for the first time, to add to the already successful Albany, Cape Naturaliste, Rockingham, Perth and Geraldton deployments in the south of the state.
Another six metro FADs will again be deployed between Rottnest and Two Rocks in water depths of between 130-350m to complement the six existing annual FADs already deployed by the Perth Game Fishing Club (PGFC), located west of Rottnest.
In addition, Recfishwest will be deploying the Mangles Bay Fishing Club FAD and Compleat Angler Rockingham FAD as soon as possible pending weather conditions.
Recfishwest is also in talks with the Government over the FAD program rollout for the northern parts of the State.
Once settled, fishers can again expect FADs in the traditional locations of Exmouth and Broome, with plans to drop FADs for the first time off the coast of Port Hedland. We will keep you updated on any progress with these discussions.
We will continue to work hard to get the remaining FADs in the water at all locations – stay tuned to all our channels for updates.
Consider joining our cast of thousands as a Recfishwest member to help us launch more initiatives like this that create more great fishing opportunities in WA – jump on our membership page here to find out more.
Recfishwest will continue to work hard so that more FADs in more locations are deployed as soon as possible so you can catch impressive sportfish like this dolphin fish, landed by Beau Suladra in Perth.
Six new FADs have been deployed off the Perth coast, marking off a huge milestone in establishing Recfishwest’s three-year State-wide FADs trial. And, after only three weeks in the water, they’re already producing great dolphinfish action! Continue reading “New metro FADs are a go!”→
