AUSTRALIA’S BEST FISHING TOWN
EXMOUTH, WA
Located some 1200km north of Perth, roughly halfway between Broome and the WA capital, Exmouth is a hotspot of international renown. What makes Exmouth a huge contender for the title of Australia’s best fishing location is a combination of factors that makes you think if there is a creator, he’s definitely a fisho!
Situated on a small spur of land known as North West Cape which juts out into the Indian Ocean, the town of Exmouth is only very small; home to a permanent population of just 3,000 residents. The shores of North West Cape front two very different, yet both uniquely fish-filled environments.
On the western side of the cape is the open Indian Ocean, framed along its shoreline by the 300km long Ningaloo Reef – one of the largest coral reefs in the world.
The reef itself is a fish magnet, being home to monster GTs, mobs of Spanish macks and all manner of reef fish, plus mainland Australia’s only known bonefish fishery inside the reef on the turquoise-clear sandflats known as the Ningaloo Lagoon.
The story only gets better offshore where the Continental Shelf edge runs within just a handful of kays from land and its waters are frequented by all six Australian billfish species (blue, black and striped marlin, sailfish, swordfish and spearfish) in good to great numbers, as well as most other tropical pelagic species including dolphinfish, wahoo and yellowfin tuna.
On the eastern side of North West Cape lies Exmouth Gulf; an 80km long expanse of shallow water reefs and
