I saw something on a message board about True Blue Bonefish and the fishery in Western Australia. I went to the site and… well… holy bonefish batman, there are some PIGS out in Western Australia!
A Foster's Size Bonefish
OMG… that thing is huge… and Australian… I had no idea. The website is worth looking at… not only are there some epic bonefish, but GT’s, some biggish Permit, Golden Trevally, Queenfish, Milkfish, Gulf Tarpon and Giant Herring… which I think is just a big Ladyfish.
I don’t know if they put a picture up of every big fish they ever caught, of if there are a lot of fish that big out there (turns out there are a lot of big fish there).
There certainly aren’t a lot of outfitters working those waters (I found two in my quick search) and there isn’t a whole lot of information readily available about the fishery.
There are a few factors that really strain on the uneasy relationship between Cheap and Bonefish when it comes to Exmouth bonefish. The cost of living and the cost of fuel combine to make it a real budget buster.
A single angler is $810 and if you bring a buddy, it is $445 a piece… so, $890 ($810 AU is $690 US). This is one of the most expensive days of guiding you’ll run across anywhere. They have a deal where if you book 7 days, you only have to pay for five. That would be $4,050 for a single angler, just for the guiding, not including lodging.
Maybe you have a checklist of species you want to check off… this might be a place to do that. There are a LOT of different species worth a shot at there.
There are cheaper places… much cheaper places, but Exmouth seems to be a pretty unique place with a wider variety of top-notch game fish than a lot of the go-to locations.
I didn’t find much in my cursory search for DIY or self-guided opportunities along the Western Coast. I’ll be looking into more of that in the months to come, but the airfare alone means that if you live in the States, there will be no coming together of Cheap and Bonefish Down Under.
