Tranby Jetty (Maylands, Swan River)

Tranby Jetty sits on the eastern flank of the Maylands Peninsula, on the river in front of Tranby House — the 1839 farmhouse built by the Hardey family after they arrived on the ship Tranby in February 1830, and one of the oldest buildings left from the Swan River Colony. The jetty itself is a small floating landing used by charter and private boats; the fishing is the foreshore that runs either side of it, from the boat facility north-west toward Bath Street Reserve. This is middle-Swan bream water — brackish, structure along the reworked bank, and Kuljak Island sitting 400m up the reach to break the flow. It is an after-work stretch rather than an expedition: park on Johnson Road, walk 80m across the grass, and fish the edge.

Work the bank rather than the open river. Fish hold along the rock protection and the log palisade edging, and the pontoon and moored boats supply the only real vertical structure on the stretch — cast parallel to them rather than past them. Lightly weighted soft plastics and small hardbodies fished tight to the wall account for the better bream, while a fresh river prawn on a light running sinker does the same job more slowly. Tide changes still trigger a bite this far upstream, so plan around the turn instead of the slack in the middle. The first and last hour of light beat everything between them, and after dark the same banks become the mulloway shift.

Black bream are the reason to come — the Maylands reach carries good numbers in the 25–30cm class, with genuine 35–40cm fish for anglers who work the structure with lures rather than soaking bait. Bar-tailed flathead push onto the sandy margins from late spring and sit where the bank shelves away. Mulloway hold through the middle Swan year-round and this dark, quiet reach has a long local reputation for them, with land-based fish over a metre taken off the Maylands and Belmont banks. Estuary cobbler come on bait after dark, and tarwhine turn up often enough in the shallows to stop being a surprise.

Drop to a lighter leader before you drop to a smaller lure — the bream on this stretch have seen most of what the tackle shop sells. The snags here come from the restored rock walling rather than timber piles, so check the leader after every fish and re-tie more often than feels necessary. The foreshore path is busy with walkers and dogs, so set up tight to the water rather than spreading gear across it. Kuljak Island and the deeper water off the reach are kayak territory, which opens up bank the shore cannot reach. Peninsula Farm has a cafe 110m back from the water, though it keeps cafe hours rather than fishing hours.

Park on Johnson Road at Peninsula Farm and walk down past Tranby House — roughly 80m of grass and gravel, flat the whole way. Check access before you go: the City of Bayswater's Tranby Foreshore restoration runs along this exact stretch, from the boat facility to Bath Street Reserve, with construction weekdays 7am to 5pm, selected shoreline areas closed for several months and the works due to finish in late November 2026. The jetty beside the house is a boat landing rather than a public fishing platform: it is not among the Department of Transport public-use jetties listed for the Swan and Canning, and those listed jetties carry a blanket ban on swimming, diving and fishing from the deck, so read the current City of Bayswater signage before setting up on the structure itself. The bank either side is the practical fishing when it is open, and the foreshore path continues north-west toward Bath Street Reserve for anglers who would rather walk and cover water. Peninsula Farm carries a cafe and toilets during opening hours; there are no dedicated angler facilities and no bait on site. The flat approach and short walk make it workable with kids, but the reworked riverbank drops away in places and carries no railing.

Middle-Swan water — brackish, tannin-stained for weeks after winter rain and clearing through the warm months. Tidal movement this far upstream is subdued but still enough to move fish onto and off the bank, which makes the changes worth planning around. The bank faces roughly east across to Kuljak Island and the Ascot side, so winter easterlies blow straight into it while the summer afternoon seabreeze arrives over your shoulder off the peninsula — a rare Perth bank that fishes better on a hot afternoon than a cold morning. Heavy winter flows from upstream push cold fresh water through the reach and shut the bream down for days at a time.

The restored riverbank is rock protection and log palisade rather than a natural slope — the edge drops away, the rock turns slick with dew and rain, and there is no railing anywhere along it. Estuary cobbler carry venomous dorsal and pectoral spines that deliver a genuinely painful sting, so unhook them by the line rather than gripping the fish. Mosquitoes and midges are heavy at dawn and dusk from October through April on this river flat, and repellent needs reapplying rather than applying. The Swan and Canning have recorded toxic algal blooms at elevated levels, and DPIRD advises removing the top shell, guts and gills from blue swimmer crabs taken from these waters before cooking, so check current advisories before eating anything kept from the river. Boat, rowing and charter traffic works this reach and the jetty is an active landing, so keep lines and gear clear of anything coming alongside.

The bank either side of the jetty is the practical fishing and holds the fish anyway, but check access first — the City of Bayswater's Tranby Foreshore restoration is under way from the boat facility to Bath Street Reserve, with selected shoreline areas closed for several months and completion due in late November 2026. The jetty itself is a boat landing beside Tranby House and is not one of the Department of Transport public-use jetties listed for the Swan and Canning rivers, which carry a blanket ban on fishing from the deck. Check the current City of Bayswater signage before fishing from the structure itself.

Black bream year-round are the mainstay, with bar-tailed flathead on the sandy margins from November to April and mulloway through the reach year-round after dark. Estuary cobbler come on bait at night and tarwhine are a regular shallow-water catch. It is a middle-Swan estuarine mix rather than a saltwater spot — no herring or squid this far upstream.

Yes, within the rules: a 250mm minimum size and an individual daily bag of 6, counted inside the statewide nearshore and estuarine mixed bag of 16 fish. No more than 2 black bream over 400mm may be taken from the Swan and Canning rivers. Check the current DPIRD recreational fishing guide before keeping fish.

Park on Johnson Road at Peninsula Farm and walk down past Tranby House to the river — about 80m across grass and gravel, flat the whole way. Peninsula Farm has a cafe and toilets during opening hours, but there are no angler facilities and no bait on site, so sort tackle and bait before you arrive.

It has a long local reputation for them — the Maylands and Belmont banks are a known middle-Swan jewfish stretch, with land-based fish over a metre recorded. Two windows matter: late autumn through winter is the classic run, and summer into early autumn brings bigger breeders up from the coast. Either way it is an after-dark job on fresh bait, fished quietly and patiently rather than covered with casts. Mulloway carry a 500mm minimum size and a daily bag of 2 in WA.