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Bite Compass
Shore / Surf

Dart

Trachinotus botla

Fast, hard-pulling surf-zone fighter of WA's warmer beaches, built like a small trevally and a brilliant light-tackle target in the wash. The common dart (Trachinotus botla) is the main WA species, found from around Bunbury north to the Kimberley but most reliable from Shark Bay up. Loves turbulent surf and gutters, feeding on small crabs, worms and molluscs churned up by the breakers.

Size
Up to 3kg, commonly 0.5–1.5kg
Peak season
Year-round (north); summer in the lower west
Minimum size (WA)
No minimum size
Bag limit (WA)
8

Overview

Dart are the surf-zone speedsters of WA's northern and central beaches — compact, deep-bodied members of the pompano family that fight well above their weight on light gear. The common dart (Trachinotus botla, sometimes called large-spot dart) is the species most WA beach anglers encounter, ranging from around Bunbury up to the Kimberley but really hitting their straps from Shark Bay northward. They live in the white water, working the gutters and sand spits where breaking surf exposes crabs, worms and molluscs. For anyone who likes light-line beach fishing, dart are a gift: willing, abundant in the right conditions, and a genuine handful when hooked.

Identification

Also known as Swallowtail dart, large-spot dart, pompano

A small, deep, flat-sided silver fish with a blunt snout, a tiny mouth, a deeply forked tail and long sickle-shaped dorsal and anal lobes. The common or large-spot dart carries two to five dark spots along the flank, which separates it from the snub-nosed dart (Trachinotus blochii, often called permit), a bigger, unspotted, deeper-bodied fish of the northern flats. Small trevally get called dart by mistake — check the tail wrist, because trevally carry hard bony scutes along it and dart do not. A blunt profile and a tiny mouth on a fish that pulls that hard is the giveaway.

How to Catch

Best Baits

Beach worms, bloodworms, peeled prawns, pipis, small crab, mullet strip

Lures

Small metal slugs (10–30g), small soft plastics, surf poppers, bibless vibes

Rigs

Light running-sinker rig with a size 1–1/0 long-shank or circle hook and a small ball or star sinker to hold in the wash; 8–12lb mainline with a short 15lb leader. For lure work, tie a small metal direct to a light spin outfit. Keep terminals small — dart have modest mouths but pull hard.

Technique

Read the beach and fish the gutters and the edges of sand spits where the surf churns. Cast bait into the foamy water and let it tumble naturally, holding just enough lead to keep contact. With lures, fan-cast small metals across the gutter and retrieve fast with the occasional pause — dart will chase down a fleeing metal. Bites are sharp and the fights are all runs and head-down power; let a light drag do the work.

Best Time

Northern beaches fish year-round; the lower west is a warmer-months proposition. Anglers rate a rising tide flooding the gutters and the hour either side of high. Early morning and late afternoon produce best, especially on a moderate, working swell rather than a flat or blown-out beach.

Size & Growth

Most surf-caught dart run 25–40 cm and half a kilo to a kilo — a fish the size of a dinner plate that fights like something twice that. Anything over 45 cm and 1.5 kg is a very good dart, and the headline maximum of around 3 kg is rare and usually a far-north fish. They grow fast and are relatively short-lived, which is part of why they are so abundant where the beach suits them. Expect numbers rather than size: a good session is a dozen honest fish out of one gutter, not a single trophy.

Diet & Habitat

Dart are surf-zone feeders, working the turbulent water where breaking waves excavate the sand and expose small crabs, worms, pipis and other molluscs; they will also chase small baitfish, which is why a fast metal works on them. They hold in gutters, along the edges of sand spits and over shallow bars, moving in with the tide and dropping back with it, and in the north they work sheltered sand flats and creek mouths as well. In WA they run from around Bunbury north to the Kimberley, but they are patchy in the lower west and only really reliable from Shark Bay upward.

WA Size & Bag Limits

Minimum size No minimum size
Bag limit 8
Counts toward Counts within the statewide nearshore/estuarine finfish mixed daily limit of 16, shared with tailor, whiting, bream, salmon and the rest of the beach and estuary list.

Dart (Trachinotus spp.) are a nearshore/estuarine finfish: no minimum size, individual bag limit 8, and those 8 count within the statewide nearshore/estuarine TOTAL mixed-species daily limit of 16.

Last checked . Limits change — confirm with DPIRD before you fish.

Eating Quality

Yes — good eating, and better than their small size suggests, provided you bleed and ice them the moment they are landed. The flesh is white, firm and mild with a fine flake; it pan-fries, crumbs and grills well, and takes a whole-fish treatment on the barbecue happily, since the fillets off a typical dart are thin. Smaller and mid-sized fish are the pick — the biggest dart can be a touch drier. Scale them properly, because the skin crisps well and is worth keeping. Like all surf fish they soften fast in the sun, so an esky with ice is not optional on a northern beach. They freeze passably for a few weeks but lose texture; eat them fresh if you can.

Where to Catch Dart

Bunbury Back Beach (Geographe Bay) Coral Bay (South Ningaloo) Denham (Shark Bay) Exmouth (North Ningaloo / North West Cape) Gnaraloo Bay / Station Miaboolya Beach (Carnarvon) Quobba (Quobba Station / Blowholes / Camp Rock) Tantabiddi (Boat Ramp / Lagoon Gap / Outer Reef Drop-off)

Guides Featuring Dart

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