Tarwhine
Shore / JettyTarwhine vs bream: a silver, gold-striped bream relative often confused with black bream, found around Perth estuary mouths, jetties and rock walls. Takes the same baits as bream — prawns, worms, bread — and is a reliable, hard-pulling catch on light tackle around structure.
Overview
Tarwhine are the often-overlooked cousin of black bream, found year-round around jetties, rock walls, and estuary mouths in Perth. They're reliable biters on simple baits and put up a good fight on light tackle. While they don't have the cult following of bream, they're a solid catch and perfectly good eating.
How to Catch
Prawns, tube worms, bread dough, mussels
N/A — primarily a bait species. Occasionally taken on very small soft plastics but bait is far more reliable.
Float rig with a size 4–6 hook set 1–2m below a bobby cork, or a running sinker rig with a small ball sinker on the bottom. Use light line and keep hooks small.
Fish around jetty pylons, rock walls, and estuary mouths with light tackle and fresh bait. A float rig drifted past structure is the classic approach. Berley with bread to draw them in and keep them feeding. Tarwhine feed in schools, so once you find them, you can usually catch several before they move on.
Active throughout the day, with peaks around the tide changes. Rising tide around structure is particularly good. They bite year-round but are most abundant in the warmer months.
Up to 2kg, commonly 300–600g
Year-round
Yes — good eating, very similar to black bream with white, mild, slightly sweet flesh. Scale and gut, then pan-fry whole or fillet the bigger fish. Not quite as prized as bream but a perfectly decent feed, and they come in numbers when you find a school.
Minimum size: 250mm. Daily bag limit: 6, taken within the statewide nearshore/estuarine finfish mixed daily bag of 16 (shared with bream and other estuary species). A Recreational Fishing from Boat Licence (RFBL) is required when fishing from a powered boat. Always check current DPIRD rules — regulations may change.
Perth Tips
Ammo Jetty, Woodman Point, and the Fremantle boat harbour are reliable tarwhine spots. They respond well to berley, so keep a steady stream of bread going. Often caught alongside herring and skippies when fishing structure.