Skip to main content
Bite Compass

Threadfin (Blue and King Threadfin)

Surf / Estuary
Eleutheronema tetradactylum (blue); Polydactylus macrochir (king)

The threadfins of WA's tropical north — blue threadfin and the larger king threadfin — named for the trailing thread-like filaments below the pectoral fin. Prized inshore sportfish of the Pilbara and Kimberley beaches, creek mouths and estuaries, hunting prawn and baitfish on the run-in tide. Soft mouths, fine eating, and a fixture of any northern beach session.

Overview

Threadfin are the great inshore prize of tropical WA — two species that share the same waters and the same trailing pectoral filaments that give the family its name. Blue threadfin (Eleutheronema tetradactylum, also called blue salmon or Cooktown salmon) are the smaller, more common of the two; king threadfin (Polydactylus macrochir) grow to well over a metre. Both patrol surf gutters, sand flats, creek mouths and estuary channels from the Pilbara through Eighty Mile Beach and into the Kimberley, hunting prawn, mullet and small baitfish on the rising tide. They have notably soft mouths — a soft strike and steady pressure beat a hard hookset — and they're among the best eating fish of the North Coast. Eighty Mile Beach is the iconic shore-based threadfin fishery.

How to Catch
Best baits

Live mullet, prawn, fresh mullet fillet, herring, strip baits

Lures

Soft plastics on 1/4–1/2oz jigheads, suspending hardbodies, soft vibes, slow-rolled paddle-tail plastics

Rigs

Running sinker rig with a 4/0–5/0 circle hook and 30–40lb fluorocarbon leader on the beach, with enough lead to hold in the surf. From a boat or creek bank, a lighter unweighted live-bait rig on the run-in tide. Keep drag moderate — soft mouths tear out under heavy load.

Technique

On the beaches, find a deeper gutter close to the sand and fish baits or plastics across the rising tide. In the creeks, cast plastics and hardbodies into the run-out at change of light, working them slowly along the sandbank edges. Feed line briefly on the take rather than striking hard, then lift into the fish and keep steady pressure. Net or slide them on the beach — lifting by the line tears the hook from their soft mouths.

Best time

April through November is prime, covering the fishable dry-season window. Run-in tides in the last hour before high are the standout, with the first of the run-out also good. Dawn, dusk and the new and full moons produce the best of it.

Size

Blue to ~1m; king to 1.5m and 20kg, commonly 60–90cm

Peak season

Apr–Nov (dry season peak)

Eating quality

Excellent — moist white flesh, mild flavour, holds together well grilled or pan-fried. Considered among the better eating fish of the North Coast, on a par with mulloway. Bleed and ice on capture in the tropical heat.

Regulations (WA)

King threadfin (Polydactylus macrochir): minimum size 450mm, bag limit 2. Other threadfin species including blue threadfin: no minimum size, bag limit 4. Both sit within the statewide nearshore/estuarine finfish mixed daily bag of 16. Always check current DPIRD rules — regulations may change.

Perth Tips

Eighty Mile Beach Caravan Park is the classic base for shore-based threadfin, with the run-in tides on the new and full moons producing best. Beadon Creek (Onslow), the Pilbara back creeks, and the Cambridge Gulf creeks around Wyndham and Kununurra all hold fish. Don't over-strike — feed line on the take, then lift. Watch for crocs in the creeks north of Broome.

Where to Catch Threadfin (Blue and King Threadfin)
Broome (Town Beach / Gantheaume Point / Roebuck Bay) Exmouth (North Ningaloo / North West Cape) Onslow (Town Beach / Beadon Creek / Mackerel Islands)
← All species