Also known as Dhufish, Dhuie, Jewfish (WA), WA Jewfish, Westralian Jewfish, Glaucosoma hebraicum. Bait, technique, tide windows, and where the bite is on right now.
West Australian Dhufish — WA's endemic reef trophy — best eating fish on the west coast. Also called Dhufish, Dhuie, Jewfish (WA), WA Jewfish, Westralian Jewfish, Glaucosoma hebraicum.
West Australian Dhufish is also known as: Dhufish, Dhuie, Jewfish (WA), WA Jewfish, Westralian Jewfish, Glaucosoma hebraicum. WA's endemic reef trophy — best eating fish on the west coast.
Regional names can confuse anglers and cause misidentification. The table of common names below covers the most-used alternatives across Australia, New Zealand and the US:
Key to correct identification: check the regulations-authority species sheet for your state or territory before keeping any fish — minimum legal sizes, bag limits and identification guides are published by each fisheries department and are the authoritative source.
Hero spots in our coverage where West Australian Dhufish is in season for June. Click through for the live forecast.
Out of season across our covered spots in June.
Dhufish are demersal homebodies that hold tight to broken limestone reef, gutters, ledges and isolated bommies in 20-60m off WA's lower west coast — they don't roam, so you fish structure, not water. Mark a reef edge or pinnacle on the sounder, then anchor up-current or set a controlled drift so your baits sweep across the structure. Run a heavy paternoster (dropper) rig with two snelled hooks tied off 60-80lb leader, or a running sinker rig with the lead just heavy enough to hold bottom in the swell — these are deep, often current-swept grounds. Drop to the bottom, wind up a couple of turns to keep the bait just off the reef and out of the leatherjackets, and hold steady. The bite is famously subtle for such a big fish — a soft nodding 'tap tap' rather than a smashing run — so don't strike early; let it load up the rod, then lift into it firmly and lever it off the bottom fast before it buries you in the reef. On the way up, watch for barotrauma: dhufish brought from deep water often need a release weight or venting tool to send any you're not keeping back down healthy. Dawn, dusk and the change of light over a tide turn are prime; calm-water windows between swells matter as much as bite times on this exposed coast.
Best worked around the tide change — slack to early run — when the current eases enough to hold bottom over deep reef and present a bait cleanly. WA's small tidal range means swell and light often matter more than tidal flow: target the calm-water windows and the dawn/dusk change of light over a turning tide.
Many WA dhuie crews favour the days either side of the new and full moon when bigger tides get the current and bait moving over the reef, but the bigger driver out wide is weather: a glassed-off, low-swell window that lets you sit safely over 30-50m of limestone will out-fish any moon phase. Fish the calm days you're given.
West Australian Dhufish are a slow-growing, long-lived and heavily prized WA-endemic demersal — they're strictly managed, with bag and size limits, a demersal closed season on the west coast, and they form part of a combined demersal scalefish 'mixed bag' limit. Limits, the closure dates and accumulation rules vary and change, so always check the current rules with the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD / Fisheries WA) before you head out. Carry a release weight and handle undersize or surplus fish for survival.
Olli-Mikael Vaittinen has fished his whole life. Fifteen years of fly fishing, guiding seasons on Norway's Lakselva — his favourite Atlantic salmon river — and a blue marlin landed in Vava'u, Tonga. Founder of Fishare — the app that puts the data behind the decisions every angler makes on the water.
Fishare tracks your home spots and pings you when the next 3-hour peak window opens. Log catches and blanks to teach the model your local patterns. Free forever for everyone who joins now.
Open Fishare