Top 10 Fishing Spots in South Australia

Health and Lifestyle, Travel and Liesure

Top 10 Fishing Spots in South Australia

samcglynn July 21, 2011

Courtesy of Tourism South Australia
View Larger Map

Anglers can find top places to fish all through-out South Australia from our clean white beaches to our majestic Murray River.

Adelaide
Adelaide’s metropolitan beaches offer some of the best fishing in South Australia. Whiting, snapper and garfish are the most common catches at most metropolitan beaches. If you throw a line in at Aldinga and you’re likely to pull up Tommy Ruffs or Snapper, while heading north along the coast to Brighton, you’ll find Blue Swimmer crabs in abundance. Glenelg, Henley and Semaphore beaches offer great jetty fishing and you’ll be in the running to catch squid as well as plentiful Whiting, Snapper and Garfish.

Clare Valley
You’ll find excellent trout fishing opportunities at Broughton River near Spalding in the Clare Valley. It’s a popular spot for trout fishers. Fingerlings are released into the river on a regular basis. Situated adjacent to the Broughton River, Spalding has previously hosted national trout fishing championships and the National Fly Fishing Championships.

Eyre Peninsula
Without a doubt, the Eyre Peninsula is one of the finest fishing areas in Australia. Countless locations from Whyalla to the Western Australian border, where abundant and varied catches are the usual.

Whyalla offers as variety of fishing for both on and offshore anglers. It is home to the Australian Snapper Championship held in April each year. The sheltered waters of Franklin Harbour (Cowell) offer the boat fishermen whiting, snapper, garfish and snook, as well as blue swimmer crabs.

Tumby Bay is unique in the fishing world being the “Gateway to the Group”, islands only 12 kilometres to the southeast, called the Sir Joseph Banks Group. Whiting is the prized catch here, as well as snapper, sweep and trevally to name a few. Squid are plentiful at the town jetty.

Port Lincoln is a great place to be for rock, surf, jetty and boat fishing. Catches in and around Port Lincoln include squid, salmon, yellowfin whiting, trevally, mullet. For those with a boat, you can try your luck fishing around the tuna pens for southern bluefin tuna. A code of conduct must be followed, this is available from tackle shops and marine outlets.

Coffin Bay is popular with locals and tourists like, the sheltered waters of the bay are famous for whiting, yellowtail kingfish, trevally, snapper and many other species. Lock’s Well (16 kilometres south of Elliston) is regarded as one of the most reliable and superb surf fishing beaches in South Australia. Streaky Bay provides a wide variety of locations, so that adverse weather conditions may be countered by travelling to a more sheltered area. Jetty fishermen will be rewarded with catches of tommy ruff, salmon trout and snook with snapper being caught in November and December.

Ceduna, Thevernard and Denial Bay are situated on the shores of magnificent Murat Bay, which offers beach, jetty and boat fishing. Davenport Creek is a must with superb line-fishing from the banks of the creek and excellent boat fishing. Return catches of whiting, salmon, mullet, tommy ruff and garfish. You do need a 4WD to have full access to this area.

Flinders Ranges and Outback
Port Augusta has a number of great land-based fishing locations. Areas around the train bridge are good spots to try for Silver whiting and Mullet. The main wharf sometimes has a few Kingfish and Mulloway. Further south in front of the shacks, the old foot bridge can be worth a try for squid and Garfish. Opposite the power station on the west side you’ll find Salmon Trout, Silver Whiting and Mullet.

In Port Pirie, you can fish from the main wharf area in the heart of the city. The region offers Yellowfin Whiting, Salmon Trout, bream, snook, garfish and more. The nearby Port Germein jetty is good for Yellowfin, King George Whiting, snapper and more.

Yorke Peninsula
There is some fantastic fishing action to be had from boat, shore or jetty on Yorke Peninsula – from thumping snapper at Port Broughton and huge King George Whiting off Port Victoria, to mullet off Stansbury’s ‘back beach’ in autumn. In months with an ‘r’ when the water is warmer, Blue Swimmer Crabs are plentiful from Ardrossan down to Stansbury and Port Hughes to Port Broughton. Discover fantastic salmon fishing grounds from Corny Point to Marion Bay, and don’t miss surf fishing for salmon at Brown’s Beach within Innes National Park. Garfish, tommy ruffs, squid and snook are also popular catches throughout the region.

You can even catch your own seafood basket… rake the shallows for Blue Swimmer Crabs, dive for scallops just off shore or cast a line for your fill of King George Whiting, garfish or tommy roughs…just to name a few.

If you don’t have your own boat or want someone to show you the way, there are several fantasticfishing charters operating throughout Yorke Peninsula. Yorke Peninsula is unique as it is shaped like a leg and has Gulf St Vincent one side, Spencer Gulf the other. The open waters off the bottom end provide great deep sea fishing opportunities. To find out how and where to land the fish of your dreams, grab a copy of the free Yorke Peninsula Fishing Guide that covers the over 700 kilometres of coastline from Port Gawler all the way around the leg to Port Broughton.