Noosa has mainly whiting, flathead, tailor and bream in its large estuary, with mulloway, threadfin salmon and mangrove jacks also caught.

There is good fishing off the headland, beaches and within the tidal section of the Noosa River.

Bass inhabit the upper reaches of the river.

Great Sandy National Park’s shallow Lake Cootharaba and upper Noosa River have wild bass, with most taken above the mouth of Lake Cootharaba.

The area accessible by 4WD from Harry’s Hut or by water from Boreen Point has long been a drawcard for Brisbane fishermen.

There are several campsites north of Harry’s Hut.

Motorised boats may not proceed past the third camp, the area above is for canoes only. Great Sandy National Park – Cooloola Recreation Area camping permits must be booked in advance.

The deep channels through Noosa’s tidal lakes have bream, whiting, flathead, tailor, school mulloway, mangrove jacks and luderick.

Threadfin salmon are caught in the channel that links Lake Cootharaba and Cooroiba, and large prawns are a regular catch in the same area.

A popular spot is the deep hole on the first bend heading north after Lake Coroiba.

There is another hole further north opposite the camping area near John’s Landing.

Lake Coroiba has flathead and whiting, while the lower Noosa River has most species on a seasonal basis – mangrove jacks and whiting are
best in summer, bream and tailor are best in winter.

Fishing in the estuary tends to be best after storms, when the water is discoloured.

When the water is clear, fish at night and use light tackle and the freshest baits, such as nippers.

Surf and rock anglers can fish north or south of the national park to find the best conditions.

Teewah Beach can be accessed by 4WD after catching the Tewantin Ferry to the north bank and then driving down Maximillian Road and The Cutting.

The beach offers good fishing in the ever-changing gutters for bream, tailor, dart, whiting and occasional mulloway.

Noosa Head has several rock platforms where tailor and large mulloway are taken, and the surf beaches to the north and south fish well at times for bream, dart, mulloway and tailor in season.

For boaters, Noosa Bar is constantly shifting and crossings must be done with care, best at the top of the tide.

Noosa has several reefs within 5km of land, and another set of reefs about 15km out.

A mix of southern and tropical species are caught on a seasonal basis, including coral trout, cobia, sweetlip, red emperor, cod, snapper, tuskfish, yellowfin
tuna and spanish mackerel.

Small black marlin visit the reefs.

There is a boat ramp at Boreen Point, also in Doonella St, Tewantin, and two ramps at Noosaville in Gympie Terrace.

Noosa fishing spots and tips

*Munna Beach and sandspit fish best on falling tide for whiting, flathead. Deep water near the jetty has mulloway at night, turn of tide.
*Munna Bridge holds baitfish and mangrove jacks , trevally, bream, tailor. mulloway at night.
*Lions Park has family fishing for bream, whiting. Other species at
dusk and dawn.
*The island side of Sheraton Bridge has bank fishing around the pylons for mangrove jacks , trevally, bream and cod.
*Woods Spit has bream, whiting and flathead during the day and jewfish along the drop-off at night.
*The river mouth has a nearby carpark with variety of fishing, best near high tide. The rock wall has luderick, tailor and bream in winter. whiting
are caught along the foreshores and mulloway, bream and trevally are in the deeper water.
*Pylons around Weyba bridges hold most species. Easy bank access.
*Little Cove is sheltered and is best at dusk and dawn on weekdays.
*Sheltered Winch Cove has some reef fish, especially after prolonged rough weather, as well as mulloway and tailor.
*The area from Fairy Pools to Hells Gate has deep water access for land-based game fishing, and is fishable in most winds. Big mulloway,
kingfish, trevally, cobia, sharks.

Here is a list of recommended tackle for SEQ waters.

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Noosa Heads tides
Noosa coastline on Beachsafe
Great Sandy National Park – Cooloola Recreation Area
QLD fishing regulations
QLD marine parks
Return to QLD fishing map

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Port River is a tidal inlet in Adelaide’s north, with the mouth flowing through Outer Harbour, and the “river” extending upstream past Torrens Island to a road causeway that joins the West Lakes manmade canal system.

The river’s North Arm extends around Garden Island and through to Barker Inlet, a nursery area for many species of fish.

The shallows of St Kilda lie to the north.

“The Port” is an important location for Adelaide fishos.

The main species are black bream and salmon trout, but mullet, mulloway, KG whiting, tommy ruffs, flounder, slimy mackerel, chow, snapper and flathead are also caught.

Big kingfish are found around the wharves near the Outer Harbour sea entrance, with mostly smaller fish caught upstream.

Large snapper occasionally show up at Outer Harbour and within the inlet, and historically very big snapper were caught in the Torrens Island shallows at night.

Mulloway, known by some older Adelaide fishos as butterfish, respond best to livebaits.

Winter fishing produces some better fish, but mulloway are caught all year.

Small western striped trumpeter (locally called “shitties”) are common in the river and make a good livebait for mulloway.

Fresh pilchards or mullet fillet also will catch mulloway.

Some mulloway fishos flick lures under the lights of the three Port bridges near high tide.

Eagle rays, smooth rays and gummy sharks show up regularly and using lures avoids the attentions of these.

The Port’s big black bream are a prime target for lure fishos.

Using lures instead of bait helps get past small bream. Crab baits also work well.

Local tubeworms are an effective bait and bloodworms are a seasonal favourite, as well as peeled packet prawns, but all attract pickers.

Local bait shops usually stock worms in season.

A boat helps when fishing the Port but there are some great landbased bream spots, including Snowdens Beach and the foreshore at Birkenhead.

Schools of salmon trout move through the river and provide non-stop fishing when they are located.

The rock wall at Outer Harbour faces deep water and is a place where almost anything might be hooked, the author hooked and lost a small mako shark there many years ago, and caught several large mulloway and snapper from the wall.

Mulloway, salmon trout and flathead are the usual catch at Outer Harbour rock wall, with leatherjackets and zebra fish in close to the rocks.

When sufficient weed has accumulated on the beach adjacent to the rock wall a species of worm that looks like an earthworm can be dug from the weed rafts, and these are good bait for whiting.

Port River landbased fishing spots

Heading from the top of the river, going downstream …

Bower Road – this is near the West Lakes/Port River causeway. Salmon trout mostly in autumn/winter, with bream and mulloway all year and garfish in autumn.

Jervois Bridge – salmon trout mostly from autumn to spring, bream all year, mulloway in summer, and kingfish in spring/summer. Fish under lights for mulloway.

Birkenhead Bridge – salmon trout mostly from autumn to spring, bream all year, mulloway in summer under lights. Fishing under lights for mulloway is sometimes effective.

Birkenhead Beach – a great spot for big bream, it covers up at high tide. Fish the early incoming tide. bream all year, mullet in autumn, and salmon trout autumn to spring.

Tom Derrick Bridge – mulloway mostly in summer/autumn at night, best at low tide. Fish under lights for mulloway. Salmon trout autumn to spring and bream all year.

Snowdens Beach – this sandy beach has produced a great many quality bream over the years. It is easily fished with no need to cast far. Mullet mostly in autumn/winter on early incoming tide, salmon trout in autumn to spring on an early incoming tide. bream mostly from summer to winter on early incoming tides.

Torrens Island wharf – bream all year and salmon trout autumn to spring.

Torrens Island hot water outlet – this pumps hot water into the river and is good in the cold months. Mulloway autumn/winter and at low tide, with bream all year. Salmon trout autumn to spring.

Garden Island jetty – bream all year, with salmon trout mostly autumn to spring on the incoming tide, and mullet in summer and autumn. Sometimes a lot of juvenile fish.

Torrens Island Bridge – bream all year, with salmon trout mostly autumn to spring on the incoming tide, mulloway in summer and autumn at low-tide, and kingfish in spring.

Veitch Road – bream spring to autumn, with mullet mostly in autumn and salmon trout autumn to spring on an incoming tide.

Mutton Cove – bream spring to autumn, with mullet mostly in autumn and salmon trout autumn to spring on an incoming tide.

Snapper Point – bream in summer, mullet in autumn and salmon trout autumn to spring on an incoming tide.

Lastly, Outer Harbour has some great landbased fishing along the rock wall (breakwater).

West Lakes

This is a former marshland that was developed into a canal estate.

See more detailed West Lakes coverage here.

The tidal lake is connected to the sea via pipes at the southern end but the tidal movement is small, consequently the water is usually clear and the fish can be wary.

The canal system is a bream hotspot but success often requires a finesse approach using fresh bait or tiny lures, and light tackle.

The Bower Road causeway into the Port River is at the north end of West Lakes, with the area downstream of the weir flow into the Port River being a good bream spot, although with an abundance of small fish.

Within West Lakes itself some of the bream are stonkers, but they can be hard to tempt.

Mullet, salmon trout (small salmon), mulloway, squid, whiting, garfish and more are also caught in West Lakes.

The adjacent sea beaches are low energy locations good for large yellowfin whiting in summer, and yellow-eye mullet in winter.

The whiting respond best to worm baits presented on light tackle. Mullet are caught on small baits, with mince meat being a popular local bait.

NOTE: Special snapper rules apply in South Australia – more info here.

Port River tides
West Lakes tides
SA fishing regulations
SA marine parks

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Cape Jervis, at the southern end of Fleurieu Peninsula 88km south of Adelaide, is a gateway to the waters of Backstairs Passage and Kangaroo Island.

The coastline here is mainly rocky, with some beaches flanked by rock, reef and seagrass beds.

Boaters will find exceptional fishing, with good grounds along the coast and in the passage.

There are excellent KG whiting grounds for those who make the 18km voyage across to Kangaroo Island.

Cape Jervis jetty is well worth fishing, with tommy ruffs (tommies) in winter and calamari and arrow squid in summer.

Shore-based fishing the relatively low energy beaches in this region produces yellowfin whiting in summer and yellow-eye mullet in winter, with salmon trout all year and the chance of salmon, tailor and mulloway.

Beach fishing is at Fishery Bay to the south and Morgans Beach to the north, which are easily accessible by road.

For those willing to walk north from Morgans, Tea Tree Creek Beach may produce larger resident fish such as leatherjackets.

Fishery Bay produces mostly smaller fish like mullet, juvenile salmon and tommy ruffs.

Rock fishing throughout this region produces leatherjackets, sweep, salmon trout, tommies, squid and garfish.

Species caught out wide include yellowtail kingfish, nannygai, tuna, snapper, harlequin, blue morwong, silver trevally, snook, gummy and school sharks.

In close, boaters will find KG whiting, squid, leatherjackets, red mullet, flathead and garfish.

Good offshore spots include grounds around Sanders Bank and south of The Pages.

Yilki Bay and West Island grounds produce whiting, sweep, red mullet, flathead and squid.

Squid are reliable when drifting broken or weedy grounds off Cape Jervis, and Wirrina to the north.

About 12km north-east of Cape Jervis, Rapid Bay has a fishing jetty, the famous old limestone-loading jetty was closed to the public in 2004but some structure remains.

About 15km north-east of Cape Jervis lies Second Valley, which has a short jetty that produces mainly squid. There are easily accessible rock platforms that look very fishy, but it is generally a busy place on weekends.

Further north-east is Wirrina, which has a large marina with extensive rock walls.

Mainly garfish, KG whiting and snook are caught off Wirrina and Carrackalinga.

Fishing sanctuaries exist off Rapid Head and north of Carackalinga, so check the boundaries before you fish.

About 26km north of Cape Jervis, Normanville has a 7km beach into which flow the intermittent Yankalilla River, Bungala River and Carrickalinga Creek.

Mulloway are a chance off the beach when the creeks flood and the sea mouths open.

The beach is otherwise good for yellow-eye mullet in autumn/winter, salmon trout, flathead, silver whiting and yellowfin whiting.

Normanville has a small jetty that fishes well at times, and Haycock Point at the northern end is also worth trying.

Boats can be launched at Lady Bay and Normanville.

Some of the beach is narrow and steep, with seagrass growing to within 50m of shore.

Backstairs Passage itself is the home of big snapper (when you are allowed to catch them).

The Passage is not easily fished, being subject to strong currents and standing waves, and big sinkers are required even when fishing the turn of the tide.

The Pages Island group in the passage includes a marine sanctuary and no-go zones.

There is a boat ramp within the marinas at Cape Jervis and Wirrina.

NOTE: Special snapper rules apply in South Australia – more info here.

Tea Tree Creek Beach on Beachsafe
Morgan Beach on Beachsafe
Fishery Bay on Beachsafe
Lands End Beach on Beachsafe
Cape Jervis tides
SA boat ramps
SA fishing regulations
SA marine parks

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