All posts by WFS Admin

Over about 45 years I fished most of the Aussie mainland and Tasmania. I mapped Top End river rockbars, reefs and wrecks using early sonar mapping software. I published the North Australian Fishing and Outdoors Magazine (closed it when COVID took off), and still publish the biennial FISH FINDER book of fishing maps. I was Sunday Territorian fishing columnist for two decades. Perhaps more importantly, I have caught 20lb+ snapper off Adelaide's metro jetties :) Great memories of catching tommies, chow and slimies at Port Giles and Edithburgh with my dad, and fishing in England for everything from carp and grayling to cod and plaice. This site is pretty much a love job, so be patient with site issues. Fishos can help by posting useful comments, fishing reports and feedback. Fish on!

SA fish kill continues

12 May 2025 WFS Admin Leave a comment

Sadly, toxic algae is continuing to kill fish along South Australia’s coast into May.

Sea life has died in both gulfs, in the south-east and along Kangaroo Island.

The following website is the best I’ve found that shows the diversity of sea life affected (WARNING: it’s grim) … https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/sa-marine-mortality-events-2025

The blooms are blamed on karenia mikimotoi and karenia brevia species of dinoflagellates.

Unfortunately, on social media some people are going for conspiracy theories, such as passing Chinese ships being responsible.

The calm, warm water event leading up to the blooms was well recorded, see our earlier post.

Calm, warm water exists in many places so there must be other contributing factors.

Discussion about the Adelaide desalination plants may be relevant, as there are known links to saline stratification and algal blooms. However the bloom appeared to start far from the plant outlets.

It remains to be seen how long it will take for the bloom to dissipate and for fish to recover.

Karenia blooms are known to be long lasting at times.

Globally, the first bad karenia bloom widely reported, as far as I can tell from online searching, was in 1946 in the Gulf of Mexico.

There is evidence that karenia blooms may be occuring more often in recent times.

Fishing Spots

Normanville fishing, South Australia

26 April 2025 WFS Admin Leave a comment

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

Normanville, immediately south of South Australia’s Myponga and Carrickalinga, is known for its relatively low-energy beach.

Flathead, yelloweye mullet, salmon trout and sand whiting are the main catch, usually around high tide.

There is a small jetty that can be fished at high tide, and a tidal creek that is usually landlocked.

After heavy rain when the creek flows, the area around the mouth is worth a try for school mulloway.

School mulloway swim South Australia’s low-energy beaches just as they do the surf beaches, however the difficulty in catching them is that sharks and rays will usually find your bait before a mulloway does.

If you drop a cartopper or yak in off the beach the seagrass beds have king george whiting, squid, tommies, flathead, red mullet and gar.

Holiday cabins are located on the beach near the creek.

Here are some tips on chasing Normanville’s mullet.

To catch flathead, try walking beach while flicking a bait or lure.

Here is a list of recommended tackle for SA waters.

Here is the SA seasonal fishing calendar for various fish species.

Normanville tides
Normanville on Beachsafe
SA fishing regulations
SA marine parks
SA stocked dams
SA dam water levels
Murray River fishing spots

Email corrections, additions, pictures or video here.

Fishing Spots

Witton Bluff Base Trail rocks, South Australia

26 April 2025 WFS Admin Leave a comment

The sanctuary area immediately outside the jetty and Onkaparinga River mouth

Some of the rocks along the walkway drop away into deep water

The southern section of the Witton Bluff Base Trail as seen from Port Noarlunga jetty

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

Port Noarlunga, south of Adelaide, is best known for its fishing jetty, but it also has landbased opportunities.

In 2025 the southern section of a raised coastal walkway called the Witton Bluff Base Trail was opened. This walkway runs north along the rocks from near the jetty.

At high tide some of the rocks along this walkway drop into deep water, a likely spot for chasing mulloway and more.

Nimble fishos could, with care, climb over the railing at several locations to access the rocks, but check the latest by-laws first, which are likely to evolve.

The walkway was still being built when we checked it out, and it remains to be seen if a gate will be built for fishermen to access the rocks.

Landbased fishos can also fish the mouth of the Onkaparinga River nearby.

Here’s a walkway website with a few pix … https://yoursay.onkaparinga.sa.gov.au/witton-buff-base-trail/boardwalk