The Onkaparinga River flows to sea at Port Noarlunga, south of Adelaide.

This is one of the most important tidal waters for Adelaide fishermen, after Port River and West Lakes.

The mouth of the ‘Onk’ is shallow, running over a sandy beach, but plenty of fish make their way through the entrance to go upstream.

Black bream are the main catch in the river, closely followed by juvenile salmon (locally called “salmon trout”) and yellow-eye mullet, with occasional school mulloway.

Despite its metro location, there is every chance of landing a big bream, although small fish are abundant.

The river mouth’s beach has salmon in winter, usually on an incoming tide in the morning or afternoon, but the best option for salmon is nearby Port Noarlunga jetty.

More common are the juvenile salmon, which are caught year round.

Mullet are caught year round in the river, but are best on local beaches in autumn and early winter.

Unlike mullet species elsewhere, yellow-eye mullet take meat baits of cockle or mince, but small hooks and light line are a must.

The SLSC Footbridge in the lower section of the river has salmon trout, mullet and bream, with a chance of school mulloway at night in summer, and sand flathead in autumn and winter.

Weatherald Terrace is a good spot to chase bream, mainly in summer, autumn and winter, with mulloway in summer at night.

The Sand Hills area has bream in summer, mullet in spring and summer and salmon trout all year.

Saltfleet Bridge has mulloway in summer at night, which can be caught at low tide.

River Road has mullet in spring and summer and salmon trout year round, on an incoming tide, with mulloway in summer, on an incoming tide, usually at night.

River Road Bend produces mulloway all year on an incoming tide, with bream in spring and summer.

Seaford Line has mulloway all year at low tide, with bream in winter and spring.

Perry’s Bend is a popular area with mulloway in spring, summer, autumn at night. Bream are caught here all year, with salmon trout in winter and spring on an incoming tide.

Other areas in the river not already mentioned can be fished if you don’t mind tackling the mud in gumboots and/or waders.

A closed season applies for bream from September 1 to November 30 upstream of the South Road Bridge. You can chase mulloway above the bridge all year.

The Old Rail Bridge and South Road Bridge are good spots to fish for bream all year, with occasional mulloway in spring and summer.

The Old Noarlunga upper section of the river is snaggy but full of bream, with a chance of mulloway.

Bream in the Onk respond to fine tackle, with a 2kg to 4kg rod-reel combo being ideal.

Use a tiny running sinker or no sinker at all. Peeled prawns work well as bait, but live tube worms are better.

To get the biggest bream, fish at night.

Salmon trout take a range of baits, while mullet prefer cockle or mince meat. A local quirk among fishos is to mix mince with curry powder.

Mulloway can be caught on 6kg gear. Use livebaits of small mullet or salmon trout at night. Occasionally mulloway are caught in daylight.

Being a small waterway, the Onk is ideal for canoe fishing. It is also a good place to try lure fishing for bream.

In recent years Ozfish volunteers have been working on restoring the river’s habitat.

The freshwater section of the Onkaparinga River has some redfin, carp and tench, with a chance of brown trout, but access is difficult and much of the upper river runs through private property and gorge country.

Like many SA waterways, the river’s freshwater section has also been affected by drought and high temperatures.

Read more about SA’s trout stream history here.

Onkaparinga River mouth tides
Onkaparinga mouth webcam
South Port (Onkaparinga mouth) on Beachsafe
SA fishing regulations
SA marine parks
SA stocked dams
SA dam water levels
Murray River fishing spots

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

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