NOTE: Special snapper rules apply in South Australia – more info here.
Port Noarlunga, south of Adelaide, has an exceptional fishing jetty.
This is an important platform for Adelaide fishermen because the area inside the fringing reef at the jetty’s end holds salmon schools.
Schools of big fish often come inside the reef during heavy weather in winter.
But the salmon also show up at other times.
Bait and lures work, and the fishing is frantic when salmon are on.
Juvenile salmon, locally called salmon trout, are caught throughout the year.
Less well known is that the jetty and nearby beaches produce plenty of yelloweye mullet during the annual autumn run.
Yelloweye mullet take small meat baits, including cockle, prawn and minced red meat.
Occasional snapper, silver trevally, zebra fish, mulloway, kingfish, sweep, rays and sharks are caught at the jetty from time to time, but salmon are the main catch.
Divers report 50 species of fish can be found around the reef, which is within a marine sanctuary.
No fishing is allowed within the sanctuary but line fishing is permitted from the local beaches and most of the jetty, and also within the nearby Onkaparinga River, a bream hotspot.
Other spots to try nearby are the rock at the end of beach road and the rock wall at O’Sullivans Beach, both of which produce kingfish in summer and salmon in winter.
Here is a list of recommended tackle for SA waters.
Here is the SA seasonal fishing calendar for various fish species.
Onkaparinga River mouth tides
South Port (Onkaparinga mouth) on Beachsafe
SA fishing regulations
SA marine parks
SA stocked dams
SA dam water levels
Murray River fishing spots
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