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THIS WEEK'S FISHING HOTSPOTS:
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FEBRUARY 9 - 20, 2026
METRO WATERS: Blue swimmer crabs made a very welcome return to the waters off Semaphore & Grange over the weekend. There are some bream, yellowfin whiting & mullet off the sands at Moana, Seaford/Southport & then well south towards Silver Sands, but fresh bait & a high tide is a must. A few fish are also off Tennyson to Grange but otherwise on the Metro fishing front there is not much - off Semaphore, St Kilda & Nth Haven there are some red-bill garfish & scattered pods of KG whiting, but you have to be on your marks before daylight (to avoid the dreaded "poisson de shite" - aka trumpeters!). A few blueys are north of St Kilda (Light Bch, Port Gawler, Thompson's Bch) & there is a small mix of scale fish here also - yellowfin whiting, flathead & mullet/tommy ruffs. As mentioned above, scattered KG whiting are occasionally in the deep water drops off Nth Haven & Outer Harbour, but squid catches remain slow. Bream, mullet & soapie mulloway are inside the Port River, West Lakes & The Pat. Then as you travel much further north of Lower Light towards Pt Wakefield the water in the Gulf turns an ugly, sick green colour - not looking good at all.
FLEURIEU/RIVERLAND/RESERVOIR: I received a creditable report just this past week that the migrating tuna normally seen off our South Coast at this time of the year are diverting to deeper and cleaner waters south of Kangaroo Island to avoid the Algal Bloom. This may explain the somewhat inconsistent catches so far to date. Big boat crews are working long and hard to find snapper, red nannygai, blue morwong and kingfish however from the deep water grounds out at Sanders Bank when weather conditions permit. Mulloway and mullet are inside the river mouth at Goolwa, Hindmarsh Island and in the Scab channel. These fish also run further south along the reaches of the Upper Coorong at the 42 Mile Crossing and The Granites, just north of Kingston. Upstream fishing has plenty of carp, callop and yabbies from Swan Reach and Renmark/Berri. Boat crews fishing closer to shore off Victor caught a few pan-sized snapper, KG whiting and garfish but no squid last week as the calamari drought continues. Local jetties and beaches have a mix of 1 kilo salmon from Waitpinga and Parson's, tommy ruffs at The Bluff and mullet from Fisheries beach. The occasional small tuna is reported from Cape Jervis and the deep waters inside Backstairs Passage, with big but isolated KG whiting from Rapid Head and Wirrina. Snook and garfish catches are scattered from Wirrina to Normanville and Lady Bay, while jetty-based fishing has sprat tommies. Local shore-based anglers are picking up salmon trout from Rapid Bay and Second Valley.
SOUTH EAST/COORONG: Shore-based fishers & surf casters alike have been plonking the sands from the Goolwa river mouth along the Younghusband Peninsula to Salt Creek, The Granites & then all the way to Beachport & Carpenter Rocks! What is being caught? Plenty of seaweed, some night-time mulloway, fat mullet & salmon to 2 kilos. The Little Dip Salmon Hole also has tiger flathead on the big surge days, while Stinky Bch & Lurline Point have mullet & small but just-legal mulloway. Boat crews running out from Kingston, Robe, Beachport & Carpenter Rocks are catching sweep, crays, KG whiting (in small numbers), snapper, flathead & garfish from Margaret Brock reef & then the sheltered bays like Little Dip, Nora Creina, Carpenter Rocks & Beachport. Big boat crews have really had a rough time of it, especially trying to head offshore from Beachport & Port MacDonnell as they fish for snapper, tuna, kingies, sweep & sharks. The Port Mac & Beachport jetties have tommy ruffs, squid & garfish, while gar & yellowfin whiting are close inshore from the Picanninie Ponds & Nene Valley coasts.
YORKE PENINSULA: Wallaroo: Rat Kingfish are at the jetty and just west of the new grain offloading groyne which has seen steady shipping traffic in the past week, along with a couple of large blue crabs. There are bream in the marina, while boat crews enjoyed early morning magic conditions to run out for KG whiting, garfish and blueys. Squid catches are very light on. Moonta Bay/Port Hughes: Blue crabs and a few nice garfish are on the menu as boat crews fished inside the bay and south of the broken grounds at Rifle Butts beach. Squid are less in numbers than previous years, but yellowfin whiting are off local beaches on a high tide. The jetties have gar and blueys after dusk. Port Victoria: Early in the week boat crews caught KG whiting to 40cm from Wardang Island, small to medium squid and smaller fish from the Songvar wreck on the way back. The jetty has a few blueys and garfish. Point Turton/Corny Point: Good tides for much of last week helped crews after an otherwise quiet stretch as they launched for gar, tommy ruffs and snook. Most reported catches of KG whiting came from the deep, clean waters well south west of Corny Point. The town jetty is quiet. Marion/Stenhouse Bays: Pesky snapper are taking whiting baits from the on-shore grounds and these fish are no-takers. Red nannygai, flathead and small tuna have been the other main targets, while shore-based fishing has mullet and salmon trout from the beaches unaffected by the algal bloom. Ardrossan/Edithburgh: I visited the coastline from Pt Wakefield to Ardrossan twice last week and the colour of the water is an ugly, sick green, which surely is not good. The jetty remains closed for repairs and the boat ramp seaweed removal started last Friday. High tides have seen a slight increase in mulloway, salmon trout and yellowfin whiting running north.
KANGAROO ISLAND There are reports of scattered KG whiting at Kingscote, American River, Vivonne Bay & Penneshaw, along with garfish, tommies & big snook. Flathead & salmon to 1 kilo are off the rocks & Red Banks at Penneshaw. For the big boat crews the tuna are up & running, albeit a tad slower than last season - Investigator Straight, Sanders Bank & Backstairs Passage are all worth a try for these magnificent fish. Shore-based & jetty-based fishers are picking up yellowfin whiting, garfish, salmon to 1 kilo, mullet & flathead from Kingscote, Emu Bay, Stokes Bay & Vivonne Bay. Crayfish catches seem down on last season but velvet crabs are crawling along much of the south coast where the impact of the algal bloom has been less, by all reports.
FEBRUARY SEAFOOD RECIPE: Bengali Mustard Calamari. Ingredients: 2 calamari chopped, mustard paste and oil, nigella (black onion) seeds, turmeric and green chillies, coconut milk, seasoning, cooked white rice, coriander. Preparation: marinate calamari in turmeric, salt and mustard. Then gently fry calamari in hot mustard oil and remove. Sautee nigella seeds, turmeric and chillies in same oil, adding coconut milk steadily to build the sauce. Add the cooked calamari for a few seconds to flavour, serve with chopped coriander and steamed white rice. Bhojan kaa aanand lijiye! Hindu for Bon Appetit.
SPENCER GULF/WEST COAST: Shore-based fishers who are making the trip to the Far West Coast are picking up mulloway, salmon to 4 kilos & flathead & snook from Fowler's Bay, Point Sinclair, Haslam & the Elliston Surf Cast beaches (Waterloo Bay, Sheringa, Convention, Talia etc). Sharks are also here & they are taking hooked fish at will, so stay alert & take care if wading. Boat crews are catching garfish, tommies & snook from Claire Bay, Murat Bay, Baird Bay, Streaky, Venus & Coffin Bay, with KG whiting still active in the Dashwood Channel & Coffin & Venus Bays - fish up to 40cm in some cases! Yellowfin & KG whiting are in mixed numbers at Port Lincoln, Louth Bay, Port Neill & then up to Cowell (outside the harbour) & Murninnie Point. Blue crabs are again mixed as the algal bloom seems to have had some affect. Big boat crews are picking up tuna, kingfish & samson fish off Olive Is (Streaky), Waldegrave Is & then south of the Spilsby Is groups. TIGHT LINES!
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