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THIS WEEK'S FISHING HOTSPOTS:
CHECK GREG'S GREAT YOUTUBE FISHING VIDS - www.youtube.com/watch?v=MB4ndw9Hiks! THEN CATCH GREG ON YOUR ABC RADIO: ABC891 every Thursday evening after 8.40pm with the wonderful Spence Denny - ABC639 every Saturday morning after 6.30am with the splendid Chook Harslett!
FEBRUARY 16 - 28, 2026
METRO WATERS: KG whiting & blue swimmer crabs made a very welcome return to the waters off West Bch, 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 West Bch, Nth Haven, St Kilda & 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: Coastal winds over the weekend originated from the east and then slowly swung round to the typical south easterly sea breeze as the really low tides also started to come in. Our entire Fleurieu has had a week of low tides and morning offshore breezes, making for some great shore and jetty-based fishing opportunities. Rock fishers chased bream and salmon from Triggs Beach, Seaford, Silver Sands, Carrackalinga and Second Valley and often the small salmon schools were quite close to shore. Large but often sole flathead are also about in the shallow waters off Normanville and Lady Bay, along with a few garfish for the boat crews as they run out early to avoid the often strong southerly winds in the afternoons. Squid catches remain almost zero, unfortunately. As mentioned last week the tuna reports are for often the big barrels being sighted well south of Kangaroo Island as these great fish swim well away from any remnants of the Algal Bloom, but fishers persist off Tunk Head and Backstairs Passage in the hope of landing a nice fish or two! Tommy ruffs have returned to the jetty at Rapid Bay. A few salmon trout and mullet can be found from Fisheries beach, Waitpinga and even Newland Heads, but the swells are large at times and rock fishing in particular needs caution in the slippery conditions. Large snook are searching for gar and sprat tommies in Yilki Bay and there are pan-sized snapper off Broady's Patch. Upstream fishers are reporting callop and Murray Cod (catch and release) from Lock 4 at Renmark and then a few yabbies off the river bank at Lyrup and Loxton. There are soapie mulloway taking soft baits and lures from the Mundoo channel and inside the Goolwa river mouth, with shore-based anglers also down at the 32 Mile Crossing trying for mullet and salmon trout.
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: Extremely low tides were a feature of last week's fishing experience. Early morning boat crews ran out in good conditions as a large grain ship docked at the jetty with another offshore. Garfish, a few blue crabs and isolated KG whiting have been the main reports, while shore-based anglers are picking up salmon trout, yellowfin whiting and gar. The busy jetty has the odd bluey after dusk. Moonta Bay/Port Hughes: I checked out the Pt Hughes boat ramp and jetty around midday on Friday, where the tide was also extremely low and the south easterlies well and truly in. All lanes at the ramp were open and approximately six or so boats were fishing the grounds north and south for gar and blue crabs. The jetty had lots of sight-seeing visitors and not much else. Port Victoria/Barker Rocks: I caught up with a colleague (based at Minlaton) who fished from his tinny at Parson's beach on Tuesday and caught zero over 3 hours. The smell from the encroaching Algal Bloom was everywhere, even after he had washed and cleaned up upon returning home. KG whiting are in the clean and deep water drops west of Wardang Is. Point Turton/Corny Point: Another colleague tried his luck in Hardwicke Bay on Monday in the heat and also caught not much, with parts of the normally beautiful coastline showing the tell-tale signs of the bloom. Red-beak gar that are so-often caught off Port Mindlacowie this time of the year have disappeared. Marion/Stenhouse Bays:Boat crews made the most of the weather with late in the week winds turning east to south east as they fished well offshore for tuna, red nannygai and kingfish. Jetty-based anglers have had not much success with snook and the odd mullet being reported. Shore-based fishing is also difficult as the algal bloom damage continues, unfortunately.
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: There has been a recent run of blue swimmer crabs from Cowell northwards, with Murninnie Point, Cowled's Landing, Whyalla, Fitzgerald Bay & Commissariat Point all holding some nice ones. The jetty at Pt Germein remains closed. Yellowfin whiting are also in the high tide shallows from Germein Point to Whyalla Foreshore. 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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