A WEEK AT ISLAND BEACH

Rohdey and Dizz, from All the Gear but no Idea, recently ventured back to KI for a family fishing holiday. This time they chose a different base, but still did pretty well.

With kids and family becoming more of a priority when it comes to holidays, we decided to move this year’s annual Kangaroo Island trip to the protected waters and white sands of Island Beach. Positioned on the southern side of Eastern Cove, only 15-20 minutes from the ferry at Penneshaw, it is a perfect destination to combine a family holiday with a fishing trip. It is suitable for both land-based and boat fishing and is also located centrally to many of the Island’s other attractions.

Situated amongst the scrub at the back of the beach, there are several streets of houses, many of which are available as rentals. A number of walkways through the sand dunes lead onto a flat, protected beach, with calm, shallow water, perfect for young kids to play. There are plenty of kangaroos and goannas that call this area home, and the kids loved watching these come and go from our deck.

There are a number of moorings between the beach and the weed line, one of which we were lucky enough to utilise for our holiday. Some of the closer moorings become very shallow at low tide and, depending on the size of your boat, it may be difficult to get out beyond the sand bars at certain times of the day. The deeper moorings are a bit of a paddle or swim, but are usable for larger boats at all times.

Smaller boats can be launched from the beach, with access via Du Couedic Drive, which runs along the back of the beach. The beach is generally well protected from wind and swell, but the water is quite shallow, particularly around lower tides, which can prevent some bigger boats from launching. Further to the east, at Baudin Beach there is a concrete ramp, although this also has limitations. Again, it is shallow at low tide and can be a bit more exposed than Island Beach depending on the conditions. The safest option is to drive to American River, where there is a three-lane boat ramp into deeper water, with pontoons and offroad parking.

Despite being just across the water from Island Beach, it is a bit of a drive to American River from Island Beach – approximately 25 minutes in the car. American River township is worth a visit, with some great attractions being the oyster shop, pelican feeding, and The Deck Cafe just a few. There are plenty of protected land-based options to fish in the American River area as well. The flathead, whiting, and other species seek shelter in the inlet, which can prove to be very productive fishing grounds from the shore or kayak if the weather offshore is not suitable.

Island Beach is a picturesque location to enjoy beach days or fishing. We had many afternoons where our toddlers enjoyed running around on the beach and the protected shallows, while we could sneak out to some of our King George whiting spots to try and get a feed for dinner. Often in this area you don’t need to travel far to get a feed of fish, with spots as close to 100-200m from shore to target some great table fish like King George whiting, garfish, blue swimmer crabs or flathead.

One of the most commonly targeted parts of Eastern Cove is along the outer stretch of the spit that runs out to sea from American River, with the broken bottom in this area a great place to catch a mixed bag of fish. Fishing in only 2-3m of water, King George whiting and flathead can be caught in reasonable numbers, with other bycatch including Australian salmon and leatherjackets. It is an amazing spot to watch through shallow, crystal clear water as whiting and flathead meander over and take your cockle from the sandy bottom – certainly a sight to behold for all fishos.

The entrance to American River

Another interesting part of the fishing scene is the blue swimmer crab that has traditionally not called KI home, however their numbers have grown in recent seasons and they can now be targeted with reasonable success. When diving through the area on the western side of the channel around the oyster leases looking for scallops (we only had a little bit of luck on this trip), there were plenty of good size crabs to be seen. Whether warmer water temperatures or other environmental factors are responsible for this habitat change is unknown, but it is a great addition to the local fishing scene.

Through much of our week at Island Beach the south-easterly winds made the area between Browns and Baudin Beaches an appealing spot to relax on the beach. A quick drive in the boat across the bay was well worthwhile to set up for the afternoon on the beach with good protection from the wind. This stretch of water was also the most productive for whiting across the trip, with plenty of broken bottom in 4-5m of water. Arriving without any GPS marks, a quick sound around to explore the bottom saw us pull up only a kilometre or so off the Browns Beach Caravan Park. Some berley in the water and baits of fresh squid and cockles quickly saw a number of fish in the boat. Big whiting and silver trevally were plentiful in this area, with the fish seeming to come and go across the couple of hours we fished this spot during the first couple of days of the trip. At times the small trevally, salmon and tommies meant a small relocation and re-anchor was necessary. 10 whiting for the first outing and 12 the next made it a spot well worth saving in our GPS.

Island Beach is often calm and deserted

The blueys haven’t always been on KI

Another tip we heard to fish this area was around the afternoon high tides and as the week went on this played into our favour. With beach trips with toddlers taking up much of our days, a couple of hours after the kids dinner and bedtime became a productive time to fish. A bag out while fishing further around towards Baudin Beach on the last night of the trip, in only a bit over an hour, was certainly the highlight on the whiting front! All of these fish were of good size, with the ruler only being needed on a couple. Whether it was coincidence or not, the bycatch was much less as the sun got lower in the sky towards sunset.

The other location we fished across the week was the area out from Ballast Head and around towards Kingscote. In previous years we have picked up some whiting and even smaller snapper in this area and decided it was well worth a go. Initially we started fishing on white holes a short distance off Newland Bay. Quickly we had a couple of whiting in the bag and again they were of a very good size, but as soon as they came on the bite they disappeared. Berley seemed to only bring in bycatch, so a move was quickly on the cards. A couple more spots and again we managed a couple of whiting each move. This left us with the age old question of fishing. Do you leave fish to try to find fish?

With the time restrictions that come with a young family, we decided to continue searching for a real hot spot. The area around Morrison Point seemed to be a bit too rocky to hold whiting, with wrasse the only capture on a couple of drops. Further towards Kingscote, the Redbanks area looked to be the pick of the terrain, with broken bottom of weed and sand, sure to hold whiting. Unfortunately, the fish didn’t play the game, with nothing much to be caught despite how appealing we thought the area looked. Looking back, we probably should have persevered where we had started!

We found Island Beach to be a great location for us to get to some of the well-known offshore fishing locations on the Island as well. Emu Bay is an easy 45 minute drive where you can access the launching facilities. Further west is Stokes Bay, which is approximately 90 minutes away from Island Beach, where the offshore fishing is incredible. We have fished the north coast a number of times now and will often stumble across an active school of southern bluefin tuna.

The whiting weren’t huge, but they were plentiful

While trolling around the north coast you will find many productive lumps and reefy area if you keep an eye on your sounder while travelling. These lumps will generally produce a great feed of reef species such as nannygai, blue morwong, and even sometimes the delicious harlequin fish. On the south side of the Island you have some wonderful offshore fishing options, which we made the most of this trip when we found a nice window of weather. The waters on the southern side of Kangaroo Island can be treacherous and we encourage only experienced fishers to head offshore in these areas with all the appropriate safety gear for fishing offshore waters. If you can’t make it offshore in your boat, the land-based fishing can be excellent. Surf fishing, chasing salmon in the big bays, or ballooning baits out for sharks are just a few of the options you have.

We did manage to find a narrow window of calm winds and low swell allowing us to get offshore from D’Estrees Bay. The beach launch here can be tricky, depending on the weather, and you need to be experienced at launching and retrieving your boat as well as at least having a 4WD. The bay is spectacular and a very untouched part of Kangaroo Island, which makes for fantastic boating and fishing. Similarly to the north coast, it always pays to have your sounder on when trolling around for tuna, as you may stumble across some lumps and reef structure holding fish.

We managed to find plenty of schools of actively feeding tuna that day we fished, however it was very difficult getting them to take a lure to begin with. We tried almost everything we had to get them to bite – deep divers, skirts, and stick baits, with none of them enticing a bite. It was only later in the morning after we tried some bottom bouncing for an hour or so that we found a large patch of tuna shimmering on the surface that started feeding and aggressively taking our lures. It showed that persistence paid off and we got some bluefin tuna on the deck. We always care for our catch by following the Tuna Champions guidelines on dispatching fish – the Ike Jime method. They go straight into a big ice slurry to ensure our catch is delicious on the table for friends and family.

A bluefin about to come to the net

A couple of nice D’Estrees bluefin

Kangaroo Island certainly has plenty to offer for land-based fishing as well. We have mentioned the area around American River being a great place to start, while Eastern Cove itself also has some great areas to target. Flathead, in particular, can be caught in shallow water all across the bay, with bait, soft plastics and diving lures all worth a go.

We managed to sneak away for an afternoon mission to the Chapman River for a session on the bream. We had a local angler virtually guarantee us that we would catch some bream and he was very much on the money, with a swarm of baby bream quickly chewing through our small bag of cockles. A couple were caught and released while many others snatched our bait and escaped. Despite the small size of the fish, it was a great place to fish with young kids, with two-year-old Lil happy to enjoy a snack on a park bench while Dad fished. On the drive in and out there was certainly plenty of better looking water to target for bigger fish if we were to return on a more serious fishing mission.

On our return to the mainland, rumours emerged there were bluefin tuna within eastern bay and around Kangaroo Head to the east of Island Beach. These were quickly validated with photos and more reliable sources confirming that they had caught and seen pelagic fish within the bay. As with many of the tuna around so far this season, the fish were very flighty and it was one thing to see them and a totally different challenge to catch one. This shows it alway pays to be prepared when fishing these waters with all your tackle onboard. You never know when you might come across something unexpected.

Apart from the fishing and beaches that are available, we did manage to sneak in a few tourist activities and sample the food and wine that the Island has to offer. Visiting the wildlife at Seal Bay was a hit with the kids, while Kangaroo Island Spirits, Dudleys Winery and False Cape Wines had a good combination of outdoor play spaces for kids and allowed us the chance to enjoy a drink. The pub at Penneshaw has one of the best views going around and the food was just as good. There are also plenty of cafes to grab a coffee or a bite to eat while coming and going from the ferry.

All in all, we loved our week at Island Beach. It really is a great compromise for fishing and family. The location is great and it is right in the centre of most of what the Island has to offer, with the ferry also located conveniently close by. We already can’t wait to get back to KI for more trips, and Island Beach is definitely somewhere we will stay again!