South Oz Winter Targets

Winter is one of the best times of the year for fishing here in SA. Sure, the days are shorter and cooler, but we have some fantastic fishing options during the winter months, and the fishing crowds are a lot lighter at this time of year.

I always look forward to the winter fishing in my local area, as it’s quite a contrast against the fishing we enjoy during the warmer months. Our warmer water species have retreated at this time of year and are replaced with a host of cool water options, adding variety to the fishing calendar. So, grab a beanie and pack a hot thermos, as we’re going to have a whirlwind tour of some hot winter fishing options around our state.

LAND-BASED

Winter fishing isn’t just for the boat owners, as we have some excellent land-based fishing options around our state. Winter is prime salmon time on our surf beaches, with schools of salmon pushing into the surf line as the temperature starts to drop. It’s true we still see salmon along these beaches in the warmer months too, but not in the numbers encountered during winter.

During the cooler months schools of salmon frequent the south coast of KI, along the surf beaches of southern Yorke Peninsula and, to a lesser extent (but still worthwhile), the Ocean Beach at Salt Creek, Waitpinga, Parsons and Southport. And, of course, the surf beaches on the Eyre Peninsula and westward come alive during winter with consistent salmon fishing.

Picking the conditions is important when chasing salmon in the surf, with light or offshore winds preferred, along with small to medium swell and good tides. If you have each of these ingredients aligning, you should be quietly confident of some surf salmon action.

Casting lures to visible schools is an exciting way to target our surf salmon, but even when schools aren’t visible it’s still worthwhile soaking baits to target the smaller pockets of fish moving through these inshore gutters. While bait fishing you’ve got a good chance of picking up some by-catch, with big tommy ruffs, mullet and the occasional flathead grabbing baits intended for salmon.

During a big blow the Port Noarlunga jetty comes alive as salmon push inside the reef system. The jetty can get busy, with fluoro’ yellow rain jackets lining the jetty rails when the wind blows from the west. The jetty can turn on some great fishing for salmon around the 1-2kg size, and while it may not be the most relaxed of settings in a storm, it can offer hot fishing for metro anglers.

Mullet are also available from the beaches along the metro coastline in early winter, although you’ll want stable weather for targeting these schooling fish from the shallows. The beaches from Moana all the way up to Semaphore offer some nice mullet, especially on those calm winter mornings, and so too the beaches on lower Yorke Peninsula.

Salmon numbers build through autumn and reach their peak in winter

Yellowfin whiting are often forgotten during the cooler months, but they’re still available and are still a viable winter target. Once the water temperatures drop during autumn, schools of yellowfin start moving off the beaches in the lower sections of our Gulfs, and they start pushing into northern sections of both Gulfs and into selected estuaries. Locating them can be a bit trickier when compared to the known beach haunts of summer, but during winter they can be caught along the shallow beaches and flats at the top of both Gulfs, inside Franklin Harbor, and a few fish also caught inside the Port River and Onkaparinga River. Winter is predominantly bait fishing, with the yellowfin less aggressive in the cooler water.

King George whiting are another land-based winter target, with some great fishing available from select beaches and rock platforms fronting sand holes and scattered weed. These locations are predominantly on KI, Yorke Peninsula and the Eyre Peninsula, where King George push into shallow water during winter.

Don’t expect to catch your bag limit every time when targeting KG’s from land-based locations; that’s the exception rather than the expectation, but if you get half a dozen whiting along with a couple of other species, it’s a fair land based session. Some of our favourite land-based locations include the inside section of the Port Lincoln National Park, rock ledges around Coffin Bay, Frenchmans Beach, Farm Beach, Point Drummond and Venus Bay. All you’ll need is a relatively light rod with a bit of length for casting baits out into sand holes. A rod rated at around 4-7kg and 10ft in length is perfect for chasing land based KG’s. Surf fishing outfits are okay, but you will miss bites if the gear you’re using is too heavy.

King George can also be caught from some jetties during winter, with early mornings proving to be the best timing. Not all jetties are productive for whiting, but those with access to sand holes and scattered eel grass are good (preferably not the dense tape weed meadows). The jetties with heavier weed covering are a good option for calamari, with winter time offering some good size squid from many of our state’s jetties, especially around the lights at night. These same lights can produce some good fishing for tommy ruffs after dark – if you can brave the cold!

KG whiting a prime winter targets from the shore

If you enjoy chasing flathead in the shallows, winter is prime time from a lot of our state’s beaches. When casting lures at flathead, having clean water is important, so picking a location with the wind at your back and minimal swell is essential. I prefer an incoming tide when fishing by foot, and I like to focus attention along stretches of coast that offer plenty of scattered rock interspersed with sand. Don’t be afraid of shallow areas too – it’s amazing just how shallow flathead will lie. There are some great flathead haunts around KI, Yorke Peninsula and the Eyre Peninsula.

Winter is bream time in many estuaries and coastal rivers

Bream are another winter target, and they will start to push from the sea and into our coastal rivers and inlets during winter. Both bait fishing and lures account for some nice bream during the winter months, with bait being the better option when the water is a bit dirty following rain.

INSHORE BOAT

For the small boat owner winter represents a fantastic time of year to be on the water. Our inshore fishing comes alive when the water temperatures start to drop, with many species pushing into our shallow bays and fringing coastline from late autumn onwards. Winter also sees a shift in wind from the easterly quarter around to the west, offering calm conditions for all eastward-facing shorelines.

The sheltered bay systems of our state’s west coast, which includes Coffin Bay, Venus Bay, Bairds Bay and Denial Bay, fish exceptionally well for King George during the cooler months. It’s common to see schools of King George moving through the shallows of these bays, with hundreds of fish – sometimes more – flicking and rolling over the sand. These schooling fish aren’t big in size – averaging around 30-35cm (remember legal size is 30cm in these waters), but their numbers definitely make up for the smaller class of fish. Mixed in with the whiting are a few tommies and salmon trout in these bays.

These shallow bays also produce some nice gummy sharks during the cooler months, especially at night in the week prior and week following the full moon. Aim to anchor in a deeper hole inside the bay and lay a good berley trail, and then cast fresh baits back into the trail. Eagle rays generally slow down in activity at this time of year, which is good.

Peter Crawford with a brace of lovely winter whiting

Outside of these shallow bays and into the slightly deeper water of our gulfs, King George have transitioned from traditional summer grounds to the harder bottom and berry weed once winter rolls around. Most of these grounds range in depth from 8-15m of water, and hence you’ll be using your electronics to find the grounds rather than looking for sand holes or visible fish. The whiting over these deeper winter drops are generally a good class of fish, with most in the 34-38cm bracket. It’s always worthwhile soaking a slop line out the back for a stray gummy shark over these grounds in winter, too.

Big gummies often patrol the inshore whiting patches

Calamari are another popular winter target here in SA, especially along the eastern shores of the Yorke Peninsula and Eyre Peninsula, which offer cleaner water during prevailing westerly winds. Because calamari are such visual feeders, they avoid dirty water as much as possible. Working the inshore weed beds and broken bottom is usually reliable during the cooler months, with water in the 2.5-4m depth ideal when fishing from the boat.

Aim to do slow drifts in the boat to ensure your squid jig is sinking deep enough into the strike zone. This may mean leaving your outboard running and tapping into reverse periodically to slow the speed of drift, or if you have an electric motor to control the drift, even better. I prefer larger jigs of 3.5 and even 4.0 to ensure I’m hitting the required depth during the drift.

Big calamari are at their best in winter

Flathead are probably my favourite winter target from the boat, and we spend plenty of time casting small soft plastics back into the shallows of our bays and around near-shore islands. We’re targeting similar environments to those when land-based fishing, but the flexibility of a boat puts less reliance on tides, and gives access to areas that can’t be reached by foot.

When the sun is over your shoulder and the water is clear you’ll have good visibility to look through the water to spot scattered rock, lies in the sand and even individual fish swimming along the bottom. Paddle tail and curl tail plastics in the 80-110mm size are ideal, together with a 2-4g jig head. Methodically work the plastic from the shoreline back to the boat as you drift along the coast. And don’t be afraid of trimming your motor up and drifting over shallow ground.

Salmon are not just restricted to our surf beaches during the cooler months, and can be found schooled up around the entrances to our bays, even dispersed into smaller pockets of fish and roaming inside our bays. These are often mixed size fish, and generally not as big as the salmon found along the beaches, with fish from trout size up to around 1kg pretty common. These are nice eating size salmon though, and we often take a fish or two home for the table.

Trolling hard body lures in the 70-90mm size is an effective way of locating some fish, and I’ll often run one shallow diving lure and one deep diver to see where the fish might be holding in the column. Salmon are pretty aggressive, so once you find a few fish the action can be hectic. Trolling around rocky points, around small islands or along the headlands leading into a bay system is always a good start, and keep an eye on your sounder as salmon will mark quite well. Breakwaters are another known salmon haunt, with the Outer Harbor breakwall a good winter location.

Inside the Port River, mulloway are the big winter prize for those prepared to brave the cold nights. Live baiting is still the number one way of connecting to a fish, but be prepared to invest a lot of time on the water between each successful mission.

Bream are another winter target inside the Port River, with some good fish caught around the rock walls and man-made structure of the Port. Casting small curl tail soft plastics and diving hard body lures around pylons and up underneath the wharves and jetties is a reliable way of connecting to a bream or two.

OFFSHORE BOAT

While the warmer months of the year are undoubtedly the peak times to head offshore here in SA, our winter months still offer some good fishing when the weather allows for a run offshore. Our school bluefin have generally moved eastward and are fairly scarce around our offshore islands and reefs at this time of year, but winter time should see barrels surfacing again down the south east of our state, and hopefully offshore from the foot of Yorkes and the Eyre Peninsula again – fingers crossed.

The author with a lovely Coffin Bay flathead

Samson fish are winter visitors to the deeper reefs through the Investigator Strait and westward around Wedge Island and south of the Eyre Peninsula. These are a good calibre of fish too, with the 90-110cm summer fish being replaced by 120cm-plus fish in winter. These fish respond better to live baits rather than jigs in the cooler water.

School sharks are a fantastic winter target and are a reliable target from the 40-60m reefs along the western side of the Eyre Peninsula. It’s unusual not to catch at least a couple of nice school sharks while bouncing baits around the hard bottom from Point Sir Isaacs through to Point Whidbey during the cooler months of the year, and their numbers seem to be getting better each year.

Nannygai are at their best between May and September

Also, from our blue water reefs we’ll see a mix of red snapper, queen snapper and swallowtail during winter. These reef fish still actively feed during the cooler times of the year; just try to avoid the days following a full moon, and away from periods of swell.

As you can see, we have plenty of winter fishing options around our state, so don’t pack the fishing gear away. If you keep an eye on the weather forecast and dress to suit the conditions, you will enjoy some great fishing during the cool months.