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Limestone Coast options open
  |  First Published: October 2012



This is a great time of year to be fishing the South East region of South Australia with the fishing and weather continually getting better as we head into the warmer months.

The snapper and shark fishing is often at its best at this time of year and the mulloway will be becoming more active along the surf beaches.

The keenly anticipated amateur crayfish season is getting closer and reopens on the 1 November, so now is the time to get those cray pots ready.

Robe

Boat anglers fishing the reefy areas in the bay are starting to come across some good catches of snapper averaging around the 40-50cm size range along with some decent gummy sharks and plenty of calamari squid have been about as well.

Thresher sharks will also be encountered on the reefs while snapper fishing off Robe and they are quite a handful on any gear. Anchoring up and berleying two hours either side of a tide change and fishing baits of pilchards or fish fillets, such as mullet or salmon, is the way to go.

Some nice whiting and flathead are also being caught on the sand patches while drifting.

The beach fishing is starting to fire up with a few school mulloway, gummy and seven gill shark, and a few salmon. Mulloway catches will become more common along here as we head toward summer. A tide change in the evening and after dark is preferred on the beaches.

Numerous good beaches to try this time of year can be found in the Little Dip Park with good 4WD access. Back Beach and Long Beach closer to Robe are also well worth a look during October.

The bream lakes fish well all year round and at present are producing some quality bream up to 40cm, along with plenty of smaller models.

These bream are well educated as they see a lot of anglers so fishing early morning, late afternoon and after dark is the go for the bigger fish. Unweighted baits such as pilchard fillet, whitebait and peeled prawn work very well as does casting soft plastics and vibes.

The jetty at Lake Battye is a good starting point for exploring these waters as it is right in front of a nice deep hole where many a good bream will be hiding. Salmon trout and mullet along with the occasional small mulloway can also be caught.

Nelson

The fishing has been excellent right along most of the Glenelg River estuary with good bream, estuary perch and mulloway being taken. The rains muddied up the river and made the fishing a bit tough for many anglers recently but good fishing could still be found once the deeper, saltier sections were found.

The estuary perch in particular have been getting caught in good numbers near the SA section of river, with dark coloured Ecogear SX40 cast along the edges doing most of the damage. Trolling lures along the edges has also been producing a few perch and some solid bream.

Once a perch is caught keep going over the same location as they are a schooling fish. Estuary perch are a very slow growing fish that provide tremendous sport that is too good to be enjoyed just once so catch and release is a great option on these great little sportfish.

The mulloway at times have taken a bit of finding as they move around a lot but the area below Nelson seems to have been the most productive location for the mighty secret silvers lately. Anchoring up and fishing live mullet or unweighted pilchard is producing some solid mulloway averaging around the 5kg mark. Once the water clears, which shouldn’t be long provided we don’t get a huge amount of rain, trolling with large jointed minnows such as the old favourite Rebel Fastracs should produce some mulloway.

Good numbers of bream are being taken at many spots along the river with bait fishing working well in the discoloured water. Podworms, whitebait, yabbies and spew worms have been working well on the bream as have vibes and plastics cast along the edges.

The caves area has been the most productive area on the bream over the last few weeks but they are pretty widespread so move around until you get onto a good patch.

Cape Jaffa

Boat anglers fishing at locations such as King Rock, the Pinnacles and Wrights Bay are starting to get onto some quality fish now as we head into spring with good-sized snapper, gummy shark and whiting being taken. School and thresher sharks will also be about.

Anchoring up and berleying around any tide change in around 10m of water should bring good results. I like to set a shark rod with a mullet fillet about mid water and also fish snapper rod with an unweighted drifting pilchard right in the trail.

The harbour has been fishing well for a variety of species including salmon, Tommy ruff, silver trevally, flathead and even a few squid. Soft plastics work very well in particularly right at the entrance on a rising tide.

The jetty has been fishing well in the evenings for garfish, Tommy ruff, squid and a few whiting as well. Berleying with chook pellets soaked in tuna oil will soon bring the fish to you at this location and cockle is the most popular bait for most species.

Coorong Beaches

Anglers fishing the Coorong beaches have been enjoying the best fishing seen here for many years. It seems that all the huge Murray River flows through the mouth over the last couple of seasons have really brought the whole marine eco system back to life again. Right through winter good catches of mulloway were taken along with big salmon and some decent sharks.

At present the stretch of beach from the 42 mile crossing to well up past Ti tree has been producing some very good mulloway averaging around the 80-90cm mark; some very big mulloway have been hooked but lost as well and estimated well over the 20kg mark.

This is the time of year that the big mulloway are often caught, particularly when the mullet are travelling in big schools. Some very good gummy sharks are also being caught along with a few big salmon.

The best fishing seems to be in the late afternoons, evenings and after dark around any sort of tide change. Popular baits have been fresh squid or salmon and mullet fillets but decent mulloway have been getting caught on large brined pilchards lately as well.

The 4WD track to the beach from the campground at the 42 is very easy but the track along the beach changes day to day. It suffers from big tides so it is a good idea to drop into the roadhouse at Salt Creek for a fresh track report and to stock up on supplies.

1.

Casey with a bream from Lake Battye at Robe.

2

There are still a few salmon about on the beaches.

3.

A decent school mulloway caught at the 42 mile crossing.

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