WHILE South Australia may not be viewed as an enviable sport fishing destination in a global sense, our state is steeped in early game fishing history and still boasts some exceptional sport fishing for those in the know. The likes of Alf Dean, Ern Palmer, Jim Cowell and Jim Veitch helped put SA on the angling map back in the 1950s with world record captures of great white sharks at locations such as Port Lincoln, Streaky Bay and Ceduna.
Alf Deans world record great white of 2664lb taken out from Ceduna in April 1955 still stands today as the heaviest capture ever taken on a rod and reel, and with the species protected across Australia since 1998 this capture looks to be cemented into the record books indefinitely.
Bluefin tuna were another species through the ‘60s and ‘70s which helped to drive SA’s game fishing profile. Schools of southern bluefin were found in the early days out from Cape Jervis, Kangaroo Island and offshore from Port Lincoln by anglers fishing in basic and often crude vessels. Most of the fish were school sized bluefin from all accounts, but a few +100kg fish were encountered south of KI.
Bluefin tuna are still one of the mainstay species for our state’s game fishing clubs to this day, with the resurgence of +100kg fish in recent years reinvigorating South Australia’s sportfishing scene.
We fly under the radar a bit, but South Australia has some surprisingly good game fishing options if you are in tune with locations and seasonal movements of fish. Below we’ll give a run down on the top game fish species found throughout SA.
BLUEFIN TUNA
South Australia has an annual migration of southern bluefin through its cool waters which supports a significant commercial industry, and has done since the early 1940s. The industry nowadays revolves around purse seining and ranching (fattening) the fish in sea pens for 4 – 6 months before harvesting for the lucrative Japanese market. It’s a far cry from the cannery these fish were once destined for.
But southern bluefin are also an important recreational species in SA and bring significant income to our coastal towns, especially in locations such as Victor Harbor, Cape Jervis, Robe, Port MacDonnell and Coffin Bay. SBTs start moving through our state’s western waters in November and December each year, and from January to April school sized fish are readily available along
These fish are never far from a bait source and are usually found shadowing schools of sardines, especially around our bigger reef systems. Some of the more reliable grounds lay between 20 to 40km from shore, but over the last couple of seasons we have encountered schools of bluefin within one kilometre from the mainland which has been awesome to see. These are primarily school sized fish, and while average size varies between locations and seasons, tuna in the 8 – 12kg bracket are quite easy to locate at the right time of year.
And while these fish are still classified as juveniles, their numbers certainly make up for any shortcoming in size, with vast schools often encountered around offshore locations such as The Pages, Saunders Bank, Cape Willoughby, Wedge Island, Cabbage Patch, The Hummocks and Rocky Island to name a few. These fish are generally aggressive in feeding and offer plenty of fun on lighter outfits.
From around March these fish have usually pushed eastward and are found offshore from Robe and Port MacDonnell in the state’s southeast. These school size fish are often mixed in with a better class of tuna in these waters, with fish of +100kg now making a regular appearance. This has made for a very exciting fishery in eastern SA – especially for a state where large game fish are scarce. And while southern bluefin are the dominant tuna species in SA, we also see the occasional albacore and striped tuna on our SBT grounds, with commercial longliners encountering a few big eye tuna during the autumn months over the continental shelf.
YELLOWTAIL KINGFISH
I’m going to make a bold statement here and claim that SA has the best caliber of kingfish in the country. We may not get the same number of fish as seen in some east coast locations, but the average size of our yellowtail kings is enviable. Every spring we see schools of big kingfish visit shallow water bays across our state; and these aren’t just ordinary kings – they’re typically 15 – 30kg fish. It’s an amazing fishery and one that attracts a fair following from sport fishers from across SA and interstate.
There are a number of ways these big kings can be targeted, but live baiting is still the number one technique for eliciting a bite. Live salmon trout, squid and even snook can be set on a down rigger or under a balloon, but in true kingfish fashion, many hours invested for every fish landed.
An exciting way to target these big kings involves stalking packs of fish in our shallow bays, and presenting live baits or lures to the leading fish when the opportunity presents itself. It sounds easy in theory but it’s a very
challenging fishery, with lots of water between fish and no guarantees the fish will feed once found. But when it all comes together it’s the pinnacle of sport fishing in SA, in my opinion. The visual aspect of this fishing is amazing, and then trying to subdue 20kg-plus of angry kingfish in under 2m of water is pretty cool.
By early summer these fish have exited the Gulfs and bay waters, and our offshore season for kings begins. We have some good bluewater options for kingfish around our state, with the more remote islands and reef systems in our western waters offering good fishing – when the weather allows access. These kings can be found around the same reefs and islands that our bluefin frequent, allowing both species to be targeted during these offshore runs.
We see a wider variation in size with these offshore kings, with quite a few smaller fish in the 80 – 100cm size range encountered. Quite a few kingfish are taken on the troll while targeting school SBT’s, but the bigger fish are typically taken live baiting and jigging the deeper reef edges. They are a brutal fish to try and stop in 60m of water when hooked close to the bottom.
SAMSON FISH
Keeping in the Seriola family, samson fish are another popular sport fishing target in South Australian waters. Samsons weren’t actively targeted in SA until around the late 90’s when long-range fishing expeditions began on the old trading ketch AK Falie, which uncovered some amazing bluewater fishing around Kangaroo Island and along the rugged west coast of SA.
During these exploratory trips plenty of samson fish were caught with plenty of new ground uncovered. This paved the way for further long- range charter vessels, and with the advent of larger and faster trailer boats, samson fish became a popular sport fishing target.
Some of the best summer samson grounds in SA are found offshore from Coffin Bay on the lower Eyre Peninsula. From late summer and into autumn we see plenty of 10 – 15kg samson fish on our offshore reef systems, with a few bigger fish of +20kg mixed in. These schooling samsons can be effectively targeted by jigging 180 – 250g metals in deep water once fish are found, or by drifting a live bait over the reef system.
Our biggest samsons are caught in winter though. These big, bronzed winter fish are caught around the bottom of the Yorke and Eyre Peninsula’s during the cooler months and are often 20 – 30kg fish. With the cooler water temps these bigger samsons don’t often chase a metal jig – instead preferring live squid or live salmon dropped around our 40 to 60m reef systems. These bigger fish are fantastic to target and are a popular sportfish here in SA.
SHARKS
The challenge of targeting sharks as sportfish here in SA has changed somewhat over time. Obviously white pointers are off the target list, but we’ve also seen a shift away from targeting big species of shark in recent years. Chasing big bronze whalers – especially land based – was a sportfishing rage in SA through the 80’s and 90’s, but public perception has slowly steered fisho’s away from chasing and killing big bronzies. I know some big bronze whalers are still targeted land based, but it’s done more discreetly, and the sharks are generally tagged and released rather than weighed on the gantry.
Makos are an interesting target species here in SA, being relatively common offshore from Victor Harbor and eastwards to the SA / Vic border. They are, however, quite hard to locate in the rest of our state’s waters, until you push well offshore. Threshers are also a highly esteemed shark to target here in SA, but sporadic in their movements and, in most cases, hard to locate. Threshers are often regarded as the pinnacle of shark species here in SA for sport fishers.
What has surged in popularity in recent years has been targeting smaller table sharks such as gummy sharks, school sharks and smaller bronze whalers. These sharks still offer plenty of fun on the right tackle, but are a manageable size and good eating. These species can also be targeted land based as well as from the boat.
SNAPPER
Big snapper were SA’s signature species from the 1990s and through until around 2010, at which point the species were in noticeable decline. Our two Gulfs formed the basis of an exceptional snapper fishery, with trophy fish to 30lb – and more – caught relatively frequently. There was a big snapper competition out of Whyalla which drew crowds from all over the country, all vying for snapper glory and considerable prizes.
Our snapper fishing was amazing and was worthy of the accolades. Reefs and wrecks in the deeper parts of the Gulfs often held vast schools of snapper, and it wasn’t hard to catch at least one or two big fish in a session. Most of the time it took longer to travel across water to the chosen mark than what it was to catch the limit of two big snapper each.
Unfortunately our snapper stocks succumbed to overfishing – both commercial and recreational – and a state wide ban was implemented in 2019 to protect the remaining spawning biomass until we see some good juvenile recruitment. The success of snapper spawning is varied and relies on external parameters such as water temperature and zooplankton availability for larval fish. It’s a very erratic and irregular process, but we’re all hoping the remaining snapper schools in our Gulfs and
western waters can record a positive spawning season before too long. Protecting the remaining biomass is short term pain for (hopefully) a positive fishery into the future.
On the other hand, the snapper stocks through our eastern waters of SA – which relies on recruitment from Victoria – has been assessed as stable and is open for fishing between 31st January through until 31st October each year.
And while the snapper fishing has been consistent through this region, they are not the +20lb fish everyone was travelling to SA to target. The snapper through the south east fishery are largely pan sized fish up to around 6kg, with the occasional bigger fish in the mix. Most of the snapper are good ‘table fish’ in the 40 to 60cm bracket. And while these reds are still fantastic fun to target, they are not the trophy snapper SA was once famous for.
OTHER TARGETS
Being the weight recorder of the Adelaide Game Fishing Club, I’m privy to seeing our clubs top target species from year to year. And while there is some shifting in popularity – mainly due to seasonal fluctuations of species – our most popularly targeted and recorded IGFA species are the abovementioned targets, in addition to mulloway, Australian salmon and silver trevally. We may not have the exhaustive list of game fish species found elsewhere, but we’re quite content with the species we have on offer. Lets hope we see big snapper back on the list again soon.
