South Australian Angler – June 2018

(Nancy Kaufman) #1

the Point Labatt Road brings you to a
great stretch of coast, offering a mix of
short beaches and rocky points. There
is some fantastic land-based fishing
on offer along this 15km stretch, with
salmon, flathead, mullet and even big
King George whiting all caught from the
land. The short beaches are the best bet,
but some good rock fishing is available
when the swell is low.
Driving 17km north of Sceales Bay will
bring you to the Westall Loop. Following
the Westall Loop will bring you to Tractor
Beach, where a few small to mid-sized
King George are caught from the sand,
along with tommies and a few flathead.
This is a fairly protected beach that can
be fished safely in a southerly wind. Also
on the Westall Loop is Smooth Pool. This
large natural rock pool is a couple of
metres deep, and aside form rock cod, it
offers some nice silver trevally and the
occasional King George.


STREAKY BAY


Streaky is a fantastic location and one
of my favourite locales on the west
coast. As with all of the West Coast bays,
Streaky is quite shallow around the
protected margins, but the jetty offers
access to deeper water where tommies,
garfish, mackerel and scad can be


caught, along with a few salmon trout.
Snook and squid are also caught from
the jetty, especially around sundown and
into the evening.
The jetty is well known for
producing blue crabs from around
December through until March using
hoop nets. A few snapper are still
caught off the end of the jetty for those
who put in the time, but these big reds
are getting fewer.
Driving around 5km north of town on
Little Island Road will bring you to two
small rock islands that lie about 100m
off the beach. On low tide you can walk

out to these small islands and fish off
the back side, which offers some good
fishing for tommies and garfish, but in
the warmer months the trumpeters can
be a nuisance.
Driving back through the township
and out the western side, as if heading
towards the boat ramp, there is a 7km
dirt road that leads to Back Beach,
or a 13km road to Hally’s Beach. Both
of these beaches face south-west
and collect a lot of well. There is a fair
amount of sheet limestone that runs
into the surf, but there are also some
pockets of deeper water in between the
limestone. There is no vehicle access
onto the beach, so you’ll need to walk
along the sand to reach some of the
better gutters.
A few salmon in the 1-3kg size are
caught along these two beaches, together
with gummy sharks at night and a few
mulloway up to around 10kg for those
who put in the time. You also see some
big bronze whalers cruising the surf line
along here, which and can offer some fun
for the heavy tackle enthusiast.
As you can see, there are plenty
of land-based fishing options for the
visiting angler along the upper west
coast of the Eyre Peninsula. It’s a
stunning stretch of coast and well worth
a visit.

Most of the upper EP beaches
hold sharks in summer time

Streaky Bay jetty is a great land-based option

uoS
th^ A

ustralian (^) An
(^39) regl

Free download pdf