South Australian Angler – June 2018

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

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