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trailerboats given the unforgiving conditions
the Southern Ocean can dish up. All of these
islands offer something different in the way of
landscape, wildlife and fishing opportunities.
Below I’ll give a list of the popular groups
of islands and archipelagos dotted throughout
SA’s western waters, detailing the access,
anchorages and fishing. These islands are just a
small percentage of the 346 islands we have
here in SA – to detail them all would take
several articles!

Nuyts Reef
Nuyts is an outcrop of low-lying granite rock
sticking out of the Great Australian Bight,
offshore from Fowlers Bay. Unfortunately
this has been zoned for sanctuary protection,
which is a travesty given the remoteness of
this area. Fowlers Bay itself is a 910km drive
from Adelaide, and there’s not a lot in the
way of facilities and services in this remote
Bight outpost. The offshore fishing, though,
is amazing. There’s no luxury of a sealed
ramp at Fowlers; you will have to negotiate a
beach launch if you plan to access these
fish-rich waters.
Nuyts rises out of around 65m of water, with
some impressive drop offs surrounding this
lone rock. Running bibbed minnows such as
160mm Laser Pros and Yo-Zuri Hydro
Magnums through the whitewash was effective
on the resident kingfish; so too casting plastics
and surface lures in against the rock.
Before the sanctuary zone came into effect,
we’ve picked up some samson fish around the
back side of the reef. Live baiting or jigging
around the prominent ledges in slightly
deeper water was effective on larger samsons.
We also caught some nice blue groper, big
red snapper, queen snapper and school sharks
around this reef system. Some massive
Australian salmon also patrol this area too.
The above gives you an idea of what we’ve
lost thanks to the anti-fishing ideologies of
the extremist green movement.
There are still some worthy reef systems
away from the sanctuary zone, but not in the
same calibre as to the water we’ve just lost.

Investigator Group
The Investigator Group is a small cluster of
granite islands in the Great Australian Bight,
some 70km offshore from the Eyre Peninsula
town of Elliston. These islands are a 140km
run from the nearest all-weather boat ramp at
Coffin Bay, or a 65km run (to the outer islands)
from Elliston if you don’t mind a beach launch.
The outer islands of this group include
Pearson, Dorothee, Veteran and Ward, with
some islands closer to shore including Flinders

and Waldegrave. These islands are about as

remote as you will find anywhere in SA, and

you can go weeks on end without seeing

another boat in the area.

Some mind-blowing fishing is on tap around

these islands and surrounding reef systems. Big

samson fish and yellowtail kings are the main

target for offshore fishers in this area, with the

annual run of bluefin offering a distraction

from the deep water jigging. The SBT fishing

in this area is good, but the fish seem to move

through this area quicker than in other regions.

One of the big attractions in fishing the

Investigator Group is the option to anchor

overnight in one of the sheltered bays of an island.

Pearson was the jewel of the islands in this cluster,

boasting two sheltered anchorages, but it’s now

part of a sanctuary zone prohibiting fishing.

Flinders Island is the largest island of the

group, and is a privately owned island used for

grazing. The water surrounding Flinders is

shallow compared to that of other nearby

islands. The whiting fishing around Flinders is

pretty good, especially along the eastern

shoreline. As well as whiting, some quality

f lathead are caught through the shallow

margins of the island.

There are quite a few outcrops of limestone

close to the island, with pan sized snapper and red

snapper (nannygai) around in good numbers,

especially around sunset and during the night.

We’ve spent a few nights on anchor in this region

and enjoyed some great night time fishing.

Whidbey Isles

This group of islands includes the famed Rocky

and Greenly Island, as well as the Four

Hummocks. These granite islands are very

dramatic, especially Greenly towering some

230m above the surrounding Southern Ocean.

These islands are best accessed from the all

weather ramp inside Coffin Bay, but at around

105km one way to Rocky Island, it’s a long way

across water. The other option is a beach launch

at Farm Beach or Avoid Bay, but you really need

to pick the conditions to drop a decent

trailerboat in from the sand at these locales.

The offshore fishing around these islands

can be pretty speccy, especially during the peak

months of January to March. The SBT fishing

out here is very consistent, with schools of fish

regularly holding in close to these islands as

well as nearby reef systems. They aren’t

typically big bluefin, averaging around 15kg,

but the number of fish can be amazing.

And while the top-water action can be as good

fishingworld.com.au | February 2015 | 75

ost people wouldn’t realise just how many islands we

have lying offshore from South Australia’s coastline. We

have a total of 346 islands here in SA, and most of them

offer pretty good fishing.”

M

The Neptune Islands

are world renowned

for viewing white

pointer sharks. New

marine park rules

means charter boats

can berley sharks up

but we’re not allowed

to fish there ...