Port Lincoln Fishing Report – Wednesday 13th March 2024

Port Lincoln Fishing Report – Wednesday 13th March 2024

Summer was still with us over the weekend with some brilliant weather, catches have been good over the last weekend with lots of great reports. The Port Lincoln Tuna Classic comp has been run and won for another year and well done to the Risky Business crew who took home the major the prize of $63,000 for the biggest fish. A big thank you must go out to the organizers Steve and Ash and all support staff, sponsors and all competitors who make it all happen. This is a great weekend and if you have any interest in competing next year don’t hesitate, it’s a fantastic weekend with great camaraderie amongst all competitors.

Here’s all the news from around the West Coast this week.

Elliston

Haven’t had too many reports come in just yet from over the weekend but there has been some good fishing up there. Offshore there’s big Nannygai and Gummy Sharks that have been reported. Everything else should still be out there like Kingfish, Samsons, Tuna and Blue Morwong.

Up the coast towards Ceduna most good offshore areas all offer the same kind of great fishing. Salmon news is slowly improving as we get into autumn, it will only get better. Beaches between Sheringa and Streaky Bays back beach are going to hold Salmon and there will also be Gummy, School and Bronze Whaler Sharks. I

It’s also time for Flathead now with some decent ones that should be expected from the shallower beaches.

Coffin Bay

Good reports from here now and it’s only going to get better. Whiting, Salmon Trout, Tommies, Garfish and Snook are the main catches right now within the bays. There’s been some good Gummy Shark catches and plenty of fishers have been getting out there and catching a Gummy or two.

Flathead are now starting to come on and there’s been some ripper sized fish caught over the weekend, 60cm fish have been caught on soft plastics and many smaller sized fish caught also. There’s plenty of areas to look at and you find Flathead in some of the most unexpected areas even right in the town centre, and these fish are mostly caught by kids just fishing anywhere they can. Some of the soft plastics to look at for this Flathead season are the Jackson Bone Baits, Daiwa Bait Junkies, Shimano Squidgy Prawns and also the Nomad Squid Trex 95-110 sizes look perfect for Flathead.

Out at Farm Beach there’s also a good mixture of fish there. Whiting is at the top of the list with good catches once again reported, Garfish, Tommies, Snook, Salmon Trout and some Squid. Gummy Sharks are also here and have been quite active.

The offshore reefy areas closer and in around Point Sir Isaac’s and Reef Head there have been some good Nannygai, Blue Morwong, School and Gummy Sharks. There’s also been a big School of Salmon around Point Sir Isaacs and Seasick Bay. Further Offshore the best fishing has been around Rocky Island, Tuna, Kingfish and Samson fish have been going very well however the Tuna fleet has been loading up on Tuna here so there may not be as many around now as there were in last few weeks but having said there are 20kg plus fish and some are much bigger than that.

Port Lincoln

Salmon have been turning up at the main wharf from time to time and they have been creating quite a bit of action here, there is also some big Tommies and Garfish.

Squid have made a bit of come back and some good catches have been reported over the last week, off the jetties and many rock areas all have Squid and hopefully we do see better numbers in the months ahead.

Like Coffin Bay Flathead are starting to turn up from within the National Park and it should be really good by the end of the month for Flathead here. Yellowfin Whiting are good from the flats around Louth Bay with some nice ones caught on the big afternoon tides, lure fishing has been the go and the Daiwa Slippery Sogs, Sugar Pens and one of the best, the Jabbers Honcho Stick Bait with a new batch of these lures turning up.

Crabs do appear to be coming back again with quite of few coming right into quite shallow water around Port Lincoln. There’s quite a few around Billy’s Light Point and they can be netted right close to the boat ramp and can also be found spread right out within the bays. Some areas will be slow and others should be pretty good, you will just have to move around a bit until you find them.

Whiting are getting better even though there are still many small fish around in the bays but there are still some nice ones getting around, they will get better by the end of the month, try the North Shore and the Proper for the best results. Garfish, Snook and Squid are also out there.

Down the Passage Whiting are going well at Taylors and Thistle Island all have good reports.  Squid, Snook and Garfish can also be caught down here and there are also some good Gummy Sharks in the Passage.

For the Offshore fishers the main news is Tuna, over the weekend they were caught at the Cabbage Patch, Neptune’s, Low Rocks and in the gulf right up to Buffalo Reef and the fish size were excellent this year with good numbers of fish between 12-20kg and some bigger ones were sharked. It’s been several years since we have seen fish like this in good numbers and hopefully this will be the turning tide for the bigger fish.

There is also Nannygai, Samson fish, Kingfish and Blue Morwong that have also been caught offshore. Salmon have been reported off the rocks at Fisheries Bay, good numbers and good size fish as well.

Tumby Bay

Big Whiting are going strong out at the Group, with high 40cm and low 50cm fish are out there and quite a few have been reported. Big Squid, Snook, Garfish, Tommies and Trevally are also there providing plenty of alternatives.

In closer there plenty of good options with Garfish, Snook, Whiting and Squid going very well.

Give the beaches around Tumby a try for Yellowfin Whiting they are there and with good tides in the afternoon they will be on the bite as will Garfish for shore-based fishers,  get a good burley trail happening with the wind behind your back and should be able to get a good feed from these areas.

 Port Neill and Arno Bay

The beaches provide good catches of Yellowfin Whiting and there are some great catches of Garfish also coming in from the rocks at Port Neill. For the boat fishers, Whiting have been good at both areas and reports have been encouraging for a number of weeks now. Squid are also good here with the Shimano Flash Boost jigs, a favorite jig in this area. Snook and Garfish also are fairly easy to come across in the area. Port Neill jetty has a mixture of Squid, Snook, Garfish and Tommies.                    

tle wind, little swell, although hot it was great to see plenty out fishing. Over 500 fish were caught and released in the Tuna Classis on the weekend, so it is great to see numbers getting better.


TW Port Lincoln Team

 

 

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