In a recent article we discussed the boat fishing in and around Port Lincoln and while the area has certainly gained a reputation for its exceptional offshore fishing, you don’t necessarily need a boat to access good fishing in this area.
Multiple jetties, sheltered beaches and tapering rocky shorelines are all accessible within a short distance from town. A drive out into the nearby national park provides access to surf beaches as well as unique deep water rock ledges; offering the more adventurous some first class sport fishing. And given the snaking coastline surrounding Port Lincoln, there’s always a sheltered location to be found away from the elements.
LOCAL JETTIES
The local jetties are generally the first port of call for visiting fisho’s to town. There are five accessible man-made structures around Lincoln, including the Town Jetty, Main Wharf, Kirton Point, Marina Fuel Berth and North Shields. A couple of other jetties exist around the bay, but these have been fenced off for safety reasons.
The Town Jetty is the most regularly visited, and given its location around tape weed beds, it fishes quite well for calamari. Around dusk and into the night is the best time for these squid, with the majority caught within close proximity to the blue line, and around the swimming enclosure. Small 2.5 sized jigs are preferred in this shallow water.
Aside from calamari, a few King George whiting are caught from the sand holes towards the end of the jetty, together with a few garfish and tommy ruffs for those fishing with a float. Night time sees a few snook caught from underneath the lights; these fish respond well to small hard body lures and soft plastics.
The Main Wharf (also known as Brennan’s Jetty) is the largest structure in the bay, and services the bulk grain ships which call into port to load. Quite a few of the larger commercial fishing vessels also use the Main Wharf for berthing, and there is a gate which separates the general public from the working vessels.
Recreational fishers can access the base of the jetty, and the westward facing arm that was restored for recreational use only. When the local pilchard boats are unloading they create an amazing berley trail which excites the salmon and tommies. The salmon vary in size from around half a kilo to a couple of kilos, so there are some decent fish to be found. A few squid and a handful of King George are also caught from the shallower sections of the wharf, with yellowtail kingfish periodically visiting the structure during the warmer months. Every year a few reasonable kings are landed on live baits from the wharf, but a lot more win their freedom.
The Kirton Point Jetty is located within the Port Lincoln Tourist Park (caravan and cabin park) and is a popular fishing location for those staying in the park. This is only a short jetty and has no lighting for night-time pursuits; however, it is surrounded by good weed beds and produces some nice squid. It also fishes quite well for tommy ruffs and a few garfish in the upper column (especially with the use of surface berley). There are a few sand holes within casting distance of the jetty, so well-placed casts should tempt a few whiting.
The fuel/loading berth within the marina is a good platform for those looking for a feed of tommies, silver trevally and a few salmon trout. Throwing a handful of berley down against the side of the platform often brings the fish out of the structure. This is a working wharf though, so right of way needs to be given to commercial vessels. There are plenty of small to mid-sized black bream living around the various pontoons, vessels and channel markers within the marina too. Small soft plastics and micro hard bodies fished around structure is a good way of enticing the local bream population.

This flathead was caught from a beach near Port Lincoln on a 70mm sinking hard boady lure

North Shields, located on the northern end of Boston Bay boasts a jetty of approximately 100 metres. It is long enough to pass the blue line and provide access to water around six metres deep at the seaward end. Squid are the mainstay species here, but a few silver trevally, tommies and garfish are caught from the jetty, along with a few mullet and yellowfin whiting from the shallows at the beginning of the jetty.
LAND BASED AT THE BOAT RAMPS
There are two main boat ramps within Port Lincoln, and both offer good fishing for the land based fisher. Axel Stenross ramp and breakwater is located a couple of kilometres on the northern side of town, and offers a floating pontoon as well as well as a lengthy breakwater groin. The pontoon itself produces yellowfin whiting, bluespot flathead and the occasional dusky morwong (strongies), but it’s a popular ramp for local boaties so you will have to duck and weave the traffic.
The breakwater is a better option, and offers squid and garfish when the water is clear, with some nice whiting picked up from the nearby sand holes when the water is a bit murky. Salmon, from bay trout size up to around a kilo are caught from the breakwater, especially during October to December when schools frequent the western shoreline of the bay. Some good sized tommies and a few snook are also mixed in with the salmon.
The second ramp is located at Billy Lights Point, on the southern side of the marina. There are two floating pontoons here, both of which offer good squid fishing, especially around the twilight period and into the night. There are no lights on the pontoons themselves (only in the adjacent car park), so it’s a good idea to come prepared with a head torch for night time fishing.

There are several beaches within the Port Lincoln national park which produce flathead from April through until August

There is a breakwater at Billy Lights as well, but most of its length drops into shallow water. The breakwater is still a good platform for garfish, and so too is the shallow beach to the left of the ramp. Fishing this beach on high tide with the use of a berley feeder float is a reliable way of catching a feed of gar.
PORT LINCOLN NATIONAL PARK
The Port Lincoln National Park starts around 13 km south of town, and encompasses the southern shoreline of our protected bay system, together with 40 km of eastern-facing rock ledges and semi-protected sandy beaches plus 12 km of surf beaches on the southern side. The national park is as stunning as it is diverse, and offers a wide range of fishing options and varied species to target.
Cape Donnington marks the northern point of the national park, with the prominent lighthouse guiding ships into the southern entrance of the bay. Fishing from the rocks at Donnington produces salmon trout, tommies and a few snook on small lures, with float fishers catching some nice gar. These rocks are a popular night time location during the warmer months for big bronze whalers, with solid whalers to 200 kg landed each year for those prepared to put in the time and float out a bait under a balloon in the right conditions.
The sandy beaches in the national park can produce some good flathead fishing, with better numbers of fish found during the cooler months. Beaches including Taylors Landing, McLaren Point, Carcase Rock and September Beach all produce southern bluespot, especially during the larger winter tides.
The coastline south of Taylors Landing through to Curta Rocks lies within the Memory Cove Wilderness Area; access is still allowed but you will need a separate permit and an entry key (both available from the Port Lincoln Visitor Info Centre). Access to the wilderness area is via Wanna Road, and there are literally kilometres and kilometres of lightly fished rock ledges. A lot of these ledges are quite exposed and will collect heavy seas from the south, so you will need to pick the conditions.
Form the rocks within the wilderness area, you can expect anything from big King George whiting, trevally and sweep (from the semi-protected rocks within Memory Cove and West Bay) to red snapper, pink snapper, queen snapper, swallowtail and blue groper from the deeper water ledges. Stopping a big groper from the stones is no easy feat. This fish is protected through this area so you will have to return any blue’s if you are lucky enough to land one. Expect a lot of by-catch when rock fishing in this area, in the form of wrasse, bluethroat, leather jackets and barber perch.
The south coast of the national park opens up to surf beaches, and includes Wisemans Beach, Salmon Hole, Millers Hole and Wanna. Salmon are the mainstay species along this coast, and the fishing is pretty reliable, especially with small swell and offshore northerly winds. Aside from salmon, a few yelloweye mullet, big tommies, silver trevally and school (transparent) whiting are caught from these beaches, with a handful of gummy sharks at night.
As you can see, there are plenty of land based fishing options around Port Lincoln depending on the time of year and the weather conditions. We have some stunning coastline not far from town, and the fishing pressure is relatively light. Why not check out Lincoln for a land based mission soon

Jamie Crawford lives in Port Lincoln, South Australia and had his first fishing article published in 1998. He presents a local fishing report on TV each week. He loves the varied fishing options in his local waters, but also enjoys travelling to new locations and targeting new species. His professional background is marine aquaculture, where I’ve been involved in the hatchery production of several marine finfish species.