Yorke Peninsula Jetty Fishing: Which Jetty for What, Coast by Coast

Yorke Peninsula is shaped like a boot, and the most important thing to know about fishing it in 2026 is which side of the boot you’re standing on. The west coast faces Spencer Gulf, the east coast faces Gulf St Vincent, and since the algal bloom the two gulfs run on different rules. Garfish are open on one side and closed on the other. Squid are closed on both. Snapper are closed everywhere.

So the question isn’t “which jetty is best”. It’s which jetty for what you actually want to catch. This guide sorts the peninsula’s jetties by coast: the Spencer Gulf side, the Gulf St Vincent side, and the foot.

The Rules, Side by Side

Checked against PIRSA’s fishing closures page on 11 October 2026. Closures change at short notice, so check PIRSA or the free SA Fishing app before you go.

The calamari and garfish closures ban targeting, take and possession, and PIRSA hasn’t published an end date for either. Snapper catch-and-release is banned too. Several other bags on the Gulf St Vincent side are halved under the post-bloom rules — snook 10 instead of 20, yellowfin whiting 10 instead of 20 — so check the SA fish size and bag limits guide for the full table.

Two more rules matter here. Cuttlefish are permanently closed north of a line from Arno Bay to Wallaroo Jetty, so they’re off at Wallaroo and Port Broughton. And the King George whiting spawning closure isn’t in force today, but it returns from 1 March to 30 June 2027 over mapped waters that take in the foot of the peninsula. Every date is in our SA fishing closures calendar.

The Spencer Gulf Side: Garfish Country

This is the only coast on the peninsula where you can still berley up for gar. Sea breezes and westerlies blow straight onto these jetties, so mornings and easterlies are the windows.

Port Broughton — the bad-weather fallback

Port Broughton Jetty sits on Mundoora Arm Inlet, which is almost totally sheltered from strong winds. When the Copper Coast is blown out, come here. It’s also home to an unusual winter run of yellowfin whiting to 40 cm, roughly May to August, on fine tackle and tube worms or prawn on an evening rising tide. Crabs, gar and tommies fill the warmer months.

Wallaroo — deep water, port rules

Wallaroo Jetty is a working grain wharf in about ten metres of water. The first 540 metres are public and open around the clock; the outer commercial end is closed indefinitely for maintenance. The dusk tommy ruff session is the local institution, with bull tommies on winter evenings, and King George whiting come within casting range in the cooler months. Use long ropes on the crab nets — a short one in ten metres of water is a donation.

Moonta Bay — read the tide table first

Moonta Bay Jetty is the family jetty of the Copper Triangle, with a netted swimming enclosure alongside. The catch is the tide: a big low leaves half the deck over dry sand. Fish a run-in tide in the late afternoon for tommies and gar under a float, with snook after dark.

Port Hughes — the classic gar jetty

Port Hughes Jetty runs a little over 400 metres into six to seven metres of water, and garfish are the main reason to be here. Run a berley trail and drift a pencil float with a size 10–12 long-shank and gents. Drop nets catch blue swimmers from about November to April, and a long cast from the end turns up the odd whiting.

Point Turton — the night jetty

Point Turton Jetty on Hardwicke Bay is short, unlit and built for big tommies after dark, with gar, snook and whiting alongside. It’s north of the 35°S line, so garfish are open here but not at Marion Bay down the road. Bring a lantern — visitors report the last third of the deck has no handrail.

The Gulf St Vincent Side: Crabs and Whiting

No gar, no squid, halved bags. What’s left is crabs, whiting, tommies and snook. This coast faces east, so westerlies blow off the land and leave the water calm when the Spencer Gulf side is unfishable.

Ardrossan — the crab capital

Ardrossan Jetty reopened in August 2026 on new steel piles after almost a year of renewal works. It’s the blue swimmer crab capital of the state, and there’s a giant fibreglass crab at the entrance in case anyone forgets. Drop nets with fish-frame bait on a rising tide, or rake the flats north of the jetty on a falling tide. Meat and chicken in crab nets are illegal. Yellowfin whiting work the shallows from October to March.

Port Vincent — small wharf, simple fishing

Port Vincent Wharf is about 37 metres of old wharf at the bottom of Main Street. Tommies and mullet bite from late afternoon, and the crab-raking flats beside town out-fish a net off the wharf most summer days. Engineers rated the wharf structurally deficient in 2024. It’s open to pedestrians, but obey any barriers, which can go up without much notice.

Stansbury — whiting under the lights

Stansbury Jetty is 308 metres of lit timber over Oyster Bay, and the classic session starts when the lights come on: tommies, snook and mullet. By day the seaward end produces genuinely good King George whiting, some over 40 cm. Fish the lightest gear you own with live tube worms or peeled green prawn; these whiting are tackle-shy.

Port Giles — deep water, if the gate’s open

Port Giles Jetty is a working grain terminal over a berth dredged to 14.7 metres, and it’s open to fishing only when there’s no shipping, maintenance or security closure. Check the Flinders Ports shipping schedule before you drive. When it’s open, whiting and tommies come off the pylons. There are no toilets, water or shops, and swimming and diving are banned around the whole structure.

Edithburgh — closed until 2027

Edithburgh Jetty closed on 24 July 2026 for renewal. The state says it’ll reopen around April 2027 and the council says mid-2027. Normally it’s one of the few jetties in SA that reliably gives up whiting from the deck. Until then, Stansbury is the closest substitute and Ardrossan is 50 minutes north.

The Foot: Ocean Water, Gulf Rules

Marion Bay, Stenhouse Bay and Browns Beach face Investigator Strait, so they get ocean weather. But they’re south of the 35°S line, which puts them in the Gulf St Vincent and Kangaroo Island zone: no gar, no squid, halved bags. All three sit inside the mapped whiting spawning closure for 1 March to 30 June 2027.

Marion Bay — the autumn mullet run

Marion Bay Jetty was legendary for big squid, which makes the calamari closure hurt here more than almost anywhere. What’s left is the mullet run along the bay’s beaches from Easter onward. Seaweed worms dug from the rotting ribbon weed are the gun bait. Tommies and whiting come off the deck. It’s outside the national park, so there’s no entry fee.

Stenhouse Bay — the cold-month jetty

Stenhouse Bay Jetty is the southernmost jetty on the peninsula, inside Dhilba Guuranda-Innes National Park. It fishes best in autumn and winter, when the prevailing winds blow offshore and big tommies feed from dusk to dawn. It’s completely unlit, so bring a lantern. A marine park sanctuary zone starts about 320 metres south of the jetty and is no-take, so fish from the deck.

Browns Beach — the surf salmon detour

Browns Beach isn’t a jetty, but it’s the reason a lot of people drive this far. Australian salmon push inside the reef into the lagoon on a rising tide, with winter the peak. Bring chrome lures and pilchards on ganged hooks. The soft-sand walk in is hard work, and every published source mentions it. Mulloway turn up on summer nights.

For both Stenhouse Bay and Browns Beach, National Parks and Wildlife Service SA says park entry fees must be paid before you enter. Book online, because the self-registration kiosk takes credit cards only and the internet there is slow. The park closes on Catastrophic Fire Danger days.

Picking a Jetty by Target

• Garfish — Port Hughes, Wallaroo, Moonta Bay, Point Turton or Port Broughton. Nowhere on the east coast or the foot.
• Blue swimmer crabs — Ardrossan first, then Port Vincent’s flats and Port Hughes.
• King George whiting from the deck — Stansbury’s seaward end, Port Giles when it’s open, Wallaroo in winter.
• Yellowfin whiting — Port Broughton in winter, Ardrossan in summer.
• Big tommies at night — Point Turton, Wallaroo, or Stenhouse Bay in the cold months.
• Salmon — Browns Beach.
• A windy day — Port Broughton, or whichever coast the wind is blowing off.

Tackle Box Basics

• Gar and tommies — a 2–4 kg float rod, 4–6 lb line, a pencil float, size 8–12 long-shank hooks, gents or cockle, and a berley bucket.
• Whiting — 6–8 lb line, a running sinker or paternoster, size 4–6 long-shanks, cockle, tube worm or prawn.
• Crabs — two or three drop nets, fish-based bait only, and a crab gauge.
• Snook — 10 lb braid, 2.5–3 inch soft plastics or small hardbodies, and a 20 lb leader for the teeth.

Squid jigs stay at home this season. Fisheries officers visit Yorke jetties, and “I thought that was only Adelaide” is not a defence.

FAQ

Can you catch garfish on Yorke Peninsula?

Yes, but only on the Spencer Gulf side. The 1 May 2026 garfish closure covers the Gulf St Vincent and Kangaroo Island zone, so garfish are open at Port Broughton, Wallaroo, Moonta Bay, Port Hughes and Point Turton at 23 cm and a bag of 30, and closed at Ardrossan, Port Vincent, Stansbury, Port Giles, Edithburgh, Marion Bay and Stenhouse Bay.

Can you catch squid off Yorke Peninsula jetties?

No. Southern calamari have been closed to targeting, take and possession in both the Spencer Gulf and the Gulf St Vincent and Kangaroo Island zones since 1 May 2026, with no end date published. That covers every jetty on Yorke Peninsula, and even working a jig is an offence.

Is Edithburgh jetty open?

No. Edithburgh Jetty closed on 24 July 2026 for a structural renewal. The state says it will reopen around April 2027 and Yorke Peninsula Council says mid-2027, so check the council before you drive down.

What is the best jetty on Yorke Peninsula for crabs?

Ardrossan Jetty, which reopened in August 2026 after its renewal, is the peninsula’s crab capital, with the raking flats north of the jetty as a bonus. Blue swimmer crabs must be 11 cm across the carapace, the bag is 20 and berried females go straight back.

Where is the fishing zone line on Yorke Peninsula?

At the foot of the peninsula it is the 35°S parallel. Point Turton is north of it in the Spencer Gulf zone, while Marion Bay, Stenhouse Bay and Browns Beach are south of it in the Gulf St Vincent and Kangaroo Island zone, where garfish are closed and most bag limits are halved.

Do you have to pay to fish in Innes National Park?

Yes. Stenhouse Bay Jetty and Browns Beach are inside Dhilba Guuranda-Innes National Park, where a vehicle entry fee must be paid before you enter. Book online with National Parks and Wildlife Service SA before you go. Marion Bay Jetty is outside the park and free.

Most of the peninsula is two to three hours from Adelaide, and the drive is a lot shorter than the argument about which coast to fish.

Before you pick a side, check the SA bite forecast and SA tide times for the jetty you’re heading to. For the metro jetties, see Adelaide jetty fishing: what’s open.