Do I need a fishing licence to fish Middleton Beach?

No. South Australia has no general recreational fishing licence, so you can fish Middleton Beach without paying a fee. You do need to follow the state size, bag and boat limits, and note that pipis are closed statewide from 1 June to 31 October — the 2026 gulf closures on snapper, squid, garfish and whiting stop west of here, because Middleton is in the South East Fishing Zone.

What's biting at Middleton Beach and when?

Australian salmon are the main draw from autumn into winter, mostly 40 to 50cm school fish. Yelloweye mullet and tommy ruff (herring) are in the wash most of the year, yellowfin whiting show in the warmer months, and after dark the gutters produce mulloway plus gummy and bronze whaler sharks. Find a deep gutter, fish the two hours around high tide, and you cover most of it.

Can I eat the pipis I dig at Middleton and Goolwa?

Not right now — you can't even take them. Pipis are shut statewide from 1 June to 31 October, so you can't collect a single cockle at Middleton or anywhere else in South Australia until 1 November. Even in season, the current algal-bloom health advice is that self-collected pipis can be used for bait only and should not be eaten because of the risk of brevetoxin, and the same applies to any self-collected mussels, oysters or other shellfish along the affected coast.

Is snapper open at Middleton Beach?

Yes. Middleton sits in the South East Fishing Zone — the gulf boundary runs south from the southern tip of the Fleurieu Peninsula, well west of here — so the Gulf St Vincent snapper closure does not reach it. Size limit 38cm, bag 5, boat 15, with mandatory catch reporting via the SA Fishing app. It is rarely a beach target here in any case.

When is the best time to fish Middleton Beach for mulloway?

After dark on a building tide, with the two hours leading into high tide the prime window. Warmer months from spring through autumn are most consistent. Use a big fresh fillet or whole pilchard on a 6/0 to 8/0 hook with a short wire trace, since gummy sharks and whalers feed at night too and you will likely meet one.

Bite Compass

Bite Forecast

Middleton Beach

Sat 17 Oct 2026 · Australia/Adelaide

Forecast updated 3:18am ACDT

Save

←

17 Oct

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Today Tomorrow Sat 17 Oct

📍 Middleton Beach

first quarter · 32%

Weather: Sunny Wind: NE 60° · 11 km/h Swell: 0.4 m @ 8 s SW Water: 16.6 °C Pressure: 1023.1 hPa ↓ falling Faces south · Offshore: NW, N, NE · Onshore: SE, S, SW · Forecast wind: offshore

★★★★☆

High Fish Activity

▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 6:00 am

Solunar Major window

Time of day Dawn

Tide Moving

Wind NE 12 km/h

Moon first quarter all day

Water temp 16.6 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 6:04 am Last light 7:57 pm

High 3:12 am Low 10:30 am High 2:30 pm Low 7:40 pm

Drag or use arrow keys to explore

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

5:00 am → 7:30 am

2h 30m

Good

5:30 pm → 9:00 pm

3h 30m

Good

10:00 am → 11:30 am

1h 30m

First light

6:04 am

Last light

7:57 pm

Sunrise

6:30 am

Sunset

7:31 pm

Moonrise

10:32 am

Moonset

1:04 am

High tide

3:12 am

Low tide

10:30 am

High tide

2:30 pm

Low tide

7:40 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☀️

15°

↗︎

28°

9 km/h

1am

☀️

14°

↗︎

33°

12 km/h

2am

☀️

14°

↗︎

32°

13 km/h

3am

☀️

14°

↗︎

29°

12 km/h

4am

☀️

14°

↗︎

27°

12 km/h

5am

☀️

14°

↗︎

27°

12 km/h

6am

☀️

14°

↗︎

29°

12 km/h

7am

☀️

14°

↗︎

33°

12 km/h

8am

☀️

16°

↗︎

39°

12 km/h

9am

☀️

18°

↗︎

48°

12 km/h

10am

☀️

20°

↗︎

54°

12 km/h

11am

☀️

22°

↗︎

57°

12 km/h

12pm

☀️

23°

↗︎

60°

11 km/h

1pm

☀️

24°

→︎

68°

10 km/h

2pm

☀️

24°

→︎

94°

9 km/h

3pm

☀️

24°

↘︎

125°

10 km/h

4pm

☀️

23°

↘︎

142°

12 km/h

5pm

☀️

21°

↘︎

153°

10 km/h

6pm

☀️

19°

↓︎

172°

6 km/h

7pm

☀️

17°

↙︎

203°

4 km/h

8pm

☀️

16°

↙︎

221°

3 km/h

9pm

☀️

16°

↙︎

229°

2 km/h

10pm

☀️

16°

↖︎

315°

1 km/h

11pm

☀️

16°

↗︎

27°

3 km/h

Hourly Swell

Steady ~0.3 m SW

12am

0.5 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Slight

1am

0.5 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Slight

2am

0.5 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Slight

3am

0.5 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Calm

4am

0.5 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Calm

5am

0.5 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Calm

6am

0.4 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Calm

7am

0.4 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Calm

8am

0.4 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Calm

9am

0.4 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Calm

10am

0.4 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Calm

11am

0.4 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Calm

12pm

0.4 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Calm

1pm

0.4 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Calm

2pm

0.3 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Calm

3pm

0.3 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Calm

4pm

0.2 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Calm

5pm

0.3 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Calm

6pm

0.3 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Calm

7pm

0.3 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Calm

8pm

0.3 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Calm

9pm

0.3 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Calm

10pm

0.3 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Calm

11pm

0.3 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Calm

Water Temp (°C)

↗ warming — up 0.7° over the last 3 days

Wed

14 Oct

15.9°

Thu

15 Oct

16.0°

Fri

16 Oct

16.1°

Sat

17 Oct

16.6°

Sun

18 Oct

17.0°

Mon

19 Oct

17.2°

Tue

20 Oct

16.9°

Wed

21 Oct

16.8°

Thu

22 Oct

—

Fri

23 Oct

—

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 11 km/h NE (60°).

Wind map data: ECMWF HRES (operational), updated every 6 hours. Not for navigation.

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

5:00 am → 7:30 am

2h 30m

Good

5:30 pm → 9:00 pm

3h 30m

Good

10:00 am → 11:30 am

1h 30m

First light

6:04 am

Last light

7:57 pm

Sunrise

6:30 am

Sunset

7:31 pm

Moonrise

10:32 am

Moonset

1:04 am

High tide

3:12 am

Low tide

10:30 am

High tide

2:30 pm

Low tide

7:40 pm

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Species at this spot