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. 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 05 Sep 2026 · Australia/Adelaide

←

5 Sep

tap to pick date

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Today Tomorrow Sat 5 Sep

📍 Middleton Beach

last quarter · 43%

Weather: Sunny Wind: W 275° · 15 km/h Swell: 1.6 m @ 11 s SW Water: 14.6 °C Pressure: 1018.9 hPa → steady

★★★☆☆

Medium Fish Activity

▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 6:30 pm

Solunar Major window

Time of day Dusk

Tide Turning

Wind NW 12 km/h

Moon last quarter all day

Water temp 14.6 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

5:30 pm → 8:00 pm

2h 30m

Good

6:00 am → 7:30 am

1h 30m

First light

6:04 am

Last light

6:23 pm

Sunrise

6:29 am

Sunset

5:58 pm

Moonrise

1:51 am

Moonset

11:12 am

High tide

3:06 am

Low tide

11:00 am

Low tide

7:30 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☀️

12°

←︎

266°

18 km/h

1am

☀️

11°

←︎

260°

17 km/h

2am

☀️

11°

←︎

255°

16 km/h

3am

☀️

11°

←︎

251°

15 km/h

4am

☀️

11°

←︎

248°

15 km/h

5am

☀️

11°

↙︎

247°

15 km/h

6am

☀️

12°

↙︎

246°

15 km/h

7am

☀️

13°

↙︎

247°

16 km/h

8am

☀️

13°

←︎

249°

16 km/h

9am

☁️

14°

←︎

252°

16 km/h

10am

☁️

14°

←︎

257°

15 km/h

11am

☀️

15°

←︎

265°

15 km/h

12pm

☀️

15°

←︎

275°

15 km/h

1pm

☀️

15°

←︎

283°

16 km/h

2pm

☀️

15°

←︎

291°

16 km/h

3pm

☀️

15°

↖︎

297°

16 km/h

4pm

☀️

14°

↖︎

302°

15 km/h

5pm

☀️

13°

↖︎

308°

13 km/h

6pm

☀️

12°

↖︎

315°

12 km/h

7pm

☀️

11°

↖︎

324°

10 km/h

8pm

☀️

10°

↖︎

334°

9 km/h

9pm

☀️

9°

↑︎

343°

9 km/h

10pm

☀️

9°

↑︎

348°

10 km/h

11pm

☀️

9°

↑︎

351°

11 km/h

Hourly Swell

Steady ~1.4 m SW

12am

1.3 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

1am

1.3 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

2am

1.3 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

3am

1.3 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

4am

1.3 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

5am

1.4 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

6am

1.4 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

7am

1.4 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

8am

1.5 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

9am

1.5 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

10am

1.6 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

11am

1.6 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

12pm

1.6 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

1pm

1.6 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

2pm

1.6 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

3pm

1.6 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

4pm

1.6 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

5pm

1.6 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

6pm

1.6 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

7pm

1.5 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

8pm

1.5 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

9pm

1.4 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

10pm

1.4 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

11pm

1.4 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

Water Temp (°C)

→ steady around 14.6°

Wed

2 Sep

14.5°

Thu

3 Sep

14.5°

Fri

4 Sep

14.5°

Sat

5 Sep

14.6°

Sun

6 Sep

14.6°

Mon

7 Sep

14.5°

Tue

8 Sep

14.5°

Wed

9 Sep

—

Thu

10 Sep

—

Fri

11 Sep

—

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 15 km/h W (275°).

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

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

5:30 pm → 8:00 pm

2h 30m

Good

6:00 am → 7:30 am

1h 30m

First light

6:04 am

Last light

6:23 pm

Sunrise

6:29 am

Sunset

5:58 pm

Moonrise

1:51 am

Moonset

11:12 am

High tide

3:06 am

Low tide

11:00 am

Low tide

7:30 pm

Nearby spots

Species at this spot

Australian Salmon
Mulloway (Jewfish)
Yelloweye Mullet
Gummy Shark
Australian Herring
Yellowfin Whiting (Sand Whiting)
Snook