Do you need a fishing licence to fish the Onkaparinga River mouth?

No. South Australia does not require a general recreational fishing licence, so you can fish the Onkaparinga estuary and mouth without paying a fee. You still must follow PIRSA size, bag and boat limits, the bream closure and the aquatic reserve rules.

When is bream fishing closed on the Onkaparinga River?

PIRSA closes bream fishing in the Onkaparinga River upstream of the Main South Road Bridge at Noarlunga from 1 September to 30 November inclusive, to protect spawning fish. The prime brackish bream water sits in that closed zone, so plan spring trips around it and check the current PIRSA closure before you go.

Can you fish anywhere around the Onkaparinga mouth, or is it a reserve?

Most of it is inside the Port Noarlunga Reef Aquatic Reserve, which covers the full river from its mouth up to the South Road bridge. Inside the reserve the only permitted fishing is line fishing plus hand-net collection of shrimp for bait — no other netting — and there are no-fishing buffers around the reefs. Check the current reserve boundaries and rules on the PIRSA site, because they are stricter than the general estuary rules.

What's the best bait for bream in the Onkaparinga?

Live tube worm is the standout, followed by peeled prawn, fished on a tiny running sinker or no sinker so the bait drifts naturally. Lure anglers do just as well on lightly weighted soft plastics worked slow and tight to the rock walls, pylons and seagrass edges on a rising tide.

Is the Onkaparinga mouth good for fishing with kids?

Yes, on a calm day with a rising tide. Yelloweye mullet and small bream are easy targets on light bait gear, there are toilets and parking at both the South Port foreshore and the Perry's Bend recreation park, and the walking trails are pram-friendly. Keep children off the soft mud edges and well back from the channel and faster-running water.

Bite Compass

Bite Forecast

Onkaparinga River Mouth

Wed 07 Oct 2026 · Australia/Adelaide

Forecast updated 10:29am ACDT

Save

←

7 Oct

tap to pick date

→

Today Tomorrow Sat 17 Oct

📍 Onkaparinga River Mouth

waning crescent · 20%

Weather: Unavailable Swell: 0.7 m @ 10 s SW Water: 16.5 °C Faces west · Offshore: NE, E, SE · Onshore: SW, W, NW

★★☆☆☆

Low Fish Activity

▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 6:30 am

Solunar Between windows

Time of day Dawn

Tide Moving

Moon waning crescent all day

Water temp 16.5 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 6:19 am Last light 7:49 pm

High 4:03 am Low 9:17 am High 3:24 pm Low 9:53 pm

Drag or use arrow keys to explore

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

6:00 am → 7:30 am

1h 30m

Good

10:00 pm → 11:00 pm

Good

7:30 pm → 8:30 pm

Good

9:30 am → 11:00 am

1h 30m

First light

6:19 am

Last light

7:49 pm

Sunrise

6:44 am

Sunset

7:23 pm

Moonrise

4:45 am

Moonset

3:53 pm

High tide

4:03 am

Low tide

9:17 am

High tide

3:24 pm

Low tide

9:53 pm

Hourly Swell

Steady ~0.7 m W

12am

0.7 m

@ 10 s

←︎

Slight

ground

1am

0.8 m

@ 10 s

←︎

Slight

2am

0.8 m

@ 10 s

←︎

Slight

ground

3am

0.8 m

@ 10 s

←︎

Slight

ground

4am

0.8 m

@ 10 s

←︎

Slight

ground

5am

0.8 m

@ 11 s

←︎

Slight

ground

6am

0.8 m

@ 11 s

←︎

Slight

ground

7am

0.8 m

@ 11 s

←︎

Slight

ground

8am

0.8 m

@ 10 s

←︎

Slight

ground

9am

0.7 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Slight

10am

0.6 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Slight

11am

0.7 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Slight

12pm

0.7 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

1pm

0.7 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

2pm

0.7 m

@ 11 s

←︎

Slight

ground

3pm

0.7 m

@ 11 s

←︎

Slight

ground

4pm

0.7 m

@ 11 s

←︎

Slight

ground

5pm

0.7 m

@ 11 s

←︎

Slight

ground

6pm

0.7 m

@ 11 s

←︎

Slight

ground

7pm

0.7 m

@ 11 s

←︎

Slight

ground

8pm

0.7 m

@ 11 s

←︎

Slight

ground

9pm

0.7 m

@ 11 s

←︎

Slight

ground

10pm

0.7 m

@ 11 s

←︎

Slight

ground

11pm

0.7 m

@ 11 s

←︎

Slight

ground

Water Temp (°C)

→ steady around 16.5°

Sun

4 Oct

16.2°

Mon

5 Oct

16.4°

Tue

6 Oct

16.3°

Wed

7 Oct

16.5°

Thu

8 Oct

16.6°

Fri

9 Oct

16.5°

Sat

10 Oct

16.5°

Sun

11 Oct

16.7°

Mon

12 Oct

16.9°

Tue

13 Oct

16.7°

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Current wind summary unavailable — see the wind chart above the map.

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

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

6:00 am → 7:30 am

1h 30m

Good

10:00 pm → 11:00 pm

Good

7:30 pm → 8:30 pm

Good

9:30 am → 11:00 am

1h 30m

First light

6:19 am

Last light

7:49 pm

Sunrise

6:44 am

Sunset

7:23 pm

Moonrise

4:45 am

Moonset

3:53 pm

High tide

4:03 am

Low tide

9:17 am

High tide

3:24 pm

Low tide

9:53 pm

Nearby spots

Species at this spot