Do you need a fishing licence to fish West Lakes?

No. South Australia has no general recreational fishing licence, so you can fish the Trimmer Parade inlet and the rest of West Lakes without paying a fee. You still have to follow PIRSA size, bag and boat limits, and southern calamari and southern garfish have both been closed outright in Gulf St Vincent since 1 May 2026 with no end date published — check the current rules or the SA Fishing app before you keep anything.

What is the best spot to fish at West Lakes?

The Trimmer Parade inlet at the southern end, by Inlet Reserve in Tennyson, has the most diverse fishing in the system — black bream year-round, mulloway, winter whiting and salmon trout, plus the reef tiles that hold fish; garfish belong on that list too but are closed in the gulf right now. The cleanest water and the most current are here because it is where seawater enters the lake from Gulf St Vincent.

Can you catch mulloway at West Lakes?

Yes. The Trimmer Parade inlet holds mulloway year-round and produces school fish up to about a metre, most often after dark or in low light. A live tommy ruff or salmon trout works, and plenty are also caught by accident on small soft plastics meant for bream — a 3 to 4 inch paddle-tail on a light jig head near the reef edges is the go.

What tide is best for the West Lakes inlet?

The making (incoming) tide. The lake's saltwater gate opens on a decent run-in — regulars put the trigger somewhere around 1.6 to 1.8m at Grange — and that inflow of clean water and current is when the bream and mulloway switch on. Aim for the hour either side of the tide change, ideally at dawn or dusk.

Can you use a boat at West Lakes?

Only a man-powered one. Motorised boats are not allowed — fishing is permitted from the bank or from canoes, kayaks and dinghies you paddle or row. You also have to stay at least 10m from residential properties and 20m from any bridge, and the eastern side of the inlet is a marked no-fishing zone.

Bite Compass

Bite Forecast

West Lakes (Trimmer Parade Inlet)

Wed 07 Oct 2026 · Australia/Adelaide

Forecast updated Sun 11 Oct, 4:51pm ACDT

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←

7 Oct

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Today Tomorrow Sat 17 Oct

📍 West Lakes (Trimmer Parade Inlet)

waning crescent · 20%

Weather: Sunny Wind: NE 35° · 11 km/h Swell: 0.5 m @ 10 s SW Water: 17.1 °C Pressure: 1025.3 hPa ↓ falling Sheltered water: wind direction matters less here

★★★☆☆

Medium Fish Activity

▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 6:30 am

Solunar Between windows

Time of day Dawn

Tide Moving

Wind E 8 km/h

Moon waning crescent all day

Water temp 17.1 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day Timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 6:19 am Last light 7:48 pm

High 4:06 am Low 9:15 am High 3:25 pm Low 9:54 pm

Drag or use arrow keys to explore

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

4:00 am → 7:30 am

3h 30m

Good

7:00 pm → 11:30 pm

4h 30m

Good

9:00 am → 11:00 am

First light

6:19 am

Last light

7:48 pm

Sunrise

6:44 am

Sunset

7:23 pm

Moonrise

4:44 am

Moonset

3:53 pm

High tide

4:06 am

Low tide

9:15 am

High tide

3:25 pm

Low tide

9:54 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☀️

12°

↘︎

119°

15 km/h

1am

☀️

11°

↘︎

113°

15 km/h

2am

☀️

11°

→︎

103°

13 km/h

3am

☀️

11°

→︎

95°

12 km/h

4am

☀️

10°

→︎

97°

13 km/h

5am

☀️

10°

→︎

93°

11 km/h

6am

☀️

10°

→︎

85°

8 km/h

7am

☀️

10°

→︎

82°

9 km/h

8am

☀️

12°

→︎

78°

8 km/h

9am

☀️

14°

→︎

84°

7 km/h

10am

☀️

16°

↗︎

58°

12 km/h

11am

☀️

18°

↗︎

44°

12 km/h

12pm

☀️

19°

↗︎

35°

11 km/h

1pm

☀️

20°

↑︎

22°

10 km/h

2pm

☀️

21°

↑︎

354°

7 km/h

3pm

☀️

21°

↖︎

311°

4 km/h

4pm

☀️

22°

↑︎

18°

5 km/h

5pm

☀️

23°

↗︎

66°

5 km/h

6pm

☀️

22°

→︎

80°

3 km/h

7pm

☀️

20°

↘︎

129°

5 km/h

8pm

☀️

18°

→︎

100°

10 km/h

9pm

☀️

18°

→︎

80°

13 km/h

10pm

☀️

17°

→︎

79°

14 km/h

11pm

☀️

17°

→︎

73°

16 km/h

Hourly Swell

Steady ~0.4 m SW

12am

0.5 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

1am

0.5 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

2am

0.5 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

3am

0.5 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

4am

0.5 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

5am

0.5 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

6am

0.5 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

7am

0.5 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

8am

0.5 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

9am

0.5 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

10am

0.5 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

11am

0.5 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

12pm

0.5 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

1pm

0.5 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

2pm

0.5 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

3pm

0.5 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

4pm

0.5 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

5pm

0.5 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

6pm

0.5 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

7pm

0.5 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

8pm

0.5 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

9pm

0.5 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

10pm

0.5 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

11pm

0.4 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

Water Temp (°C)

↗ warming — up 0.4° over the last 3 days

Sun

4 Oct

16.7°

Mon

5 Oct

16.9°

Tue

6 Oct

16.9°

Wed

7 Oct

17.1°

Thu

8 Oct

17.3°

Fri

9 Oct

17.3°

Sat

10 Oct

17.2°

Sun

11 Oct

17.3°

Mon

12 Oct

17.5°

Tue

13 Oct

17.3°

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 11 km/h NE (35°).

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

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

4:00 am → 7:30 am

3h 30m

Good

7:00 pm → 11:30 pm

4h 30m

Good

9:00 am → 11:00 am

First light

6:19 am

Last light

7:48 pm

Sunrise

6:44 am

Sunset

7:23 pm

Moonrise

4:44 am

Moonset

3:53 pm

High tide

4:06 am

Low tide

9:15 am

High tide

3:25 pm

Low tide

9:54 pm

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