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)

Thu 15 Oct 2026 · Australia/Adelaide

Forecast updated 12:35am ACDT

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15 Oct

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Today Tomorrow Sat 17 Oct

📍 West Lakes (Trimmer Parade Inlet)

waxing crescent · 15%

Weather: Sunny Wind: SW 240° · 9 km/h Swell: 0.2 m @ 9 s SW Water: 17.2 °C Pressure: 1024.9 hPa ↓ falling Sheltered water: wind direction matters less here

★★★☆☆

Medium Fish Activity

▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 6:00 am

Solunar Between windows

Time of day Dawn

Tide Turning

Wind E 11 km/h

Moon waxing crescent all day

Water temp 17.2 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day Timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 6:08 am Last light 7:55 pm

High 5:51 am Low 12:28 pm High 6:09 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 → 8:30 pm

1h 30m

Good

4:00 pm → 6:00 pm

First light

6:08 am

Last light

7:55 pm

Sunrise

6:34 am

Sunset

7:30 pm

Moonrise

8:54 am

Moonset

—

High tide

5:51 am

Low tide

12:28 pm

High tide

6:09 pm

Low tide

11:57 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☁️

12°

↘︎

118°

14 km/h

1am

☁️

12°

↘︎

116°

15 km/h

2am

☁️

11°

↘︎

115°

15 km/h

3am

☁️

11°

→︎

110°

15 km/h

4am

☁️

11°

→︎

106°

14 km/h

5am

☁️

11°

→︎

100°

12 km/h

6am

☁️

11°

→︎

97°

11 km/h

7am

☁️

11°

→︎

95°

10 km/h

8am

☀️

13°

→︎

90°

8 km/h

9am

☀️

15°

→︎

90°

6 km/h

10am

☀️

17°

→︎

85°

2 km/h

11am

☀️

17°

↙︎

242°

4 km/h

12pm

☀️

18°

↙︎

240°

9 km/h

1pm

☀️

18°

↙︎

240°

12 km/h

2pm

☀️

18°

↙︎

234°

14 km/h

3pm

☀️

18°

↙︎

224°

14 km/h

4pm

☀️

18°

↙︎

222°

14 km/h

5pm

☀️

18°

↙︎

213°

15 km/h

6pm

☀️

17°

↓︎

192°

14 km/h

7pm

☀️

16°

↓︎

183°

13 km/h

8pm

☀️

16°

↘︎

157°

10 km/h

9pm

☀️

15°

↘︎

130°

12 km/h

10pm

☀️

14°

↘︎

118°

13 km/h

11pm

☀️

14°

→︎

110°

12 km/h

Hourly Swell

Steady ~0.2 m SW

12am

0.3 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Calm

1am

0.3 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Calm

2am

0.3 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Calm

3am

0.3 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Calm

4am

0.3 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Calm

5am

0.3 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Calm

6am

0.3 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Calm

7am

0.3 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Calm

8am

0.3 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Calm

9am

0.3 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Calm

10am

0.3 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Calm

11am

0.3 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Calm

12pm

0.2 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Calm

1pm

0.2 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Calm

2pm

0.2 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Calm

3pm

0.2 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Calm

4pm

0.2 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Calm

5pm

0.2 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Calm

6pm

0.2 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Calm

7pm

0.2 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Calm

8pm

0.2 m

@ 7 s

↙︎

Calm

chop

9pm

Calm

10pm

Calm

11pm

Calm

Water Temp (°C)

→ steady around 17.2°

Mon

12 Oct

17.5°

Tue

13 Oct

17.3°

Wed

14 Oct

17.2°

Thu

15 Oct

17.2°

Fri

16 Oct

17.4°

Sat

17 Oct

17.5°

Sun

18 Oct

18.1°

Mon

19 Oct

18.6°

Tue

20 Oct

18.7°

Wed

21 Oct

18.9°

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 9 km/h SW (240°).

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 → 8:30 pm

1h 30m

Good

4:00 pm → 6:00 pm

First light

6:08 am

Last light

7:55 pm

Sunrise

6:34 am

Sunset

7:30 pm

Moonrise

8:54 am

Moonset

—

High tide

5:51 am

Low tide

12:28 pm

High tide

6:09 pm

Low tide

11:57 pm

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