Where and when to catch Mulloway in South Australia: the SA season, the spots in our guide that hold them, and where to find SA's current size and bag limits.
Called Mulloway (Jewfish) on our Western Australian guide.
Mulloway are the fish South Australian surf anglers lose sleep over, literally. The Coorong and the Murray Mouth beaches are the heartland, with the Limestone Coast surf, the far west coast beaches and the Port River and Adelaide's breakwalls close behind. Most are caught at night through the warmer months on big tides, and plenty of them are school fish that have to go back, because SA's minimum length is a big one. A legal fish off the beach is a genuine achievement, and the locals who catch them regularly are the ones who fish the conditions, not the calendar.
SA Size & Bag Limits
SA limits for Mulloway are set by PIRSA and change from time to time, so we link them rather than copy them.
Check PIRSA's limits and PIRSA's mulloway profile before you fish.
Western Australian limits don't apply in South Australia.
Where to Catch Mulloway in SA
Mulloway are listed at over 25 SA spots. The surf beaches of the Coorong, the Fleurieu and the South East hold the bigger fish, and in Adelaide the Port River, West Lakes and the North Haven and Outer Harbor walls produce school fish and the odd metre-plus one after dark.
Live mullet, live herring or yellowtail, whole or half squid, fresh mullet, tailor or salmon fillet, fresh pilchards, beach worms
Lures
Large soft plastics (5–7 inch paddle-tails and jerkshads), vibes, deep-diving hard-bodies for estuaries
Rigs
A running sinker rig with a 25–35 kg leader and a 6/0–8/0 hook, or a pair of snelled hooks for a fillet or live bait, with just enough lead to hold bottom in the current. Circle hooks set themselves and release well. For lures, a 3/8–1 oz jig head matched to the depth and current.
Technique
Fish after dark where current flows past structure or bait gathers, and be patient. Put a fresh or live bait into the deepest water in reach, set the drag, and leave it alone; mulloway often pick up a bait and swim off slowly before they run. On plastics, work them slowly along the bottom with long pauses. Big tides, a run-in or run-out into the dark, and murky water after rain are all worth chasing. It's a waiting game, but when one bites, you'll know.
Best Time
After dark and around dawn and dusk, on a moving tide and especially the change. Overcast nights and the days after a fresh are classic. Many anglers rate the days around the full and new moon. The best months differ by coast and estuary, so check the local season.
PIRSA sets a large minimum length and a small bag for mulloway, and plenty of beach and estuary fish fall under the size. Check the PIRSA mulloway profile and measure every fish.
Livebait (a tommy ruff, salmon trout or mullet) or fresh salmon fillet out-fishes frozen bait almost everywhere in SA.
Identification
Also known asJewfish, jew, soapie (small fish), butterfish
Long, thickset and silver to bronze, with a big mouth, a slightly concave forehead on bigger fish, and a lateral line that runs right to the tip of a squared-off to slightly pointed tail, never deeply forked. Fresh fish show a coppery sheen and a row of pearly spots along the lateral line, there's a dark spot at the base of the pectoral fin, and the inside of the mouth and gill covers is orange. Mulloway and jewfish are the same fish. Size-class names vary, but "soapies" are small fish and "schoolies" are mid-sized ones that still travel in groups.
Size & Growth
Most land-based mulloway are 50–80 cm and 2–5 kg. A metre-long fish of 10–15 kg is a great capture from the shore, and anything past 20 kg is the fish people talk about for years. The species can pass 2 m and nearly 60 kg, but those are very old fish. Growth is quick for the first few years and then slows, and they take several years to mature, so plenty of the fish caught are juveniles. Be realistic about the odds; most nights produce nothing, and the fish you do land will usually be a soapie or a schoolie.
Diet & Habitat
Mulloway hunt mullet, herring, tailor, whiting, salmon, squid, prawns and crabs, mostly after dark, using current lines to ambush prey swept past structure. Small juveniles live in estuaries; bigger fish hold in deep holes and channels, beside bridges and rock walls, at river and lake mouths, along surf-beach gutters and around headlands. They feed in surprisingly shallow water at night, and a flush of fresh water after heavy rain moves fish and bait to the mouths of rivers and creeks. They have unusually large ear bones, and most mulloway anglers swear they spook at noise, which is a decent argument for not clomping about the jetty.
Eating Quality
One of the best table fish there is, when it's the right size. The flesh is firm, white, large-flaked and mild, and it holds together on the grill, in the pan or in a curry. Bleed and ice on capture; unbled jewfish go soft. The modest fish eat cleaner than the big breeders, which can be coarse and watery through the thickest part of the fillet. Pan-fry, bake, crumb or cut thick cutlets for the barbecue. It's very good raw when it's fresh, and it freezes better than most if skinned, portioned and vac-sealed.