Fishing South Australia – Squid Fishing In Town
By: Phil Foo
When you hear of the country Australia, what comes to your mind? For most people it will be kangaroos, koalas, boomerangs, and to a certain extent, the didgeridoo. For anglers, we see Australia as this fishing wonderland. Well, Australia certainly is a fishing wonderland or perhaps an angler’s paradise; whichever way you want to see it.
[ I stumbled upon squid fishing here in the most unusual way. My family and I were driving back to Adelaide… ]
Australia was one of my playgrounds. It certainly is a unique place. It is home to some of the most dangerous creatures in the world such as deadly snakes, spiders, etc. It is also home to some of the most unique mammals such as kangaroos, koalas, Tasmanian devils, wombats, and emus. As an angler, fishing in Australia holds a special place in my mind. One of my favourite experiences is squid fishing in town.
A highly venomous redback spider, also known as the black widow spider that made a small area of the garden-shed in the backyard, its home. This is common in South Australia.
Here in Malaysia, squid fishing usually entails hopping on a boat and heading out to sea. But at a quaint little town in South Australia, one can park one’s car at the parking lots, walk across the road, and start fishing for squids. The squids are plentiful too. This quaint little town is Port Vincent on the east coast of the Yorke Peninsula in South Australia.
Nature Calls
I stumbled upon squid fishing here in the most unusual way. My family and I were driving back to Adelaide after spending two days at Dhilba Guuranda-Innes National Park (about 300 km from Adelaide). I decided to drive into Port Vincent due to a toilet emergency. I parked the car in front of the public toilets and noticed a lady fishing at the nearby jetty. My focus shifted from the need to pee to hmmm, what’s she fishing there; for a few seconds.
These toilets here helped me discover squid fishing in town.
After answering the call of the wild I walked over to the lady and ask her how’s the fishing been. She said good and proceeded to pull up a squid. Seeing her catch, my eyes popped wide open and my heart started racing. I’ve got my fishing tackle in the boot of my car. The only problem is that I left my squid jigs back in Adelaide. No problem, there is a tackle shop about a kilometer away. I got into the car, drove to the tackle shop, bought some squid jigs, and headed back to the little jetty.
The jetty where squids are a plenty.
Here is a tip for anglers planning a fishing trip to Australia when the borders are open again. Buy your lures here (Malaysia). Lures are priced higher in Australia, taking into consideration the exchange rates. And many of the lures available there can be found here too; with the exception of Halco lures of which are awesome lures. I mean you can get them here but they are not as easily available.
Yes, squid fishing this close to land.
Anyway, I headed back to Marine Parade (street) and parked where I had parked earlier. I walked over to the little jetty (about 50 feet in length and 5 feet wide), tied on a brown and white squid jig, and started entertaining squids. Within a few seconds I felt a tug on my line and my rod started to bend. I slowly reeled in my line and up came my first squid.
AUD$9.95.00 for this squid lure.
Two very effective lures for catching squid here at Port Vincent.
I put my first catch into a keep bag and proceeded to drop the squid jig back into the water. Within a few seconds I was on to my second squid. I spent about 20 minutes here and reached my daily bag limit of 15 squids. All 15 squids were caught on the same two lures. Yes, it is that easy to catch them. Needless to say, that evening dinner consisted of delicious fried fresh Southern calamari.
Easy catch right in town. This squid species is the Southern calamari as it is called here in Australia.
Follow The Law
When it comes to bag limits; Australia has very strict laws and breaking them can and will result in fines and even jail time. The bag limits for Southern calamari is 15 pieces per day per person. You are not allowed to sell or trade them without a commercial fishing license. If you do so, and get caught, you will have to face the painful consequences of the law. When fishing in Australia, follow the law.
