Fishing in Coorong National Park

The Coorong National Park stretches along South Australia's Fleurieu Peninsula coast, protecting a long, narrow saltwater lagoon separated from the Southern Ocean by the Younghusband Peninsula.

That lagoon — the Coorong itself — runs roughly parallel to the ocean for well over a hundred kilometres, backed by dunes on one side and the open beach on the other. It's a Ramsar-listed wetland, which shapes how you fish here and why it matters.

The Coorong lagoon is the central water. Commercial fishers have long worked it for mullet and mulloway, and recreational anglers follow the same fish. Mulloway are the headline target — fish over a metre are possible, particularly along the ocean beach.

The lagoon holds 93 fish species in total, a mix of salt and freshwater species that reflects its position at the lower end of the Murray system. European carp are present as an introduced species.

Ocean Beach is the other side of the dunes: steep surf beach with deep gutters close to shore. A surf rod and a heavy anchoring sinker are the practical tools here.

The remoteness of the beach increases the further south you go — 4WD access is the norm for reaching the better stretches. Salt Creek is a known access point for fishing the area.

Fishing is allowed within 150 metres of the barrages, the structures that separate Lake Alexandrina from the sea. Fishing is not permitted in marine park sanctuary zones within the park.

Check current rules with the park before you go — boundaries matter here in a way they don't on open coast. The Coorong is the kind of place where the fishing and the landscape are inseparable.

The birds, the light, the scale of the lagoon — they're part of the experience whether you're after them or not. Fish it with that in mind.