Episode 519: Five Best Fishing Impoundments In South Australia With Alex Williams

Alex’s SA Native Fishing Tackle

• The storages in South Australia were only recently stocked with Murray cod, golden perch and silver perch, and as the cod haven’t had the opportunity yet to grow to gargantuan sizes all species can be targeted with the same basic tackle.
• Alex uses a Shimano Zodias baitcast rod with a matching reel, 16lb line and 16lb leader.
• A spin setup is great for vibing and Alex likes the Shimano Dialuna with 16lb line and leader. Alex finds this is perfect for “teabagging” lures around structure.
• FT Lures (now defunct) made some great local crankbaits and spinnerbaits that were perfect for this fishery, but there are plenty around on the second hand market.
• Chamos Lures are made in the Barossa region and include inline spinners that are dynamite on goldens, but also makes a range of deadly timber lures.
• Tuckertime Lures by Heath Bassett are deeper diving timber crankbaits that are perfect for cod and yellowbelly.
• Crankbaits in the 4m diving range are the most useful around rockwalls and weed beds and Alex likes darker colours in dirty water, such as dark blue. In clear water reservoirs Alex likes brighter colours such as bright green or yellow.
• Spinnerbaits range from 1/8 upwards and the Colorado style blades work best. Dark blue or black/red colours are good.
• Vibes and blades such as a Pro Lure  or rattling bibless crankbaits are a great option in these systems too.
• SA Reservoirs are only open to pedal or paddle powered kayaks or land-based fishing and are day-use only.
• Murray cod are catch and release only, other native fish have a bag limit of two per person. There are redfin in many of these systems for those wanting to catch a tasty feed.

Bundaleer Reservoir

• This small storage is around 2 hrs from Adelaide, near a town called Spalding and was opened to fishing and stocked with golden and silver perch and Murray cod in 2016.
• Bundaleer Reservoir is often only 10-20% full and requires a bit of a trek from the car park. It can be fished by kayak, but be prepared for a bit of hard work getting the yak back up to the car at the end of the day!
• The system is a barren, mudbowl with almost no structure, and yet holds some of the best quality and healthiest native fish due to the large schools of Australian Smelt for them to feed on.
• The water clarity is not clear but also not the dirtiest. Land based it’s just a case of walking the shoreline and making searching casts. From a kayak, use the sounder to find the bait schools and the fish will be there, or trolling can be effective too.
• Warmer weather and warmer water tend to fish best and the fishing is good right through the day regardless of conditions.

Warren Reservoir

• Located in the Barossa region and only 45 minutes from Adelaide. This was the first reservoir opened to anglers back in 2010, although golden perch, silver perch and Murray cod weren’t stocked until 2016.
• The system contains lots of tree stumps, fallen timber and rock walls. However, the water is pumped from the Murray River and as a result, it’s very murky and dirty.
• Dark lures fished very slowly seem to work best and anglers will mostly be looking for structure that holds fish, rather than the bait balls that hold fish at Bundaleer.
• Trolling hard bodies such as Tuckertime Lures and Daiwa RPM’s along rock walls is a good strategy for golden perch and cod, as is siting off the structure and making casts, ensuring you feel the lure make contact with rocks and structure.
• Silver perch are less frequently taken from Warren Reservoir, but tend to come from the flats and weedbeds, rather than the rockwalls and timber.
• Also a great place to take a feed of redfin!

Myponga Reservoir

• A popular fishing storage about 45 minutes south of Adelaide, Myponga is situated among pine forests and has very limited rock and timber structure but has extensive weed beds that are home to a large redfin population, with some quality size fish.
• This storage was first stocked in 2019 and opened to anglers in 2020, so golden and silver perch are around the 30-35 and cod around 50cm are currently being caught.
• This is a clear water storage, so brighter lure colours tend to work best and trolling them along the edges of weed beds.
• Land-based angling is limited by the need to reach fish on the deeper edges of weedbeds. For kayak anglers it’s around a 500m downhill walk from the carpark, which can be arduous at the other end of the day.

South Para Reservoir

• South Para is the largest of the fishing reservoirs available to SA anglers and is only 5 minutes from Warren Reservoir – although in contrast with Warren it’s much larger and has crystal clear water. As a result, the native fish have beautiful colouration and markings.
• There are extensive banks that are all productive and give the land-based anglers options such as bridges, rock walls, sandy flats.
• Rock walls and rocky outcrops tend to hold some great cod in 4-5m of water, making trolling crankbaits or casting spinnerbaits effective. Golden perch seem to congregate on sandier, shallower flats and take smaller minnow style lures such as the Daiwa Double Clutch.

Aroona Dam

• A very recent fishery, Aroona Dam was stocked with 20,000 golden perch and 10,000 Murray cod as a strategy to draw tourists to the area and support the town of Leigh Creek, 6 hours drive from Adelaide.
• At the upstream end of the reservoir are muddy flats with native vegetation providing awesome habitat and at the downstream end is tall cliffs, deep water and rocky structure. The water here is crystal clear but the fish are fearless.
• Access is by four wheel drive and requires traversing dry creek beds and land-based access is very limited.
• A great place to try surface lures as the fish are aggressive and not fussy about lures.