Coffin Bay Whiting Fishing Charters: In the Eyre Peninsula Region of South Australia

Early morning at the Coffin Bay Boat Ramp and Glen Boucher heads off in search of winter whiting. As we cruise through Kellidie Bay, others are also up early heading to their oyster leases with their escorts of local dolphins.

You need only spend a few minutes exploring the myriad of inlets in this massive bay to realise it's literally teeming with marine life and much of it introduced. Now, the lease holders tend to their racks of Pacific oysters but back in the 1860s, when the first Europeans came to what was then called Oyster Town, these waters were full of native oysters. By the late 1920s the sailing cutters had dredged the bay taking all before them and the fishery collapsed around 1929 or 1930.

For a time the locals tried growing Sydney Rock Oysters which seemed a good idea given the dimensions of Coffin Bay.

“I've heard it likened to the same sort of coastline length as Sydney Harbour itself. We don't have the same water volume because we haven't got the depth. But I would imagine if you were to build out the entire coastline of the Coffin Bay waterway you'd have a Sydney.”

Plenty of water for this nest of sea eagles to explore and plenty of idyllic waterfront acreage for a real estate boom which shows no signs of slowing.

Soon we leave the channel into Kellidie Bay bound for more open water and the islands called The Brothers where our early geological history is captured in some strange rocky spires.

“This area is two point four billion years old and when all the tectonic plates pulled apart a long time ago this area of the coast came from where Mawson Sound is now in Antarctica - when Gondwana split away. What are the strange spires? Well, it was subtropical temperate rainforest and the spires (we see today) are a petrified root system and limestone.”

And on the exposed root system of this petrified forest the Cape Barron Geese create a temporary home before setting off again to the Antarctic's offshore islands. They're no strangers to cold water... and neither are Andy and Vicki Blessing.

“And how cold is out there?”

“Twelve and a half degrees.”

“And I suppose winter is a key time for you to be out here?”

“It's harvest time of the year basically.”

There are about one hundred and seventy hectares of oyster leases scattered throughout the bay system and in winter the cold water with it's increased nutrient flow means this is the time when these famous oysters fatten up.

“The area's called ‘Longnose’. There's a big long strip of land that protects us from the open sea. And there's the outlet to the open ocean just through a little funnel system.”

These may sell for up to one hundred and twenty dollars a dozen in Hong Kong but today they're free.

“I'll have one more then. You've talked me into it.”

With so many distractions it's easy to lose sight of the main game and our search for winter whiting in a bay like this the search is half the fun. Soon Glen's burleying up with his own special concoction at a spot famous in Australian cinema history. This is where the movie Gallipoli was filmed after an extensive search of Australia's coastline.

So Gallipoli Beach, a spot that looks remarkably like Anzac Cove in Turkey, we drop a line in search of a South Australian treasure and soon they're on the bite. The classic winter whiting are darker in colour and bigger than the one we caught. Sometimes a mild summer can delay their development by a couple of months which means the big ones are still out here and should be right through Spring.

Coffin Bay is at the bottom of Eyre Peninsula. A half day costs $80 per person and a full day one hundred and fifty dollars. You can contact Glen Boucher of +61 (0)8 8685 4355. If you have any further questions please email info@postcards.sa.com.au For accommodation details at Coffin Bay please visit www.sahotels.com.au/coffinbay