Can you still fish off the Cape Jervis jetty?

No — the old public jetty beside the ferry terminal was demolished in 2024 as part of the SeaLink port upgrade for the larger ferries, and no replacement fishing jetty was built. Land-based fishing at Cape Jervis now means the rock ledges around the headland and the marina breakwall, or the nearby beaches at Fishery Bay and Morgans Beach. For a standing jetty over deep water, Rapid Bay and Second Valley are the closest options up the coast.

Can you catch snapper at Cape Jervis?

No. Snapper is closed to all fishing — both keeping and catch-and-release — in the Gulf St Vincent and Kangaroo Island Fishing Zone, which includes Cape Jervis and Backstairs Passage, until 30 June 2027. You also must not transit a closure area carrying legally caught snapper, so a South East fish cannot be brought back to the Cape Jervis ramp. The only South Australian zone where snapper is currently open is the South East Fishing Zone, which begins just east of Cape Jervis at the southern tip of the Fleurieu Peninsula — the boundary runs south from there to Cape St Albans on Kangaroo Island. Always check the current PIRSA rules before you fish.

Do you need a fishing licence at Cape Jervis?

No. South Australia has no general recreational fishing licence, so you can fish the rocks and beaches at Cape Jervis without paying for a permit. You still have to follow PIRSA bag, boat and size limits and the snapper closure, and those rules apply to everyone regardless of licence.

What is the best time to fish the Cape Jervis rocks?

Fish the tide. Backstairs Passage runs hard, so the hour either side of the tide turn is when the current is workable and bait holds against the rocks. Early morning on a light wind, before the afternoon sea breeze, is the prime window for salmon — and for squid once Gulf St Vincent reopens. A solid southerly swell washes the lower ledges and shuts the spot down, so pick a settled day.

What can you actually catch land-based at Cape Jervis?

Australian salmon off the rocks more or less year-round, yellowtail kingfish through the warmer months, and tommy ruff in winter — southern calamari and southern garfish are both closed in the Gulf St Vincent zone from 1 May 2026 with no end date published. Snook and silver trevally fill in across the seasons, and a mulloway is an outside chance off the nearby beaches after rain. Snapper, despite the area's history, cannot be targeted under the current closure.

Bite Compass

Bite Forecast

Cape Jervis Jetty

Sun 18 Oct 2026 · Australia/Adelaide

Forecast updated 7:31am ACDT

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18 Oct

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Today Tomorrow Sat 17 Oct

📍 Cape Jervis Jetty

first quarter · 43%

Weather: Sunny Wind: N 349° · 11 km/h Swell: flat Water: 16.9 °C Pressure: 1023.3 hPa → steady Faces west · Offshore: NE, E, SE · Onshore: SW, W, NW · Forecast wind: cross-shore

★★★☆☆

Medium Fish Activity

▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 6:30 am

Solunar Major window

Time of day Dawn

Tide Turning

Wind NE 16 km/h

Moon first quarter all day

Water temp 16.9 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 6:05 am Last light 8:01 pm

High 6:23 am Low 3:10 pm High 6:00 pm Low 10:10 pm

Drag or use arrow keys to explore

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

5:30 am → 8:30 am

Good

6:00 pm → 9:00 pm

Good

1:30 am → 2:30 am

Good

11:30 am → 12:00 pm

30m

First light

6:05 am

Last light

8:01 pm

Sunrise

6:31 am

Sunset

7:35 pm

Moonrise

11:32 am

Moonset

1:52 am

High tide

6:23 am

Low tide

3:10 pm

High tide

6:00 pm

Low tide

10:10 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☀️

17°

→︎

100°

14 km/h

1am

☀️

17°

→︎

92°

13 km/h

2am

☀️

18°

→︎

80°

13 km/h

3am

☀️

18°

↗︎

66°

14 km/h

4am

☀️

18°

↗︎

58°

15 km/h

5am

☀️

18°

↗︎

55°

16 km/h

6am

☀️

18°

↗︎

54°

16 km/h

7am

☀️

19°

↗︎

51°

16 km/h

8am

☀️

20°

↗︎

42°

16 km/h

9am

☀️

22°

↗︎

29°

16 km/h

10am

☀️

23°

↑︎

19°

16 km/h

11am

☀️

24°

↑︎

7°

13 km/h

12pm

☀️

24°

↑︎

349°

11 km/h

1pm

☀️

24°

↖︎

332°

8 km/h

2pm

☀️

24°

↖︎

326°

3 km/h

3pm

☀️

24°

↘︎

130°

3 km/h

4pm

☀️

25°

↘︎

135°

8 km/h

5pm

☀️

23°

↘︎

153°

7 km/h

6pm

☀️

23°

↘︎

131°

7 km/h

7pm

☀️

23°

→︎

106°

9 km/h

8pm

☀️

22°

→︎

88°

11 km/h

9pm

☀️

22°

→︎

77°

14 km/h

10pm

☀️

21°

→︎

71°

16 km/h

11pm

☀️

21°

↗︎

66°

17 km/h

Hourly Swell

Steady ~0.1 m SE

12am

Calm

1am

Calm

2am

Calm

3am

Calm

4am

Calm

5am

Calm

6am

Calm

7am

Calm

8am

Calm

9am

Calm

10am

Calm

11am

Calm

12pm

Calm

1pm

Calm

2pm

Calm

3pm

Calm

4pm

Calm

5pm

Calm

6pm

Calm

7pm

Calm

8pm

0.2 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Calm

chop

9pm

0.1 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Calm

10pm

0.1 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Calm

11pm

0.1 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Calm

Water Temp (°C)

↗ warming — up 0.9° over the last 3 days

Thu

15 Oct

16.0°

Fri

16 Oct

16.1°

Sat

17 Oct

16.5°

Sun

18 Oct

16.9°

Mon

19 Oct

17.2°

Tue

20 Oct

17.0°

Wed

21 Oct

16.8°

Thu

22 Oct

—

Fri

23 Oct

—

Sat

24 Oct

—

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 11 km/h N (349°).

Wind map data: ECMWF HRES (operational), updated every 6 hours. Not for navigation.

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

5:30 am → 8:30 am

Good

6:00 pm → 9:00 pm

Good

1:30 am → 2:30 am

Good

11:30 am → 12:00 pm

30m

First light

6:05 am

Last light

8:01 pm

Sunrise

6:31 am

Sunset

7:35 pm

Moonrise

11:32 am

Moonset

1:52 am

High tide

6:23 am

Low tide

3:10 pm

High tide

6:00 pm

Low tide

10:10 pm

Nearby spots

Species at this spot