What can you catch off Henley Beach Jetty?

Tommy ruff (Australian herring) and yelloweye mullet are the year-round mainstays, with yellowfin whiting in the summer shallows and blue swimmer crabs from October to April. Off the end on warm nights you can pick up gummy sharks, the occasional school mulloway and various rays. Garfish and southern calamari are part of the usual mix but are both closed to recreational fishing in Gulf St Vincent from 1 May 2026 with no end date published.

Do I need a fishing licence to fish Henley Beach Jetty?

No. South Australia does not require a general recreational fishing licence, so you can fish the jetty without paperwork. You still have to follow PIRSA bag and size limits, which change by species and zone — King George whiting, for example, is 32cm with a daily bag of 5 per person in the Gulf St Vincent and Kangaroo Island zone.

Can you catch snapper at Henley Beach Jetty?

Not legally right now. Snapper fishing is closed across Gulf St Vincent, Spencer Gulf and the West Coast until 30 June 2027, and the closure covers catch-and-release as well as taking fish. Big snapper were historically caught off the jetty end in rough weather, but they are off the menu until the closure lifts.

When is the best time to fish Henley Beach Jetty?

Warm, still summer evenings are the prime window — the tommy ruff switch on around dusk and locals fish on into the night, especially with a berley trail going — garfish and squid would too, but both are closed in Gulf St Vincent. The run-in tide around dusk and the low-light hours are most productive. A strong westerly sea breeze brings chop and weed and tends to blow the float fishing out.

Is Henley Beach Jetty good for kids and crabbing?

Yes on both counts. The deck is flat, wide and railed with toilets, cafes and shade at Henley Square, which makes it one of the more family-friendly metro jetties. Blue swimmer crabs run from October to April — most crabbers work the shallows off the beach end with rakes or drop nets, keeping only crabs of 11cm or more across the spine base.

Bite Compass

Bite Forecast

Henley Beach Jetty

Sat 17 Oct 2026 · Australia/Adelaide

Forecast updated 12:32am ACDT

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←

17 Oct

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Today Tomorrow Sat 17 Oct

📍 Henley Beach Jetty

first quarter · 32%

Weather: Sunny Wind: W 285° · 5 km/h Swell: 0.1 m @ 13 s SW Water: 17.7 °C Pressure: 1022.1 hPa ↓ falling Faces west · Offshore: NE, E, SE · Onshore: SW, W, NW · Forecast wind: onshore

★★★★☆

High Fish Activity

▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 6:30 am

Solunar Major window

Time of day Dawn

Tide Moving

Wind E 13 km/h

Moon first quarter all day

Water temp 17.7 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 6:06 am Last light 7:57 pm

Low 12:11 am High 6:44 am Low 1:19 pm High 6:51 pm

Drag or use arrow keys to explore

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

5:30 am → 8:00 am

2h 30m

Good

5:30 pm → 9:00 pm

3h 30m

Good

1:00 am → 1:30 am

30m

First light

6:06 am

Last light

7:57 pm

Sunrise

6:31 am

Sunset

7:31 pm

Moonrise

10:35 am

Moonset

1:03 am

Low tide

12:11 am

High tide

6:44 am

Low tide

1:19 pm

High tide

6:51 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

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19°

→︎

77°

15 km/h

1am

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18°

→︎

71°

16 km/h

2am

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18°

→︎

69°

16 km/h

3am

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18°

→︎

69°

15 km/h

4am

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17°

→︎

69°

14 km/h

5am

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17°

→︎

69°

14 km/h

6am

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17°

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70°

13 km/h

7am

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17°

→︎

68°

12 km/h

8am

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19°

↗︎

59°

11 km/h

9am

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22°

↗︎

43°

10 km/h

10am

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24°

↗︎

26°

8 km/h

11am

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25°

↑︎

352°

5 km/h

12pm

☀️

25°

←︎

285°

5 km/h

1pm

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26°

←︎

257°

9 km/h

2pm

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25°

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243°

12 km/h

3pm

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25°

↙︎

231°

14 km/h

4pm

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25°

↙︎

221°

14 km/h

5pm

☀️

24°

↙︎

209°

14 km/h

6pm

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24°

↓︎

191°

12 km/h

7pm

☀️

24°

↓︎

170°

11 km/h

8pm

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23°

↘︎

145°

11 km/h

9pm

☀️

22°

↘︎

121°

13 km/h

10pm

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21°

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105°

15 km/h

11pm

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20°

→︎

93°

15 km/h

Hourly Swell

Steady ~0.1 m SW

12am

0.1 m

@ 9 s

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Calm

1am

0.1 m

@ 9 s

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Calm

2am

0.1 m

@ 9 s

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Calm

3am

0.1 m

@ 9 s

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Calm

4am

0.1 m

@ 9 s

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Calm

5am

0.1 m

@ 9 s

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Calm

6am

0.1 m

@ 8 s

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Calm

7am

0.1 m

@ 9 s

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Calm

8am

0.1 m

@ 10 s

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Calm

ground

9am

0.1 m

@ 12 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

10am

0.1 m

@ 13 s

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Calm

ground

11am

0.1 m

@ 14 s

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Calm

ground

12pm

0.1 m

@ 13 s

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Calm

ground

1pm

0.1 m

@ 13 s

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Calm

ground

2pm

0.1 m

@ 13 s

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Calm

ground

3pm

0.1 m

@ 13 s

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Calm

ground

4pm

0.1 m

@ 13 s

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Calm

ground

5pm

0.1 m

@ 13 s

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Calm

ground

6pm

0.1 m

@ 13 s

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Calm

ground

7pm

0.1 m

@ 13 s

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Calm

ground

8pm

0.1 m

@ 13 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

9pm

0.1 m

@ 13 s

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Calm

ground

10pm

0.1 m

@ 13 s

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Calm

ground

11pm

0.1 m

@ 12 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

Water Temp (°C)

↗ warming — up 0.7° over the last 3 days

Wed

14 Oct

17.0°

Thu

15 Oct

17.0°

Fri

16 Oct

17.2°

Sat

17 Oct

17.7°

Sun

18 Oct

18.0°

Mon

19 Oct

18.3°

Tue

20 Oct

18.2°

Wed

21 Oct

18.2°

Thu

22 Oct

—

Fri

23 Oct

—

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 5 km/h W (285°).

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 → 8:00 am

2h 30m

Good

5:30 pm → 9:00 pm

3h 30m

Good

1:00 am → 1:30 am

30m

First light

6:06 am

Last light

7:57 pm

Sunrise

6:31 am

Sunset

7:31 pm

Moonrise

10:35 am

Moonset

1:03 am

Low tide

12:11 am

High tide

6:44 am

Low tide

1:19 pm

High tide

6:51 pm

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Species at this spot