Is Port Germein Jetty open?

No. It has been closed since storm damage in May 2025. Repair designs are with the Department for Infrastructure and Transport, tenders were planned for mid to late 2026, and the council hopes to reopen around Christmas 2026 — but the date is not locked in. The beach and the crabbing flats stay open regardless.

Can you still go crabbing at Port Germein?

Yes — the famous flats never closed. The jetty area sits in Zone 2 of the Port Pirie heavy-metal closure, where razorfish are banned but crabbing is legal; the actual crab ban (Zone 1) starts about 10 km south at Weeroona Island. Crabs must measure 11 cm across the carapace, the bag is 20, and berried females go straight back. SA Health publishes consumption advice for seafood from the area.

Is crab raking legal in South Australia?

Yes. The crab rake is listed permitted gear, with no registration required. Measure crabs the moment they are caught — 11 cm across the carapace — and return berried females immediately. If you net instead, drop nets are limited to three per person and hoop nets to ten (three if you are also using a rod), with fish-based bait only.

When is the best time to catch crabs at Port Germein?

Local lore says the months with an R — September through April — and the warm water from November to March rakes best. Work the flats from about an hour before low tide with a rake and a floating tub; when the jetty reopens, drop nets on the high tide are the classic method.

How long is Port Germein Jetty?

About 1.5 km — most sources say 1,532 metres — which makes it South Australia's longest wooden jetty. It was 1,680 metres after the 1883 extension and was then the longest jetty in Australia; storms have trimmed it since.

Do I need a fishing licence at Port Germein?

No. South Australia has no general recreational fishing licence. Size, bag and closure rules still apply and differ by zone — Port Germein is Spencer Gulf water — and the free SA Fishing app has the current rules.

Bite Compass

Bite Forecast

Port Germein Jetty

Fri 23 Oct 2026 · Australia/Adelaide

Forecast updated 2:32pm ACDT

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←

23 Oct

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Today Tomorrow Sun 18 Oct

📍 Port Germein Jetty

waxing gibbous · 90%

Weather: Sunny Wind: SW 219° · 30 km/h Swell: 0.1 m @ 11 s SW Water: 20.6 °C Pressure: 1012.9 hPa ↑ rising Faces south-west · Offshore: N, NE, E · Onshore: S, SW, W · Forecast wind: onshore

★★★★☆

High Fish Activity

▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 6:30 am

Solunar Between windows

Time of day Dawn

Tide Moving

Wind W 12 km/h

Moon waxing gibbous all day

Water temp 20.6 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day Timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 6:03 am Last light 8:02 pm

High 6:17 am Low 1:05 pm High 6:04 pm

Drag or use arrow keys to explore

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

4:00 am → 7:30 am

3h 30m

Good

6:30 pm → 9:00 pm

2h 30m

Good

10:00 pm → 12:00 am

Good

10:30 am → 11:30 am

First light

6:03 am

Last light

8:02 pm

Sunrise

6:28 am

Sunset

7:36 pm

Moonrise

4:38 pm

Moonset

4:27 am

High tide

6:17 am

Low tide

1:05 pm

High tide

6:04 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

🌧️

21°

↗︎

24°

10 km/h

1am

🌧️

21°

↑︎

9°

11 km/h

2am

🌧️

20°

↑︎

355°

12 km/h

3am

🌧️

20°

↑︎

344°

14 km/h

4am

🌧️

20°

↖︎

333°

13 km/h

5am

🌧️

19°

↖︎

316°

12 km/h

6am

🌧️

19°

←︎

290°

12 km/h

7am

🌧️

19°

←︎

263°

14 km/h

8am

🌧️

19°

↙︎

244°

18 km/h

9am

🌧️

18°

↙︎

233°

22 km/h

10am

🌧️

18°

↙︎

227°

26 km/h

11am

☀️

18°

↙︎

223°

29 km/h

12pm

☀️

18°

↙︎

219°

30 km/h

1pm

☀️

18°

↙︎

215°

32 km/h

2pm

☀️

18°

↙︎

212°

32 km/h

3pm

☀️

18°

↙︎

209°

32 km/h

4pm

☀️

17°

↙︎

206°

32 km/h

5pm

☀️

17°

↙︎

203°

30 km/h

6pm

☀️

16°

↓︎

200°

28 km/h

7pm

☀️

15°

↓︎

196°

25 km/h

8pm

☀️

14°

↓︎

190°

21 km/h

9pm

☀️

14°

↓︎

184°

18 km/h

10pm

☀️

13°

↓︎

176°

16 km/h

11pm

☀️

12°

↓︎

168°

15 km/h

Hourly Swell

Building 0.1 → 0.7 m SW

12am

0.1 m

@ 12 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

1am

0.1 m

@ 12 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

2am

0.1 m

@ 12 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

3am

0.1 m

@ 13 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

4am

0.1 m

@ 12 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

5am

0.2 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Calm

6am

Calm

7am

Calm

8am

Calm

9am

0.2 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Calm

10am

0.1 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

11am

0.1 m

@ 12 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

12pm

0.1 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

1pm

0.1 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

2pm

0.1 m

@ 12 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

3pm

0.1 m

@ 12 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

4pm

0.1 m

@ 12 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

5pm

0.2 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Calm

6pm

0.2 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Calm

chop

7pm

Calm

8pm

Calm

9pm

0.5 m

@ 5 s

↙︎

Slight

chop

10pm

0.6 m

@ 5 s

↙︎

Slight

chop

11pm

0.7 m

@ 5 s

↙︎

Slight

chop

Water Temp (°C)

→ steady around 20.6°

Tue

20 Oct

20.5°

Wed

21 Oct

20.6°

Thu

22 Oct

20.9°

Fri

23 Oct

20.6°

Sat

24 Oct

20.5°

Sun

25 Oct

20.5°

Mon

26 Oct

—

Tue

27 Oct

—

Wed

28 Oct

—

Thu

29 Oct

—

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 30 km/h SW (219°).

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

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

4:00 am → 7:30 am

3h 30m

Good

6:30 pm → 9:00 pm

2h 30m

Good

10:00 pm → 12:00 am

Good

10:30 am → 11:30 am

First light

6:03 am

Last light

8:02 pm

Sunrise

6:28 am

Sunset

7:36 pm

Moonrise

4:38 pm

Moonset

4:27 am

High tide

6:17 am

Low tide

1:05 pm

High tide

6:04 pm

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