What can you catch off Port Hughes Jetty?

Garfish, tommy ruff (Australian herring), blue swimmer crabs, snook at night, King George whiting off the end, and the odd salmon trout, mullet and leatherjacket. Garfish are legal here because Port Hughes is in the Spencer Gulf zone — the 1 May 2026 garfish closure only covers Gulf St Vincent and Kangaroo Island. Southern calamari are closed across both gulfs with no end date, and snapper are closed until 30 June 2027.

Can you catch squid at Port Hughes Jetty?

Not legally right now. Southern calamari has been closed to all recreational targeting, take and possession in Spencer Gulf and Gulf St Vincent since 1 May 2026, and PIRSA has not published an end date. Port Hughes was a superb squid jetty before the closure — when it reopens, dusk and night around the piles with a 2.5 to 3.0 jig is the drill.

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

Blue swimmer crabs run from about November to April and peak in January and February. Drop nets baited with fish frames off the jetty on a rising tide is the standard method. Minimum size is 11 cm across the carapace, the bag is 20 per person, and berried females must go back immediately.

Do I need a fishing licence to fish Port Hughes Jetty?

No. South Australia has no general recreational fishing licence. You are still bound by the size, bag and boat limits and the closures, which differ between the Spencer Gulf and Gulf St Vincent zones — the free SA Fishing app has the current rules.

Is Port Hughes Jetty good for kids and beginners?

Yes. It is railed along both sides, flat, and has toilets, a kiosk and a picnic area at the foot. Garfish and tommies on a float rig are as forgiving a start as fishing gets, and crab nets keep children busy. Watch the uneven planks and keep them away from the dive steps.

Bite Compass

Bite Forecast

Port Hughes Jetty

Mon 12 Oct 2026 · Australia/Adelaide

Forecast updated Mon 12 Oct, 10:33pm ACDT

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12 Oct

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Today Tomorrow Sat 17 Oct

📍 Port Hughes Jetty

new · 1%

Weather: Cloudy Wind: S 174° · 14 km/h Swell: 0.7 m @ 6 s SW Water: 18.6 °C Pressure: 1021.6 hPa ↑ rising Faces north-west · Offshore: E, SE, S · Onshore: W, NW, N · Forecast wind: offshore

★★★☆☆

Medium Fish Activity

▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 6:30 am

Solunar Minor window

Time of day Dawn

Tide Moving

Wind SW 16 km/h

Moon new all day

Water temp 18.6 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 6:17 am Last light 7:55 pm

High 4:06 am Low 11:38 am High 4:30 pm Low 9:57 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

7:00 pm → 10:30 pm

3h 30m

Good

1:30 am → 4:00 am

2h 30m

Good

1:30 pm → 3:00 pm

1h 30m

First light

6:17 am

Last light

7:55 pm

Sunrise

6:42 am

Sunset

7:30 pm

Moonrise

7:08 am

Moonset

9:14 pm

High tide

4:06 am

Low tide

11:38 am

High tide

4:30 pm

Low tide

9:57 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

🌧️

16°

↙︎

224°

12 km/h

1am

☀️

16°

↙︎

208°

15 km/h

2am

☀️

15°

↓︎

199°

14 km/h

3am

☀️

15°

↓︎

199°

15 km/h

4am

☀️

13°

↓︎

189°

9 km/h

5am

☀️

14°

↙︎

204°

15 km/h

6am

☁️

14°

↙︎

207°

16 km/h

7am

☁️

15°

↙︎

211°

17 km/h

8am

☁️

15°

↙︎

212°

19 km/h

9am

☁️

15°

↙︎

208°

23 km/h

10am

☁️

17°

↙︎

209°

21 km/h

11am

☁️

17°

↙︎

212°

20 km/h

12pm

☁️

17°

↙︎

213°

19 km/h

1pm

☁️

17°

↙︎

211°

19 km/h

2pm

☁️

17°

↙︎

211°

19 km/h

3pm

☁️

16°

↙︎

208°

20 km/h

4pm

☁️

16°

↙︎

209°

20 km/h

5pm

☁️

16°

↙︎

206°

20 km/h

6pm

☁️

15°

↓︎

201°

18 km/h

7pm

☁️

14°

↓︎

197°

17 km/h

8pm

☁️

14°

↓︎

199°

15 km/h

9pm

☁️

13°

↓︎

188°

15 km/h

10pm

☁️

13°

↓︎

184°

15 km/h

11pm

☁️

12°

↓︎

174°

14 km/h

Hourly Swell

Steady ~0.7 m SW

12am

0.8 m

@ 12 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

1am

0.8 m

@ 12 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

2am

0.7 m

@ 12 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

3am

0.7 m

@ 12 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

4am

0.7 m

@ 12 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

5am

0.7 m

@ 12 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

6am

0.7 m

@ 12 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

7am

0.7 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

8am

0.7 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Slight

9am

0.7 m

@ 7 s

↙︎

Slight

chop

10am

0.7 m

@ 5 s

↙︎

Slight

chop

11am

0.7 m

@ 5 s

↙︎

Slight

chop

12pm

0.7 m

@ 5 s

↙︎

Slight

chop

1pm

0.8 m

@ 5 s

↙︎

Slight

chop

2pm

0.7 m

@ 7 s

↙︎

Slight

chop

3pm

0.7 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Slight

4pm

0.6 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

5pm

0.6 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

6pm

0.6 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

7pm

0.6 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

8pm

0.7 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Slight

9pm

0.7 m

@ 6 s

↙︎

Slight

chop

10pm

0.7 m

@ 5 s

↙︎

Slight

chop

11pm

0.7 m

@ 6 s

↙︎

Slight

chop

Water Temp (°C)

→ steady around 18.6°

Fri

9 Oct

18.4°

Sat

10 Oct

18.3°

Sun

11 Oct

18.5°

Mon

12 Oct

18.6°

Tue

13 Oct

18.3°

Wed

14 Oct

18.1°

Thu

15 Oct

18.1°

Fri

16 Oct

18.0°

Sat

17 Oct

18.3°

Sun

18 Oct

18.8°

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 14 km/h S (174°).

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

7:00 pm → 10:30 pm

3h 30m

Good

1:30 am → 4:00 am

2h 30m

Good

1:30 pm → 3:00 pm

1h 30m

First light

6:17 am

Last light

7:55 pm

Sunrise

6:42 am

Sunset

7:30 pm

Moonrise

7:08 am

Moonset

9:14 pm

High tide

4:06 am

Low tide

11:38 am

High tide

4:30 pm

Low tide

9:57 pm

Nearby spots

Species at this spot