Is the Port MacDonnell jetty open?

Yes. There is no closure or damage on record, it was restored in 2015 for $650,000, and the official Limestone Coast fishing guide was still recommending it by name in August 2026. It was not touched by the 2025 storms that destroyed the Robe and Kingston SE jetties. The council's own coastal page could not be read, so if you are driving a long way it is worth a call to the council or the visitor centre first.

What can you catch off Port MacDonnell Jetty?

Tommy ruff are the main target, with Australian salmon, King George whiting, southern calamari, garfish and mullet the rest of the everyday list. Snook take lures in the warm months and summer snapper come from the surf near the rock outcrops. The breakwater fishes the same species with more water under it.

Can you drop a cray pot or a drop net off the Port MacDonnell breakwater?

No. The breakwater is a gear-restricted area where only a rod, handline or hand net may be used, and it is also a declared rock lobster fishing restriction area where crays are protected at all times with a maximum penalty of $35,000. Pots, drop nets, hoop nets, crab nets and snares are all prohibited there. The southern zone rock lobster season is closed anyway, from 6pm on 31 May to 6am on 1 October.

Can you keep snapper at Port MacDonnell?

Yes. The South East is the only zone in South Australia where snapper are open while the rest of the state stays closed until at least 30 June 2027. The minimum is 38 cm with a bag of 5 and a boat limit of 15, and every snapper you keep must be reported through the free SA Fishing app.

Do you need a fishing licence at Port MacDonnell?

No, there is no general recreational fishing licence in South Australia. Size limits, bag limits and closures still apply, and the South East zone's rules differ from the gulfs — squid and garfish are open here and snapper is legal — so the free SA Fishing app is worth carrying.

Bite Compass

Bite Forecast

Port MacDonnell Jetty & Breakwater

Tue 01 Sep 2026 · Australia/Adelaide

Save

←

1 Sep

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Today Tomorrow Sun 6 Sep

📍 Port MacDonnell Jetty & Breakwater

waning gibbous · 83%

Weather: Cloudy Wind: NW 331° · 27 km/h Swell: 2.4 m @ 12 s SW Water: 15.0 °C Pressure: 1011.9 hPa ↓ falling

★★☆☆☆

Low Fish Activity

▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 6:00 pm

Solunar Between windows

Time of day Dusk

Tide Moving

Wind W 25 km/h

Moon waning gibbous all day

Water temp 15.0 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

5:30 pm → 7:00 pm

1h 30m

Good

6:00 am → 7:00 am

First light

6:03 am

Last light

6:11 pm

Sunrise

6:29 am

Sunset

5:45 pm

Moonrise

10:16 pm

Moonset

8:05 am

High tide

1:10 am

Low tide

6:50 am

High tide

12:42 pm

Low tide

6:54 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☀️

10°

↑︎

5°

18 km/h

1am

☀️

10°

↑︎

2°

20 km/h

2am

☀️

10°

↑︎

358°

22 km/h

3am

☀️

10°

↑︎

356°

23 km/h

4am

☀️

11°

↑︎

355°

26 km/h

5am

☀️

11°

↑︎

355°

27 km/h

6am

☀️

11°

↑︎

356°

28 km/h

7am

☁️

11°

↑︎

357°

28 km/h

8am

☁️

13°

↑︎

355°

27 km/h

9am

☁️

14°

↑︎

351°

29 km/h

10am

☁️

15°

↑︎

345°

29 km/h

11am

☁️

17°

↑︎

346°

28 km/h

12pm

☁️

18°

↖︎

331°

27 km/h

1pm

🌧️

17°

↖︎

310°

33 km/h

2pm

🌧️

15°

↖︎

313°

29 km/h

3pm

🌧️

14°

↖︎

324°

26 km/h

4pm

🌧️

15°

↖︎

317°

26 km/h

5pm

🌧️

14°

↖︎

309°

25 km/h

6pm

🌧️

14°

←︎

259°

25 km/h

7pm

🌧️

13°

↙︎

224°

17 km/h

8pm

☁️

12°

↙︎

225°

13 km/h

9pm

☁️

12°

↙︎

244°

17 km/h

10pm

☁️

11°

↙︎

246°

16 km/h

11pm

☁️

11°

↙︎

246°

15 km/h

Hourly Swell

Easing 3.0 → 2.2 m SW

12am

3.0 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Heavy

ground

1am

2.9 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

2am

2.9 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

3am

2.8 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

4am

2.7 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

5am

2.7 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

6am

2.6 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

7am

2.6 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

8am

2.6 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

9am

2.5 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

10am

2.5 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

11am

2.4 m

@ 12 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

12pm

2.4 m

@ 12 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

1pm

2.3 m

@ 12 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

2pm

2.3 m

@ 12 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

3pm

2.3 m

@ 12 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

4pm

2.2 m

@ 12 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

5pm

2.2 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

6pm

2.1 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

7pm

2.1 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

8pm

2.1 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

9pm

2.1 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

10pm

2.2 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

11pm

2.2 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

Water Temp (°C)

→ steady around 15.0°

Sat

29 Aug

14.9°

Sun

30 Aug

15.1°

Mon

31 Aug

15.2°

Tue

1 Sep

15.0°

Wed

2 Sep

14.8°

Thu

3 Sep

14.6°

Fri

4 Sep

14.6°

Sat

5 Sep

14.6°

Sun

6 Sep

14.6°

Mon

7 Sep

14.5°

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 27 km/h NW (331°).

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 pm → 7:00 pm

1h 30m

Good

6:00 am → 7:00 am

First light

6:03 am

Last light

6:11 pm

Sunrise

6:29 am

Sunset

5:45 pm

Moonrise

10:16 pm

Moonset

8:05 am

High tide

1:10 am

Low tide

6:50 am

High tide

12:42 pm

Low tide

6:54 pm

Nearby spots

Carpenter Rocks (Bucks Bay) 31.2 km

Species at this spot

Australian Herring
Australian Salmon
King George Whiting
Southern Calamari (Squid)
Garfish
Pink Snapper
Yelloweye Mullet
Snook