Do I need a fishing licence to fish Garden Island in the Port River?

No. South Australia has no general recreational fishing licence — you can fish the Garden Island jetty and boardwalk without paying for a permit. You are still bound by size, bag and boat limits and by any closures in place, so check the current rules on the PIRSA website or the free SA Fishing app before you head out, and note that Garden Island is inside the Barker Inlet - St Kilda Aquatic Reserve, where rod and handline are the only legal gear and crab nets are prohibited.

What can you catch at Garden Island jetty?

Black bream year-round, salmon trout (small Australian salmon) on the incoming tide from autumn to spring, and yelloweye mullet through summer and autumn. The wider Port River is one of South Australia's best estuaries for big mulloway, caught mostly at night around the bridges and channel — metre-plus fish are a real possibility. Flathead and silver trevally round out the warmer months.

What is the best tide for bream in the Port River?

The incoming tide, and the hour either side of high, is the standout. Rising water pushes bream up onto the flats and tight against the pylons, rock walls and mangrove edges where you can cast to them. Pair a moving tide with first or last light and you have the prime window; the bottom of a big run-out is usually the quietest part of the day.

Can you catch mulloway from the bank in the Port River?

Yes — the Port River is a land-based mulloway estuary, and most fish come from the banks, jetties and bridges after dark. Fish a running-sinker rig with a livebait, whole fresh mullet or a pilchard/mullet fillet, or work soft plastics and hardbodies under the bridge lights on a moving tide. November to May at night gives you the best odds.

Can you fish for snapper in the Port River?

No. Snapper is closed to all fishing — take and catch-and-release — across Gulf St Vincent, Spencer Gulf and the West Coast until 30 June 2027, and the Port River sits inside the Gulf St Vincent zone. Snapper remains open only in the South East Fishing Zone, east of the gulf boundary at the southern tip of the Fleurieu Peninsula. Targeting bream, mulloway and mullet keeps you well clear of the closure.

Bite Compass

Bite Forecast

Port River (Garden Island)

Sat 17 Oct 2026 · Australia/Adelaide

Forecast updated 4:08am ACDT

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17 Oct

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Today Tomorrow Sat 17 Oct

📍 Port River (Garden Island)

first quarter · 32%

Weather: Cloudy Wind: NE 23° · 5 km/h Swell: 0.1 m @ 11 s SW Water: 18.3 °C Pressure: 1021.9 hPa ↓ falling Sheltered water: wind direction matters less here

★★★★☆

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 18.3 °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 12:17 am High 6:44 am Low 1:19 pm High 6:53 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

Good

1:00 pm → 1:30 pm

30m

First light

6:06 am

Last light

7:57 pm

Sunrise

6:31 am

Sunset

7:31 pm

Moonrise

10:36 am

Moonset

1:02 am

Low tide

12:17 am

High tide

6:44 am

Low tide

1:19 pm

High tide

6:53 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☀️

18°

→︎

82°

14 km/h

1am

☀️

18°

→︎

78°

14 km/h

2am

☀️

18°

→︎

77°

14 km/h

3am

☀️

17°

→︎

76°

14 km/h

4am

☀️

17°

→︎

75°

13 km/h

5am

☀️

17°

→︎

75°

13 km/h

6am

☀️

17°

→︎

75°

13 km/h

7am

☀️

17°

→︎

73°

12 km/h

8am

☀️

19°

↗︎

66°

11 km/h

9am

☀️

22°

↗︎

55°

11 km/h

10am

☀️

24°

↗︎

44°

10 km/h

11am

☀️

25°

↗︎

36°

8 km/h

12pm

☁️

26°

↗︎

23°

5 km/h

1pm

☁️

27°

↑︎

352°

3 km/h

2pm

☁️

27°

←︎

254°

3 km/h

3pm

☁️

27°

↙︎

231°

8 km/h

4pm

☁️

26°

↙︎

224°

11 km/h

5pm

☁️

25°

↙︎

218°

9 km/h

6pm

☀️

24°

↓︎

201°

6 km/h

7pm

☀️

23°

↘︎

150°

4 km/h

8pm

☀️

22°

↘︎

114°

7 km/h

9pm

☀️

21°

→︎

101°

11 km/h

10pm

☀️

20°

→︎

97°

14 km/h

11pm

☀️

20°

→︎

92°

14 km/h

Hourly Swell

Steady ~0.1 m SW

12am

0.1 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Calm

1am

0.1 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Calm

2am

0.1 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Calm

3am

0.1 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Calm

4am

0.1 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Calm

5am

0.1 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Calm

6am

0.1 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Calm

7am

0.1 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Calm

8am

0.1 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Calm

9am

0.1 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Calm

10am

0.1 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Calm

11am

0.1 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Calm

12pm

0.1 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

1pm

0.1 m

@ 12 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

2pm

0.1 m

@ 13 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

3pm

0.1 m

@ 14 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

4pm

0.1 m

@ 14 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

5pm

0.1 m

@ 12 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

6pm

0.1 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Calm

7pm

0.2 m

@ 6 s

↙︎

Calm

chop

8pm

0.1 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Calm

chop

9pm

0.1 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

10pm

0.1 m

@ 14 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

11pm

0.1 m

@ 14 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

Water Temp (°C)

→ steady around 18.3°

Wed

14 Oct

18.0°

Thu

15 Oct

18.0°

Fri

16 Oct

18.0°

Sat

17 Oct

18.3°

Sun

18 Oct

18.9°

Mon

19 Oct

19.4°

Tue

20 Oct

19.5°

Wed

21 Oct

19.4°

Thu

22 Oct

—

Fri

23 Oct

—

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 5 km/h NE (23°).

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

Good

1:00 pm → 1:30 pm

30m

First light

6:06 am

Last light

7:57 pm

Sunrise

6:31 am

Sunset

7:31 pm

Moonrise

10:36 am

Moonset

1:02 am

Low tide

12:17 am

High tide

6:44 am

Low tide

1:19 pm

High tide

6:53 pm

Nearby spots

Species at this spot