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)

Tue 13 Oct 2026 · Australia/Adelaide

Forecast updated 7:07pm ACDT

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13 Oct

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Today Tomorrow Sat 17 Oct

📍 Port River (Garden Island)

new · 3%

Weather: Cloudy Wind: SW 229° · 12 km/h Swell: 0.4 m @ 10 s SW Water: 18.1 °C Pressure: 1027.1 hPa → steady Sheltered water: wind direction matters less here

★★☆☆☆

Low Fish Activity

▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 7:30 pm

Solunar Between windows

Time of day Dusk

Tide Strong flow

Wind S 12 km/h

Moon new all day

Water temp 18.1 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day Timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 6:11 am Last light 7:53 pm

High 5:02 am Low 11:42 am High 5:22 pm

Drag or use arrow keys to explore

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

7:00 pm → 9:00 pm

Good

2:30 pm → 6:00 pm

3h 30m

Good

5:30 am → 7:30 am

Good

11:30 am → 12:30 pm

First light

6:11 am

Last light

7:53 pm

Sunrise

6:36 am

Sunset

7:28 pm

Moonrise

7:35 am

Moonset

10:13 pm

High tide

5:02 am

Low tide

11:42 am

High tide

5:22 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☁️

12°

↓︎

175°

9 km/h

1am

☁️

12°

↓︎

177°

8 km/h

2am

☁️

12°

↓︎

158°

7 km/h

3am

☁️

11°

↘︎

148°

4 km/h

4am

☁️

11°

↘︎

138°

6 km/h

5am

☁️

11°

↘︎

130°

4 km/h

6am

☁️

11°

↘︎

130°

4 km/h

7am

☁️

12°

↘︎

142°

4 km/h

8am

☁️

13°

↓︎

168°

7 km/h

9am

☁️

14°

↓︎

192°

9 km/h

10am

☁️

16°

↓︎

192°

11 km/h

11am

☁️

16°

↙︎

213°

10 km/h

12pm

☁️

17°

↙︎

229°

12 km/h

1pm

☁️

17°

↙︎

231°

14 km/h

2pm

☁️

17°

↙︎

228°

14 km/h

3pm

☁️

17°

↙︎

218°

13 km/h

4pm

☁️

18°

↙︎

208°

13 km/h

5pm

☁️

17°

↓︎

179°

12 km/h

6pm

☁️

16°

↓︎

166°

12 km/h

7pm

☀️

14°

↓︎

162°

12 km/h

8pm

☀️

13°

↓︎

158°

8 km/h

9pm

☀️

12°

↘︎

155°

8 km/h

10pm

☀️

11°

↘︎

151°

8 km/h

11pm

☀️

11°

↘︎

152°

6 km/h

Hourly Swell

Steady ~0.4 m SW

12am

0.6 m

@ 4 s

↙︎

Slight

chop

1am

0.6 m

@ 4 s

↙︎

Slight

chop

2am

0.6 m

@ 4 s

↙︎

Slight

chop

3am

0.5 m

@ 5 s

↙︎

Slight

chop

4am

0.5 m

@ 6 s

↙︎

Slight

chop

5am

0.5 m

@ 5 s

↙︎

Slight

chop

6am

0.5 m

@ 4 s

↙︎

Slight

chop

7am

0.5 m

@ 3 s

↙︎

Slight

chop

8am

Calm

9am

0.4 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Calm

chop

10am

0.4 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Calm

11am

0.4 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

12pm

0.4 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

1pm

0.4 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Calm

2pm

0.4 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

3pm

0.4 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

4pm

0.4 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

5pm

0.4 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Calm

6pm

0.4 m

@ 6 s

↙︎

Calm

chop

7pm

Calm

8pm

0.4 m

@ 6 s

↙︎

Calm

chop

9pm

0.4 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Calm

10pm

0.4 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

11pm

0.4 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

Water Temp (°C)

→ steady around 18.1°

Sat

10 Oct

18.0°

Sun

11 Oct

18.2°

Mon

12 Oct

18.3°

Tue

13 Oct

18.1°

Wed

14 Oct

18.0°

Thu

15 Oct

18.1°

Fri

16 Oct

18.3°

Sat

17 Oct

18.6°

Sun

18 Oct

19.0°

Mon

19 Oct

19.5°

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 12 km/h SW (229°).

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

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

7:00 pm → 9:00 pm

Good

2:30 pm → 6:00 pm

3h 30m

Good

5:30 am → 7:30 am

Good

11:30 am → 12:30 pm

First light

6:11 am

Last light

7:53 pm

Sunrise

6:36 am

Sunset

7:28 pm

Moonrise

7:35 am

Moonset

10:13 pm

High tide

5:02 am

Low tide

11:42 am

High tide

5:22 pm

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