What fish can you catch at Semaphore Jetty?

The mainstays are yellowfin whiting in the summer gutters, tommy ruff under the lights after dark, and yelloweye mullet and small salmon year-round. Garfish and southern calamari belong on that list in a normal season but are both closed to recreational fishing in Gulf St Vincent from 1 May 2026. Blue swimmer crabs come into drop nets through summer, and night anglers occasionally pick up school mulloway, gummy sharks and rays.

Do I need a fishing licence to fish Semaphore Jetty?

No. South Australia does not require a general recreational fishing licence, so you can fish the jetty without one. You still have to follow PIRSA size, bag and boat limits and any closures — southern calamari and southern garfish are both shut in Gulf St Vincent, and snapper is shut across the gulf zones until 30 June 2027.

Can you catch squid and garfish at Semaphore right now?

No. Under the algal-bloom recovery measures, southern calamari has been closed to all recreational and charter targeting, take and possession across Gulf St Vincent, Spencer Gulf and the Kangaroo Island zone since 1 May 2026, and southern garfish closed to recreational fishing in Gulf St Vincent on the same date; PIRSA has published no end date for either. King George whiting stay open here all year — the annual 1 March to 30 June spawning closure covers mapped southern-gulf waters, not the metro beaches.

Can you catch snapper at Semaphore Jetty?

No. Snapper fishing is closed across Gulf St Vincent — including all metro waters — for both take and catch-and-release until 30 June 2027. Snapper is only open in the South East Fishing Zone, east of the gulf boundary at the southern tip of the Fleurieu Peninsula. They were historically caught off the jetty, but you cannot legally target them here now.

When is the best time to fish Semaphore Jetty?

Summer, roughly November to March, is the peak — yellowfin whiting run the inshore gutters on a rising tide and the crabs are in the nets. For garfish and tommy ruff, an after-dark session under the jetty lights works all year. Mornings and the calm window after the afternoon sea breeze drops are the most comfortable times on the exposed deck.

Bite Compass

Bite Forecast

Semaphore Jetty

Tue 20 Oct 2026 · Australia/Adelaide

Forecast updated 5:16am ACDT

Save

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20 Oct

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Today Tomorrow Sat 17 Oct

📍 Semaphore Jetty

first quarter · 64%

Weather: Sunny Wind: N 16° · 11 km/h Swell: flat Water: 18.5 °C Pressure: 1016.6 hPa ↓ falling Faces west · Offshore: NE, E, SE · Onshore: SW, W, NW · Forecast wind: cross-shore

★★★☆☆

Medium Fish Activity

▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 8:00 pm

Solunar Major window

Time of day Dusk

Tide Moving

Wind SW 10 km/h

Moon first quarter all day

Water temp 18.5 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 6:02 am Last light 8:00 pm

Low 12:18 am High 8:10 am Low 2:30 pm Low 10:15 pm

Drag or use arrow keys to explore

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

7:00 pm → 10:00 pm

Good

5:30 am → 7:00 am

1h 30m

Good

8:00 am → 9:00 am

First light

6:02 am

Last light

8:00 pm

Sunrise

6:27 am

Sunset

7:34 pm

Moonrise

1:32 pm

Moonset

3:02 am

Low tide

12:18 am

High tide

8:10 am

Low tide

2:30 pm

Low tide

10:15 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☀️

24°

↗︎

63°

20 km/h

1am

☀️

23°

↗︎

62°

19 km/h

2am

☀️

23°

↗︎

59°

19 km/h

3am

☀️

22°

↗︎

56°

18 km/h

4am

☀️

22°

↗︎

53°

18 km/h

5am

☀️

22°

↗︎

48°

18 km/h

6am

☀️

23°

↗︎

43°

18 km/h

7am

☀️

23°

↗︎

36°

19 km/h

8am

☀️

24°

↗︎

31°

19 km/h

9am

☀️

25°

↗︎

26°

19 km/h

10am

☀️

25°

↗︎

23°

18 km/h

11am

☀️

26°

↑︎

19°

15 km/h

12pm

☀️

26°

↑︎

16°

11 km/h

1pm

☀️

27°

↑︎

7°

7 km/h

2pm

☀️

27°

↖︎

335°

3 km/h

3pm

☀️

27°

←︎

254°

3 km/h

4pm

☀️

27°

↙︎

231°

6 km/h

5pm

🌧️

26°

↙︎

226°

8 km/h

6pm

🌧️

25°

↙︎

223°

9 km/h

7pm

🌧️

24°

↙︎

222°

10 km/h

8pm

🌧️

22°

↙︎

222°

10 km/h

9pm

🌧️

21°

↙︎

223°

10 km/h

10pm

🌧️

20°

↙︎

225°

9 km/h

11pm

🌧️

19°

↙︎

231°

8 km/h

Hourly Swell

Steady ~0.3 m N

12am

0.3 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

1am

0.3 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

2am

0.3 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

3am

0.3 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

4am

0.3 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

5am

0.3 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

6am

0.3 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

7am

0.3 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

8am

0.3 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

9am

0.3 m

@ 12 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

10am

0.3 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

11am

0.3 m

@ 9 s

←︎

Calm

12pm

Calm

1pm

Calm

2pm

Calm

3pm

Calm

4pm

Calm

5pm

Calm

6pm

0.3 m

@ 7 s

↖︎

Calm

chop

7pm

0.3 m

@ 9 s

←︎

Calm

8pm

0.3 m

@ 10 s

←︎

Calm

9pm

0.3 m

@ 10 s

←︎

Calm

ground

10pm

0.3 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

11pm

0.3 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

Water Temp (°C)

↗ warming — up 0.6° over the last 3 days

Sat

17 Oct

17.9°

Sun

18 Oct

18.3°

Mon

19 Oct

18.7°

Tue

20 Oct

18.5°

Wed

21 Oct

18.5°

Thu

22 Oct

—

Fri

23 Oct

—

Sat

24 Oct

—

Sun

25 Oct

—

Mon

26 Oct

—

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 11 km/h N (16°).

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 → 10:00 pm

Good

5:30 am → 7:00 am

1h 30m

Good

8:00 am → 9:00 am

First light

6:02 am

Last light

8:00 pm

Sunrise

6:27 am

Sunset

7:34 pm

Moonrise

1:32 pm

Moonset

3:02 am

Low tide

12:18 am

High tide

8:10 am

Low tide

2:30 pm

Low tide

10:15 pm

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