What can you catch off Stenhouse Bay Jetty?

Tommy ruff are the regular catch and the big ones come in autumn and winter between dusk and dawn, with mullet in the shallows, snook off the deeper end, salmon through the cooler months and mulloway in the bay. It is also a well-known big-shark platform. Southern calamari and garfish are both closed in this zone.

Does Stenhouse Bay Jetty have lights?

No. Two official sources say so plainly, and the jetty's best fishing runs from dusk to dawn, so a good lantern is core kit rather than a precaution. Pack a headlamp for the walk back to the carpark as well.

When is the best time to fish Stenhouse Bay?

Autumn and winter, which is the reverse of most South Australian jetties. The prevailing winds in those months blow offshore here, so the water can stay calm for extended periods, and that is also when the big tommies are about.

Do you pay a fee to fish Stenhouse Bay Jetty?

Yes. The jetty is inside Dhilba Guuranda-Innes National Park, so a vehicle entry fee applies and must be paid before you enter. Check Parks SA for the current fees, camping bookings and any park alerts.

Is there a sanctuary zone at Stenhouse Bay?

Yes, and it starts about 320 metres due south of the jetty. The northern edge of Southern Spencer Gulf Marine Park Sanctuary Zone 1 runs along a line about 320 metres due south of the deck, its north-western corner on the jetty's own longitude. Everything inside that zone is no-take, Chinamans Hat Island included, and its one exception is a special purpose area about 2 km west along the coast where shore-based line fishing off the beach is allowed. Fishing from the jetty is legal and the bay to the north is a habitat protection zone, but carry the Department for Environment and Water zoning map before fishing along the shore or paddling south.

Can you fish for sharks off Stenhouse Bay Jetty?

Yes, and it has a real reputation for it, but the rules are tight. Every shark, ray and skate counts against one combined bag limit, and a single gummy, whaler, school shark or sevengill fills it in this zone. A long list of shark species is fully protected and must be released, set lines are illegal statewide, and you may not use a wire trace of 2 mm gauge or greater with hooks of 12/0 or greater.

Bite Compass

Bite Forecast

Stenhouse Bay Jetty

Tue 13 Oct 2026 · Australia/Adelaide

Forecast updated Fri 16 Oct, 9:19pm ACDT

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13 Oct

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📍 Stenhouse Bay Jetty

new · 3%

Weather: Cloudy Wind: S 191° · 11 km/h Swell: 2.8 m @ 10 s SW Water: 16.1 °C Pressure: 1028.2 hPa → steady Faces south-east · Offshore: W, NW, N · Onshore: E, SE, S · Forecast wind: onshore

★★★☆☆

Medium Fish Activity

▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 3:00 pm

Solunar Major window

Time of day Midday

Tide Turning

Wind SW 16 km/h

Moon new all day

Water temp 16.1 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day Timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 6:17 am Last light 8:00 pm

High 3:08 am Low 9:53 am High 3:00 pm Low 8:42 pm

Drag or use arrow keys to explore

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

2:30 pm → 4:30 pm

Good

6:00 am → 8:00 am

Good

7:30 pm → 9:00 pm

1h 30m

Good

2:30 am → 4:00 am

1h 30m

First light

6:17 am

Last light

8:00 pm

Sunrise

6:42 am

Sunset

7:35 pm

Moonrise

7:41 am

Moonset

10:21 pm

High tide

3:08 am

Low tide

9:53 am

High tide

3:00 pm

Low tide

8:42 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☁️

14°

↙︎

230°

15 km/h

1am

☁️

15°

↙︎

223°

20 km/h

2am

☁️

14°

↙︎

219°

21 km/h

3am

☁️

14°

↙︎

212°

21 km/h

4am

☁️

14°

↙︎

203°

19 km/h

5am

☁️

13°

↓︎

196°

17 km/h

6am

☁️

13°

↓︎

198°

16 km/h

7am

☀️

14°

↓︎

202°

16 km/h

8am

☁️

15°

↓︎

200°

17 km/h

9am

☁️

15°

↓︎

198°

18 km/h

10am

☁️

16°

↓︎

183°

15 km/h

11am

☁️

16°

↓︎

182°

13 km/h

12pm

☁️

17°

↓︎

191°

11 km/h

1pm

☁️

16°

↙︎

204°

13 km/h

2pm

🌧️

16°

↙︎

209°

12 km/h

3pm

☁️

17°

↙︎

215°

16 km/h

4pm

☁️

17°

↓︎

200°

14 km/h

5pm

☁️

16°

↓︎

178°

14 km/h

6pm

☁️

16°

↓︎

166°

14 km/h

7pm

☁️

15°

↘︎

148°

19 km/h

8pm

☁️

15°

↘︎

142°

19 km/h

9pm

☁️

14°

↘︎

137°

19 km/h

10pm

☀️

13°

↘︎

125°

18 km/h

11pm

☀️

13°

↘︎

123°

18 km/h

Hourly Swell

Building 2.4 → 2.9 m SW

12am

2.4 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

1am

2.3 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

2am

2.3 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

3am

2.3 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Solid

4am

2.3 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Solid

5am

2.4 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

6am

2.5 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

7am

2.7 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

8am

2.7 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

9am

2.8 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

10am

2.8 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

11am

2.8 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

12pm

2.8 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

1pm

2.8 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

2pm

2.8 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

3pm

2.8 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

4pm

2.8 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

5pm

2.9 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

6pm

3.0 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

7pm

3.1 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Heavy

ground

8pm

3.1 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Heavy

ground

9pm

3.1 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Heavy

ground

10pm

3.0 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Heavy

ground

11pm

2.9 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 11 km/h S (191°).

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

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

2:30 pm → 4:30 pm

Good

6:00 am → 8:00 am

Good

7:30 pm → 9:00 pm

1h 30m

Good

2:30 am → 4:00 am

1h 30m

First light

6:17 am

Last light

8:00 pm

Sunrise

6:42 am

Sunset

7:35 pm

Moonrise

7:41 am

Moonset

10:21 pm

High tide

3:08 am

Low tide

9:53 am

High tide

3:00 pm

Low tide

8:42 pm

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