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

Sun 18 Oct 2026 · Australia/Adelaide

Forecast updated Sun 18 Oct, 10:45pm ACDT

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18 Oct

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Today Tomorrow Sat 24 Oct

📍 Stenhouse Bay Jetty

first quarter · 43%

Weather: Sunny Wind: E 73° · 17 km/h Swell: 1.2 m @ 12 s SW Water: 17.1 °C Pressure: 1018.4 hPa ↓ falling 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 · 6:30 am

Solunar Major window

Time of day Dawn

Tide Moving

Wind NE 21 km/h

Moon first quarter all day

Water temp 17.1 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day Timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 6:10 am Last light 8:05 pm

High 5:24 am Low 12:30 pm Low 9:40 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

6:30 pm → 9:00 pm

2h 30m

First light

6:10 am

Last light

8:05 pm

Sunrise

6:36 am

Sunset

7:39 pm

Moonrise

11:38 am

Moonset

1:56 am

High tide

5:24 am

Low tide

12:30 pm

Low tide

9:40 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☀️

17°

→︎

102°

17 km/h

1am

☀️

17°

→︎

99°

17 km/h

2am

☀️

17°

→︎

80°

17 km/h

3am

☀️

18°

↗︎

61°

18 km/h

4am

☀️

18°

↗︎

53°

20 km/h

5am

☀️

18°

↗︎

47°

20 km/h

6am

☀️

18°

↗︎

43°

21 km/h

7am

☀️

19°

↗︎

40°

21 km/h

8am

☀️

21°

↗︎

35°

20 km/h

9am

☀️

22°

↗︎

24°

20 km/h

10am

☀️

24°

↑︎

17°

23 km/h

11am

☀️

24°

↑︎

15°

22 km/h

12pm

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25°

↑︎

13°

21 km/h

1pm

☀️

26°

↑︎

12°

21 km/h

2pm

☀️

26°

↑︎

10°

19 km/h

3pm

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27°

↑︎

13°

17 km/h

4pm

☀️

27°

↑︎

21°

17 km/h

5pm

☀️

27°

↗︎

34°

16 km/h

6pm

☀️

25°

→︎

70°

13 km/h

7pm

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22°

→︎

91°

16 km/h

8pm

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21°

→︎

83°

16 km/h

9pm

☀️

22°

→︎

70°

17 km/h

10pm

☀️

21°

→︎

73°

17 km/h

11pm

☁️

20°

→︎

73°

17 km/h

Hourly Swell

Building 0.8 → 1.2 m SW

12am

0.8 m

@ 12 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

1am

0.8 m

@ 12 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

2am

0.8 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

3am

0.8 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

4am

0.8 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

5am

0.8 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

6am

0.8 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

7am

0.8 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

8am

0.8 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

9am

0.8 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

10am

0.8 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

11am

0.8 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

12pm

0.8 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

1pm

0.8 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

2pm

0.8 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

3pm

0.9 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

4pm

0.9 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

5pm

0.9 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

6pm

0.9 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

7pm

1.0 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

8pm

1.0 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

9pm

1.1 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

10pm

1.1 m

@ 12 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

11pm

1.2 m

@ 12 s

↙︎

Moderate

ground

Water Temp (°C)

↗ warming — up 0.9° over the last 3 days

Thu

15 Oct

16.2°

Fri

16 Oct

16.5°

Sat

17 Oct

16.7°

Sun

18 Oct

17.1°

Mon

19 Oct

17.0°

Tue

20 Oct

17.2°

Wed

21 Oct

17.4°

Thu

22 Oct

17.7°

Fri

23 Oct

17.3°

Sat

24 Oct

17.0°

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 17 km/h E (73°).

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

6:30 pm → 9:00 pm

2h 30m

First light

6:10 am

Last light

8:05 pm

Sunrise

6:36 am

Sunset

7:39 pm

Moonrise

11:38 am

Moonset

1:56 am

High tide

5:24 am

Low tide

12:30 pm

Low tide

9:40 pm

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