Can you catch squid at Wirrina Cove right now?

No. A total closure on southern calamari has applied across Gulf St Vincent under South Australia's algal-bloom recovery rules since 1 May 2026, with no end date published — that means no take and no possession, so squid fishing is off until the closure lifts. The breakwater is genuinely a strong squid spot in normal seasons, but check PIRSA or the SA Fishing app for the current status before you plan around it.

Do you need a fishing licence to fish at Wirrina Cove?

No general recreational fishing licence is required in South Australia, so you can fish the breakwater rocks without a permit. You still have to follow the size, bag and boat limits and any active closures — and right now squid and garfish are closed in Gulf St Vincent and snapper is closed across the gulf zones until 30 June 2027. King George whiting stays legal here — its 1 March to 30 June spawning closure covers mapped Investigator Strait waters offshore.

Where do you fish land-based at Wirrina Cove Marina?

Work the outer breakwater rock walls that face open Yankalilla Bay, not the sheltered marina side — the open-bay walls are where bait, squid and whiting move. Park in the marina precinct and walk to the walls; the boat ramp is right there. Keep clear of the ramp channel, which gets busy on weekends.

Is Wirrina Cove good for King George whiting?

Yes, in season — the broken reef and weed off the walls suits whiting, best roughly August through March on light line and a berley trail with cockle or worm bait. The 1 March to 30 June spawning closure covers mapped Investigator Strait waters offshore, not the walls. In gulf waters (east of longitude 136 degrees east) the minimum length is 32cm, and in the Gulf St Vincent and Kangaroo Island zone the daily bag limit is 5 with a boat limit of 15.

What can you actually catch at Wirrina Cove right now?

With squid and garfish under total closure in Gulf St Vincent, the realistic land-based targets are King George whiting, snook, Australian salmon, yelloweye mullet, herring (tommy ruff) and flathead. Salmon and mullet in particular fish well through autumn and winter off the rocks and the nearby Normanville beach.

Bite Compass

Bite Forecast

Wirrina Cove Marina (Marina St Vincent)

Thu 08 Oct 2026 · Australia/Adelaide

Forecast updated Sun 11 Oct, 6:50pm ACDT

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8 Oct

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Today Tomorrow Sat 17 Oct

📍 Wirrina Cove Marina (Marina St Vincent)

waning crescent · 12%

Weather: Sunny Wind: N 9° · 19 km/h Swell: 1.0 m @ 9 s S Water: 16.1 °C Pressure: 1014.0 hPa ↓ falling Faces north-west · Offshore: E, SE, S · Onshore: W, NW, N · Forecast wind: onshore

★★☆☆☆

Low Fish Activity

▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 6:30 am

Solunar Between windows

Time of day Dawn

Tide Moving

Wind NE 12 km/h

Moon waning crescent all day

Water temp 16.1 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day Timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 6:18 am Last light 7:51 pm

High 4:03 am Low 9:30 am High 3:45 pm Low 9:58 pm

Drag or use arrow keys to explore

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

5:30 am → 7:30 am

Good

10:00 pm → 12:00 am

Good

7:00 pm → 8:30 pm

1h 30m

Good

10:00 am → 11:30 am

1h 30m

First light

6:18 am

Last light

7:51 pm

Sunrise

6:43 am

Sunset

7:25 pm

Moonrise

5:15 am

Moonset

5:00 pm

High tide

4:03 am

Low tide

9:30 am

High tide

3:45 pm

Low tide

9:58 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☀️

12°

→︎

79°

12 km/h

1am

☀️

12°

↗︎

63°

10 km/h

2am

☀️

12°

↗︎

49°

9 km/h

3am

☀️

12°

↗︎

42°

8 km/h

4am

☀️

12°

↗︎

38°

9 km/h

5am

☀️

13°

↗︎

28°

11 km/h

6am

☀️

13°

↗︎

23°

12 km/h

7am

☀️

14°

↗︎

23°

13 km/h

8am

☀️

17°

↑︎

20°

14 km/h

9am

☀️

19°

↑︎

15°

14 km/h

10am

☀️

21°

↑︎

11°

18 km/h

11am

☀️

22°

↑︎

14°

19 km/h

12pm

☀️

22°

↑︎

9°

19 km/h

1pm

☀️

23°

↑︎

2°

19 km/h

2pm

☀️

23°

↑︎

4°

17 km/h

3pm

☀️

23°

↑︎

4°

14 km/h

4pm

☀️

23°

↑︎

6°

11 km/h

5pm

☀️

23°

↗︎

33°

8 km/h

6pm

☀️

21°

↗︎

47°

7 km/h

7pm

☁️

18°

↗︎

47°

9 km/h

8pm

☁️

18°

↗︎

48°

10 km/h

9pm

☁️

19°

↗︎

48°

11 km/h

10pm

☁️

19°

↗︎

39°

14 km/h

11pm

☁️

20°

↗︎

26°

16 km/h

Hourly Swell

Easing 1.1 → 0.7 m S

12am

1.1 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

1am

1.1 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

2am

1.1 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

3am

1.1 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

4am

1.1 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

5am

1.1 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

6am

1.1 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

7am

1.2 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

8am

1.1 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

9am

1.1 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

10am

1.1 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

11am

1.0 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

12pm

1.0 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

1pm

0.9 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

2pm

0.9 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

3pm

0.8 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

4pm

0.8 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

5pm

0.8 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

6pm

0.8 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

7pm

0.9 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

8pm

0.8 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

9pm

0.8 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

10pm

0.7 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

11pm

0.7 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

Water Temp (°C)

→ steady around 16.1°

Mon

5 Oct

15.8°

Tue

6 Oct

15.8°

Wed

7 Oct

15.9°

Thu

8 Oct

16.1°

Fri

9 Oct

16.1°

Sat

10 Oct

16.0°

Sun

11 Oct

16.1°

Mon

12 Oct

16.3°

Tue

13 Oct

16.2°

Wed

14 Oct

16.1°

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 19 km/h N (9°).

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 → 7:30 am

Good

10:00 pm → 12:00 am

Good

7:00 pm → 8:30 pm

1h 30m

Good

10:00 am → 11:30 am

1h 30m

First light

6:18 am

Last light

7:51 pm

Sunrise

6:43 am

Sunset

7:25 pm

Moonrise

5:15 am

Moonset

5:00 pm

High tide

4:03 am

Low tide

9:30 am

High tide

3:45 pm

Low tide

9:58 pm

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