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)

Mon 12 Oct 2026 · Australia/Adelaide

Forecast updated Mon 12 Oct, 10:33pm ACDT

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12 Oct

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Today Tomorrow Sat 17 Oct

📍 Wirrina Cove Marina (Marina St Vincent)

new · 1%

Weather: Cloudy Wind: SW 222° · 8 km/h Swell: 1.1 m @ 7 s SW Water: 16.3 °C Pressure: 1020.9 hPa ↑ rising Faces north-west · Offshore: E, SE, S · Onshore: W, NW, N · Forecast wind: cross-shore

★★★☆☆

Medium Fish Activity

▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 6:30 am

Solunar Minor window

Time of day Dawn

Tide Strong flow

Wind SW 14 km/h

Moon new all day

Water temp 16.3 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day Timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 6:13 am Last light 7:54 pm

High 4:50 am Low 11:11 am High 5:06 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

7:00 pm → 9:30 pm

2h 30m

Good

1:30 pm → 3:00 pm

1h 30m

Good

1:30 am → 3:00 am

1h 30m

First light

6:13 am

Last light

7:54 pm

Sunrise

6:38 am

Sunset

7:29 pm

Moonrise

7:03 am

Moonset

9:14 pm

High tide

4:50 am

Low tide

11:11 am

High tide

5:06 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☀️

12°

↓︎

164°

6 km/h

1am

☀️

12°

↓︎

165°

6 km/h

2am

☀️

11°

↓︎

178°

5 km/h

3am

☀️

11°

↓︎

197°

7 km/h

4am

☁️

11°

↙︎

227°

10 km/h

5am

☀️

11°

↙︎

225°

13 km/h

6am

☀️

11°

↙︎

224°

14 km/h

7am

☁️

11°

↙︎

225°

16 km/h

8am

☁️

12°

↙︎

232°

17 km/h

9am

☁️

13°

↙︎

230°

19 km/h

10am

☁️

14°

↙︎

237°

16 km/h

11am

☁️

15°

↙︎

235°

14 km/h

12pm

☁️

15°

↙︎

230°

15 km/h

1pm

☁️

15°

↙︎

224°

15 km/h

2pm

☁️

15°

↙︎

226°

13 km/h

3pm

☁️

15°

↙︎

224°

13 km/h

4pm

☁️

15°

↙︎

223°

12 km/h

5pm

☁️

13°

↓︎

202°

13 km/h

6pm

☁️

12°

↓︎

198°

11 km/h

7pm

☁️

11°

↓︎

188°

9 km/h

8pm

☀️

10°

↓︎

186°

8 km/h

9pm

☁️

10°

↙︎

214°

8 km/h

10pm

☁️

10°

↙︎

228°

8 km/h

11pm

☁️

10°

↙︎

222°

8 km/h

Hourly Swell

Steady ~1.1 m SW

12am

0.9 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Slight

1am

0.9 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Slight

chop

2am

0.9 m

@ 7 s

↙︎

Slight

chop

3am

0.8 m

@ 7 s

↙︎

Slight

chop

4am

0.8 m

@ 7 s

↙︎

Slight

chop

5am

0.8 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Slight

chop

6am

0.8 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Slight

7am

0.8 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Slight

8am

0.8 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Slight

9am

0.9 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Slight

10am

0.9 m

@ 7 s

↙︎

Slight

chop

11am

0.9 m

@ 7 s

↙︎

Slight

chop

12pm

0.9 m

@ 6 s

↙︎

Slight

chop

1pm

0.9 m

@ 5 s

↙︎

Slight

chop

2pm

1.0 m

@ 6 s

↙︎

Slight

chop

3pm

1.0 m

@ 6 s

↙︎

Moderate

chop

4pm

1.1 m

@ 7 s

↙︎

Moderate

chop

5pm

1.1 m

@ 7 s

↙︎

Moderate

chop

6pm

1.0 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Moderate

7pm

1.0 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Moderate

8pm

1.0 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Moderate

9pm

1.0 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Moderate

chop

10pm

1.0 m

@ 7 s

↙︎

Moderate

chop

11pm

1.1 m

@ 7 s

↙︎

Moderate

chop

Water Temp (°C)

→ steady around 16.3°

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°

Thu

15 Oct

16.1°

Fri

16 Oct

16.4°

Sat

17 Oct

16.8°

Sun

18 Oct

17.1°

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 8 km/h SW (222°).

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

7:00 pm → 9:30 pm

2h 30m

Good

1:30 pm → 3:00 pm

1h 30m

Good

1:30 am → 3:00 am

1h 30m

First light

6:13 am

Last light

7:54 pm

Sunrise

6:38 am

Sunset

7:29 pm

Moonrise

7:03 am

Moonset

9:14 pm

High tide

4:50 am

Low tide

11:11 am

High tide

5:06 pm

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