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, while King George whiting reopened on 1 July after its 1 March to 30 June spawning closure.

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 squid or cockle bait. Be aware the gulf spawning closure shuts whiting from 1 March to 30 June each year. 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 (reopened 1 July), 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 03 Sep 2026 · Australia/Adelaide

←

3 Sep

tap to pick date

→

Today Tomorrow Sat 5 Sep

📍 Wirrina Cove Marina (Marina St Vincent)

last quarter · 64%

Weather: Rainy Wind: NW 328° · 22 km/h Swell: 1.3 m @ 9 s SW Water: 14.3 °C Pressure: 1017.1 hPa ↓ falling

★★☆☆☆

Low Fish Activity

▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 6:30 am

Solunar Between windows

Time of day Dawn

Tide Moving

Wind W 14 km/h

Moon last quarter all day

Water temp 14.3 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

4:30 am → 7:30 am

Good

5:30 pm → 7:30 pm

First light

6:09 am

Last light

6:24 pm

Sunrise

6:34 am

Sunset

5:59 pm

Moonrise

—

Moonset

9:30 am

High tide

6:05 am

Low tide

12:54 pm

High tide

5:50 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☁️

11°

←︎

292°

18 km/h

1am

🌧️

11°

←︎

292°

18 km/h

2am

🌧️

11°

←︎

292°

18 km/h

3am

🌧️

11°

←︎

291°

18 km/h

4am

🌧️

11°

←︎

288°

17 km/h

5am

🌧️

11°

←︎

285°

15 km/h

6am

🌧️

11°

←︎

286°

14 km/h

7am

🌧️

11°

↖︎

297°

15 km/h

8am

🌧️

11°

↖︎

308°

18 km/h

9am

🌧️

12°

↖︎

316°

20 km/h

10am

🌧️

12°

↖︎

321°

21 km/h

11am

🌧️

13°

↖︎

326°

22 km/h

12pm

🌧️

13°

↖︎

328°

22 km/h

1pm

🌧️

13°

↖︎

326°

22 km/h

2pm

🌧️

13°

↖︎

321°

22 km/h

3pm

🌧️

13°

↖︎

317°

22 km/h

4pm

☁️

13°

←︎

278°

21 km/h

5pm

☁️

13°

←︎

277°

19 km/h

6pm

☁️

13°

←︎

276°

16 km/h

7pm

☁️

12°

←︎

275°

14 km/h

8pm

☁️

12°

←︎

274°

11 km/h

9pm

☁️

11°

←︎

273°

9 km/h

10pm

☁️

11°

←︎

275°

8 km/h

11pm

☁️

11°

←︎

277°

7 km/h

Hourly Swell

Steady ~1.3 m SW

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

@ 9 s

↙︎

Moderate

5am

1.1 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Moderate

6am

1.1 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Moderate

7am

1.1 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Moderate

8am

1.2 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Moderate

9am

1.2 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Moderate

10am

1.2 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Moderate

11am

1.2 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Moderate

12pm

1.3 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Moderate

1pm

1.3 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Moderate

2pm

1.3 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Moderate

3pm

1.3 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Moderate

4pm

1.3 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Moderate

5pm

1.3 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Moderate

6pm

1.3 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Moderate

7pm

1.3 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Moderate

8pm

1.3 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Moderate

9pm

1.3 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Moderate

10pm

1.3 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Moderate

11pm

1.3 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Moderate

Water Temp (°C)

→ steady around 14.3°

Mon

31 Aug

14.5°

Tue

1 Sep

14.4°

Wed

2 Sep

14.4°

Thu

3 Sep

14.3°

Fri

4 Sep

14.4°

Sat

5 Sep

14.4°

Sun

6 Sep

14.6°

Mon

7 Sep

14.4°

Tue

8 Sep

—

Wed

9 Sep

—

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 22 km/h NW (328°).

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

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

4:30 am → 7:30 am

Good

5:30 pm → 7:30 pm

First light

6:09 am

Last light

6:24 pm

Sunrise

6:34 am

Sunset

5:59 pm

Moonrise

—

Moonset

9:30 am

High tide

6:05 am

Low tide

12:54 pm

High tide

5:50 pm

Nearby spots

Species at this spot

King George Whiting
Snook
Australian Salmon
Flathead
Yelloweye Mullet
Australian Herring
Southern Calamari (Squid) · closed
Garfish · closed