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Buffalo Bay Fishing & Solunar Times
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60 /100 ★★★☆☆ fair
1.4h off the turn — strongest push; 1.7m — working the gullies nicely; building toward springs.
Why the bite reads fair right now
🌊Tide flow+12
1.4h off the turn — strongest push
〰️Swell+8
1.7m — working the gullies nicely
🌘Moon phase+4
building toward springs
🔻Pressure-4
rising (+0.8 hPa/6h)
🌅Light-4
bright midday sun — fish sitting deep
🌡️Water temp+3
17.4°C — in the productive band
Bars are the live points each factor added to (green) or took off (red) today’s score. Full breakdown below.
Show how this score is worked out
| Baseline | an average day on an average tide | +40 |
| Solunar | between bite windows | 0 |
| Moon phase | building toward springs | +4 |
| Tide flow | 1.4h off the turn — strongest push | +12 |
| Tide direction | pushing in | +2 |
| Wind | 9 km/h onshore, light | -1 |
| Swell | 1.7m — working the gullies nicely | +8 |
| Pressure | rising (+0.8 hPa/6h) | -4 |
| Light | bright midday sun — fish sitting deep | -4 |
| Water temp | 17.4°C — in the productive band | +3 |
| Total | 60 | |
Every factor above is live data for this spot. Solunar and the weightings are an informed guide, not a guarantee — the sea gets a vote.
📖 Today’s story
Fishable, pick your window. A strong pushing tide is moving food around. A 1.7m swell is working the gullies. Today’s pick: Garrick on live bait or spinning spoons. Best window today around 14:07.
📉 Barometric trigger
Rising — bite easing off, dropping further next 6h.
Last 6h +0.8 hPa · next 6h -1.7 hPa · live from Open-Meteo.
Tide: rising, 1.4h from the turn (next high 17:17)
Moon: Waxing Crescent (5% lit)
Major bite: 13:07–15:07 · 01:32–03:32
Minor bite: 07:09–08:39 · 19:35–21:05
Strongest near dawn/dusk or a tide change. Nearest tides →
🐟 Best fishing times today
🎣 Reading today’s bite…
■ prime ■ good ■ fair ■ quiet ■ dawn/dusk H/L = tide · tap an hour for detail
🌊 Today's tide
⚖️ What you may legally keep here
CLOSED SEASON RIGHT NOW — Shad / Elf (01 Oct - 30 Nov). You may not catch or be in possession of these.
| Species | Min size | Bag limit | Closed season |
|---|---|---|---|
| Black musselcracker / poenskop | 50 cm | 1/day | none |
| Blacktail (dassie) | 20 cm | 5/day | none |
| Galjoen | 35 cm | 2/day | 15 Oct - last day of February |
| Garrick / Leervis | 70 cm | 2/day | none |
| Kob / Kabeljou (dusky kob) — shore & estuary, east of Cape Agulhas | 60 cm | 1/day | none |
| Shad / Elf | 30 cm | 4/day | CLOSED NOW · 01 Oct - 30 Nov |
| White musselcracker (brusher, cracker) | 60 cm | 2/day | none |
| White steenbras (pignose grunter) | 60 cm | 1/day | none |
A recreational fishing permit is required (available at the Post Office). Over and above the per-species limits above, Reg. 22(7)(f) prohibits keeping more than ten fish in total per day irrespective of species (except species with no bag limit, or a bag limit above ten). Sizes are measured snout to tail tip.
Source: Marine Living Resources Act 18 of 1998 — Regulations (GN R1111), Annexure 7 (Regulation 22). Limits shown only for species named in this spot's notes; where a common name covers more than one species (stumpnose, musselcracker) every applicable limit is listed. Regulations change — verify with DFFE before keeping any fish.
🐟 What’s biting at Buffalo Bay now (October)
In season: Garrick, Blacktail
Garrick
Blacktail
Shad
release only
Today’s pick: Garrick — Garrick are running — work spoons or live bait along the backline. Try live bait or spinning spoons.
🎣 Target now — tap a species
Protected now (release only): Shad
📅 When each fish runs at Buffalo Bay
| Species | J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shad | × | × | ||||||||||
| Kob | ||||||||||||
| Garrick | ||||||||||||
| Galjoen | × | |||||||||||
| Blacktail | ||||||||||||
| White Steenbras | ||||||||||||
| Musselcracker |
peak run off-season closed (protected) • ring = this month. General SA run seasons.
Run seasons are a general SA guide; the sea gets a vote. Always check current bag & size limits.
🎣 Where to fish Buffalo Bay
The marks our local knowledge describes for this spot — what the structure is, what holds there and how it is fished.
⛰️ Gullies
Holds: Shad, Kob, Garrick, Galjoen, Blacktail, White Steenbras, Musselcracker
Fish it: on the pushing tide, at dusk
Bait / lure: chokka, mussel, prawn, sardine, shad
💡 Top tip
“Anglers here target kob, garrick, shad, white steenbras, blacktail, galjoen and musselcracker, using redbait, chokka, prawn and sardine off the ledges and in the surf gullies, best on the incoming tide and into the evening.”
Across the whole spot
Tide: pushing tide
Best light: dusk
Baits that work here: chokka, mussel, prawn, sardine, shad
Marks are drawn from our own local knowledge for this spot — each one shows the sentence it came from. They are descriptions, not survey positions: we do not publish a cast coordinate we cannot stand behind. Rock and ledge angling is dangerous in big swell — check the conditions above and never fish a ledge alone.
☀️ Sun & skin — out on the water all day
Sunrise 05:47 · Sunset 18:41 · Peak UV 3
Surfers & anglers get the highest UV dose of anyone. Recommended: SPF 30+, reapply every 2 hours and after every session.
Shop SPF 30+ sunscreen →Surf/wave: Open-Meteo Marine. Sun/UV/pressure: Open-Meteo. Tides: Stormglass model. Solunar is an approximate guide. Generated Tue, 13 Oct 2026 12:13 SAST.
Aerial map — Buffalo Bay
Point rocks
Beach
Rock ledgeCasting spot
Hand-styled from NGI 0.25 m national aerial. Markers show productive marks & casting spots — indicative local knowledge, not live conditions or navigation advice; tides, banks, rips & hazards change, so use your own eyes on the day.
About Buffalo Bay — Fishing Local Knowledge
The rocky Wildside, with its ledges and outcrops west of the village, is the prime angling ground, while the sheltered main beach offers easier surf fishing for families.
Anglers here target kob, garrick, shad, white steenbras, blacktail, galjoen and musselcracker, using redbait, chokka, prawn and sardine off the ledges and in the surf gullies, best on the incoming tide and into the evening. Importantly, the Goukamma Marine Protected Area runs along this coast from Walker Point to Buffels Bay, with restricted and no-take zones, so a permit is required and you must check the current MPA rules, bag limits and the galjoen closed season before fishing.