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Buffalo Bay Fishing & Solunar Times
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73 /100 ★★★★☆ good
Inside the major bite window; 1.1h off the turn — strongest push; 1.2m — working the gullies nicely.
Why the bite reads good right now
🌙Solunar+14
inside the major bite window
🌊Tide flow+12
1.1h off the turn — strongest push
〰️Swell+8
1.2m — working the gullies nicely
🔻Pressure-8
rising fast (+5.3 hPa/6h) — post-front
💨Wind+4
9 km/h cross-shore
↕️Tide direction+2
pushing in
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 | inside the major bite window | +14 |
| Moon phase | mid-cycle | +1 |
| Tide flow | 1.1h off the turn — strongest push | +12 |
| Tide direction | pushing in | +2 |
| Wind | 9 km/h cross-shore | +4 |
| Swell | 1.2m — working the gullies nicely | +8 |
| Pressure | rising fast (+5.3 hPa/6h) — post-front | -8 |
| Water temp | 15.0°C | 0 |
| Total | 73 | |
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
Worth the trip. A strong pushing tide is moving food around. A 1.2m swell is working the gullies. The barometer’s climbing hard after a front, which can shut them down. Today’s pick: Garrick on live bait or spinning spoons. Best window today around 21:46.
📉 Barometric trigger
Rising hard after a front — can shut them down, climbing next 6h.
Last 6h +5.3 hPa · next 6h +1.3 hPa · live from Open-Meteo.
Tide: rising, 1.1h from the turn (next high 14:24)
Moon: Waxing Gibbous (88% lit)
Major bite: 20:46–22:46 · 09:11–11:11
Minor bite: 14:48–16:18 · 03:14–04:44
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
| 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 | 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 (September)
In season: Kob, Garrick, Galjoen, Blacktail, Musselcracker
Kob
Garrick
Galjoen
Blacktail
Musselcracker
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
📅 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 06:14 · Sunset 18:26 · Peak UV 6
Surfers & anglers get the highest UV dose of anyone. Recommended: SPF 50, reapply every 2 hours and after every session.
Shop SPF 50 sunscreen →Surf/wave: Open-Meteo Marine. Sun/UV/pressure: Open-Meteo. Tides: Stormglass model. Solunar is an approximate guide. Generated Wed, 23 Sep 2026 09:13 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.