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Hout Bay Fishing & Solunar Times
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66 /100 ★★★☆☆ fair
1.9h off the turn — strongest push; 1.1m — working the gullies nicely; rising fast (+3.3 hPa/6h) — post-front.
Why the bite reads fair right now
🌊Tide flow+12
1.9h off the turn — strongest push
〰️Swell+8
1.1m — working the gullies nicely
🔻Pressure-8
rising fast (+3.3 hPa/6h) — post-front
🌙Solunar+7
major window within the hour
💨Wind+4
12 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 | major window within the hour | +7 |
| Moon phase | mid-cycle | +1 |
| Tide flow | 1.9h off the turn — strongest push | +12 |
| Tide direction | pushing in | +2 |
| Wind | 12 km/h cross-shore | +4 |
| Swell | 1.1m — working the gullies nicely | +8 |
| Pressure | rising fast (+3.3 hPa/6h) — post-front | -8 |
| Water temp | 14.8°C | 0 |
| Total | 66 | |
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 1.1m swell is working the gullies. The barometer’s climbing hard after a front, which can shut them down. Today’s pick: Galjoen on redbait, mussel or worm. Best window today around 22:05.
📉 Barometric trigger
Rising hard after a front — can shut them down.
Last 6h +3.3 hPa · next 6h +0.1 hPa · live from Open-Meteo.
Tide: rising, 1.9h from the turn (next high 13:37)
Moon: Waxing Gibbous (88% lit)
Major bite: 21:05–23:05 · 09:30–11:30
Minor bite: 15:07–16:37 · 03:33–05:03
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blacktail (dassie) | 20 cm | 5/day | none |
| Galjoen | 35 cm | 2/day | 15 Oct - last day of February |
| Geelbek (Cape salmon) | 60 cm | 2/day | none |
| Hottentot | 22 cm | 10/day | none |
| Kob / Kabeljou (dusky kob) — west of Cape Agulhas | 50 cm | 5/day | none |
| Longfin tuna / albacore | — | 10/day | none |
| Snoek (Cape snoek) | 60 cm | 10/day | none |
| Yellowfin tuna | — | 10/day | none |
| Yellowtail (Cape yellowtail) | — | 10/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 Hout Bay now (September)
In season: Snoek, Kob, Galjoen, Blacktail, Hottentot, Geelbek
Snoek
Kob
Galjoen
Blacktail
Hottentot
Geelbek
Today’s pick: Galjoen — Winter galjoen off the wave-washed rocks. Try redbait, mussel or worm.
🎣 Target now — tap a species
📅 When each fish runs at Hout Bay
| Species | J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Snoek | ||||||||||||
| Kob | ||||||||||||
| Galjoen | × | |||||||||||
| Blacktail | ||||||||||||
| Hottentot | ||||||||||||
| Geelbek |
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 Hout Bay
The marks our local knowledge describes for this spot — what the structure is, what holds there and how it is fished.
⚓ Harbour
Holds: Snoek
💡 Top tip
“Hout Bay is a busy working fishing harbour, the base for much of the Peninsula's linefishing and the traditional home of the Cape snoek fleet.”
🪨 Rocks
Holds: Kob, Galjoen, Blacktail, Hottentot, Snoek, Geelbek, Yellowtail, Longfin Tuna
💡 Top tip
“Boat anglers off Hout Bay chase snoek, yellowtail, geelbek (Cape salmon) and, further out, longfin and other tuna over the deeper Atlantic grounds, while shore anglers work the rocks for hottentot, galjoen (protected and seasonal, so check current regulations), blacktail and kob.”
Across the whole spot
Baits that work here: chokka, red bait, sardine
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 06:33 · Sunset 18:44 · Peak UV 5
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 Wed, 23 Sep 2026 09:13 SAST.
Aerial map — Hout Bay
Harbour
Beach
Deep hole / gullyCasting 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.
🎣 Cast Coach: the dashed arc suggests a cast from the beat toward the nearest deep water / structure — adjust for the tide on the day.
About Hout Bay — Fishing Local Knowledge
Hout Bay is a busy working fishing harbour, the base for much of the Peninsula's linefishing and the traditional home of the Cape snoek fleet.
Boat anglers off Hout Bay chase snoek, yellowtail, geelbek (Cape salmon) and, further out, longfin and other tuna over the deeper Atlantic grounds, while shore anglers work the rocks for hottentot, galjoen (protected and seasonal, so check current regulations), blacktail and kob. Chokka, sardine and red bait are the mainstay baits, and snoek are taken on handline traces with sardine. West Coast rock lobster is a well-known local resource with strict permit and season rules. Cold water and slippery, surge-washed rocks call for caution.