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Knysna Fishing & Solunar Times

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54 /100 ★★☆☆☆ slow

1.6h off the turn — strongest push; falling (-1.4 hPa/6h); bright midday sun — fish sitting deep.

Why the bite reads slow right now
🌊Tide flow+12
1.6h off the turn — strongest push
🔻Pressure+6
falling (-1.4 hPa/6h)
🌅Light-4
bright midday sun — fish sitting deep
🌡️Water temp+3
20.0°C — in the productive band
🌘Moon phase-2
neap tides — smallest movement
📏Tide range-2
0.7m — small neap movement
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 neap tides — smallest movement -2
Tide flow 1.6h off the turn — strongest push +12
Tide direction pulling out +1
Tide range 0.7m — small neap movement -2
Wind 11 km/h onshore, light -1
Swell 1.9m — big, fish the sheltered corners +1
Pressure falling (-1.4 hPa/6h) +6
Light bright midday sun — fish sitting deep -4
Water temp 20.0°C — in the productive band +3
Total 54

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
Slow going — work for it. A strong dropping tide is moving food around. A falling glass ahead of a change is a classic trigger. Today’s pick: Blacktail on redbait, prawn or worm. Best window today around 06:29.
📉 Barometric trigger
101710191021now12h ago+12h
Falling — a classic bite trigger, climbing next 6h.
Last 6h -1.4 hPa · next 6h +1.7 hPa · live from Open-Meteo.
Knysna bite mission card
Save or screenshot, then send it to your crew on WhatsApp.

Tide: falling, 1.6h from the turn (next low 16:51)

Moon: Last Quarter (50% lit)

Major bite: 05:29–07:29 · 17:54–19:54

Minor bite: 23:31–01:01 · 11:57–13:27

Strongest near dawn/dusk or a tide change. Nearest tides →

🐟 Best fishing times today

🎣 Reading today’s bite…
00:00 — Fair — worth a cast (25/100)01:00 — Quiet (1/100)02:00 — Quiet (6/100)03:00 — Quiet (18/100)04:00 — Quiet (2/100)05:00 — Good — low-light window (50/100)06:00 — Good — bite building (55/100)07:00 — Fair — worth a cast (27/100)08:00 — Quiet (0/100)09:00 — Quiet (6/100)10:00 — Quiet (18/100)11:00 — Quiet (3/100)12:00 — Fair — worth a cast (25/100)13:00 — Quiet (11/100)14:00 — Quiet (0/100)15:00 — Quiet (0/100)16:00 — Quiet (14/100)17:00 — Fair — worth a cast (26/100)18:00 — Good — low-light window (55/100)19:00 — Good — low-light window (48/100)20:00 — Quiet (11/100)21:00 — Quiet (1/100)22:00 — Quiet (17/100)23:00 — Quiet (19/100)LHLHnow00:0006:0012:0018:0024:00
■ prime   ■ good   ■ fair   ■ quiet   ■ dawn/dusk   H/L = tide · tap an hour for detail

🌊 Today's tide

00:0006:0012:0018:0024:00L 03:23H 10:22L 16:51H 22:42now

⚖️ What you may legally keep here

CLOSED SEASON RIGHT NOW — Galjoen (15 Oct - last day of February). 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
Cape stumpnose 20 cm 5/day none
Galjoen 35 cm 2/day CLOSED NOW · 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
Spotted grunter (tiger) 40 cm 5/day none
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 Knysna now (November)

In season: Blacktail

Blacktail

Today’s pick: Blacktail — Blacktail are in season. Try redbait, prawn or worm.

🎣 Target now — tap a species

📅 When each fish runs at Knysna

SpeciesJFMAMJJASOND
Galjoen
×
Blacktail
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 Knysna

The marks our local knowledge describes for this spot — what the structure is, what holds there and how it is fished.

🪨 Rocks

Holds: Galjoen, Blacktail, Musselcracker

Bait / lure: mussel

💡 Top tip

“Off the rocks at the Heads and Noetzie you can add blacktail, galjoen and musselcracker.”

Across the whole spot

Baits that work here: live bait, mussel, prawn

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 05:24 · Sunset 18:58 · Peak UV 8

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 Mon, 02 Nov 2026 15:13 SAST.

Aerial map — Knysna

Crayonised aerial map of Knysna
The Heads channel
Eastern Head
Estuary flats
Deep hole / gullyRock 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.

🎣 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 Knysna — Fishing Local Knowledge

Knysna is first and foremost a lagoon and estuary fishery, one of the best-known on the Garden Route, with rock-and-surf options out at the Heads, Coney Glen and Noetzie for those after bigger fish.

The lagoon holds spotted grunter, kob (kabeljou), leervis (garrick), white steenbras and Cape stumpnose, best worked with prawn, sand prawn and live bait around the tide changes, with the end of the high into the early ebb a local favourite. Off the rocks at the Heads and Noetzie you can add blacktail, galjoen and musselcracker. Much of the estuary and the adjoining Goukamma MPA is regulated, with bait-collection, catch and no-take zones, so check the current rules, permits and bag limits before fishing.

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