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Knysna Fishing & Solunar Times

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84 /100 ★★★★☆ good

Inside the major bite window; 6 km/h offshore — clean water; falling fast (-2.5 hPa/6h) — front coming.

Why the bite reads good right now
🌙Solunar+14
inside the major bite window
💨Wind+11
6 km/h offshore — clean water
🔻Pressure+10
falling fast (-2.5 hPa/6h) — front coming
🌅Light+10
dawn/dusk edge — prime feeding light
🌘Moon phase-2
neap tides — smallest movement
〰️Swell+1
2.2m — big, fish the sheltered corners
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 neap tides — smallest movement -2
Wind 6 km/h offshore — clean water +11
Swell 2.2m — big, fish the sheltered corners +1
Pressure falling fast (-2.5 hPa/6h) — front coming +10
Light dawn/dusk edge — prime feeding light +10
Water temp 14.8°C 0
Total 84

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. The dawn light change is right here — the prime feeding window. A 6 km/h offshore is holding the water clean. A falling glass ahead of a change is a classic trigger. Today’s pick: Galjoen on redbait, mussel or worm. Best window today around 05:25.
📉 Barometric trigger
101010141018now12h ago+12h
Falling fast — a front is coming, prime feeding trigger, climbing next 6h.
Last 6h -2.5 hPa · next 6h +2.9 hPa · live from Open-Meteo.
Knysna bite mission card
Save or screenshot, then send it to your crew on WhatsApp.

Moon: Last Quarter (64% lit)

Major bite: 04:25–06:25 · 16:50–18:50

Minor bite: 22:27–23:57 · 10:53–12:23

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

🐟 Best fishing times today

🎣 Reading today’s bite…
00:00 — Quiet (0/100)01:00 — Quiet (0/100)02:00 — Quiet (0/100)03:00 — Quiet (2/100)04:00 — Fair — worth a cast (30/100)05:00 — Good — bite building (53/100)06:00 — Good — low-light window (49/100)07:00 — Quiet (21/100)08:00 — Quiet (4/100)09:00 — Quiet (0/100)10:00 — Quiet (3/100)11:00 — Fair — worth a cast (27/100)12:00 — Quiet (19/100)13:00 — Quiet (14/100)14:00 — Quiet (0/100)15:00 — Quiet (0/100)16:00 — Quiet (18/100)17:00 — Good — low-light window (50/100)18:00 — Good — low-light window (53/100)19:00 — Fair — worth a cast (25/100)20:00 — Quiet (8/100)21:00 — Quiet (0/100)22:00 — Quiet (13/100)23:00 — Fair — worth a cast (23/100)HLHnow00:0006:0012:0018:0024:00
prime   good   fair   quiet   dawn/dusk   H/L = tide · tap an hour for detail

🌊 Today's tide

00:0006:0012:0018:0024:00H 07:29L 13:09H 19:46now

⚖️ 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
Cape stumpnose 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
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 (September)

In season: Galjoen, Blacktail, Musselcracker

Galjoen
Blacktail
Musselcracker

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 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 06:42 · Sunset 18:12 · Peak UV 0

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 Thu, 03 Sep 2026 06:13 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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