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Port St Johns Fishing & Solunar Times
73 /100 ★★★★☆ good
2.3h off the turn — strongest push; 1.2m — working the gullies nicely; building toward springs.
Why the bite reads good right now
🌊Tide flow+12
2.3h off the turn — strongest push
〰️Swell+8
1.2m — working the gullies nicely
🌘Moon phase+4
building toward springs
💨Wind+4
4 km/h cross-shore
🌡️Water temp+3
18.1°C — in the productive band
↕️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 | between bite windows | 0 |
| Moon phase | building toward springs | +4 |
| Tide flow | 2.3h off the turn — strongest push | +12 |
| Tide direction | pushing in | +2 |
| Wind | 4 km/h cross-shore | +4 |
| Swell | 1.2m — working the gullies nicely | +8 |
| Pressure | steady | 0 |
| Water temp | 18.1°C — in the productive band | +3 |
| 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. Today’s pick: Kob on live bait, chokka or fresh sardine. Best window today around 09:40.
📉 Barometric trigger
Steady — no strong pressure signal.
Last 6h +0.1 hPa · next 6h -0.4 hPa · live from Open-Meteo.
Tide: rising, 2.3h from the turn (next high 02:34)
Moon: Waning Crescent (9% lit)
Major bite: 08:40–10:40 · 21:05–23:05
Minor bite: 02:42–04:12 · 15:08–16:38
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 |
| Bronze bream (bluefish) | 30 cm | 2/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 |
| Spotted grunter (tiger) | 40 cm | 5/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 Port St Johns now (September)
In season: Kob
Kob
Today’s pick: Kob — Kob are in season. Try live bait, chokka or fresh sardine.
🎣 Target now — tap a species
📅 When each fish runs at Port St Johns
| Species | J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kob | ||||||||||||
| Grunter |
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 Port St Johns
The marks our local knowledge describes for this spot — what the structure is, what holds there and how it is fished.
⛰️ Gullies
Holds: Kob, Grunter
Bait / lure: live bait, prawn, sardine
💡 Top tip
“Grunter take prawn worked over the estuary banks, kob prefer live bait and fresh sardine in the deeper channel and gullies, and offshore boats target gamefish and reef species.”
🐠 Reef
Holds: Kob, Grunter
Bait / lure: live bait, prawn, sardine
🌊 Channel
Holds: Kob, Grunter
Bait / lure: live bait, prawn, sardine
Across the whole spot
Season: winter
Baits that work here: live bait, 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 06:06 · Sunset 17:51 · 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, 09 Sep 2026 00:13 SAST.
Aerial map — Port St Johns
Estuary mouth
Channel / gutter
Rocky point
Second Beach
Casting spotDeep hole / gullyRock ledge
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 Port St Johns — Fishing Local Knowledge
Port St Johns is a renowned Wild Coast fishing destination, offering estuary, river, rock and surf angling as well as deep-sea boat charters from the Mzimvubu mouth. The big river, its estuary and the surrounding rocky coastline give an unusual variety of water for one spot.
The estuary and river hold spotted grunter, kob (kabeljou) and even freshwater species upriver, while the rocks and surf produce bronze bream, blacktail, shad (elf) and seasonal galjoen. Winter brings the sardine run, and with it garrick (leervis) and gamefish hunting close in. Grunter take prawn worked over the estuary banks, kob prefer live bait and fresh sardine in the deeper channel and gullies, and offshore boats target gamefish and reef species. It is remote — fish self-sufficiently and mind the strong currents at the mouth. Check current bag and size limits; galjoen is protected.