ISO 24444 / ISO 24443 EU COLIPA and SANS 1557 Verified Broadspectrum Sunscreens
Richards Bay Fishing & Solunar Times
51 /100 ★★☆☆☆ slow
Falling fast (-4.9 hPa/6h) — front coming; 0.7m — gentle push; 0.9h off the turn, picking up.
Why the bite reads slow right now
🔻Pressure+10
falling fast (-4.9 hPa/6h) — front coming
〰️Swell+5
0.7m — gentle push
🌊Tide flow+4
0.9h off the turn, picking up
🌅Light-4
bright midday sun — fish sitting deep
🌘Moon phase-2
neap tides — smallest movement
📏Tide range-2
0.5m — 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 | 0.9h off the turn, picking up | +4 |
| Tide direction | pulling out | +1 |
| Tide range | 0.5m — small neap movement | -2 |
| Wind | 11 km/h onshore, light | -1 |
| Swell | 0.7m — gentle push | +5 |
| Pressure | falling fast (-4.9 hPa/6h) — front coming | +10 |
| Light | bright midday sun — fish sitting deep | -4 |
| Water temp | 24.2°C | 0 |
| Total | 51 | |
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: Garrick on live bait or spinning spoons. Best window today around 05:53.
📉 Barometric trigger
Falling fast — a front is coming, prime feeding trigger, climbing next 6h.
Last 6h -4.9 hPa · next 6h +2 hPa · live from Open-Meteo.
Tide: falling, 0.9h from the turn (next low 16:06)
Moon: Last Quarter (50% lit)
Major bite: 04:53–06:53 · 17:18–19:18
Minor bite: 22:55–00:25 · 11:21–12:51
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
CLOSED SEASON RIGHT NOW — Shad / Elf (01 Oct - 30 Nov). You may not catch or be in possession of these.
| Species | Min size | Bag limit | Closed season |
|---|---|---|---|
| Billfishes (marlin, sailfish) | — | 5/day | none |
| Cape stumpnose | 20 cm | 5/day | none |
| Garrick / Leervis | 70 cm | 2/day | none |
| King mackerel / couta (cuda) | — | 10/day | none |
| Kingfishes / trevally (incl. giant kingfish, GT) | — | 5/day | none |
| Kob / Kabeljou (dusky kob) — shore & estuary, east of Cape Agulhas | 60 cm | 1/day | none |
| Longfin tuna / albacore | — | 10/day | none |
| Natal stumpnose (yellowfin bream) | 25 cm | 5/day | none |
| Shad / Elf | 30 cm | 4/day | CLOSED NOW · 01 Oct - 30 Nov |
| Spotted grunter (tiger) | 40 cm | 5/day | none |
| White stumpnose | 25 cm | 10/day | none |
| Yellowfin tuna | — | 10/day | none |
| Dorado / dolphinfish | No published recreational limit — confirm with DFFE before keeping | ||
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 Richards Bay now (November)
In season: Garrick, Grunter
Garrick
Grunter
Shad
release only
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
Protected now (release only): Shad
📅 When each fish runs at Richards Bay
| Species | J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shad | × | × | ||||||||||
| Kob | ||||||||||||
| Garrick | ||||||||||||
| 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 Richards Bay
The marks our local knowledge describes for this spot — what the structure is, what holds there and how it is fished.
🪨 Rocks
Holds: Shad, Kob, Garrick, Grunter, Stumpnose, Kingfish
Bait / lure: shad
💡 Top tip
“Surf and estuary anglers target kob (kabeljou), spotted grunter, shad (elf), garrick (leervis) and stumpnose, while the rocks and warmer water bring kingfish.”
🌊 Backline
Holds: Kob, Garrick, Grunter
Bait / lure: live bait, prawn, sardine, spoon, spoons
💡 Top tip
“Grunter take prawn worked over the flats, kob prefer live bait and fresh sardine along the channel and backline, and garrick respond to live bait and spoons.”
🌊 Channel
Holds: Kob, Garrick, Grunter
Bait / lure: live bait, prawn, sardine, spoon, spoons
🐠 Reef
Holds: King Mackerel, Kingfish, Dorado, Billfish
💡 Top tip
“Offshore is the real draw — king mackerel (couta), kingfish, tuna, dorado, sailfish and marlin over the deeper reefs and current lines, best from spring through autumn.”
Across the whole spot
Season: spring, autumn
Baits that work here: live bait, prawn, sardine, shad, spoon, spoons
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 04:56 · Sunset 18:13 · Peak UV 7
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 — Richards Bay
Marina / estuary
Ski-boat club
Estuary channel
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.
About Richards Bay — Fishing Local Knowledge
Richards Bay is a premier fishing destination, offering surf and rock angling off Alkantstrand and the breakwaters, estuary and lagoon fishing in the sheltered waters, and outstanding offshore boat fishing from the harbour into the warm Agulhas current. The port entrance and its walls are a well-known hotspot.
Surf and estuary anglers target kob (kabeljou), spotted grunter, shad (elf), garrick (leervis) and stumpnose, while the rocks and warmer water bring kingfish. Grunter take prawn worked over the flats, kob prefer live bait and fresh sardine along the channel and backline, and garrick respond to live bait and spoons. Offshore is the real draw — king mackerel (couta), kingfish, tuna, dorado, sailfish and marlin over the deeper reefs and current lines, best from spring through autumn. A recreational fishing permit is required; check current bag and size limits, and note shad's closed season.