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Richards Bay Fishing & Solunar Times
84 /100 ★★★★☆ good
Inside the major bite window; 1.0h off the turn — strongest push; 1.0m — working the gullies nicely.
Why the bite reads good right now
🌙Solunar+14
inside the major bite window
🌊Tide flow+12
1.0h off the turn — strongest push
〰️Swell+8
1.0m — working the gullies nicely
💨Wind+4
16 km/h cross-shore
🌡️Water temp+3
22.6°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 | inside the major bite window | +14 |
| Moon phase | mid-cycle | +1 |
| Tide flow | 1.0h off the turn — strongest push | +12 |
| Tide direction | pushing in | +2 |
| Wind | 16 km/h cross-shore | +4 |
| Swell | 1.0m — working the gullies nicely | +8 |
| Pressure | steady | 0 |
| Water temp | 22.6°C — in the productive band | +3 |
| 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. A strong pushing tide is moving food around. A 1.0m swell is working the gullies. Today’s pick: Garrick on live bait or spinning spoons. Best window today around 21:10.
📉 Barometric trigger
Steady — no strong pressure signal, dropping further next 6h.
Last 6h +0.2 hPa · next 6h -4.9 hPa · live from Open-Meteo.
Tide: rising, 1.0h from the turn (next high 14:26)
Moon: Waxing Gibbous (88% lit)
Major bite: 20:10–22:10 · 08:35–10:35
Minor bite: 14:12–15:42 · 02:38–04:08
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | 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 (September)
In season: Kob, Garrick
Kob
Garrick
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
📅 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 05:38 · Sunset 17:49 · 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 Wed, 23 Sep 2026 09:13 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.