ISO 24444 / ISO 24443 EU COLIPA and SANS 1557 Verified Broadspectrum Sunscreens
Richards Bay Fishing & Solunar Times
80 /100 ★★★★☆ good
Falling fast (-2.6 hPa/6h) — front coming; dawn/dusk edge — prime feeding light; 1.0m — working the gullies nicely.
Why the bite reads good right now
🔻Pressure+10
falling fast (-2.6 hPa/6h) — front coming
🌅Light+10
dawn/dusk edge — prime feeding light
〰️Swell+8
1.0m — working the gullies nicely
🌙Solunar+7
major window within the hour
💨Wind+4
17 km/h cross-shore
🌡️Water temp+3
22.2°C — in the productive band
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 | major window within the hour | +7 |
| Moon phase | neap tides — smallest movement | -2 |
| Wind | 17 km/h cross-shore | +4 |
| Swell | 1.0m — working the gullies nicely | +8 |
| Pressure | falling fast (-2.6 hPa/6h) — front coming | +10 |
| Light | dawn/dusk edge — prime feeding light | +10 |
| Water temp | 22.2°C — in the productive band | +3 |
| Total | 80 | |
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 1.0m swell is working the gullies. A falling glass ahead of a change is a classic trigger. Today’s pick: Kob on live bait, chokka or fresh sardine. Best window today around 04:49.
📉 Barometric trigger
Falling fast — a front is coming, prime feeding trigger, dropping further next 6h.
Last 6h -2.6 hPa · next 6h -2.8 hPa · live from Open-Meteo.
Moon: Last Quarter (64% lit)
Major bite: 03:49–05:49 · 16:14–18:14
Minor bite: 21:51–23:21 · 10:17–11:47
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: Kob — Falling pressure + the low-light window favour kob. Try live bait, chokka or fresh sardine.
🎣 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 06:02 · Sunset 17:39 · 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 Thu, 03 Sep 2026 06:13 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.