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St Francis Bay Fishing & Solunar Times
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54 /100 ★★☆☆☆ slow
2.0h off the turn — strongest push; 1.1m — working the gullies nicely; rising fast (+2.4 hPa/6h) — post-front.
Why the bite reads slow right now
🌊Tide flow+12
2.0h off the turn — strongest push
〰️Swell+8
1.1m — working the gullies nicely
🔻Pressure-8
rising fast (+2.4 hPa/6h) — post-front
🌅Light-4
bright midday sun — fish sitting deep
🌡️Water temp+3
16.4°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 | mid-cycle | +1 |
| Tide flow | 2.0h off the turn — strongest push | +12 |
| Tide direction | pushing in | +2 |
| Wind | 25 km/h cross-shore, fresh | 0 |
| Swell | 1.1m — working the gullies nicely | +8 |
| Pressure | rising fast (+2.4 hPa/6h) — post-front | -8 |
| Light | bright midday sun — fish sitting deep | -4 |
| Water temp | 16.4°C — in the productive band | +3 |
| Total | 54 | |
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 pushing tide is moving food around. A 1.1m swell is working the gullies. The barometer’s climbing hard after a front, which can shut them down. Today’s pick: Garrick on live bait or spinning spoons. Best window today around 21:45.
📉 Barometric trigger
Rising hard after a front — can shut them down, climbing next 6h.
Last 6h +2.4 hPa · next 6h +3.3 hPa · live from Open-Meteo.
Tide: rising, 2.0h from the turn (next high 14:12)
Moon: Waxing Gibbous (89% lit)
Major bite: 20:45–22:45 · 09:10–11:10
Minor bite: 14:47–16:17 · 03:13–04:43
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cape stumpnose | 20 cm | 5/day | none |
| 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 |
| 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 St Francis Bay now (September)
In season: Cape Stumpnose, Garrick, Kob
Cape Stumpnose
Garrick
Kob
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 St Francis Bay
| Species | J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grunter | ||||||||||||
| White Steenbras | ||||||||||||
| Cape Stumpnose | ||||||||||||
| Garrick | ||||||||||||
| Shad | × | × | ||||||||||
| Kob |
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 St Francis Bay
The marks our local knowledge describes for this spot — what the structure is, what holds there and how it is fished.
🏞️ Kromme River — estuary
💡 Top tip
“St Francis Bay offers anglers the Kromme River estuary and canals on one side and the open ocean beach and river mouth on the other, giving both sheltered estuary fishing and surf options.”
Across the whole spot
Tide: pushing tide
Baits that work here: live bait, prawn, 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 06:07 · Sunset 18:18 · 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, 23 Sep 2026 12:13 SAST.
Aerial map — St Francis Bay
Beach
Casting 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 St Francis Bay — Fishing Local Knowledge
St Francis Bay offers anglers the Kromme River estuary and canals on one side and the open ocean beach and river mouth on the other, giving both sheltered estuary fishing and surf options.
The Kromme estuary is known for spotted grunter, leervis (garrick), kob and Cape stumpnose, worked with prawn and live bait around the tide changes, while the beach and river mouth produce kob, garrick, shad and white steenbras. Fish the incoming tide and the low-light hours for the bigger predators. Parts of the estuary carry catch and no-take rules, so check the current regulations, permits and bag limits before fishing or keeping fish.