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Umhlanga Fishing & Solunar Times
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80 /100 ★★★★☆ good
1.4h off the turn — strongest push; dawn/dusk edge — prime feeding light; 0.9m — working the gullies nicely.
Why the bite reads good right now
🌊Tide flow+12
1.4h off the turn — strongest push
🌅Light+10
dawn/dusk edge — prime feeding light
〰️Swell+8
0.9m — working the gullies nicely
🌘Moon phase+4
building toward springs
💨Wind+4
19 km/h cross-shore
🔻Pressure-4
rising (+0.9 hPa/6h)
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 | 1.4h off the turn — strongest push | +12 |
| Tide direction | pulling out | +1 |
| Tide range | 1.7m — big spring movement | +2 |
| Wind | 19 km/h cross-shore | +4 |
| Swell | 0.9m — working the gullies nicely | +8 |
| Pressure | rising (+0.9 hPa/6h) | -4 |
| Light | dawn/dusk edge — prime feeding light | +10 |
| Water temp | 22.1°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. A strong dropping tide is moving food around. The dusk light change is right here — the prime feeding window. A 0.9m swell is working the gullies. Today’s pick: Garrick on live bait or spinning spoons. Best window today around 13:47.
📉 Barometric trigger
Rising — bite easing off, climbing next 6h.
Last 6h +0.9 hPa · next 6h +1.1 hPa · live from Open-Meteo.
Tide: falling, 1.4h from the turn (next low 23:04)
Moon: Waxing Crescent (6% lit)
Major bite: 12:47–14:47 · 01:12–03:12
Minor bite: 06:49–08:19 · 19:15–20:45
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cape stumpnose | 20 cm | 5/day | none |
| Garrick / Leervis | 70 cm | 2/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 |
| Large-spot pompano (wave garrick) | — | 5/day | none |
| Natal stumpnose (yellowfin bream) | 25 cm | 5/day | none |
| Shad / Elf | 30 cm | 4/day | CLOSED NOW · 01 Oct - 30 Nov |
| White stumpnose | 25 cm | 10/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 Umhlanga now (October)
In season: Garrick
Garrick
Shad
release only
Today’s pick: Garrick — Garrick are in season. Try live bait or spinning spoons.
🎣 Target now — tap a species
Protected now (release only): Shad
📅 When each fish runs at Umhlanga
| Species | J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shad | × | × | ||||||||||
| Kob | ||||||||||||
| Garrick |
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 Umhlanga
The marks our local knowledge describes for this spot — what the structure is, what holds there and how it is fished.
🌊 Backline
Holds: Shad, Kob, Garrick
Fish it: at dawn
Bait / lure: fresh bait, live bait, sardine, shad, spoon, spoons
💡 Top tip
“Shad take spoons and fresh sardine worked in the backline, garrick respond to live bait and spoons, and kob prefer live or fresh bait fished at dawn, dusk and around the tide change.”
Across the whole spot
Best light: dawn, dusk
Season: summer, winter
Baits that work here: fresh bait, live bait, 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 05:18 · Sunset 18:05 · 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 Tue, 13 Oct 2026 18:13 SAST.
Aerial map — Umhlanga
Umhlanga Rocks
Beach
Rock ledgeCasting 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.
🎣 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 Umhlanga — Fishing Local Knowledge
Umhlanga offers surf and rock fishing along its beaches and rocky ledges, with the warm North Coast water bringing a subtropical mix of species. Anglers fish the open sand and the rocky outcrops, though the busy central bathing beaches are best avoided in favour of quieter stretches.
Typical targets are shad (elf), kob (kabeljou), garrick (leervis), pompano and stumpnose off the surf, with kingfish and other warm-water species closer to the rocks in summer. Shad take spoons and fresh sardine worked in the backline, garrick respond to live bait and spoons, and kob prefer live or fresh bait fished at dawn, dusk and around the tide change. The winter sardine run pushes gamefish and shad inshore all along this coast. A recreational fishing permit is required, and shad has a closed season and bag limits — check current regulations, bag and size limits before keeping fish.