Updated Mon, 9 Nov 2026 from live weather and tide data
Franklin Harbour on the Eyre Peninsula: the sheltered harbour’s whiting, garfish and crabs, the oyster town’s jetty and the gulf outside the entrance.
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Cowell has cool water and fish holding a little deeper and slower. Today brings clear skies, wind NE around 13 km/h, steady pressure near 1008 hPa and a high of 31 °C. Tides: high 2:41 am and 4:10 pm, low 9:54 am and 8:39 pm: the moving water either side of each change is when this place feeds. Water sits around 17 °C for the season (estimated). With the new moon, the solunar majors run 11:31 PM-1:31 AM and 11:58 AM-1:58 PM: the windows to build the day around.
Reopens 1 July 2027. Closed in the West Coast, Spencer Gulf and Gulf St Vincent/Kangaroo Island zones until 30 June 2027; open only in the South-East zone, which runs from the southern Fleurieu Peninsula to the Victorian border and includes the south coast of Kangaroo Island (the island's north coast is in the closed Gulf St Vincent/Kangaroo Island zone). No catch and release in the closed zones.
Southern calamari may not be targeted, taken or possessed in the Spencer Gulf and Gulf St Vincent/Kangaroo Island fishing zones since 1 May 2026; PIRSA has published no reopening date.
Fish the deeper channels and the last of the run-out; slower hops with a heavier jighead, and a bait on the bottom as back-up.
The main season. Beach gutters, rock platforms and bay edges on the rising tide; metals, surf poppers and bait all work.
Tie on: Blade or vibe, slow hops · Lightly weighted plastic · Whole pilchard or squid on the bottom · Suspending hardbody. Prime windows: 11:31 PM-1:31 AM, 11:58 AM-1:58 PM, 5:18 AM-6:18 AM. Cooler at 21 °C. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.
South Australia has no general fishing licence, but rules and permits apply. South Australia fishing licence: cost, rules and where to buy →
Chasing snapper here? Check the size and bag limits with PIRSA before you keep anything; the Snapper page has the seasons and the tactics.
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (06:15), sunset (19:57), the moon and today's score, with the modelled tide changes in the panel below. Tap a bar to see why.
Solunar majors 11:31 PM-1:31 AM and 11:58 AM-1:58 PM; minor 5:18 AM-6:18 AM. New Moon, 0% lit.
A modelled tide curve for these coordinates and the forecast for the day.
Modelled sea level curve from Open-Meteo Marine for these coordinates, datum mean sea level. Fish the moving water either side of each change.
A model, not the official prediction: times can drift by tens of minutes inside bays and estuaries. Check the Bureau of Meteorology tide predictions for the exact times before you rely on them.
Latest readings
Why the tide matters here: tides and fishing in Australia.
Today is the pick of the week on Cowell, at 3 out of 5.
Best day this week: today, 9 Nov — fair at 3/5, steady pressure, neither help nor hindrance.
A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
The species that matter on Cowell: seasons written for the southern year, and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.
Closed now Reopens 1 July 2027. Closed in the West Coast, Spencer Gulf and Gulf St Vincent/Kangaroo Island zones until 30 June 2027; open only in the South-East zone, which runs from the southern Fleurieu Peninsula to the Victorian border and includes the south coast of Kangaroo Island (the island's north coast is in the closed Gulf St Vincent/Kangaroo Island zone). No catch and release in the closed zones. Rule as read from PIRSA on 2026-09-27.
The southern headline fish. Runs into Port Phillip, Western Port, the gulfs and the WA sounds in spring to spawn; holds on reef and rubble the rest of the year.
The table fish of the south. Feeds over sand patches between weed and reef in 2 to 10 metres, mostly by day, mostly on the moving tide. Deeper sand patches and the middle of the day; slower bites, bigger fish.
Closed Southern calamari may not be targeted, taken or possessed in the Spencer Gulf and Gulf St Vincent/Kangaroo Island fishing zones since 1 May 2026; PIRSA has published no reopening date. Rule as read from PIRSA on 2026-09-27.
Southern calamari over weed and sand in 2 to 10 metres of the bays and gulfs; a jig fishery at dawn, dusk and under the jetty lights.
Not a salmon at all: a hard-fighting schooling fish of the surf and the bays, from WA around to NSW. Great on light gear, poor on the plate. The main season. Beach gutters, rock platforms and bay edges on the rising tide; metals, surf poppers and bait all work.
Dusky flathead in the eastern estuaries, sand flathead in the southern bays. An ambush predator lying on sand and mud edges waiting for whatever the tide brings. Fish the deeper channels and the last of the run-out; slower hops with a heavier jighead, and a bait on the bottom as back-up.
Activity by species and month for the southern year, and how the water warms and cools. Tap any cell.
1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted. January is midsummer here.
Typical surface temperature for this water type in degrees Celsius; today is around 17 °C (estimated, not a reading).
Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. Nothing here is copied from a shop or a charter. The water log below tracks each day automatically.
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Snapper led the card at excellent. High of 24 °C, wind to 21 km/h.
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Snapper led the card at excellent. High of 18 °C, wind to 26 km/h.
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Snapper led the card at excellent. High of 23 °C, wind to 26 km/h.
South Australia has no general recreational fishing licence; the limits and closures do. Details and where to buy →
Size and bag limits, closed seasons and marine park zones are set by PIRSA and change: confirm the current rules on the agency page linked from the South Australia licence page before you keep anything.
South Australia needs no fishing licence at Cowell; the size, bag and boat limits, the snapper closure and the crab rules apply, published by PIRSA and linked from this page.
Cowell is a coastal town in South Australia, Australia, covered from the South Australia reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Cowell is the oyster town on Franklin Harbour, the almost enclosed bay on the eastern coast of the Eyre Peninsula between Whyalla and Port Lincoln, with the jetty and the ramp, the harbour’s shallow flats and channels, the narrow entrance to Spencer Gulf and the beaches and the mangroves along the shore. It is a harbour town on the flats, and the report on this page is scored for the town’s coordinates. Whyalla has its own page.
King George whiting fish the harbour’s channels and weed from spring to autumn and are the town’s fish; garfish and tommy ruff fish the jetty all year; blue swimmer crabs work the flats in summer under the PIRSA rules; snapper in the gulf outside the entrance are closed to fishing until 30 June 2027; squid work the jetty weed; flathead lie on the flats; and Australian salmon run the entrance in the cooler months. The harbour is shallow, and a marine park sanctuary zone protects a whiting nursery area inside it.
Cowell jetty is the walk-on mark for garfish, squid and whiting, fished at night under the lights, and the harbour’s channels and flats toward the oyster leases are the whiting and crab water for wading and small boats on the rising tide; the entrance to the gulf is the salmon run for the boats. The ramp is at the town foreshore; walk the flats with the rising tide behind you, not ahead of you.
The harbour is sheltered from most winds and the entrance and the gulf are open to a south-easterly; the wind row tells you which. The tide panel is a modelled curve for the coordinates of Cowell, labelled as a model, and the harbour fills and drains on it, with the gulf’s dodge tides in between. Pressure and sky build the score at Cowell; the planner shows the day.
South Australia needs no fishing licence at Cowell; the size, bag and boat limits, the snapper closure and the crab rules apply, published by PIRSA and linked from this page. The jetty, the foreshore and the flats are public, with a ramp at the town; the Franklin Harbor Marine Park zones, with the sanctuary zone, are in the sources.
King George whiting in the harbour channels from spring to autumn, garfish at the jetty, blue swimmer crabs on the flats in summer, squid over the weed.
No licence at Cowell; PIRSA’s limits, the crab rules and the snapper closure are what apply.
Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Pablo Ruiz QuinteroReadings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on How our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.