Updated Mon, 9 Nov 2026 from live weather and tide data
A big island off the Fleurieu with a coast for every wind: whiting in the sheltered bays and salmon on the southern beaches, under the gulf zone’s closures for snapper, calamari and garfish.
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Kangaroo Island has cool water and fish holding a little deeper and slower. Today brings clear skies, wind NE around 14 km/h, steady pressure near 1010 hPa and a high of 22 °C. Tides: high 11:39 am, low 6:39 am and 5:00 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 11:29 PM-1:29 AM and 11:57 AM-1:57 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: 11:29 PM-1:29 AM, 11:57 AM-1:57 PM, 5:12 AM-6:12 AM. Cooler at 18 °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 (06:10), sunset (20:00), the moon and today's score, with the modelled tide changes in the panel below. Tap a bar to see why.
Solunar majors 11:29 PM-1:29 AM and 11:57 AM-1:57 PM; minor 5:12 AM-6:12 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.
The best day on Kangaroo Island this week looks like Tuesday 10 Nov, at 4 out of 5, against 3 today.
Best day this week: Tuesday, 10 Nov — good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.
A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
The species that matter on Kangaroo Island: 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 18 °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 14 °C, wind to 23 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 20 °C, wind to 23 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; PIRSA sets the size, bag and boat limits and the closures above, and marine park sanctuary zones around the island are closed to all fishing.
Kangaroo Island is a bay or coastal water in South Australia, Australia, covered from the South Australia reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Kangaroo Island lies across Backstairs Passage from the Fleurieu Peninsula, reached by ferry from Cape Jervis to Penneshaw, and it is big enough to have a coast for every wind: the sheltered north coast of bays and jetties from Penneshaw to Emu Bay, the exposed south coast of surf beaches and cliffs from Pennington Bay to Vivonne Bay, the American River inlet on the east and the Bay of Shoals near Kingscote. It is fished from the jetties at Kingscote, Penneshaw, Emu Bay and Vivonne Bay, from the beaches and from boats in the bays. For PIRSA, the island belongs to the Gulf St Vincent and Kangaroo Island fishing zone, and that zone’s rules shape what may be kept. This page scores Kangaroo Island from a single point on the island, so read the wind for the coast you plan to fish.
King George whiting feed over the sand and weed of the north coast bays and the Bay of Shoals, and Australian salmon run the southern beaches, Vivonne Bay and Pennington Bay in the cooler months; flathead and gummy shark take baits on the sand of the bays and the inlet, and the American River inlet gives bream and whiting in calm water. Three familiar island species are off limits for now: PIRSA has closed the zone to snapper until 30 June 2027, and since 1 May 2026 recreational fishers may not target, take or keep southern calamari or southern garfish in it. A King George whiting spawning closure also runs from 1 March to 30 June in Gulf St Vincent and Spencer Gulf, so check PIRSA’s map for the island’s waters before keeping whiting in those months.
The island’s advantage is that some shore is nearly always in the lee: the wind row tells you whether the north coast or the south coast fishes today, and the swell decides whether the southern beaches are safe at all. Over the island, barometric pressure and cloud round out the score, and the planner shows which day to take the ferry. The tide panel is a modelled curve for these coordinates, labelled as a model, and South Australian tides are irregular, so read it for the direction and take the times from the Bureau of Meteorology.
South Australia needs no fishing licence; PIRSA sets the size, bag and boat limits and the closures above, and marine park sanctuary zones around the island are closed to all fishing. Snapper caught legally elsewhere may not be carried through a closed zone, so they cannot be landed at the Penneshaw ramp. Western blue groper are protected in Backstairs Passage and the gulfs. The jetties, beaches and bays are public, and much of the south coast is national park with its own rules.
Not to keep. The Gulf St Vincent and Kangaroo Island zone is closed to snapper until 30 June 2027, and to southern calamari and southern garfish since 1 May 2026, with no targeting allowed.
No. South Australia has no recreational fishing licence; PIRSA’s limits, closures and the island’s marine park zones 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.