Southern calamari
Excellent
Spring and autumn are the seasons: the weed beds on the rising tide, slow sinking jigs.
Port Noarlunga Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
Adelaide’s southern jetty and reef: Port Noarlunga jetty, the Onkaparinga mouth and the reef, with squid, whiting, garfish, bream and salmon.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Next tide
High 3:03 pm model
Air / High
15 °C / 23 °C
Wind
ESE 21 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Port Noarlunga rewards patience today, with cool water and short feeding windows. Today brings cloud cover, wind ESE around 21 km/h, rising pressure near 1025 hPa and a high of 23 °C. Tides: high 3:15 am and 3:03 pm, low 9:02 am and 9:33 pm: the moving water either side of each change is when this place feeds. Water sits around 13 °C for the season (estimated). With the full moon, the solunar majors run 10:25 AM-12:25 PM and 10:25 PM-12:25 AM: the windows to build the day around.
Australian salmon
Good
The main season. Beach gutters, rock platforms and bay edges on the rising tide; metals, surf poppers and bait all work.
Snapper
Fair
Fish are thinner inshore. Work the deeper structure and the channel edges with baits on the bottom, and pick the tide change.
Flathead
Fair
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.
Tie on: Blade or vibe, slow hops · Lightly weighted plastic · Whole pilchard or squid on the bottom · Suspending hardbody. Prime windows: 10:25 AM-12:25 PM, 10:25 PM-12:25 AM, 4:55 AM-5:55 AM. Cooler at 17 °C with likely rain: fish ahead of the front. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.
Before you go
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.
Fishing times for Port Noarlunga today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (06:01), sunset (18:14), the moon and today's score, with the modelled tide changes in the panel below. Tap a bar to see why.
Bite planner
Solunar majors 10:25 AM-12:25 PM and 10:25 PM-12:25 AM; minor 4:55 AM-5:55 AM. Full Moon, 99% lit.
Water and weather
A modelled tide curve for these coordinates and the forecast for the day.
Tides (modelled)
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.
Fri
HIGH3:15 am0.48 m
LOW9:02 am-0.59 m
HIGH3:03 pm0.78 m
LOW9:33 pm-0.87 m
Sat
HIGH3:27 am0.57 m
LOW9:33 am-0.91 m
HIGH3:30 pm0.54 m
LOW9:47 pm-1.19 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp15 °C
High / Low23 °C / 15 °C
WindESE 21 km/h, gusts 44 km/h
Pressure1024.9 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain65% cloud, 45%
Sunrise / Sunset06:01 / 18:14
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~13 °C est.
Why the tide matters here: tides and fishing in Australia.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Port Noarlunga
The best day on Port Noarlunga this week looks like Sunday 27 Sept, at 4 out of 5, against 3 today. Every day is scored by the same engine as the report above: pressure trend first, then wind, sky and season. Pick a species and the plan for that day changes with it.
Best day this week: Sunday, 27 Sept — good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.
Today, 25 Sept — Fair
A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
- Solunar majors
- 10:25 AM-12:25 PM and 10:25 PM-12:25 AM
- Minor period
- 4:55 AM-5:55 AM
- Sun
- 06:01 to 18:14
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 23 km/h
- Rain chance
- 45%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Port Noarlunga: seasons written for the southern year, and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.
Snapper
Best: October to January in the southern bays
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. No catch and release in the closed zones. Rule as read from PIRSA on 2026-09-23.
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. Fish are thinner inshore. Work the deeper structure and the channel edges with baits on the bottom, and pick the tide change.
King George whiting
Best: December to May in SA; spring and summer in Port Phillip
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.
Southern calamari
Spring and autumn peaks in the southern bays
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. Spring and autumn are the seasons: the weed beds on the rising tide, slow sinking jigs.
Australian salmon
Winter and spring on the southern beaches
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.
Flathead
Best: November to April
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.
When to come: the Port Noarlunga calendar
Activity by species and month for the southern year, and how the water warms and cools. Tap any cell.
Species activity by month
1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted. January is midsummer here.
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Snapper
King George whiting
Southern calamari
Australian salmon
Flathead
SlowPeak
Water temperature through the year
Typical surface temperature for this water type in degrees Celsius; today is around 13 °C (estimated, not a reading).
Angler reports
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.
No angler reports yetBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Port Noarlunga today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataThu, Sep 24
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Southern calamari led the card at excellent. High of 25 °C, wind to 19 km/h.
Wed, Sep 23
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Southern calamari led the card at excellent. High of 22 °C, wind to 18 km/h.
Tue, Sep 22
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Southern calamari led the card at excellent. High of 17 °C, wind to 24 km/h.
Before you go
Licence
South Australia has no general recreational fishing licence; the limits and closures do. Details and where to buy →
Regulations
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.
Access
South Australia needs no fishing licence at Port Noarlunga; the size, bag and boat limits, the snapper closure and the Port Noarlunga Reef aquatic reserve, where fishing is not allowed, apply, published by PIRSA and linked from this page.
About this water
Port Noarlunga is a coastal town in South Australia, Australia, covered from the South Australia reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Port Noarlunga: the full guide
Port Noarlunga and the Onkaparinga
Port Noarlunga is the beach suburb on Adelaide’s southern coast at the mouth of the Onkaparinga River, with the jetty running out to the reef and its aquatic reserve, the river mouth and its estuary running back to Old Noarlunga, the beaches north to Christies Beach and south to Moana and the cliffs of the coast. It is a jetty-and-river suburb, and the report on this page is scored for the suburb’s coordinates. Adelaide has its own page.
Species and seasons
Squid work the jetty weed and the lights all year and are the jetty’s fish; King George whiting fish the sand and weed off the jetty from spring to autumn; garfish and tommy ruff fish the jetty; black bream fish the Onkaparinga estuary all year; Australian salmon run the beaches and the jetty in the cooler months; mulloway are taken in the estuary and off the beach at night; flathead lie on the beach sand; and the reef itself is an aquatic reserve where fishing is banned. Snapper come to the gulf in summer under the state closure to 2027.
Where to fish it
Port Noarlunga jetty is the walk-on mark for squid, whiting and garfish, fished at night under the lights and from the outer end at dawn, with the reef at its end an aquatic reserve; the Onkaparinga estuary from the mouth up to Old Noarlunga is the bream and mulloway water for the banks and kayaks, and the beaches north to Christies and south to Moana are the salmon and flathead sand. The ramp is on the river.
Reading this report here
The coast faces west across the gulf and a westerly or a south-westerly chops the jetty and closes the beach, while an easterly flattens the sea; the wind row tells you which. The tide panel is a modelled curve for the coordinates of Port Noarlunga, labelled as a model, and the estuary runs on it. Pressure and sky build the score at Port Noarlunga; the planner shows the day.
Licence, access and rules
South Australia needs no fishing licence at Port Noarlunga; the size, bag and boat limits, the snapper closure and the Port Noarlunga Reef aquatic reserve, where fishing is not allowed, apply, published by PIRSA and linked from this page. The jetty, the beaches and the estuary are public, with a ramp on the river.
Common questions
Can I fish on Port Noarlunga reef?
No. The reef is an aquatic reserve where fishing is banned; the jetty, the beaches and the Onkaparinga estuary are the spots.
Do I need a licence at Port Noarlunga?
No. South Australia has no general recreational fishing licence; the PIRSA limits and the reserve still apply.
Is fishing good at Port Noarlunga right now?
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.
Nearby waters
Where this page's numbers come from
- Tide curve (modelled)
- Open-Meteo Marine, sea level height including tides
- Open-Meteo forecast model
- https://open-meteo.com/
- Moon and solunar windows
- Calculated on this site
- The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
Readings 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.