Southern calamari
Excellent
Spring and autumn are the seasons: the weed beds on the rising tide, slow sinking jigs.
Tumby Bay Fishing Report
Updated Sat, 26 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The jetty town north of Port Lincoln: Tumby Bay jetty’s whiting, garfish and squid, the Sir Joseph Banks islands and the beaches of the peninsula’s east coast.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Next tide
High 1:15 pm model
Air / High
14 °C / 16 °C
Wind
SE 22 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Tumby Bay rewards patience today, with cool water and short feeding windows. Today brings cloud cover, wind SE around 23 km/h, falling pressure near 1030 hPa and a high of 16 °C. Tides: high 1:05 am and 1:15 pm, low 7:05 am and 7:22 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 11:16 PM-1:16 AM and 11:16 AM-1:16 PM: 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: 11:16 PM-1:16 AM, 11:16 AM-1:16 PM, 5:46 AM-6:46 AM. Similar at 16 °C. 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 Tumby Bay today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (06:10), sunset (18:24), 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 11:16 PM-1:16 AM and 11:16 AM-1:16 PM; minor 5:46 AM-6:46 AM. Full Moon, 100% 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.
Sat
HIGH1:05 am0.34 m
LOW7:05 am-0.62 m
HIGH1:15 pm0.38 m
LOW7:22 pm-0.74 m
Sun
HIGH1:22 am0.31 m
LOW7:34 am-0.91 m
HIGH1:45 pm0.18 m
LOW7:27 pm-0.83 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp14 °C
High / Low16 °C / 14 °C
WindSE 22 km/h, gusts 42 km/h
Pressure1030.4 hPa, falling
Sky / Rain100% cloud, 100%
Sunrise / Sunset06:10 / 18:24
MoonFull Moon, 100%
Water temp (seasonal)~13 °C est.
Why the tide matters here: tides and fishing in Australia.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Tumby Bay
The best day on Tumby Bay 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, 26 Sept — Fair
A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
- Solunar majors
- 11:16 PM-1:16 AM and 11:16 AM-1:16 PM
- Minor period
- 5:46 AM-6:46 AM
- Sun
- 06:10 to 18:24
- Moon
- Full Moon, 100% lit
- Sky and wind
- Storms, 26 km/h
- Rain chance
- 100%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Tumby Bay: 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 Tumby Bay 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 Tumby Bay today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataFri, Sep 25
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Southern calamari led the card at excellent. High of 22 °C, wind to 13 km/h.
Thu, 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 29 °C, wind to 18 km/h.
Wed, Sep 23
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Southern calamari led the card at excellent. High of 21 °C, wind to 16 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 Tumby Bay; the size, bag and boat limits, the snapper closure and the crab rules apply, published by PIRSA and linked from this page.
About this water
Tumby Bay is a coastal town in South Australia, Australia, covered from the South Australia reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Tumby Bay: the full guide
Tumby Bay and the islands
Tumby Bay is the town on the eastern coast of the Eyre Peninsula north of Port Lincoln, with the long jetty and the marina, the beach and the mangroves of the bay, the Sir Joseph Banks islands out in Spencer Gulf, and the coast running north to Port Neill and south to Lipson Cove. It is a jetty town facing islands, and the report on this page is scored for the town’s coordinates. Port Lincoln has its own page.
Species and seasons
King George whiting fish the jetty and the bay’s weed from spring to autumn and are the town’s fish; garfish and tommy ruff fish the jetty all year; squid work the jetty weed and the lights; snapper come to the islands in summer under the state closure to 2027; Australian salmon run the beaches in the cooler months; flathead lie on the bay sand; and the islands give kingfish in summer and the reef fish of the gulf for the boats out of the marina. Blue swimmer crabs work the flats in summer.
Where to fish it
Tumby Bay jetty is the walk-on mark for whiting, garfish and squid, fished at night under the lights and at dawn from the outer end, and the beach and the mangrove flats south of the town are the whiting and crab water for wading; Lipson Cove to the south is the quiet beach. The ramp is at the marina, and the Sir Joseph Banks islands are a run of an hour or so for the snapper and kingfish boats.
Reading this report here
The bay faces east across the gulf and a south-easterly or an easterly chops the jetty, while a westerly off the land flattens it; the wind row tells you which. The tide panel is a modelled curve for the coordinates of Tumby Bay, labelled as a model, and the gulf’s tides run to the dodge tide. Pressure and sky build the score at Tumby Bay; the planner shows the day.
Licence, access and rules
South Australia needs no fishing licence at Tumby Bay; 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 beach and the marina are public, with a ramp at the marina; the Sir Joseph Banks marine park zones are in the sources.
Common questions
What can I catch from Tumby Bay jetty?
King George whiting from spring to autumn, garfish and tommy ruff all year, squid over the weed and under the lights, and blue swimmer crabs on the flats in summer.
Do I need a licence at Tumby Bay?
No. South Australia has no general recreational fishing licence; the PIRSA limits and the snapper closure still apply.
Is fishing good at Tumby Bay 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.