THE windy season is here, and so are the fish. The recent north-easterlies brought the fish on the bite and there’s plenty of good fishing yet to come.
Here’s what went down with rock and surf angling over the past week:
KOSI BAY: Some nice-sized honeycomb rays and sand sharks were caught on larger baits. Bloody throw baits and slide baits seem to be doing well. The smaller fish are also available for light tackle anglers to have fun with.
CAPE VIDAL: Plenty of shad have kept anglers busy for hours on end. This is one of the most popular spots along our coast during this time of the year as just about anybody can expect to catch shad along with other species for most of the day. A few rock cod and cave bass were caught close to the rocks during the evenings.
RICHARDS BAY: Dozens of diamond skates and a fair number of honeycombs are being landed. Shad baits have worked best for these larger species. Shad head rigged on a Mustad Circle hook is a firm favourite for many anglers.
TUGELA: Kob and garrick were caught in the vicinity of the river mouth. Shad have been biting freely along this stretch
SALT ROCK: Snoek has been the main species targeted here. Most anglers were successful with spoons.
BALLITO: This stretch enjoyed a good run of non-edibles.
DURBAN BEACHES: There was lots of activity with shad the main species targeted. There were also some grey sharks, blue skates and diamond skates landed, especially after the north-easterly winds. Most of these fish were caught on mackerel baits.
DURBAN HARBOUR: The harbour fished well with decent catches of grunter, stumpnose and perch. The most productive time to fish there is during high tide.
AMANZIMTOTI: Grey sharks, diamonds and honeycombes were caught here.
SCOTTBURGH: Quite a few fish were landed. Shad, sharks and skates were caught fairly regularly on throw baits as well as slide baits.
PORT SHEPSTONE: This stretch has been relatively quiet recently with only a few bronze bream, shad and kob on offer.
PORT EDWARD: This stretch is enjoying a great shad run. Kob, geelbek, garrick and yellowfin tuna have also made an appearance. Large sharks have kept anglers going for big game happy. The best time to try for garrick is in the evenings.
DEEP SEA: Couta were caught in the Kosi Bay area while a few sailfish were boated at Richards Bay. Bottom fishing at Maphelane yielded daga salmon, rock cod and cob. Garrick were caught in the vicinity of Tugela.
FRESH WATER: There were decent catches of carp. Bass were caught at Albert Falls Dam.
Please send any info about fishing, fish caught or competitions in your area to [email protected].
Until next week… TIGHTLINES!