Fortunately, the bad weather did not last long and anglers were back on the beach on Sunday morning.
I spent a considerable amount of time on the beach again last week either fishing, studying the water or just talking to anglers, which was most relaxing and enjoyable. I was hoping to land a couple of decent shad, but pickings were very slim throughout the week. On Monday morning I saw three undersized shad caught and I didn’t fish on Tuesday. I saw only one shad caught on Wednesday and on Thursday and Friday two small ones came out.
The high tide periods during the first half of the week were very early in the mornings which meant that there wasn’t much water flowing over the sandbanks by first light, restricting the movement of the fish. Another problem was that peckers were stripping baits almost as they entered the water in the dark. These peckers seemed to disappear as soon as it became light and that was when the shad moved in for very short periods – I believe that this was because of the rapidly diminishing water on the banks.
Apparently there is still a large crowd fishing in the Umgeni area, but little is happening in other areas such as Glenashley, Eastmore and Umhlanga except for the odd small shad and a few nice sized mullet making an appearance. Hopefully with the better tides this week the fishing will improve as it is the last week of the shad season.
When I found that the peckers were stripping baits in record time, I changed tactics and used whole crab baits in the dark targeting stumpies. Although I didn’t manage to hook one, I did hear from other anglers that some decent stumpies have been caught in the early mornings.
I also heard that the Tugela area has produced some decent fish recently with a few nice garrick landed on live baits, as well as some respectable salmon in the dark.
Amatikulu has also reportedly produced some really nice fish recently. Some of the guys with heavier tackle have also been picking up a couple of sizeable sharks.
With just over a week to go before the shad season closes, there will be those anglers looking to poach the large blue shad when they arrive during the months of October to December. My advice to these guys is to leave these fish alone. There are those that will scoff at this, but believe me, it’s not worthwhile being caught with illegal shad as the consequences could be severe and there are no excuses. Over the years all the tricks have been tried and the conservation people know them all (and then some). I have often overheard anglers boasting to others about how they had caught big shad out of season and had gotten away with it. In reality though this is nothing to boast about, because by breaking the law, you become part of the problem – a common criminal, no different from those that rob others or commit even more serious crimes.
Anglers are not saying too much, but I heard a whisper that a couple of big grunter have come out in local waters recently. These fish are caught in the vicinity of the river mouths so fishing for them can really be worth a angler’s time.
Sealice
