Fish Eagle – October 11, 2013

The weather was perfect for fishing on the last day of September, but unfortunately the tides were not on the anglers’ side during the early morning. The rest of the week was windy, with a fresh north easterly, changing south westerly as the week wore on.
There were quite a few anglers on the beach last Monday, having one last try for the shad. I only saw one caught at Westbrook Beach however and discussions with other anglers confirmed that not much was happening.
As the water seemed shallow, with a sandbank clearly visible, I decided to try again at high tide. When I arrived on the beach at around lunch time, I saw several other anglers already fishing. Although we persevered for a couple of hours, there were no pulls and we all packed up at around the same time. Speaking with the anglers on the beach, most lamented a disappointing season where the shad never really ‘ran’. There were days when small pockets of shad moved into the surf, but even then anglers mostly recorded catches of only two to three fish. One angler did however say that he had done well when he travelled down to the South Coast on a couple of occasions.
Now that the shad season is closed it’s time to change tactics and try for the stumpies or even pompano, although its still a bit early for the latter. For the more patient it might be worth while targeting other edibles such as garrick and salmon.
Anglers looking for some sport could be in luck because normally at this time of the year grey sharks come on the bite. These are hard fighting fish and competition anglers have historically scored some excellent weight points on catches. The current north easterlies also brought flatfish in the past and anglers are sure to start picking up some hard fights with these fish in the coming weeks.
Offshore anglers from Durban are reporting that there have been a few snoek around off the Umgeni mouth, with fish found as far as Peace Cottage just north of Umhlanga Rocks. Apparently, the water was a little murky off the Umgeni mouth and these conditions are ideal for the snoek.                            Gamefish anglers are starting to have a look up north at places such as Sodwana Bay and Cape Vidal as it will soon be time for the billfish to move into these areas. A good tuna season is also expected as some decent yellow-fin have already been boated.
Surf anglers looking for something different could look at spots such as Mapelane and St. Lucia where the grunter run will soon be in full swing. In the past, I have caught some really nice grunter at St. Lucia at this time of the year.
Sealice