Angling Report – 4 July 2014

Last week began with a big surf and the waves could be seen building from beyond the shark nets. The weather was good however and the surf quickly moderated. By Tuesday conditions were excellent for fishing but unfortunately, those who braved the early morning cold, found there was not too much happening.

Many of the weekend anglers were put-off by the rain on Saturday morning but the really keen guys were on the beach early only to find there was a strong south to north drift. The result was that no fish were caught and anglers did not spend too much time on the beaches.

A couple of divers I have had a word with recently told me they have seen fish just beyond the backline with plenty of small shad around, plus shoals of small stumpies and the odd garrick. One regularly dives at Umdloti and recently shot a garrick of 7kg.

I am starting to believe the sandbank running along the coast just inside the backline is one of the reasons why no fish are moving inshore. Heavy seas (common at this time of the year) normally break up these banks but so far this has not happened.

While I was in the Umdloti area, I decided to have a look at the south bank of the La Mercy mouth, a place I haven’t visited for many years. I met two elderly anglers leaving the beach and had a word with them about the fishing. They were regulars in the area and had generally been lucky on occasions when sea conditions have allowed. Apparently they have recently caught two salmon of around six to seven kilos as well as some decent blacktail, stone bream, small stumpies and karranteen in between the rocks.

No news has come through this week regarding the sardines and for me the sea water still feels too warm. The shoals have arrived as late as August in the past so there is still time.

South Coast anglers struggled a bit last week, mainly because of unfavourable sea conditions, but a couple of fish did come out at some of the popular angling beaches. Catches mainly included small shad, the odd salmon and grunter in the Umkomaas area. I also heard that a few decent garrick were caught just north of Toti. Apparently, fishing in these areas is fairly uncomfortable because of the large crowds when the fish are on the bite..

I heard a few salmon have been caught at the Tugela mouth and and that the Amatikulu estuary had also been working as well. Apparently the Tugela area is also sanded up a bit so it remains a bit of a hit or miss.

Sealice