Angling Report – 22 August

The wind is currently having the last say when it comes to how long fisherman can spend on the beach or on the sea. I watched last Wednesday as two spear fishermen, diving just off the backline in the Westbrook beach area, were taking a bit of a pounding as the wind whipped up the sea. Although the sea remained fishable, especially during higher tides, I saw very few anglers with lines in the water.
I took a ride down to Westbrook last week during the low tide and was very surprised at what I saw. There was no water at all where the water’s edge normally was. I decided to walk out on the sand and covered an area of approximately forty metres without even getting my feet wet. I looked back at the shore and realised I was actually standing on the sand very close to where the backline normally stood up. In all my years at Westbrook I have seen many changes at this beach but have never seen the area as badly sanded up as it is at present – no wonder no fish are being caught.
Anglers told me that other beaches in the Umhlanga Rocks area are just as badly sanded up with no water during the low tide periods and little is being caught. It seems to be the same along Durban North with just a few hardy anglers spending time on the beaches. I think that it is going to take some really rough weather to break up these sand banks and even that may not be enough.
Even the guys fishing the rocky outcrops are seemingly having a tough time at the moment with little of note being reported.
I was talking to Bruce Long at the weekend who told me that his diving friends had found fish were scarce and nothing sizeable had been speared. The guys I saw diving last Wednesday just managed to find a few small reef fish and had seen nothing of any good size at all. Divers are saying that even the snoek seem to have disappeared and the garrick are also scarce in local waters.
The fishing seems to be quite good on the South Coast with some areas such as Umkomaas working quite well. As expected these areas are crowded even during the week as anglers now travel longer distances in search of fish. At times some decent sized shad have been on the bite although they generally remain on the small side, just making the limit size. Some areas are producing a few salmon with the odd daga in the Port Shepstone area being landed on live bait. I hear that decent garrick have been caught down south as well. Unfortunately surf conditions have not always been good because of the wind, so travelling that way can also be a bit of a hit and miss affair.
Fishing is much the same up north with some fishing spots doing quite well at times but at other times the fish seem to go right off the bite. From what I have heard, the Tugela north bank, the Amatikulu estuary and further south and the river mouth at Blythedale have produced a few decent fish. Salmon, garrick and some big sharks were on the menu although the guys did mention that live bait was difficult to find.
Sealice

Follow the North Coast Courier on Twitter, Facebook and BBM: 2A24E31A.