Angling Report – 31 October 2014

A south westerly began pushing on Monday last week, causing rough and dirty seas and it was not until Wednesday when anglers were able to fish again in some sort of comfort. Unfortunately, a strong north easterly came through fairly early on Thursday turning the sea on its head once more. Weekend sea and surf conditions were good, but the rain early on Sunday morning did keep many anglers away from the beaches.
I stopped at the Tongaat river mouth early on Thursday morning and watched three anglers fishing in the surf. They managed to catch some fish while I was there and although I was too far away to identify the species with certainty, it did look like shad. Early the next morning I again drove past the mouth and was amazed at all the vehicles parked everywhere and the big crowd on the beach. The jungle drums must have been beating the day before, telling everyone that anglers were killing the shad in the area and yet I only saw three people fishing.
Other news from last week was that snapper salmon were back on the bite mainly in the river mouth areas and a couple of nice sized stumpies were caught from the local fishing spots. Anglers fishing the afternoons caught some nice sized grey sharks and I hear that a few small skates also came out. I did not hear much from the rock anglers but one did tell me that he had heard of a couple of nice cat-faced rockcod that were caught in the Tinley Manor area.
My friends in the Umhlanga Rocks and Durban North areas told me that shad had been a bit of a nuisance in the early mornings and late afternoons, but there were other species caught as well. Apparently three or four garrick were landed, a couple on spoon. Anglers also had some excellent sport with grey sharks and small rays during the latter part of the week. There was an unconfirmed report of an angler catching a good sized brusher whilst fishing between Durban View and Eastmore using a whole mussel as bait.
Bull mullet and wave garrick have been giving light tackle anglers some fun in the Glenashley area. Apparently some of the mullet have weighed around 2kg and gave a good account of themselves on light tackle. Anglers on these beaches have reported that they have seen backline anglers catching snoek and every now and then a garrick. I also heard that an angler spinning in the Beachwood area landed two small snoek on Friday morning and dropped a garrick that gave him a terrific fight on the light spinning tackle that he was using.
The water has been a nice ginger beer colour that is ideal for salmon and although I have not heard anything, I am sure that a salmon or two did come out somewhere locally. The summer flatfish seem to be moving into local waters pretty early this year and anglers could be in for some excellent sport. I believe that anglers using fillet baits will have problems with the shad at the moment and although some of these fish are sizeable they are best left alone out of season. Normally at this time of the year I like to fish with drop shot using light tackle. It is surprising what you can catch near the rocks using this method.
It is light just before 5am in the mornings now so anglers wanting to catch the last of the dark hours have to be on the beach at least by 4am. I know that some anglers find this difficult but this is the best time to fish the local beaches at this time of the year.
Sealice

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