Angling Report – 21 August 2015

The surf was on the rough side for the majority of last week which was a result of the cold front moving through the weekend before. I think that many people (including me) were surprised that the swell remained so large even though the weather was quite good.

As expected, the fishing last week was not as frenetic as the week before but as the weekend approached, the fish slowly came back on the bite. Durban View at Umhlanga began fishing well again and anglers caught limit bags of nice sized shad on Thursday and Friday morning from about 5.30am. On Saturday, the shad were on the bite again early but this time the fish were small and some of them way undersized. Of course, Sunday was blown out because of the southerly wind that came through during the early hours.

On talking to some of the local regulars, it was clear that although there were a few fish around, most shad caught were on the small side. The guys that I spoke to said that they were fishing the rocky gullies because many fish prefer the rough surf. One angler said that he fished for three hours in the Salt Rock area last Thursday but only managed to land two stone bream before the wind blew him off the beach. It is the beginning of our windy season so anglers should expect to be blown around a bit at times.

Before the onset of the rough seas, some big grunter were caught in the Amatikulu area. According to a friend, regulars in the area have also landed some big rock salmon up-river but are understandably tight lipped about the exact location and bait used. Snapper salmon have also been feeding right at the river mouth. Surprisingly there have been no daga salmon caught the past week or two, but there have been a few garrick landed on live shad.

Down the South Coast, the fishing did die off a bit last week because of the heavy surf but anglers have experienced some good fishing recently, especially in the Umkomaas area where a variety of edible fish have been caught. Unfortunately there is a bit of a mob in the area and the fishing has been very uncomfortable at times. The shad mainly draws the crowds but there have been grunter, garrick and a couple of shoal salmon caught as well. This area has fished well for many years, especially from the pier and even during the quiet times anglers seem to manage to pull a couple of fish.

The tides will be a lot better for the early morning anglers this week and I think that with the winds predicted during the week, the trick would be to get a line in the water early.

Sealice