Angling Report – 4 September 2015

Officially the winter is behind us and spring is here. The prevailing north easterly winds have begun to blow and although not all that strong last week, the sea has begun to take that green color. The surf looked rather ‘mushy’ at times but anglers were able to cast their lines for most of last week.

From what I saw and learnt from anglers fishing in different areas, catches were pretty poor last week. There were a few shad caught from a couple of the popular angling spots, but anglers targeting these fish generally battled a bit. The spots that have been providing plenty of shad recently seem to have gone a little quiet and the anglers are saying that there are plenty of peckers about and these are mainly tobies. Shad do feed on these tobies as I have found the remains of these fish in the feed bags of shad that I have caught in the past.

A friend phoned me last week and said that he has been working in the Bluff area and has seen anglers pull some really nice shad in the region of 2kg during the day. The fish are coming out quite slowly with maybe one fish every half an hour but it has been enough to keep the anglers interested. He spoke to a couple of the local Bluff anglers and they told him that there have been a few big grunter caught as well and the guys lucky enough to have live bait have managed to pull a couple of big garrick.

There is still one month left before the shad season closes and it is always best to target the areas where the fish are known to be on the bite. Normally September is not really the best of month for shad from the local beaches. In the past the months of October and November have always provided the good catches but unfortunately the season is closed during this time. During recent years, some decent sized shad have been caught during the month of December so this could be the time to look forward to.

Anglers that have the time and patience could try fishing amongst the rocks as there have been a few small stumpies and copper bream caught by the locals. I must emphasize the word patience because the regulars have told me that it is hard work at present and surf conditions have not always been that great for fishing amongst the rocks. Anglers looking for some fun can also fish for sharks which are plentiful at present – especially small greys.

A couple of weeks back I was saying how nicely the popular fishing spot at Virginia beach had been upgraded and security added, but I heard this week that an angler was robbed on the beach. He was held up at knife point and robbed of all his personal possessions plus all of his tackle before the thieves disappeared into the bush. It is sad that anglers or bathers cannot enjoy the beaches because of the criminal element.

When talking to several anglers last week and local angler Raveen on Sunday morning, I concluded that this year could be the year of an excellent grunter run. These fish have been coming out in several areas and Raveen and his friends fished the South Coast last Saturday and caught some nice fish. Something to look forward to when the shad season is closed.

Sealice