Angling Report – 16 October 2015

The gale force south westerly that began last Saturday night certainly turned the sea on it’s head. Conditions were also bad at the beginning of last week but improved as the days passed and by Friday morning the sea was almost perfect. I think the beginning of this week will again not be very user friendly for the fishermen.

Since the closure of the shad season there has been a dramatic decrease in the number of anglers fishing from the beaches. This just shows that the crowds that frequent the fishing spots when the fish are running are mostly anglers that fish only for the shad. They will probably only be back in numbers at the beginning of December which means that the regular local anglers can now cast their lines and fish in comfort.

This year has seen some excellent catches of copper or bronze bream and these fish have been feeding well at several of the local fishing spots. Fishing seems to work in cycles because just a couple of seasons ago, it was the year of the pompano. There were plenty of big pompano caught and again these fish were widely spread. Last year it was the year of the brusher and anglers were being tested by the these strong fighting fish. Fishing the rocky areas for bronze bream can be hard work and one can lose a lot of tackle, but it is rewarding if the fish are biting.

Sharks are still feeding almost everywhere along the local coastline and these mostly grey sharks are providing some excellent sport for the anglers. I was at Virginia beach on Thursday morning and I saw an angler land a grey of around 10kg after a tremendous battle. When talking to the anglers fishing that morning they said there was not much happening when it came to edible fish but a few sharks had been caught. One angler said that they were still being pestered by peckers in the dark of the early morning, but these small fish disappear as soon as the sharks move into the surf.

I believe that snapper salmon were thick in the Tugela mouth area last week and light tackle anglers had some good fun with sometimes large specimens. A friend was fishing in the mouth with the drop shot method and he said that he was catching snapper salmon shot for shot. Other anglers fishing the area also caught their share of fish. Many times these fish can be found at most of the river mouth areas and last week’s discolored water was ideal for them. Some decent sized salmon were also being caught from the beach in this area.

News is that there have been a few gamefish caught in the Vidal area by the offshore anglers and these have included a few dorado and a couple of small couta. I heard that big snoek were going dilly on one or two mornings of last week so the gamefishing can pick up soon. Normally it is the dorado that arrive first in local waters so we could soon be hearing of these fish feeding in the deep sea grounds.

I have been reading with interest about the gripes from the anglers that call themselves the subsistence fishermen. Their complaints have mainly been about areas now closed to fishing, trying to increase catch limits, an issue about permits and a few other moans and groans. I wish them luck with what they are trying to achieve, but there are not many sympathetic ears out there.

Sealice