Angling Report – 4 December 2015

Fishing conditions were quite good for the early morning anglers for most of last week but unfortunately the barometric pressure began dropping on Wednesday, which meant that bad weather was on the way. On Thursday morning a southerly pushed up the coast making for rough seas and strong surf that began to erode the beaches. Westbrook beach was affected pretty badly and early on Sunday morning I was at the beach and saw that the southern side of the beach was basically down to bedrock. The shore dump was actually breaking on the boat ramp and conditions were dangerous. It is normally during the winter months that this erosion happens so it is a bit unusual to see it at this time of the year. I had a look at several other local beaches at the end of last week and although there was some erosion, these beaches were not as bad as Westbrook. This erosion causes steep banks to form and it is dangerous for bathers and anglers alike especially during the high tide periods. Anglers fishing in the dark are advised to check out their favourite fishing spot before venturing close to the water.
Local anglers will be happy now that the shad season is open again and no doubt many will be trying their luck before work in the mornings. First light is around 4.30am and usually the fish go off the bite not long after that. Anglers were saying that there have been a few big shad about and there are many fish being caught that weigh between 1.5 and 2 kg, but most fish have been bordering on the limit size of 300mm. I saw a couple of nice sized stumpies again last week so it seems as if the edibles are back on the bite again.
Anglers looking for the summer flatfish have found that the skates are moving into the local beaches in larger numbers now. I hear that there have been a couple of nice sized sandies caught as well and the river mouths have produced some good summer fish. Anglers are advised to use suitable tackle when fishing for flatfish as these fish are notorious for smashing anglers up. The best times to fish for these skates and sandsharks are the early mornings just after first light and the late afternoon periods. Grey sharks tend to feed during these periods as well.
Because of the beaches being washed away, offshore anglers have found launching through the surf difficult and sometimes impossible. I had a word with a couple of surf ski anglers at Westbrook on Sunday morning and they were really surprised at what they saw at the beach. They eventually left to have a look at more favourable launch sites. These guys were telling me that some decent fish have been caught inshore last week with yellowfin tuna, the odd wahoo and dorado being caught out deeper. Apparently there have been some nice catches of dorado recorded recently but unfortunately the anglers have not been able to stay at sea for long because of the winds that have tended to begin to push through early.
I have noticed several ski boats fishing inshore off Umdloti recently but I have not heard of any barracouta being caught as yet. It is still early days but I have heard from a couple of gamefish anglers that one or two big couta have been caught in the waters off Zinkwazi, so the fish are not too far away. Deep sea anglers have also beached with a few decent bottom fish such as rockcod and soldiers, plus a couple of big dageraad and the odd daga salmon.
The fishing is looking pretty good at present so get out there early to beat the unpredictable weather that we have been having.
Sealice