Angling Report – 25 December 2016

It was not a great beginning to last week because of the weather but as the week went on, anglers were able to put in some fishing time despite the windy conditions. The south westerly really pumped all day long on Wednesday and this resulted in the swell picking up at sea. I was talking to two paddle ski anglers on Thursday morning and they said that when they launched early that morning the surf was okay and they could not believe how much the surf was smoking when they came back to beach.
I have been following the story about the fishing ban at two beaches in the Umdloti area with interest. There was a crowd of regulars fishing this area at that time (including me) and all were happy about the fishing hours (4am to 8am and 4pm to 8pm) and all agreed that it was a fair call. Today some of the past regulars are still fishing in this area and I myself have been fishing for shad in this area recently.
I have heard many comments from various people about the judge’s decision at the court case and my opinion for what it is worth is that I am not in favor of people buying expensive properties at the seaside and then trying to dictate who has rights to the beach. The area that is a prime fishing spot and has been for many many years as anglers can fish from the beach and off the rocks when the tides are right.
With the new development at Umdloti, I do not think that the ban on fishing will be overturned. There are other areas that have been developed on the North Coast and although fishing has not been banned, these areas have been developed in such a way that it is difficult for anglers to access prime fishing areas. Some of these prime fishing spots are renowned amongst anglers and their forefathers have passed down many a story about what they have caught in there in the past. Unfortunately one cannot stand in the way of progress even though some of us prefer the lower North Coast as it was in the past, wild and undeveloped.
Early morning surf anglers were still catching a few shad last week although the fish that I saw were smaller than recent catches. Towards the weekend the tides were not ideal for the early morning anglers with the low tide period around 4am, but I did see a couple of shad caught at first light on Sunday morning by anglers spinning in the Umhlanga lighthouse area. Anglers fishing this area told me that they have been doing quite well recently whilst fishing with spoons. Apparently amongst the shad there have been one or two snoek caught.
Anglers fishing the late afternoon periods just south of the lighthouse have had some good sport with grey sharks and brown skates that were on the bite even when the wind was pushing quite hard. There has been the odd nice shad caught as well and the preferred bait amongst the anglers has been Japanese mackeral. A few brown skates have been caught in the Salt Rock and Ballito areas as well and these summer fish seem to be widespread at present.
I was told by a local angler that there have been a couple of really nice pompano caught recently and Ballito is a popular spot for anglers fishing for this species. Crayfish is the best bait for pompano but ghost crab works just as well and even sealice can produce a decent fish. I am sure that there are a few big stumpies around and the same baits work just as well for the stumpnose.
Just a word for the holidaymakers, the weather has been a bit unpredictable recently so be careful when fishing from the rocks and I hope that everyone has a happy and safe Christmas. If you had a drink then do not drive, because I was checked at 3.30am the other morning whilst on my way to do a bit of fishing.
Sealice