Angling Report – 29 January 2016

Tides were not favourable for the surf anglers during the first half of last week at first light. There was hardly any water because of the low tide and the sandbanks built up by the north easterly did not help either. The sea beyond the waves was also a bit bumpy and the water was not all that clean for the inshore gamefish anglers. The hot, humid conditions were ideal for the summer flatfish, but I didn’t see anyone fishing at several of the popular beaches – probably because of the easterly winds. It is not too comfortable fishing off the beach when the wind is blowing and the heat and humidity just increases the problem. Fishing in a turbulent, windswept surf is also hard work, especially if you has to wait long periods inbetween bites and deal with more drift than normal.
There were reports through the fishing grape ‘line’ that there have been some excellent catches of stumpnose in the Umhlanga and Durban North areas recently. I contacted a couple of my friends that fish these areas on a regular basis and it turns out these stumpies are juvenile fish, what the locals call yellowfin bream. Apparently there have been a few moonfish and wave garrick caught as well by the light tackle anglers. It should not be long before these fish begin to feed in the shore dump in local waters and then maybe we will see more anglers at the water’s edge.
Catches of sandies plus big skates and sharks towards the late afternoons are luring anglers interested in fishing for the non-edibles to their favorite fishing spots. The sandy, flat beaches have recorded the best catches but local spots such as Sheffield have also produced some nice fish. Unfortunately some anglers are using the wrong tackle and they have no chance when hooking into these big summer fish.
The game-fish anglers that launched last week were soon chased off the water by the easterly winds and the bumpy conditions. Even some of the larger boats found the fishing conditions very uncomfortable inshore, so I am sure that not too many fish were landed. One skipper commented that the easterly winds just will not let up and launching is just a waste of time and money.
When the deep sea anglers do have a good weather window and the sea conditions have been favourable, some decent catches of bottom fish have been recorded. Big soldiers, a few Scotsman and other reef fish such as rockcod have kept these anglers happy. I heard again from some anglers that they are catching fish that were not normally found on the local reefs. Some of these fish could not be identified by the anglers but species such as dageraad and amberjack have been recorded. Probably a sign of the changing of seasons that all anglers have noticed recently.
I mentioned a couple of weeks back that there was a proposal that the ban (that’s been in place for over 5 years) on angling in the Tsitsikama coast was to be lifted. I read many articles and letters from concerned anglers saying that fish stocks along the South African coastline would be decimated by this. Looks like this proposal has now been put on hold – sanity has prevailed.
Sealice