Angling Report

Fishing and weather conditions were not all that great at the start of last week with a fresh southerly wind blowing from very early on Monday morning. At daybreak big white horses could be seen at sea and the surf was not looking good at all. Tuesday again saw a fairly strong wind early in the morning and there were big swells running out at sea. Fishing conditions did improve as the week progressed and the surf looked fine for the shore anglers over the weekend.
Due to the unfavourable conditions very few anglers tried their luck from the local beaches and the word was that there was little of note on the bite. As the fishing conditions improved, anglers began to trickle back but the fishing remained a bit quiet, except for a few very nice shad on some days and a few grey sharks during the morning periods. I heard that there were a few garrick about but it was the spear fishermen that managed to get a few fish. Looking at a couple of the popular garrick angling spots, I saw that these areas were sanded up and it is no wonder the fish are not moving into the surf.
One of my friends told me that he had been fishing the Durban North beaches during the week when the surf subsided and a few decent shad came out just before dark on a couple of afternoons. Another angler told me that he had fished at Umhlanga beach early on Saturday morning but all he had caught was a small shark. On Sunday morning he was back on the same beach in the dark and he caught a shad weighing around 2kg.
At this time of the year fishing late afternoon into the dark or very early in the morning produces the best results locally except when fishing amongst the rocks for copper bream or brusher. The problem is when fishing amongst the rocks one must be prepared to lose expensive tackle and it is the anglers that know the gullies well who catch the decent fish. I heard that a few copper bream have been caught in the rocky areas along with a few big stone bream. The rock anglers should do better this week as the weather and tides will be in their favour.
Offshore anglers had to put up with some heavy seas during the week, especially when fishing deep where there was a big swell and strong currents running. On Wednesday I was looking at the sea through my binoculars and saw that there was a fresh wind blowing out to sea and the water was really looking rough yet inshore all was quiet with hardly any wind at all. Anglers fishing the backline at Umhlanga have caught some big garrick on live baits but they have had to be careful because of the unpredictable sea conditions. One angler told me that he caught three garrick off Glenashley beach but stopped fishing as the tide pushed in because of nearly being caught on two occasions by waves building up in the unpredictable seas.
I think that more and more offshore anglers will be fishing for garrick from now on but this type of fishing is more for the experienced anglers. Over the years there have been a few mishaps, some of then turning into serious situations and have also involved a few very experienced deep sea anglers. The angler’s motto is always respect the sea and never treat the water with contempt.
Sealice

Basil Manning is sponsoring a weekly prize of a R200 voucher for the “Catch of the week”. With a specific focus on sustainable use of our ocean resources, preference will be given to fish that has been released – although fish caught and kept will not be disqualified.
Send a good quality photo of your catch to sport@nothcoastcourier.co.za. Include the angler’s name and surname, species, weight (estimated or actual), where and when it was caught and what bait was used.