Angling Report

The weather was inconsistent last week which meant that there were both good and bad times for fishing.
A few decent sized shad were caught and one could easily pick out the productive areas by the number of anglers on the beach. It is a pity that the shad season is now closed but I noticed at the weekend that there were some anglers that were not phased about that. I am sure they will soon realise that trying to catch a couple of big shad during the closed season is just not worth it.
Anglers fishing amongst the rocks caught some nice copper bream again last week and from what they were saying, these fish are not just restricted to one area. When fishing amongst the rocks, anglers have to know the areas pretty well otherwise it could be expensive when it comes to tackle. Another nice brusher of 5kg was caught in the Tongaat area last week and this was caught by an angler fishing for copper bream and using crayfish bait. I think that this year, catches of copper bream could rival those of last year which were excellent. Anglers are recording good catches of these fish all along the local coastline.
At times the surf conditions were ideal for the stumpies as these fish love the white water to hide in. Normally the stumpies feed in the dark but can be caught during the daylight hours as well.
A few of the regular anglers told me that they only fish in the dark now when they have company and I do not blame them. At this stage of my life, I am not prepared to go fishing armed with a firearm and it can be a bit of a hassle fishing with a group.
Fishing the backline was tricky last week with the unpredictable sea conditions but those who persevered caught some nice snoek again between the Umgeni mouth and Umhlanga Rocks. One angler that I met during the week told me that he caught a nice queenfish of 6.5kg off Peace Cottage whilst fishing for snoek. He said that he saw plenty of baitfish activity in the area. I heard also that a surf ski angler caught a big shad weighing just over 5kg on a live mackerel just off Glenashley beach. No garrick were reported to have been caught but anglers had to stay away from the backline because of the sea conditions.
Apparently the water was not all that clean beyond the backline and the ski anglers were a little nervous about paddling out deeper to look for the tuna. The water has been warm enough so when the weather settles there should be more reports of yellowfin tuna being caught. I am sure that we will soon be hearing that the dorado are back in local waters and then the gamefish anglers will be back on the water in numbers. At the moment many boat anglers are still concentrating on bottom fishing when conditions allow with last week not presenting many opportunities.
The south westerly wind unfortunately began pushing quite strong early last Sunday morning and that put paid to any thoughts of fishing. The wind will probably pick the sea up a bit and the weather report for Monday was not great so it may only be from the middle of the week that conditions are favourable for fishing again.
Rock and surf anglers should make the most of the abundance of baitfish currently around and try and acquire some fresh bait from the offshore anglers. This will come in handy when the shad season opens in December. Last year I managed to get hold of some fresh mackeral and I did well with the shad when using this bait. Bonito fillets are also excellent when fishing for the shad.
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.