Angling Report – 17 February 2017

There was some wind and a bit of a swell at the beginning of last week but the sea and weather conditions were ideal for much of the week. Most of the action took place offshore where some nice fish were caught, both by anglers and spear fishermen. There was a low swell and small surf that was perfect for the surf launch or a swim out from the beach. Most days were hot with high humidity readings so for the rock and surf anglers it was a case of being on the beach early in the morning or late in the afternoon.
I was speaking to one of the security guys during the week and he says that there has been a spate of vehicle thefts recently. The thieves seem to be targeting specific vehicles and none of the local angling spots are safe. It takes just a couple of minutes for these guys to break into and make off with vehicles, and the thieves are well prepared for any problems they may encounter. It is sad that people wanting to relax and spend time on the beach are being targeted by this undisciplined rabble.
The inshore water has been clean and this has allowed the divers to exploit the shallow reefs. In some areas some decent snoek have been speared plus the odd decent couta and some big spade fish in the Tongaat area. One of the divers said that they had seen a few big pompano just off the backline and I think that if the conditions remain calm, the surf anglers could land a few of these fish. Recently the divers also managed to spear a few dorado close inshore so the gamefish season seems to be progressing well.
I was watching two ski boats fishing just south of stud rock in the Westbrook area and I saw one rod bending on one of the craft and a decent sized fish that looked very much like a barracouta was hauled aboard. The second boat that was further out to sea soon steamed inshore to where the fish was boated and this was not early in the morning. Apparently live bait has been fairly plentiful.
The summer flatfish are plentiful in the surf and are biting at most of the sandy beaches but there have only been a few small edible fish caught locally the past few days. Anglers fishing in the vicinity of the Umhlanga lighthouse landed a couple of sizeable springer but they are full of bones and not really a good table fish. This species can be very spectacular when hooked as they leap out of the water when trying to throw the hook and the best way to have fun when catching springer is to use light tackle. Other species that are feeding in the surf are mullet and wave garrick or three spot pompano. I believe that there have been a few really big wave garrick caught recently. Like the wave garrick, the mullet are feeding right in the shoredump and prefer small baits.
There are still plenty of small shad about that are making nuisances of themselves by stripping bait cast out for larger fish. Some nice pompano have been reported as well as small kingfish and bonefish. Areas such as Cape Vidal are producing excellent fishing with anglers catching fish on every outing. There are plenty of gamefish being caught by the offshore anglers and a couple of nice sailfish have been boated as well.
With the sighting of big pompano in local waters I think that this will be the way to go for local surf anglers. I have found that using a long all nylon trace with baits such as crab, crayfish or sealice produces good results and the drop shot method of fishing has also rewarded me with a couple of nice pompano.
Sealice

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