Angling Report – 24 February 2017

Everyone was watching the progress of tropical storm Dineo for much of last week that was upgraded to cyclone status just before making landfall. Many people do not remember the carnage when cyclone Demoina moved down the coast in the 1980’s but those that do, have not forgotten. Ten meter swells were recorded in the Mozambique channel in the vicinity of the big storm, so there is every possibility that there could be some big seas and surf as these swells move down the coast. Fortunately the storm crossed the coast in Mozambique and once making landfall, began dissipating. If the cyclone had moved in a southerly direction it would have continued to intensify while over the water and it would have been a different story for us locals.
It was hot and humid for the whole of last week and those that rose early in the mornings would have noticed just how still and clammy it was. It felt as if something was about to happen and it was the “lull before the storm”. Well, we did have a nice storm early last week that caused the rivers to flood into the sea and this was not good news for the inshore gamefish angler, but fortunately the water did clean up by the weekend.
The fish seemed to go right off the bite last week and this could have been because of the sudden influx of dirty fresh water. All my contacts reported negative catches, which was a pity because the recent flat surf conditions had brought the snoek close inshore and the guys fishing with spoon caught a couple of nice sized fish. The lighthouse rocks at Umhlanga produced a couple of snoek, as well as Glenashley, where there is a nice deep channel at present. The local anglers told me that there was not much happening.
The inshore gamefish anglers also said the fishing during the week was a little disappointing, although there were one or two nice fish caught in certain areas. There was a big couta boated on live bait at Umdloti while anglers opting to fish the deeper reefs are still catching a few nice fish. One of my friends told me that they found a small bump off La Mercy that produced a few big Rockcod, the largest of which was 9kg.
I was speaking to a couple of deep sea angling friends of mine last week and I said that the best has yet to come with this year’s gamefish season. My reasoning is that the seasons have changed and the gamefish – especially the barracouta – are arriving later than normal. I have seen during the past few seasons that the guys catch more fish during the months of April and May. A friend of mine always said years ago that the best time to fish for couta was during the month of May, and this was when he used to take leave from work. He was not wrong either because he used to record some decent catches of couta – and they were big fish.
February is almost a thing of the past and for the local rock and surf anglers, the best time of the year for fishing is fast approaching. I have been in this area for many years and when I look back at records that I have made during those years of fishing, I found that I recorded some of my best catches from about the middle of March onward. The weather is normally perfect for fishing, which means that it is not too hot and humid but the sea water is still very warm and the surf on the calm side. I said last week that divers had seen a few big pompano beyond the surf and these were the species that I used to target.
One does not have to be on the beach early in the morning but a full tide mid­-morning is the best time and one must be patient. Use the correct tackle and bait plus fish the correct areas, and one could land a nice pompano and sometimes an early season brusher.
Sealice

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