Angling Report

There was some wind and a bit of a swell at the beginning of last week but the sea and weather conditions for much of the week were ideal for angling. Most of the action took place offshore where some nice fish were caught both by anglers and the 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 and the thieves seem to be targeting specific vehicles. The thefts have not been localized but have covered a considerable area 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 have a bit of relaxation by spending 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 where in some areas decent snoek have been speared plus the odd decent couta and some big spade fish in the Tongaat area. One of the divers said 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 pompano. Recently the divers also managed to spear a few dorado close inshore so the gamefish season seems to be progressing well.
During the week I was watching two ski boats fishing just south of Stud Rock in Westbrook 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. Because of the ideal conditions, more anglers put to sea last week and I believe that a variety of gamefish were caught plus the guys were able to stay out longer and travel further to their favorite fishing grounds. Apparently live bait has been fairly plentiful.
In the surf the summer flatfish are plentiful and are biting at most of the sandy beaches but there has only been a few small edible fish caught locally these past few days. Anglers fishing in the vicinity of the Umhlanga lighthouse landed a couple of sizeable springer this past week but the unfortunate thing about the springer is that 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.
Up north there are still plenty of small shad about that are making nuisances of themselves by stripping baits cast out for larger fish. Some nice pompano have been reported as well along with small kingfish and bonefish. Areas such as Cape Vidal are reported 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