Angling Report

After a week of reasonably good weather, there was a dramatic turn on Saturday morning when the storms arrived bringing heavy rain, snow in some areas plus hail. After all the rain then came the fresh to strong South Westerly wind on Sunday morning that brought the cold air blowing off the snow. It will probably be a few days before the sea settles enough for anglers to be able to cast their lines again.

During the week the sea was quite calm but the surf was rather unsettled and the waves were pounding on the sandbanks making for some difficult angling conditions in some areas. As expected, there were few anglers to be seen on the beaches and catches were few along the coastline.

So far this month the fishing has been disappointing in the view of some of the regular anglers and they said that they have been scratching around looking for fish. A few small shad have been caught on some mornings but in general, not much has been happening. It has been mainly small blacktail and the odd stone bream that has been caught and there was one small copper bream caught in the Tongaat area one morning.

The regular anglers in Umdloti have managed a few shad plus a couple of stumpies and the odd kob but they said there have not been any fireworks as yet and sea conditions have really been favorable for lengthy periods of angling. Normally at this time of the year, this area produces some decent fish but it has been quiet for the past couple of seasons as have most of the other local fishing spots. Umhlanga and Durban North beaches have also been quiet this past week.

During the next couple of days dirty water will probably flow into the sea again and although the dirty water is normally considered the angler’s curse, it could be a blessing in disguise and fish could move inshore to search for food. In the past I have caught some of my best fish in discolored water and on one morning I caught a nice kingfish in chocolate colored water when I was not expected to catch anything at all.

The kob usually hunt for food in discolored water so anglers that fish in the dark could be in for some excellent fishing in the near future. The name of the game will be patience and reading the water looking for the ideal fishing spots. A channel next to a sandbank could produce unexpected results and the correct choice of bait will be important. Chokka or crab could be the way to go as fillet baits could be stripped by the many peekers in the sea at present.

Fishing along the South Coast was also a bit on the quiet side last week with mostly small shad being caught by the early morning anglers. Anglers found that the shad moved inshore right at first light but moved away after a short time then the fishing became quiet.

The beaches became deserted quite early in the mornings just after the shad moved off and this meant that there was not a lot happening after the early run of fish. A number of grey sharks were caught in some areas but I think that the appearance of these sharks also helped in chasing the anglers. The South Coast beaches are still crowded at first light in the mornings so it is not advisable to plan a fishing trip as yet.

Some of the local anglers said that many of their favorite fishing spots amongst the rocks are still sanded up and this has made fishing more difficult. One of the locals told me that he had heard of a couple of fish being caught in the Salt Rock area but he could not confirm what species.

I predict that anglers should get down to the beach when the sea settles because the fishing could change and become productive again.

Sealice

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