Angling Report

The sea was rough at the beginning of last week because of the front that had moved up the coast but a north easterly wind began blowing on Monday morning which calmed the swell and surf. The north easterly dropped on Thursday evening and by Friday morning there was a southerly wind blowing bringing cooler weather and some rain for part of the weekend. The cooler weather was welcome after the hot, humid conditions during the week.

Anglers fishing at first light during the week found the shad on the bite and some anglers managed several nice sized fish weighing up to three kilos. Most fish were not returned to the water but a couple of friends of mine were on the beach fishing with spoons and they had some excellent sport on light tackle with the shad chopping the spoons on every cast. They also managed to catch several fish each but returned them to the water, much to the disgust of some anglers on the beach. Apparently the shad are feeding every morning and are full of roe so they have not spawned yet and it seems a pity to kill them off.

If anglers want to catch the shad they should wait until the middle of November and they will catch what we used to call the return shad. These are fish that have dropped their roes and are on their journey back to the Cape, easily identified because they are much leaner. Catching these fish will not decline the species. Unfortunately some people are not really interested whether the fish have spawned or not and greed sets in because there is a ready market waiting for illegal shad.

The local beaches are now producing a few shad and during the week I saw a few anglers on the beach in the mornings even though the wind was pushing. The surf was very unpredictable and the waves were pounding on the sand banks, so fishing must have been really difficult, but the shad are used to rough water and prefer the North Easterly wind. Many of the anglers fishing for shad are on the beach before first light and usually leave with their fish early to miss anyone wanting to apprehend them. Anglers beware, I believe that the fishery inspectors made an appearance at a Durban North beach during the week.

For most of last week sea conditions kept the offshore anglers shorebound but all this changed on Sunday morning when the weather was perfect for fishing and the moderate Southerly winds did flatten the sea somewhat. Another north easterly was forecast for the day so anglers had to launch as early as possible to get in a couple of hours of fishing. The north easterly winds will probably be a daily factor for the next few weeks and anglers will have to plan their fishing trips carefully.

This is the time of the year that the Mozambique current begins to move inshore, bringing the Summer game fish. Already dorado have been caught so this year could be a bumper summer season. It remains to be seen whether the billfish arrive early, as well as the yellowfin tuna. Anglers will have seen the very nice G.T. that was caught off Ballito and this could be a sign of good things to come but it is still early days. There have been promising starts to the gamefish season in the recent past only for anglers to be left disappointed as the season has progressed. I believe that if the jellyfish arrive, there will be an excellent couta season.

At this time of the year offshore and onshore anglers are at the mercy of the weather and sea conditions so they should make use of any fishable time that they find. The off color water will be to the advantage of the shore anglers and a few big fish could be recorded by those that persevere.

Sealice

Catch of the Week

Send a photo of your catch to sport@northcoastcourier.co.za and share your success with all the ardent fishermen on the North Coast. Include the angler’s name and surname, species, weight (estimated or actual), where and when it was caught and what bait was used.

Who knows, you could win a R200 voucher from our sponsor for Catch of the week.