Fish Eagle: Rough week for fishermen

It was typical February weather last week.

Hot and humid both during the day and at night with fresh to strong north easterly winds that chopped up the sea and surf creating difficult angling conditions.

On Saturday there were some big swells at sea with the wind creating waves that looked uninviting to offshore anglers.

When I checked a very popular surf angling beach, I found the area to be deserted, which was not unexpected.

There was a refreshing southerly wind blowing at dawn on Sunday morning that brought with it some welcome rain that did cool the temperature down a little.

The rivers are still full and it was great to see the Tugela flowing nicely again but unfortunately some of the rivers were flowing into the sea creating dirty water in most areas.

The dirty water tends to keep anglers from fishing and during the week I saw few anglers on the beach or fishing the inshore game fish grounds.

Climate change is a reality as we have had hot weather that is normal but the temperatures have been higher at times and recently I was in the Tugela area where the temperature was a boiling forty two degrees that was almost unbearable.

On looking at the sea during the week l was glad that I was not on the water as there was a horrible swell for most of the week and fishing in these conditions can be very uncomfortable and unproductive.

When the sea is rough it is actually a relief to return to the shore especially when the fishing has been quiet and all that has been happening is salt water breaking on the boat or craft and one has
been tasting salty water during the time at sea.

When the water is discolored inshore the only option is to travel deeper to find cleaner water but this is not really an option when the wind is blowing and there is a big swell. This is basically what
the offshore conditions were like last week and not worth the trouble of launching through the surf.

Fishing in the surf at this time of the year can be frustrating, especially when the sea is rough and knowing that one is more likely to catch an inedible fish if anything at all. The best chance of edible fish is to fish among the stones during the day which could result in the loss of expensive tackle in the rough water or fishing at night which is not always safe.

Anglers were not able to try off the deep water points last week for species such as the kingfish or the rare prodigal son which have not shown up the past couple of summer seasons or even to spin for queenfish or snoek.

The few rock anglers I spoke with during the week all reported that fishing was tough with very few fish being caught and even the small fish were scarce.

The anglers were also not able to spend long periods on the beach in the hot and humid conditions and battling with the rough water.

The anglers that I saw fishing from the beaches all had their lines in the water, their rods in the rod holders and they were just sitting in the sand.

Most of the local rock and surf anglers target edible fish only and when just the odd inedible fish is landed, the guys tend to pack up their gear and return home.

The southerly wind on Sunday would have done more good than harm, calming the swell and straightening up the sea.

The southerly winds tend to clean up the dirty water as well and anglers should be back fishing at the beginning of the week.

The best prospects are still at night when the sea is not calm but if the swell is low then the mid-morning period could be the time to try for the pompano which prefer the clean calmer water.

Crustacean baits are the best for this species but I used to prefer the drop shot method next to the rocks which is more satisfying when fishing with light tackle.

The game fish anglers will be hoping for calmer and cleaner water which will allow them to catch the big couta and tuna.

Always at this time of the year big sharks take their toll of big fish that have been hooked and this can be very frustrating but expected.

Recently anglers have been using different tactics to avoid these sharks but these are not always successful.

Sealice
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