#FishEagle: Tight lines but not too tight

It is now the middle of December and surprisingly there have not been the hot humid days associated with this month.

The first half of the week was wet but fortunately not cold and conditions remained good with just a light and sometimes moderate southerly wind blowing, but a lot of rain had fallen.

The rain did ease off a bit for the second half of the week but unfortunately the damage had been done.

With all the rain, it was inevitable that the rivers would be in flood again.

On Thursday the water was brown as far as the eye could see. This meant there was a lot of debris washed into the sea as well which is not good news for the rock and surf anglers.

The Umgeni River was pretty bad again this time with tons of waste plastic being washed down into the lagoon and then into the sea.

Although the sea water was dirty the rock and surf anglers could still target the inedibles such as the sharks and the summer flatfish.

Several sandsharks and rays have been caught recently and a nice big fish bait will almost certainly produce a pull.

If anglers are using shad tackle then they should check that the drags on their reels are set correctly.

I have seen a couple of big fish lost recently simply because the anglers have had their drags set too tight causing their lines to part then losing the fish.

The drags should be set according to the breaking strain of their line.

If one is using 10kg line, then the drag should be set to slip just before the recommended strength of the line.

I saw one angler just about burst into tears just a couple of weeks back when he lost a big kob in the shore break because his line parted when the drag on his reel held firm and did not slip as it is designed to do.

Rock and surf anglers fishing from the deep water spots could be lucky and hook into a kingfish which do not let the dirty water bother them too much.

Here anglers will need a nice live bait or a lure that they can cast out and work.

Kingfish weighing up to 15kg have been caught from the local deep water spots in recent years.

There are still a few big shad about and a live bait will be snapped up by a large shad but anglers should remember that if there are shad around then they will have to use wire traces to avoid being bitten off.

Anglers down on holiday should be very wary when fishing from the rocks or beaches and try and keep away from isolated spots.

Talking to the local anglers will help a lot and even the local tackle shops can assist anglers unfamiliar with local conditions.

These guys are normally very friendly and helpful.

Always watch the water carefully when fishing and remember never turn your back on the sea when at the water’s edge.

The best times for angling are normally early in the morning just before first light and then late in the afternoons and into the evening.

Try to keep off the beach or rocks during the heat of the day.

Ski boat or duck and jet ski anglers will be able to travel out to the cleaner water but the surf ski anglers may struggle a bit but who knows, the north easterly winds may clean the sea up pretty quickly.

At present most of the anglers are targeting the dorado which are quite plentiful at times.

There may be some flotsam closer inshore that might entice the dorado and fishing for the yellowfin tuna could be a bit of a problem depending on how dirty the water is.

Anglers may be lucky and find patches of snoek especially in Umdloti but whatever the case, I am sure the big Zambies are going to be a problem in the discolored water.

I am sure that Ballito and the North Coast will see plenty of holidaymakers this season and the beach parties have already begun.

It will be a wise move not to drive if one has consumed alcohol and always be wary and abide by the speed limits on the roads.

I would like to wish everyone including the staff of the Courier a happy and safe Christmas plus a great New Year. To all anglers, tight lines.

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