#FishEagle: Dorado come home for Christmas

The coast was hot and humid on most days during December.

Typical summer weather helped by the seasonal north easterly winds that create these hot and humid conditions.

Fortunately there were a few cooler periods thanks to the southerly winds that moved up the coast and these cooler periods did bring some relief.

Unfortunately the winds did unsettle the sea at times and there were periods that the surf looked really mushy and not ideal for fishing.

Over Christmas the sea looked nice and clean but I did notice that there was still dirty water entering the sea from the Tongaat River.

I really expected to see a number of anglers fishing the early morning periods but that was not the case.

In fact there were many days that the beaches were virtually deserted.

It was nice to see a number of holiday anglers trying their luck using a variety of methods to entice a bite instead of just throwing out a baited hook then standing and hoping.

I spoke to one of the holiday anglers in Ballito who was fishing light tackle using the drop shot method.

He told me he had caught a few, mostly small fish that he returned alive to the sea and he also said he had lost a decent sized fish the morning before.

The fish had taken some line after being hooked and then headed for the rocks where the line finally parted.

An angler that I had been talking to in Ballito called me on Saturday after Christmas.

He said he was heading home the next morning so decided on a final outing of drop shot angling that morning.

After fishing for an hour with no results, he changed his lure to the worm type and after a few minutes hooked into a fish that really pulled hard.

Because he was using light tackle he decided to not put too much force on the fish which he eventually landed.

The angler was not sure what of the species of his catch but a local pronounced it a fine stumpnose.

The fish weighed 2,5kg and a very satisfied angler made his way home the next morning.

It is not easy for the offshore anglers at this time of the year because of the crowds that arrive at the beach for their annual seaside outing.

Offshore anglers launch mainly at first light and the beach from where they are launching is normally quiet.

After a morning’s fishing the guys arrive back at the backline only to see that the beach is now packed with bathers and beachgoers.

It is no easy job for the lifeguards to clear the beaching area to ensure that there are no injuries because there are always those who ignore them.

Most anglers don’t launch on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day because of this problem even though the fishing conditions may be perfect.

Some did manage to put to sea and target the game fish that are around at present.

Plenty of dorado were caught again and one angler told me the dorado were “thick” and double figure catches had been the norm.

The surf ski guys have been catching some big yellowfin tuna.

I saw a couple of fish weighing around 20kg and the anglers said they had been really stretched.

The surf ski guys have tended to return to the beach early because of all the activity on the sand plus the hot humid weather does take its toll on one out at sea.

Ski boat anglers did manage some sea time too and found excellent fishing conditions on some outings but also some adverse conditions on others.

Along with the dorado, anglers fishing the bottom reefs found nice reef fish when conditions allowed but there were also days when currents made for some difficult angling.

Windy conditions at sea also caused anglers to return home early.

But at least all the anglers are happy now the holiday season is over and the beaches will soon return to some normality.

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