#FishEagle: Best months of fishing on the way

Although the daytime temperatures are still relatively high, one can feel that change in the weather is now not far off.

The months of March, April and May are normally the best months of the year when it comes to the weather and rock and surf angling is normally quite rewarding as well because the sea conditions remain favourable for some time and the fish tend to move inshore to feed, plus the favourable sea conditions favour offshore anglers as well.

Last week I mentioned that the Durban beachfront area, known as Golden Mile, has been producing several big fish.

Anglers have been catching mostly inedibles such as sharks and summer flatties, and every now and then a decent edible fish is landed.

Recently anglers have landed a few shoal kob plus a couple of nice stumpies, and last week a big pompano was caught from one of the piers.

Local anglers should take note of this fish being caught in Durban because this must mean that there is every chance of a couple of big pompano being caught here. Pompano prefer a calm surf and seem to prefer to feed well after first light during the day.

Best baits could be crayfish tail or live ghost crab and anglers should use a fairly long all nylon trace and lots of patience.

A long-standing rock and surf angler was telling me during the week that he has had some good luck during the past couple of months and has caught a few really nice fish. He normally fishes the rocky northern part of Ballito up to the Chaka’s Rock area.

Whilst fishing the rocky Ballito area recently, he has landed two nice sized rubber lips plus a couple of smaller cat faced rockcod, and he said he had found a few stone bream in some areas.

He mostly uses bait from the rocks and includes mussels, rock bait, crab and at times, a combination of them.

He used to do well on copper bream but he has seen a decline in fish stocks over the past couple of years. He has been targeting pompano without much luck but felt it was only a matter of time before he caught a prize pommie.

This summer has been one of the better years for inedible fish and the north coast continues to produce some big fish.

The guys that target these big flatfish arrive at their venues properly equipped with the correct tackle to handle them.

After a huge battle with one of these large fish, anglers need a period of rest to allow quivering muscles and empty lungs to right themselves.

It is an experience to hook and land one of these monsters but it is also the correct thing to do to return these fish unharmed to the water so that they can live and fight another day.

One morning I hooked a sandie weighing around 20kg whilst fishing for shad and it really was a workout on shad tackle.

Saturday was a brilliant day, especially for those fishing beyond the waves.

The surf launch was not bad and the sea was pretty flat with just a gentle breeze the entire day.

The water colour was what we used to call ‘clean green” and the really clean water could be seen not too far of shore.

Excepting for dorado and tuna, other game fish normally caught at this time of the year have disappointed again so far, but the season is far from over.

If the weather and sea conditions continue as they are at present, there could be some excellent fish caught before the season closes.

Anglers fishing from the beach and catching undersized fish, plus exceeding catch limits, should beware even though there may not be any visible signs of fishery inspectors in the area.

Club anglers are watching for the guys that flout the rules and the news soon gets around.

Many anglers are now sick and tired of poaching plus disregard of the limit size and catch limit of fish, so some are now photographing these guys poaching and their photographs are now being posted on the various fishing apps.

There was one on Saturday morning showing two middle aged anglers catching undersized shad, shot for shot, and burying fish in the sand.

Anglers should make use of any good fishing conditions and get to the beach whilst the weather lasts.

Do you want to receive news alerts from The North Coast Courier via WhatsApp? Send us a WhatsApp message (not an sms) with your name and surname to 061 718 4438.

Please read our WhatsApp broadcast list disclaimer. Join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram