#FishEagle: The time is ripe for angling

The sardines were still the main topic among anglers last week as they were still being netted down south and near Durban.

The first shoals had rounded the Bluff and were seen by offshore anglers in the Durban basin plus pockets were seen passing by Umhlanga Rocks about 250 to 300m from the beach.

Offshore anglers reported seeing sardines moving northward off Ballito but the fish were a long way from the beaches.

This year’s sardine run is said to be the best for many years and is not yet over as more shoals are expected.

But as usual, as soon they round the Bluff they tend to remain in deep water.

There is some bad weather forecast the ensuing heavy seas could bring pockets of sardines inshore along the Dolphin Coast.

The South Coast has certainly come alive with the arrival of the sardines and big sharks continued to produce some excellent sport.

There were plenty of smaller sharks caught as well and many an angler had his arms stretched.

Some big rays also made a showing and one angler casting a spoon from the pier at Margate hooked into and landed a big yellowfin tuna during the week.

This area continues to produce plenty of shad with anglers exceeding limit bags on just about every outing, plus there have been a couple of big garrick and a few kob at night.

Popular fishing areas north of Margate have also produced, with shad making up the bulk of catches but there have been a fair number of kob or salmon caught as well.

At times it has been a bit of a bun fight with anglers fighting over fish.

There has been enough to go around for everyone but when the fish are running, there are those who get over-excited.

South Coast anglers fishing their chosen rocky areas have also been doing well with a number of edible species including copper bream.

The local popular angling beaches remain quiet with just a few small shad being caught at first light and the guys fishing among the stones still landing a few decent fish.

Local anglers should persevere because with the sardines passing by, fishing could turn on at any time.

So far surf angling has been pretty normal for this time of the year, recognised as between seasons at present.

But anglers’ instincts tell them they could record a life-changing catch and all they have to do is make sure they have a fresh bait in the water in the right place at the right time.

Divers have been doing really well locally with a number of nice couta and now a couple of big daga kob being speared.

Mitch Rankin has been diving on a regular basis in Umdloti and had done really well, beaching with some very nice sized couta and a daga salmon weighing 26kg.

He reported seeing several sizable fish in the water but he has not seen any sardines.

On Friday morning another diver at Westbrook speared a couta weighing 17kg and he said he saw a shoal of couta about 80 or 100 fish strong, and they were all big fish.

I have seen boats fishing the Stud Rock area last week and I am sure that these guys caught their fish.

A surfski angler landed a big sailfish in Durban during the week so this goes to prove that sardines have brought the fish.

Deep sea anglers may now score big time when they launch but they can also “run a drum” with sardines flooding fishing grounds.

In the past I have fished deep sea grounds when the sardines have been around and there were times when we caught some really decent game fish and bottom fish, but there were also times when we caught absolutely nothing when pockets of sardines were surfacing all around us.

One will only be sure after trying.

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