#FishEagle: Prepare your rods for shad

As we move into August, there is still some sardine activity with netters recently getting action at Snake Park.

Tragedy struck when one of the netting crew was washed out to sea last week.

Rescue services spent a long time searching for the netter, however westerly winds hampered their efforts.

It is unclear whether or not his body was found.

People trying to sell sardines are finding that the ready market has now gone and the price has hit rock bottom.

It seems as if everyone has had their fill.

It has been a phenomenal sardine run and tonnes of the silver fish have been caught and sold.

But once the market has become saturated, no amount of effort will return a good profit.

And once beached, sardines become soft and begin to deteriorate pretty rapidly.

If not disposed of immediately, sardines become worthless so from now onward, any sardines sighted should be left alone to travel on their way.

Another cold front arrived last Tuesday night, so at first light on Wednesday fishing conditions were not great at all.

A moderate south westerly and accompanying rain added to this.

As expected, fishing spots were deserted and adverse weather conditions remained for the entire day.

However, first light on Thursday saw a clear sky and anglers back casting their lines.

I joined my brother Graham Coyne on the beach at Umhlanga Rocks.

He was throwing spoon and there were four or five other anglers using fillet bait.

I saw four fair sized shad caught but my brother wasn’t as lucky.

After spinning for about one and a half hours, Graham decided enough was enough.

We ended up sitting on the beach, talking and watching other anglers.

He said fishing at Umhlanga beach during the week had been patchy.

The lighthouse area had worked quite well for a couple of days but was now yielding nothing and Durban View, just south of the lighthouse, was fairly quiet as well with just a couple of the regulars on the beach every morning.

Ronnie, one of the regulars at Durban View, was telling us that the shad were boiling down south and that anglers were really climbing in.

There was an unconfirmed report of one angler having been caught in possession of 100 shad.

Apparently the angler was arrested and his tackle and car were confiscated.

Ronnie said some of his friends had been down south but it was crazy and dangerous at times when shad were running.

The annual Kingfisher biggest shad competition is now open for the month of August.

The angler who weighs-in the largest shad for the month wins him or herself a fantastic prize, as does the runner-up.

A similar competition runs in September.

Freshly caught shad must be weighed-in at their main branch in Hunter Street, Durban.

Guys, the prizes are really worth it so if you think you have caught a shad which will be in contention for a prize, make sure to have it weighed.

Anglers can expect windy weather from now on as we move into the last official month of winter, slowly heading into spring.

It is almost time for the north easterly winds that blow day after day.

These winds can cause mushy, unpredictable surf conditions that confuse anglers at times.

They also make for tricky surf launches.

The north easterlies are notorious for bringing sand which builds up in the surf zone and sometimes causes non-fishable conditions.

Let us all hope that the lockdown period disappears before summer really sets in.

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