#FishEagle: Fishing is a gentleman’s sport

Anglers were faced with another tough week as windy conditions angered the ocean, resulting in difficult surf.

It all began well at first light on Monday with perfect weather, but this was not meant to last as a big shore dump hampered anglers attempting to land larger fish.

I was at Umhlanga at dawn on Monday and saw an angler lose a really nice fish in the strong shore dump. 

I was back at the same venue early on Tuesday morning with much improved surf conditions and, in the dark of the early morning, one of the anglers shared that patches of bait fish had been seen in the sea off Umhlanga the day before.

But the fishing turned out to be a repeat of the previous day.

When I returned home I saw that the barometer indicated a change of weather and the weather bureau also warned of a big south westerly wind readying to lash the coast.

At 3am on Wednesday the threatening big west came howling with a vengeance and the southerly wind continued throughout the entire day with the result that both sea and surf became rough.

Poor weather continued for the next two days, but on Saturday morning it improved. 

There was quite a queue of vehicles waiting for the Umhlanga car park boom to be raised too, followed by a bit of a bun fight for parking.

I saw the first rod bending at first light and watched as the angler winched in a nice sized shad.

Suddenly there was a new sense of urgency among the waiting fishermen.

While a few nice shad were caught, anglers outnumbered the fish, with the usual tangles and traces being pulled out of the water by those not watching their lines.

I was quite happy not to be fishing, instead rather observing the antics unfolding in front of me.

Once fish had gone off the bite I saw several anglers packing their gear and leaving.

They left with their tackle and rods, but on the beach where they had fished now lay left behind bait scraps, plastic wrapping and in some instances, discarded line.

The reason that I spent a considerate amount of time at this particular beach was because I had heard of some decent sized fish being caught regularly.

This was indeed the case however, fishing was uncomfortable with the number of anglers trying to fish such a small area.

I spied several nice sized fish hooked, only to be lost because of the incompetence of others.

I had also heard residents complaining about the mess left behind by anglers.

From above the beach I could smell the rotting bait scraps, and the mess left behind equally easy to notice. 

Every year, during shad season, residents living near popular angling beaches have similar complaints.

The guys who fish regularly throughout the year make sure to leave their fishing spots clean, but many part-time anglers who only fish when the fish are running don’t care about the environment.

It is a problem which the regulars often try and solve, mostly by trying to get these guys to change their ways.

Unfortunately, the regulars are often threatened when they do point out the mess.

So let me also say, leave it how you would like to find it!