#FishEagle: Spring winds add to poor fishing

Another week has blown by, and brought with it a windy introduction to Spring.

Shad angling has improved and fish are now being caught at many of the recognised fishing spots.

Catches have been mostly around the one kilo range with a few smaller fish and a few really big specimens.

The first three positions of the August edition of the Kingfisher Largest shad competition went to fish weighing in excess of 4kg.

First prize went to a fish weighing just over 4.5kg, caught by Rowayne Ramouthar off Umvoti.

Second place went to David Shar and third to Paula Pillay.

I think that this month’s (September) winner will be a shad much larger than that as we rapidly approach the spawning period.

In the past, I have found that the larger shad tend to feed during the late afternoon and into the early evenings.

I have caught most larger shad while fishing without a cork or top bung.

Despite improvement in the catching of shad, the season has been disappointing with fish coming on the bite rather late.

Anglers fishing during the week managed to reel in some nice fish on spoon.

Fish have definitely shown a preference for fresh fillet bait.

Fresh red-eye sardine and mackerel fillets have produced good results but a live pinkie could produce a surprise catch.

Fishing spots such as just North of the Tongaat River mouth, Boulder Bay at Ballito and Salt Rock and Sheffield Beach areas could be the better bets for anglers in search of shad.

Garrick are also on the rise and patient anglers using live bait could be in for some good hard fun with these fish.

River mouth areas as well as Chaka’s High Rock and Salt Rock could produce a few nice fish.

Other much sought out species are stumpnose and salmon, and there have been a few nice sized catches recently.

Just south of Durban, anglers have managed to catch a couple of decent brusher these past few weeks.

Rocky spot anglers have had an excellent season so far with copper bream and a number of nice sized fish being caught and, there have been a few outsized blacktail caught recently, along with a few lantern bream and rubber lips.

I think that the north easterly winds will soon be a problem for rock anglers as these winds tend to bring sand which clogs and buries everything.

Northern area anglers on the hunt for summer flatfish have faced mixed results.

I believe that a few small sandies have been landed and returned to the water and as the winds increase, so too will summer flatfish angling improve with some monster fish testing anglers.

Anglers have been complaining of an increase in the criminal element. It is understood that a number of popular local angling spots are notorious for breaking into cars.

Anglers should remain vigilant at all times.