#FishEagle: Rain brings dirty fishing

Stormy with a chance of rain: that’s what faced the North Coast last week Monday and that’s what greeted early morning anglers.

Sea and surf conditions were perfect for fishing but within a couple of hours wind had arrived from the south, bringing with it more wet weather which continued until the middle of the week.

Fishing from the beach can be pretty miserable in these conditions, so it was no surprise to see popular angling beaches pretty deserted.

Only die-hard fishermen and those desperate to catch shad were seen on the beach at first light.

Although the rain is most welcome, it was inevitable that rivers would flood again, creating dirty water conditions stretching over a considerable distance along the coast.

Dirty in-shore sea water containing the usual debris and pollution may just be what will put a brake on the number of shad being poached at present.

Anglers fishing for shad are no longer trying to hide their catches but are fishing as if it is quite legal and unlimited.

Shad do not usually feed in dirty water but they have been known to move in-shore, allowing anglers to pull a few.

Fishing when rivers come down in flood can be a real pain especially if there is weed in the water.

The north easterly winds late last week added to anglers’ problems as these winds tend to churn up the silt on the ocean floor.

At first light on Friday morning, I drove to a popular angling beach where there were a number of anglers with lines in the water.

The surf had a bit of a washing machine look about it, and the water was not all that clean.

With weeds and a northerly wind, it was not long before most were busy packing up and leaving the beach.

Conditions stayed much the same all weekend and I think that it will be a few days before the sea cleans up enough to allow the in-shore anglers a chance to fish again.

The Sodwana Bay annual billfish tournament was held last week with a couple of local anglers participating.

This is a very popular tournament with fish being released after being caught so conservation is high on the menu.

Normally, the first of the striped or black marlin are caught off Durban as well at this time by the deep sea charter anglers, and it is always a race to see who can catch the first marlin of the season.

Sea conditions were unfavorable for off-shore angling due to the north easterly which created big holes in the sea.

These would have made travelling or fishing on the anchor very uncomfortable.