Dirty water plagued anglers early last week when rivers and lagoons flooded into the ocean.

I checked the sea from Tongaat through to Durban – dirty water as far as the eyes could see.

A fresh south westerly wind at first light on Monday helped distribute the dirty water over a wide area.

This didn’t help in-shore game fish anglers who will now need to find alternative angling spots.

When rivers are in flood, it sometimes becomes difficult to predict what can be found at beaches.

For instance the sea up at St Lucia was a chocolate colour and a local even stumbled upon a crocodile wallowing in the shore break.

But the sea and weather improved as the week progressed.

The summer game fish season continues with a couple of magic catches such as the 38kg yellowfin tuna caught by an angler fishing from a kayak.

Dorado are still offering plenty of action out in deeper waters and even some snoek have been on the bite – good competition with the small shad which seem to be everywhere.

Sharks continue to be a problem at times – also not unusual this time of year.

A surf ski angler enjoying near perfect conditions in the Umdloti area toward the end of the week told me that small shad drove him mad, at least until the sharks took over and he decided to call it a day.

Off-shore anglers targeting billfish have had a phenomenal season so far, especially with plenty of small marlin and sailfish in local waters at present.

Clean water has been found deep out at sea with water temperatures remaining high. With the hot, humid conditions at present some exciting angling can be expected.

Despite less than ideal conditions, anglers still managed to boat a few couta – sharks again provided competition, claiming their fair share.

Larger, crocodile-sized couta seem to be mainly caught further north. These should move south soon.

Game fishing action down south is improving, so keep an eye out and plan angling trips accordingly.

Rock and surf anglers have struggled this past week and the adverse weather and sea conditions didn’t help at all.

I saw 2 average spade fish caught at Tongaat. A few smallish stone bream and blacktail – although undersized – were also caught.

One angler at Umhlanga said he had some fun with sandies which he had caught earlier that day using sealice bait.

This bait has become quite scarce at present. Productive angling times seem to be during the late afternoons when sharks have been on the bite.

Patient anglers targeting big summer flatfish have had mixed results with a couple returning home with huge smiles, others with bad moods.

The trick has proved to be fresh bait in the form of sardines and mackerel.

An angler at Salt Rock targeting stumpnose with a double sealice bait got the surprise of his life when he hooked into a large fish which turned out to be a sand shark weighing about 18kgs.

The shark was caught and released safely.

Weekend anglers were blessed with 2 almost perfect days of fishing at first light last weekend.

The water has cleared up considerably and there remain plenty of small undersized shad around, feeding just before first light. Many anglers have been targeting these small fish whenever weather and sea conditions have allowed.