Sardines continued to play hiding games with netters who also had to contend with rough seas and heavy surf last week.

This all changed toward the end of the week however, when light winds ensued allowing the sea and surf to moderate nicely and seeing netters again take to the waters.

Earlier last week reports surfaced of a large shoal of sardines heading north past the Transkei.

The large shoal was said to be accompanied by thousands of birds and large pods of dolphins.

Whales were also spotted among the sardines and it is believed this shoal could be the main one.

As days went by, sardines were reported in various South Coast waters, but netters were not able to launch owing to the sea conditions.

This only changed last Thursday at Winkelspruit when netters took to the waters.

A couple of nets may have missed their targets but a small net was landed successfully, only to later be accompanied by a larger net before word had spread among netters putting them back in business.

Come Friday morning, sardine frenzy ensued at Winkelspruit and Warner Beach where a couple of nets were brought ashore.

Netting continued into the weekend and on Saturday, word from Port Edward was that the waters were saturated with sardines.

An angler said one could see sardines as far as the eye could see, so this week holds great excitement, with the possibility of sardines in the Durban area passing by along the North Coast as well.

While this time of year sees increased action down South Coast way, this past week has been quiet but once conditions improved fish were back on the bite, with large shad caught at Margate.

Shad and garrick came on the bite on Thursday morning when a couple of big fish in the 20kg range were landed.

Further up along the South Coast shad and garrick were also being caught in numbers, while copper bream were feeding at most of the rocky gullies and salmon making up the evening catches.

Local rock and surf anglers also saw fish come on the bite as the surf settled. Copper bream could be found among the rocky outcrops from La Mercy all the way to Sheffield Beach.

A couple of large spade fish have also been caught at La Mercy where anglers continue to struggle with long trips to reach the area owing to damaged road infrastructure.

As expected, shad have not yet arrived in numbers.

Meanwhile, Ballito has produced a few stumpies, and guys fishing copper bream have been pleasantly surprised when landing these.

It is a well-known fact that these fish enjoy rough surf conditions and will take almost any bait. It was said a couple of pompano were landed in the area, so a crab will entice this species as well.

Salt Rock and Sheffield Beach have also had their moments with a couple of shad, but copper bream continue to be the main target.

Anglers spinning off the rock at Sheffield Beach have managed nice kingfish, despite sharks munching off the baits.

Lobotes are being caught at the Tugela Mouth along with some nice shad and decent salmon, which have been plentiful.

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