#FishEagle: All quiet on the angling front

Tropical storm Freddy in the Mozambique channel did not seem to have any influence on sea conditions along the northern KwaZulu-Natal coastline, but anglers have commented that the sea water seemed to be unsettled.

Westbrook beach had swells around one metre the entire week with temperatures steady around 26 degrees.

Nasty weather made the weekend a no go for anglers.

Angling has historically not been awarded at this time of year, with anglers having to work extra hard for results.

For this reason I began to record every fishing outing that I had in a log book. I recorded the time of the tides, the condition of the water, the number of anglers at the fishing spot, the bait I was using and the time that I fished.

I recorded the size and species of any fish I caught, and whether the fish was hooked close inshore or out a bit deeper.

It took a couple of years for a pattern to emerge, and when planning a fishing outing I would revert to my log book and check where and how I was fishing at that time of the year. I was surprised at how my catches improved and that similar catches were made at certain fishing spots year upon year.

Catches last week included some big stumpies of around six kilos and, surprisingly, several species of salmon or kob were on the bite in several areas.

As the water temperature remains high, the summer inedibles are still on the bite. Big sandies plus various rays provided sport as well.

Now is the time to use crab, prawn, sea lice, crayfish and even mussel and rock baits to target the stumpies and pompano.

Anglers fishing the rocky outcrops are still catching the odd big copper bream, one or two spade fish, plus the usual stone bream and blacktail.

There have been a number of snapper salmon biting as well but the name of the game is patience.

Offshore anglers have also found the conditions tough but fish were caught by those who persevered.

Snoek were caught off the Umgeni River mouth and Umdloti and couta brought in off Umdloti and Stud Rock. Unfortunately sharks are still taking their toll.

At present there are plenty of bonito to be found almost everywhere and big tuna have been seen feeding among the shoals.

Out in the deeper water, anglers managed a few dorado and some nice bottom fish when able to travel deep.

The summer Equinox period is not far away now and perhaps the conditions will be excellent over that period.

Normally around the end of March and in April the big crocodile couta begin to make an appearance and Zinkwazi seems to come alive at this time.

In a few weeks, small shad should make an appearance again but anglers say the South Coast waters have been dirty and rough for some time now.

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