#FishEagle: Sharks continue to be party poopers

Easter weekend is always a busy period on the North Coast, and the past weekend was no different.

Inland visitors arrived to enjoy the last of the warm weather before the onset of winter and many anglers hoped to catch and take home fresh fish.

The weather played along, with plenty of sun and very little wind. Sea conditions were fine enough as well with just a small swell and small surf that did appear a bit unsettled, but very fishable.

The days leading up to the Easter weekend did not exactly meet the rock and surf anglers’ expectations of hectic fishing, however.

The light tackle brigade did score a few catches in the surf, consisting mostly of wave garrick, juvenile stumpies and a few odds and ends.

The drop in the water temperature has resulted in the summer flatfish going somewhat quiet and anglers targeting these fish have had lean pickings.

Shad anglers were out in force in some areas such as Blue Lagoon but the fishing was pretty quiet as well. Last week some shad were caught at the lower South Coast but it is still a bit early for this species.

Having said that, a shad weighing 4kg was apparently caught in the estuary at Mtunzini. Such big shad should not be around at this time of the year but one gets the impression the fishing seasons are changing along with the weather.

There was news of a couple of shoal salmon on the bite in a couple of areas and these fish continue to be caught down south. A phenomenal number of salmon were caught this year and the season is just beginning.

One or two pompano weighing around 4kg were reported as well and this could mean they are now becoming more numerous, right on time.

Last week’s surf angling results were pretty normal for this time of the year and should improve in a month’s time as the weather becomes cooler.

Anglers fishing the Durban North beaches managed a few nice grunter in the dark, which is excellent news.

Offshore game fish anglers have caught some nice couta recently and the Umhlanga competition produced good catches.

Couta in the mid-20kg bracket were weighed in and anglers fishing the upcoming Durban competition have great expectations.

So far the couta season has been a reasonable one but many fish continue to be lost to sharks that are always plentiful at this time.

There has been no news of big crocodile couta weighing over 30kg being caught yet, so it is perhaps still a bit early for these big loners.

Dorado seem to be becoming a bit scarce at present but the odd fish is still being caught out deeper in cleaner waters. This year’s dorado run has been another excellent one with a lot of fish being caught.

Tuna also seem to be becoming a bit scarce since the arrival of bonito and most fish are being caught out in the deeper water as well.

Surf ski anglers have had some excellent fishing off the Umgeni mouth recently where they have found snoek on the bite. They have been feeding in this area for a while now and a few big guys weighing over 9kg have been reeled in.

The bottom reefs have also proved to be productive last week with some really nice big rock cod being caught along with the usual reds.

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