#FishEagle: Cold front turns down the heat

While warmer conditions are on the horizon as spring approaches, anglers had to contend with mostly unfishable conditions at the weekend with the arrival of a cold front.

With spring comes the onset of north-easterly winds and thunderstorms typical of this time of year.

Windy conditions will mean anglers will have to choose their fishing hours and venues carefully when the sea is rough, but normally the best times are just before first light, and if possible, the late afternoon periods into early evenings.

But these fishing times are not always safe, so it is advisable to form groups when planning an outing.

Fishing from beaches and rocky outcrops was quite good in some areas, and while shad were caught in some parts, these fish appear to be becoming more shy.

Specific venues cannot be singled out for shad, but as usual, the best time to target them seems to be after a north-easterly wind and when the surf is a little rough.

A number of garrick were caught last week when fishing conditions were favourable, live bait again producing the best results.

Garrick may not be an apt target this week after the weekend’s big southerly blow, but areas to try could be Ballito, Chaka’s High Rock, Salt Rock and Tinley Manor.

Strong surf might be a problem for anglers, but low tide periods could allow limited fishing time for anglers who persevere.

Offshore anglers fishing the backline may need to be extra careful until swells decrease, and areas such as Zimbali’s Long Beach can become treacherous during rough sea conditions.

Anglers fishing in the dark have landed some very nice salmon and grunter last week, karanteen fillet proving to be the best bait with which to target daga salmon.

Umdloti produced a couple of salmon and a few big grunter were caught at Blue Lagoon along with one or two nice stumpies.

Local areas to give a go for stumpies at times include Salt Rock and Sweet Waters, but patience is key.

Light tackle anglers fishing the rocky gullies during low water periods caught plenty of karanteen, some blacktail, zebras and stone bream.

It has been quite a while since karanteen arrived in these numbers, but with spring’s arrival winter fish may move away from local rocky outcrops.

Looking at the horizon during the weekend, I could see there was a big swell running out at sea, and conditions did not look inviting.

Offshore guys managed some decent fish though, although most catches were recorded on the bottom reefs.

The medium-depth reefs produced daga salmon and some really big rock cod and some half kob in some areas.

Fishermen out to deeper fishing grounds found geelbek salmon to be on the increase.

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