#FishEagle: Garrick keep anglers on the hop

Anglers got the reprieve they were waiting for when a big westerly wind pulled though at the weekend, bringing with it good fishing conditions.

Saturday morning saw sardines netted at Amanzimtoti with netters reporting more catches on Sunday at Durban.

While it is odd to have sardines so late in the year, it has happened before with cold waters being the likely cause for their extended stay. Sardines have been netted as late as October in the past.

Fishing suddenly came alive at Blue Lagoon on Sunday, too, where it was reported that garrick were going wild as anglers battled to keep up. Live bait, shad traces, spoon and plugs all produced fish.

Despite some bad sea conditions at times, North Coast anglers also had their fair share of action.

Chaka’s High Rock has been a long-standing favourite, but anglers unfamiliar with the area are urged to be careful of rocky areas, especially when sea conditions are rough.

Northern Salt Rock beaches have also been producing garrick, along with other areas from Zimbali through to Ballito. Tinley Manor has also been a hive of activity lately.

Shad have been scarce this past week, with few decent fish landed. One angler using spoon, fishing the upper South Coast, landed a beautiful shad weighing almost 6kg.

Stay up to date on the latest and breaking news by following The North Coast Courier on social media:
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram

Other shad spots were mainly quiet, but this could have been as a result of the sardines, coupled with garrick found on the coast which were feeding on shad.

If shad is what you want, turn your eyes toward areas such as Richards Bay.

Other edible fish species are also on the bite at the moment, some of which include the much sought after brusher.

On Sunday morning an angler using ghost crab for bait hooked and landed a big brusher weighing seven-and-a-half kilos.

A number of big brusher have been caught, especially in rough surf conditions. The best bait for brusher include crab, mussels and chokka, with the fish most likely to bite during feeding time at first light.

Windy conditions hampered anglers fishing the rocky outcrops last week, but several species were landed such as copper bream, stone bream, blacktail and karranteen.

Some small stumpies were caught in the rough water, and I believe that down the far lower South Coast, anglers found nice sized black bream on the bite.

Not many skippers went out to sea last week because of the windy conditions, that was until the weekend at least.

Garrick were again the main species caught by those fishing the inshore, but deep reefs continued to produce decent bottom fish, including daga salmon, half kob, the usual reds and big rock cod.

Follow The North Coast Courier on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram & YouTube for breaking news

Telegram Broadcast Service: https://t.me/joinchat/yJULuN8NaCs5OGM0