#FishEagle: Dirty seas frustrate anglers, barring those targeting sharks

There was at least relief from heavy rains last week.

But considerable amounts of fresh water are still entering the sea though, especially at the La Mercy mouth where water released from the Hazelmere Dam swelled the Umdloti River.

A lot of debris are also still also still floating around, which hamper anglers fishing from the beach and ski boats launching from the surf.

The north-easterly winds that have arrived will ensure the water temperature drops but also tend to churn up silt on the bottom, creating murky water conditions.

This is excellent for the sharks that hunt in these type of conditions. Last week, sharks made up most of the catches and it was difficult to find edible species feeding in the surf.

Apart from the usual grey sharks a few hammerheads were caught in some areas.

Anglers fishing at Umdloti did find some cleaner water and they pulled a few shad, but not much else.

Small salmon surfaced at venues not revealed and word was that wave garrick are still plentiful at certain areas where a couple of stumpies have been caught as well.

Anglers are not too keen to divulge where they are successful these days to avoid overcrowding.

Because of the murky water and debris, off-shore anglers had to travel to find cleaner water in search of game fish, and although some decent catches were recorded, activity remained slow.

Several billfish strikes were reported but only one big sailie was properly hooked off Durban.

Dorado were the majority of game fish caught. A few barracouta were also landed, mostly up north.

Ski anglers found snoek on the bite in several areas along the local coastline on the edge of the dirty water.

Although a few tuna were caught so far this season, they don’t appear to be as plentiful as in recent seasons.

I believe fishing the bottom reefs is rewarding at present with some sizeable fish being boated. Last week several big captain fine and spotted rock cod produced hecitic battles, with big soldiers feeding on some reefs along with Cape yellowtail.

Daga salmon are also still on the move along with the odd musselcracker.

There are still plenty of jellyfish and bluebottles floating in the water, so anglers have to be careful when pulling their lines.

The weather predictions for the coming week is again favourable for both off-shore and rock and surf anglers, with hot and humid conditions forecast. And with no rain in the offing the sea water should become fairly clean as long as the north-easterly winds do not churn up silt.

Although a couple of hectic weather patches are still evident in the Indian ocean at present, they are mostly headed in an easterly direction away from the KZN coastline.

It is cyclone season and some rough weather can be expected in the near future, especially with almost a month-and-a-half of hot humid conditions still to come.

Sealice

Stay in the loop with The North Coast Courier on Facebook, X, Instagram & YouTube for the latest news.

Mobile users can join our WhatsApp Broadcast Service here or if you’re on desktop, scan the QR code below.