#FishEagle: Anglers reel in pompano on north and south coasts

The pompano came on the bite during the settled weather period last week and fish were caught both on the north and south coasts. The majority weighed in the region of two to five kilos.

Now is the time to target this popular species. Recommended baits are crayfish, bay squid, sealice and crab.

A long all nylon trace has proved to be the way to go historically and anglers need to be patient when targeting pompano.

Local anglers managed to catch the odd big stumpie and also found salmon or kob on the bite.

Again there were a few decent sized salmon but the shad remain scarce.

The summer flatfish have gone quiet and the season may be over.

Anglers working the rocky outcrops and gullies had some excellent sport with copper bream.

A few sizeable lantern bream or cave bass were also caught in the gullies along with some decent stone bream and big blacktail.

The rough water in the gullies suits the copper bream and stumpies, so anglers should have some productive fishing this week, weather allowing.

Word from the offshore anglers was that the couta have arrived, and some sizeable catches were made last week.

They seem to be feeding over a wide area.

One couta caught in Richards Bay reportedly tipped the scales at 40kg, with some big fish also caught locally.

Many hooked fish were taken by sharks again and it was a case of “crank” a hooked fish as hard as one can to escape the taxman.

Most catches were made on live baits but fresh, dead baits rigged correctly were also rewarded.

Snoek were also caught at the local snoek angling spots, while there are plenty of bonito to be found offshore at present.

Dorado have gone quiet as it is the end of the season and catches of tuna are sporadic.

There were reports of sailfish being hooked off Durban, so the game fish season seems to be in full swing.

Anglers fishing the bottom reefs also reported excellent catches when the conditions were calm.

Catches included the red fish species, soldiers, slinger, one or two Englishmen, as well as some big rockcod.

Because of the number of bonito locally, bait for bottom fishing is not a problem but this week fishing time on the reefs may be limited if the wind forecasts are true.

On Sunday morning I was watching the ships anchored offshore rolling in the swell, so it could be a couple of days before the swell moderates.

As we progress through April, rock and surf anglers will be looking to see what happens down south in anticipation to what soon may be the targets for the late autumn and early winter seasons.

In seasons past the garrick began to move in May and last year some anglers said the garrick run was “insane”.

Last week a few shad were caught on the South Coast but they have not arrived in large numbers.

The sea water is still a bit warm for the shad and garrick, but in the fishing game, the unusual can always be expected.

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