Surf anglers caught grey shark after grey shark last week, with edible species few and far between.

The invasion of these sharks has been prompted by hot weather and discoloured water and reminds me of a similar phenomenon during a fishing competition in the 1980s. Anglers converged on Westbrook Beach and pulled sharks throw-for-throw, eventually drawing a huge crowd. Together the anglers weighed in two tons worth of sharks, good for plenty of weight points!

Most sharks weigh between four and eight kilos and offer a great fight, but anglers are asked to return them to the water once caught. Aside from sharks, a few diamond and honeycomb rays were caught, along with the odd shad, salmon, grunter and stumpnose. Some anglers looking for edible species have reverted to fishing a few hours before first light in the hope of landing a fish or two before the sharks arrive.

I spent some time checking popular spots on Saturday and never saw a rod bending, with unsettled surf and quite a large backline. Anglers reported little action.

The water temperature was measured at 25.5 degrees locally, while swells reached around two metres. Higher temperatures and bigger swells were recorded up north at Sodwana Bay, with unsettled stormy weather in the Mozambique channel. There is every chance of a big swell moving down the coast.

Offshore, the great game fish season continued despite some southerly winds and rain in the first half of the week and north easterlies leading into the weekend. A south easterly or easterly wind is typically not in anglers’ favour and many call it the poison wind.

Dorado continue to be caught over a wide area, while some barracouta and bonito have been found in the offshore grounds. Some big tuna and sailfish were caught out in the deeper water.

Anglers fishing the bottom reefs have caught good-sized Englishman and slinger plus soldiers and various rockcod species. Unfortunately the changing weather conditions have resulted in water being a little warmer than normal for this time of the year.

The big ski boat clubs are already inviting applications for their forthcoming annual competitions. Big prizes are on offer at the Umhlanga and Durban competitions and the latter saw a large catch last year. Two hundred couta were weighed in, with most caught in the Bluff. Both competitions are huge and the Umhlanga tournament dates all the way back to the 1970s.

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