Boats that braved the bad weather were rewarded with some good offshore fishing last week.

There were tricky surf conditions with heavy falls and swells of 2.5 to 3 metres, but the larger boats that made it out found it to be worth it.

Those fishing closer to the shore hooked into some big barracoutas and it seems the smaller shoal couta have arrived as well. Anglers targeting snoek found that many had been chopped by the smaller couta, while sharks have recently arrived to take their share too. There were still some good snoek catches in the inshore areas however, with a few kingfish also reported. The areas off Umdloti and the Umgeni Mouth were most popular.

Anglers travelling to deeper waters found dorado, yellowfin tuna and even some wahoo on the bite. The excellent start to the dorado season has continued and the fish have been caught regularly over a large area.

Billfish remain present out deep, with sailfish and bonito strikes and one big marlin caught off Durban.

Bottom anglers also reported some decent catches last week, with some really big rockcod, soldiers, slinger and the odd musselcracker.

Catching bait is still not a problem, but rough seas and currents did mean fishing time was limited. The water temperature is still averaging around 26°C, which means the cooler water species are yet to arrive.

The outlook was less rosy for shore anglers however, who endured another tough week.

There were a few pompano caught in Durban, but little else of note. Anglers will be hoping to target pompano once the surf settles as the fish prefer calm, clean water and the timing is right for them to appear on lower North Coast beaches.

While targeting pompano, anglers also give themselves a chance of catching stumpnose. A crustacean or sealice bait is the most popular, but pompano have also been caught using chokka, octopus leg and mussels.

Because of the poor weather and sea conditions, some anglers reverted to fishing in the Durban bay. The water in the bay has cleaned up considerably and I thought the conditions looked very fishable when I took a look last week. Light tackle fishing can be great fun in the bay and recently there have been some really decent catches.

A number of smaller kingfish have been spotted, while springer are becoming more common. There are also plenty of snapper salmon, mullet and the odd sizeable grunter as well.

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