It was another spectacular week for the sardine run, with netters scoring big from Winkelspruit to Durban.

The majority of the run is still concentrated on the south coast and some excellent catches were made at Amanzimtoti, while the sardines were spotted for the first time in Durban on Tuesday.

Good conditions early in the week and on Sunday proved particularly fruitful, with mackerel also being found in the nets.

The run will continue this week, but a windy forecast could make things difficult as the fish appear closer inshore.

Surf anglers also enjoyed a bumper haul last week and shad appeared in numbers at almost all traditional south coast spots. That included some outsized catches, mostly registered before first light. Good-sized fish on average are positive signs for an excellent shad season after a few under-sized years.

Garrick were equally plentiful on the south coast and were mostly found among the sardine pockets. A few 14kg catches bode well for local anglers as the fish move north during their run.

Meanwhile, a number of big stumpies were caught in the dark hours at Durban and further south, grabbing onto fish fillet, chokka, octopus leg, prawn, crayfish or sealice baits. A few sizeable lantern bream ‘cave bass’ and rubber lips rounded out an excellent period for surf anglers.

Grey sharks are still around among the sardines, as are black tip and bronze whaler sharks, with the majority of big specimens found down south. Those targeting these inedible species generally did well during the later afternoons and evenings.

Offshore anglers reported that pockets of sardines could be seen over a wide area at sea and a number of game fish were caught among them. A few nice couta and snoek were hooked, while those fishing backline found plenty of Garrick.

Half-kob and the usual rockcod and red fish species were again caught with regularity along the bottom, while some geelbek salmon were hooked in the deeper water before the weekend’s swell.

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