As the sardine chaos fades, anglers report excellent spring fishing along the KZN coast, from shad and sharks to tuna and musselcracker.

While anglers make the most of the fishing conditions that accompany the run, South Coast residents regularly complain about the impact it has on their communities. Along with reports of tension between anglers at popular spots, residents say littered bait scraps, bait wrappers, plastic and fishing tackle are commonplace.

Meanwhile, fishing conditions were largely excellent last week, despite a blustery south westerly on Wednesday. The conditions were favourable for grey sharks to move inshore and anglers reported catches along most of the coastline, as well as some sand sharks and ray species. These species should become more common as the sea temperature increases.

There was limited shad success last week, with the majority still being caught on the South Coast. A few outsized fish of over 5kg were caught, but most were under 3kg. Anglers report that shad have largely disappeared since the height of the sardine run and one South Coast fisherman said he thought the population has declined in recent years. There are still three weeks of the shad season, so we will have to wait and see.

Blue Lagoon has reopened for fishing and word is that garrick are being caught along with the occasional shad. Local anglers have seen lower garrick numbers from the recognised spots however and it may be because the baitfish inshore prevent the species entering the surf zone. Mullet have been seen in the surf, but they are too big to use as live bait.

Offshore anglers continue to enjoy good returns while fishing the bottom reefs, where red fish and rockcod species remain plentiful. Daga salmon, half-kob and geelbek salmon have also been hooked recently, with the latter mostly found at night. Two sizeable musselcracker caught recently show further evidence of a good winter for the species.

There have also been good catches up north, with a number of tuna and wahoo, plus the odd early-season dorado reeled in. It is still a bit early for the summer game fish season, but the water is warming nicely and anglers will surely by visiting the Cape Vidal area for couta, dorado and sailies soon.

The Sodwana Bay billfish season is not far off and entries for the OET billfish tournament are now open. The tournament, which ends in early November, is always well supported.

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