Excellent hauls at a billfish tournament in Sodwana Bay last week suggest that population levels remain healthy in northern waters.

Black, blue and striped marlin, sailfish and the lesser-known short-billed spearfish were all hooked in decent conditions over the first four days of the Billfish 15 000 competition.

The wind picked up on day five, meaning only the boats in contention launched. A few marlin were still caught and released in rough seas, with the winning team, Bakgat, among those successful, helping them reach a total of 637 points overall.

The number of sailfish caught and released surpassed all previous editions of the tournament, pointing to a promising season ahead.

Local offshore anglers enjoyed reasonable success in the early part of the week before swell and wind intensified from Thursday, continuing through the weekend.

Dorado and snoek were landed with some regularity, although reports indicated that the larger snoek were off the bite despite being visible in the water. Most catches came from the bottom reefs and included the usual red fish and rockcod species.

Rock and surf anglers encountered grey sharks in good numbers, along with the occasional sand shark. Inedible species continue to dominate at present, with summer flatfish, including diamond and honeycomb rays, becoming more frequent.

There were also some big stumpies caught last week, while copper bream and blacktail were the main species found among the rocks.

Pompano were reported in Umgeni and Durban North and there have also been reports of large mullet – good news for light tackle anglers in Umhlanga Rocks and Umdloti, who should soon see more action with edible species.

The final six weeks of the year are expected to offer ideal conditions for the drop shot method of fishing. Tackle shops are well stocked with quality plastics ideal for drop shotting and there are some excellent spots along the Ballito and Salt Rock coastlines.

Bronze bream, stumpies and pompano are known to frequent these areas. The drop shot method is also effective in the surf for targeting wave garrick, mullet and juvenile stumpies, the latter also known as yellowfin bream.

Tight lines!

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