Winter angling season has burst into life along the coast, with the arrival of the first proper shoals of shad sending rock and surf anglers scrambling to dust off their rods and hit the beaches.

Sea conditions last week were near perfect, with cool mornings, warm days, light winds and water temperatures hovering just below 24°C. Reports from the Transkei border suggest the sardines may not be far away either, after a kayak angler positively identified a small shoal south of Port Edward. Further south, massive shoals of mackerel between Port Elizabeth and East London are expected to begin pushing north as temperatures continue to drop.

The lower South Coast, particularly Margate and Uvongo, produced excellent catches of quality shad over 1kg, while reports soon spread northwards along the coast. Local anglers at Blue Lagoon, Umhlanga, Umdloti, Tongaat and Ballito have also started picking up shad, with the odd garrick mixed in. The Tongaat river mouth and Chaka’s High Rock should become popular garrick spots in the weeks ahead.

Night anglers enjoyed productive conditions too, with kob, stumpnose and grey sharks keeping rods bent, while copper bream are now showing more regularly on southern rocky ledges.

Offshore, near-perfect sea conditions saw anglers boating good-sized couta, although patience was required. Virginia Beach produced several fish, including a large couta landed during a recent kayak competition. Snoek and yellowfin tuna also featured, while bottom anglers reported increasing numbers of geelbek and daga salmon alongside the usual reef fish and rockcod species.

With small shad now plentiful as bait, offshore anglers will be eagerly watching for the first proper garrick action of the season.