Sodwana Bay delivered great offshore action last week, with almost 100 billfish released during the five-day O.E.T. billfish and game fish tournament.

Strong winds occasionally interrupted fishing and delayed the final day’s launch, but the challenging conditions did little to dampen the action. Plenty of strikes and hard-fought battles kept anglers busy throughout the competition.

Day one saw 14 billfish released, followed by 17 on day two. A further 18 were reported on Wednesday, despite reduced fishing hours. Thursday proved the highlight, with 34 billfish safely released. Friday’s delayed start had little overall impact, with 14 more fish added to the tally.

The tournament produced blue, black and striped marlin, short bill spearfish and sailfish. Game fish weighed included yellowfin tuna, with the heaviest tipping the scales at 37.9kg, as well as skipjack, bonito, dorado and several wahoo. The overall tournament winners were the anglers aboard Reef Hunter.

The local game fish season has yet to begin in earnest, although sailfish sightings have been reported, along with a few dorado in deeper water. Snoek have been caught close inshore, while garrick remain fairly plentiful, including some large specimens.

Bottom reef fishing remains the main attraction for ski-boat anglers, although unsettled weather and strong currents have made conditions challenging. Slinger, soldiers, Englishman and various rockcod species continue to feature regularly. Daga salmon are being caught, including some large fish, while half-kob, yellowtail and amberjack are also being found on the reefs. The odd large musselcracker has added to the catches when conditions allow anglers to get out to sea.

Rock and surf anglers are seeing an increase in non-edible species, with grey sharks, larger sand sharks, diamond rays and honeycomb rays being reported along both the North and South coasts. Edible fish are still being caught, although recent rock and surf fishing has been tough.

Garrick remain available at popular angling spots, with live bait producing the most fish. Larger specimens have been reported, particularly where cleaner water can be found, as the fish appear to avoid dirty conditions. Small salmon are feeding in selected areas along the coastline at night, while large stumpies continue to surprise anglers targeting salmon. Good-sized grunter have also been caught a little further north after dark.

Fishing from rocky outcrops has been difficult, with few fish reported. The occasional bronze bream, lantern bream and stone bream have been caught, but small blacktail and pinkies dominate. Cold seawater may have contributed to the poor gully fishing last week,while the weekend’s bad weather further limited opportunities.