Herald Fishing: Scratching proves a success as weather behaves

With the weather starting to behave itself and the periods of settled conditions being longer, the fishing is getting a bit easier to predict.

That being said, the rough conditions have seen the scratching anglers land some amazing catches.

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The rock and surf scene has been flooded with images of giants, sharks and edibles.

The edibles coming out have been mainly the scratching fish. The most popular target at the moment is, hands-down, the bronze bream.

Don’t neglect the small water. Scratching is not about casting your bait as far as possible.

It is about putting the bait where the fish are. Much like other forms or facets of angling, a minute fishing in the right location is better than an hour in the wrong spot.

Light tackle allows you to probe all the likely looking spots. You will be surprised how shallow the fish can go.

Keep your rod tip high when fighting in among the rocks as this will minimise the chance of getting cut off.

In the deeper water you can fish a double hook trace, but the shallower water will mean you have to fish a single hook. Bait wise you will need chokka, prawns and cracker shrimp.

Cast out small baits, you will amazed at what you can catch.

Reports are in of a lot of bronze bream and rock cod being caught in the Manaba and Trafalgar area in the past week.

There have been garrick at most of the usual spots. These fish have all gone for the large number of live baits in the area.

Kob are still around, with a lot being caught on the Sandspit in Port Shepstone.

Most of the kob are being caught on paddle tail and rapala. A good bait for the kob would be an octopus leg, chockka baits or shad belly.

Tight lines and screaming reels.

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