Promising signs ahead of annual cuta run

Deep sea anglers have been treated to dorado catches of late that have been phenomenal.

Charter boats off Shelly Beach have been busy, with most having morning and afternoon bookings, where anglers of all ages and skill have enjoyed the dorado run.

Yellowfin tuna catches have been on and off in the past month, with one day bringing plenty catches of the 15kg to 20kg size and the next day seeing anglers struggling for a bite or struggling with big sharks taking their catch.

Cuta and Natal snoek season is approaching. Early signs are that it is going to be a good run, and already a few have been caught.

Jamie Evans landed a big Natal snoek caught off Port Edward, and the odd cuta has been landed off Port Shepstone and Hibberdene.

With the warm water, marlin and sailfish have been spotted, and Declan Taylor was lucky enough to land one of these stunning sailfish – that he released safely back into the water – from the boat Reel Chaos.

Bottom fishing has seen some good days, especially when the current has been low, with Scotsman, musselcrackers and copper steenbras caught.

On the tournament scene, the Doc Wilson species competition, hosted by Marlin Ski-Boat Club, started last month.

In beautiful fishing weather, Evan Peyios landed a superb musselcracker of 18.7kg to win the event on the boat Crackerjack.

March will see the start of the Interclub season, where deep-sea angling clubs from all over the province meet for a weekend of competition.

First up will be the Durban Interclub from March 14 to 16, held at Durban Ski-Boat Club.

Shelly Beach Ski-boat Club is sending four teams to compete.

On the open-to-all competitions calendar is the Shelly Beach Gamefish Classic from March 20 to 23.

The outlook for the next month of fishing looks promising as anglers await the arrival of the popular cuta run.

Conditions look a bit up and down in the coming weeks, but you can expect the odd big yellowfin tuna at this time of year.

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