Big stumpnose at Umhlanga

Kosi Bay/Mapelane - After many weeks of what seemed to be endless flatfish smash ups and shark runs, some respectable hauls of edibles such as stumpnose and pompano were seen on the upper KZN north coast in areas such as Mapelane, Cape Vidal and St Lucia. Both species feed readily on sea lice, crab and a well-presented chokka bait. For stumpnose a firm favourite amongst many anglers, however, is a juicy red eye head with belly section. This bait will pick up many species throughout the year too. There is still action with the inedibles, although it has slowed down since last week. Diamonds, browns and honeycomb rays and sand sharks being the most common of the lot.

Richards Bay - After possibly some of the most incredible fishing Richards Bay had seen in ages, fishing seems to have slowed down a bit, judging by what was reported at last week’s fishing competition. There are reports of good catches of inedibles up till the weekend and on Sunday after the big west wind the fish came back on the bite. Not much on the edible front. With northeast winds predicted this week, the fishing should be back to the way it was. Flatfish tend to be caught mainly in the dirtier waters that the strong northeast wind brings. During the westerly winds the water flattens and the sea does not churn up much sand, which means there are less crustaceans for the fish to feed on. Generally after the second day of the northeast wind blowing, would be the ideal time to target these species.

Zinkwazi - This spot seems to be holding its own, in both edibles and non edibles. It is nice to see more pompano being landed, as the season has not been that great. There are a lot of baitfish on the backline at Zinkwazi which could only mean that there will be gamefish in the area, one could suggest a spoon or plug to be thrown in an attempt to hook into some of the gamefish swimming along with the bait shoals. Some good sand sharks were landed on slide chokka baits and some smaller specimens on throw baits. It is nice to see more and more anglers using  spinning outfits for this style of fishing. The majority of fish landed on this tackle comes as a surprise to many the first time that they see what the new spinning reels are capable of. One reel that has been more than impressive is the Daiwa Windcast Z 5500. This reel has landed countless sharks in excess of 100kg since its launch date in 2012.

Umdloti/Umhlanga - Many stumpnose reported off Umhlanga, some of which have tipped the scales at 5kg and above. Big shoals have been spotted by spear fishermen casually swimming behind the rocks. The usual haul of sand sharks, mainly lessers, greys and some flatfish have been keeping the local anglers at Umhlanga busy. With a relatively decent supply of fresh bait over the last week, anglers have been able to present some very tasty bits to the fish and the results are no surprise. Fresh bait and good presentation are key factors to catching good fish, consistently. Some nice cave bass and rock cod have been landed on red eye and chokka baits off Umdloti rocks.

Blue Lagoon - After nearly a full week of dirty water and plenty of debris in the water near the Umgeni River mouth, things are looking good with the clean water pulling through just in time for this week’s northeast winds. Fishing should be productive this weekend, with the water being a bit choppy and turning off colour.

Durban Central - The flatfish are here to stay, showing no signs of slowing down even through the west wind came through on Saturday afternoon. Take the family down for some great fun on light tackle at Ushaka Beach front. All one needs is chokka and sardine or red eye. A few grunter are being landed in between the inedibles, one just needs to present a smaller bait in order to target the grunter and avoid too many flatfish.

(File Photo:Gallo Images)

- Kingfisher

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