Big tuna action off Durban
We have been told of very good tuna fishing off Durban over the past week.
North
While most anglers had a bit of a tough time with the weekend winds blowing, the sea was manageable on Sunday and still gave the anglers something for their efforts. Sunday was the day to fish, with small swells and light winds up until about 10am in most areas. Maphelane seems to be fishing quite well at the moment. With the fluctuating currents and temperature over the majority of our coastline, targeting any specific species has been a bit of a nightmare, but the one species which has stood out among others is our toothy friend, the king mackerel. Almost every boat that targeted couta was rewarded with fish and it has been nice to see that most of these fish are of impressive size. It has not been uncommon to boat fish of over 20kg, and many an angler has had fish over 30kg this season thus far. This can only be a good sign of what is to come. Other species which have provided action include wahoo, dorado and tuna. Cape Vidal and St Lucia have produced the goods as well, with good feedback all round with the use of Rattlers and Halco lures. More kingfish have been boated over the last week, including some very nice yellowspot kingies. The odd sailfish has been landed on live bait and on smaller Konas such as Williamson Tuna catchers and Sailfish catchers. Zinkwazi produced dozens of quality couta when the weather played its part, but saw a decrease in catches as the colder water moved through. This area had the lion’s share of couta along our coast over the last week, with some fish of 20kg coming out on the bait marks
Central
Durban has seen yet another tuna explosion, after a relatively quiet spell. The thing that amazes us though, is the size of these fish. The smaller tuna have been few and far between, with the larger fish being taken on poppers and live bait. The New Daiwa Exceler 7ft MH boat rod is getting in on the action, seeing its fair share of tuna up to 32kg on popper around the bait marks. Sunday and Monday were the days to fish for those of you who target Natal snoek, as Blue Lagoon and La Mercy offered snoek to anybody on a boat. Most of these fish fed in the dirty water and took Anchovy spoons and chrome Sprat spoons. Although some boats caught more than ten fish including shad, snoek and tuna, please remember that there is a limit of 10 fish per angler, which includes any other fish That is five snoek and five tuna, not ten snoek and five tuna. During the excitement of catching a number of fish, many anglers tend to forget the smaller fish they have caught for bait etc., and can easily make the mistake of overshooting their limits. Along with the catches of snoek, stories of couta and wahoo were also plentiful. We are to expect less than desirable weather conditions late this week, so make sure that you get on the water before the swells pick up.
(File Photo: Carroll Hermann)
Twitter - @kingfisherdaiwa @SportswaveAndre
While most anglers had a bit of a tough time with the weekend winds blowing, the sea was manageable on Sunday and still gave the anglers something for their efforts. Sunday was the day to fish, with small swells and light winds up until about 10am in most areas. Maphelane seems to be fishing quite well at the moment. With the fluctuating currents and temperature over the majority of our coastline, targeting any specific species has been a bit of a nightmare, but the one species which has stood out among others is our toothy friend, the king mackerel. Almost every boat that targeted couta was rewarded with fish and it has been nice to see that most of these fish are of impressive size. It has not been uncommon to boat fish of over 20kg, and many an angler has had fish over 30kg this season thus far. This can only be a good sign of what is to come. Other species which have provided action include wahoo, dorado and tuna. Cape Vidal and St Lucia have produced the goods as well, with good feedback all round with the use of Rattlers and Halco lures. More kingfish have been boated over the last week, including some very nice yellowspot kingies. The odd sailfish has been landed on live bait and on smaller Konas such as Williamson Tuna catchers and Sailfish catchers. Zinkwazi produced dozens of quality couta when the weather played its part, but saw a decrease in catches as the colder water moved through. This area had the lion’s share of couta along our coast over the last week, with some fish of 20kg coming out on the bait marks
Central
Durban has seen yet another tuna explosion, after a relatively quiet spell. The thing that amazes us though, is the size of these fish. The smaller tuna have been few and far between, with the larger fish being taken on poppers and live bait. The New Daiwa Exceler 7ft MH boat rod is getting in on the action, seeing its fair share of tuna up to 32kg on popper around the bait marks. Sunday and Monday were the days to fish for those of you who target Natal snoek, as Blue Lagoon and La Mercy offered snoek to anybody on a boat. Most of these fish fed in the dirty water and took Anchovy spoons and chrome Sprat spoons. Although some boats caught more than ten fish including shad, snoek and tuna, please remember that there is a limit of 10 fish per angler, which includes any other fish That is five snoek and five tuna, not ten snoek and five tuna. During the excitement of catching a number of fish, many anglers tend to forget the smaller fish they have caught for bait etc., and can easily make the mistake of overshooting their limits. Along with the catches of snoek, stories of couta and wahoo were also plentiful. We are to expect less than desirable weather conditions late this week, so make sure that you get on the water before the swells pick up.
(File Photo: Carroll Hermann)
Twitter - @kingfisherdaiwa @SportswaveAndre