Clean conditions produce good shore fishing

On the upper North coast, anglers have had a bit of a tough time finding decent waters to fish, but with perseverance and determination, there have still been good reports from areas such as Maphelane and St Lucia. 

The sea has been clean, and with the clean waters anglers have been forced to target either smaller species such as Shad, Stumpnose and Bonefish in the bays, or go big and target larger species on heavy tackle casting over the banks and hoping for the bait to set a good enough smell into the water to entice a fussy fish.

Larger baits such as Yellowtail head and Bonito head have been getting more fish, mostly large Blackfin Sharks and a few Zambezi Sharks. Sand Sharks have made up the majority of the flatfish catches and have been caught on Chokka slide baits or large Chokka throw baits. Second to the Sand Sharks have been the Diamond Rays, which have taken Shad cutlet baits and Shad head.

Richards Bay has had better fishing than the Northern Zululand areas and has also been very productive for anglers fishing in the Harbour. Good catches of Grunter have been reported as well as good Perch and Snapper Salmon. The surf side has also fished well enough to keep anglers busy most days of last week and should continue to produce good fish for the week to come. Some very nice Diamonds of 60kgs and above were seen off Richards Bay during the week, most of which were landed on spinning tackle. 

Zinkwazi had a good flatfish run over the weekend, with some good Sand Sharks, Browns and smaller Honeycomb Rays coming out, mostly on Chokka and Mackerel baits.  Shad cutlets have worked well for the bigger fish, fished on Mustad Big Gun double hook traces.

Ballito was relatively quiet and experienced some dirty water earlier on in the week; however some anglers who spent time on the water managed some nice Stumpies and Cave Bass in the gullies. It is nice to see a good number of juvenile Rock Cod being landed on smaller baits, but it is very important to release as many of these as possible to ensure a good future for the Rock Cod species. These are extremely slow growing fish and deserve all the respect possible when being handled.

Umhlanga saw quite a few Shad being caught by the locals in the mornings on bait, a few of which were used as bait. These baits were jumped onto and most anglers managed to land a few Grey Sharks of around 5 to 8kgs. Good fun on spinning tackle and for the youngsters.

Blue Lagoon had plenty of action late afternoon and for the spinning enthusiasts early in the mornings before work. Some nice juvenile Kingies on McArthy paddle tails as well as bucktail jigs fished with a vigorous action. It is nice to see that all of these game fish are being released to fight another day.

The local anglers of the Durban beaches have reported few fish over the last week but the good news is that with the sea predicted to be big over the next two weeks, the Beachfront close to Ushaka and Addington will be hot-spots as they are relatively protected and fishing conditions are more favourable.  Be sure to grab your spinning outfits and head down, as there should be some good fishing.

Heading South, Scottborough Point had anglers on edge with various Kingies caught on spoon and dropshot, on lighter spinning tackle and heavier tackle too. The larger fish are still around and actively feeding, as some light tackle anglers found out the hard way, be sure to gear up correctly to save on lost tackle! An excellent catch needs mention from last week, which was a 17kg Couta which was landed on a Mackerel slide bait off the Point by Chris van Rensburg.

Port St John's has seen good catches of a variety of edibles such as small Kob, plenty of Shad and also excellent numbers of big Blacktail, Wildeperd and Eel-Tail Barbel. Do not write off the Eel Tail Barbel as a good meal, as once skinned, filleted and baked/fried, the Barbel will be your next target species for the years to come.

Hole In The Wall has had a lot of reports of big Black Fin Sharks and Raggies. The edibles have been wild too, being caught daily in large numbers. Prawn and Chokka baits have produced the goods on most days. Anglers have been using Mustad Demon circles in sizes 2-4/0 for these edibles and have had huge success.  Bronze Bream are hooked perfectly each time, and for those who enjoy the standard J hook, there are always the Chinu which is Mustads number one scratching hook. 

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