Gamefish success off Westbrook
We have heard of good gamefish action off Westbrook this week.
Up north there have been good catches of big couta - most of these fish have been caught on big dead baits such as walla-walla. Richards Bay has seen half a dozen or more couta over 20kg landed in the last week alone. These fish have been caught throughout the water spectrum, so it is advisable to keep one bait down rigged and one on the surface at all times. When targeting bigger couta, as a rule of thumb, fish deeper water or shallower water than one usually would. Most old sea dogs will recommend 10-15m of water or 40-50m of water. When fishing deep, try vary the colour of your skirts, try glow skirts and bright pinks such as Yamashita squids.
The wind seems to be picking up over the week, but the weekend seems to be in order for a gap to fish. Keep a look out on your favourite weather site to keep up to date on what is happening with the wind.
Sodwana has produced many couta and billfish recently, on both Rattlers and live bait. Yellowfin tuna have been on the loose throughout the Zululand stretch, with many fish tipping the scales at way over 20kg.
Westbrook has seen some good gamefish for those who have traveled from Durban, along with the odd bottom fish coming out for those who have had no luck with gamefish.
Umhlanga Barge saw some good queenfish action over the last week, with plenty of the fish hooked being eaten by sharks.
Durban has seen excellent catches of bottom fish on many of our reefs and drop-offs, which is exciting news that indicates the arrival of our winter bottoms. The water has cooled down substantially and has been recorded as low as 19 degrees Celsius. Fish such as geelbek and bigger rockcod have been landed more regularly on live baits and fresh mackerel. Mackerel flapper baits have worked well. There are still many yellowfin around Durban, which have been followed closely by sharks. Heavier tackle has come in handy in these situations, which means that the new Daiwa Exceler 7ft flick stick will come into play as it has more than enough power to pull a bigger tuna away from the sharks. Snoek have been caught on our rips north of Blue Lagoon, mainly on smaller spoons, Clark spoons and smaller diving baits. These fish are taking fast moving baits, so don't be scared to wind your spoon as fast as you can. A few small snoek are being landed at Blue Lagoon itself, but not as many or as big as Hyper-by-the-Sea and Virginia.
Queenfish have been coming out at Aliwal Shoal on live bait. A good way to target these fish when they are active, is on artificial lures. Smaller trawling lures or McArthy drop-shots work well fished deep. There is still the odd dorado and wahoo being landed on faster moving artificials. Most of these fish have been landed in the warmer, cleaner water.
(File Photo: Caroll Hermann)
Twitter - @kingfisherdaiwa @SportswaveAndre
The wind seems to be picking up over the week, but the weekend seems to be in order for a gap to fish. Keep a look out on your favourite weather site to keep up to date on what is happening with the wind.
Sodwana has produced many couta and billfish recently, on both Rattlers and live bait. Yellowfin tuna have been on the loose throughout the Zululand stretch, with many fish tipping the scales at way over 20kg.
Westbrook has seen some good gamefish for those who have traveled from Durban, along with the odd bottom fish coming out for those who have had no luck with gamefish.
Umhlanga Barge saw some good queenfish action over the last week, with plenty of the fish hooked being eaten by sharks.
Durban has seen excellent catches of bottom fish on many of our reefs and drop-offs, which is exciting news that indicates the arrival of our winter bottoms. The water has cooled down substantially and has been recorded as low as 19 degrees Celsius. Fish such as geelbek and bigger rockcod have been landed more regularly on live baits and fresh mackerel. Mackerel flapper baits have worked well. There are still many yellowfin around Durban, which have been followed closely by sharks. Heavier tackle has come in handy in these situations, which means that the new Daiwa Exceler 7ft flick stick will come into play as it has more than enough power to pull a bigger tuna away from the sharks. Snoek have been caught on our rips north of Blue Lagoon, mainly on smaller spoons, Clark spoons and smaller diving baits. These fish are taking fast moving baits, so don't be scared to wind your spoon as fast as you can. A few small snoek are being landed at Blue Lagoon itself, but not as many or as big as Hyper-by-the-Sea and Virginia.
Queenfish have been coming out at Aliwal Shoal on live bait. A good way to target these fish when they are active, is on artificial lures. Smaller trawling lures or McArthy drop-shots work well fished deep. There is still the odd dorado and wahoo being landed on faster moving artificials. Most of these fish have been landed in the warmer, cleaner water.
(File Photo: Caroll Hermann)
Twitter - @kingfisherdaiwa @SportswaveAndre