Garrick success at Amanzimtoti

Kosi Bay - Very big seas over the last week meant that most days were unfishable. Anglers who tried their luck had only smaller edibles to show for their efforts. 

Cape Vidal/St Lucia/Maphelane - Were much the same as Kosi Bay with anglers needing 10oz sinkers just to keep a bait from pulling. 

Richards Bay – This area was also virtually unfishable with the huge seas, but had a handful of reports of shad and small sharks. In seas like this, there is really very little one can do to improve fishing. There are some basics that need to be followed to ensure that your bait is actually able to be located by the fish, and if these are followed, then the chances of catching fish can increase significantly. Firstly, one needs to ensure that once the bait has been cast into the desired location, it stays exactly where it lands. The best way to do this is to increase the weight of your sinker. The maximum size that your rod can handle should be used. The sinker needs to be of the 2mm wire grapnel sort and all four wires need to be bent out as wide as possible to achieve maximum anchorage. Once this is done, remember that in these rough seas there is a lot of debris in the water and it is difficult for the fish to differentiate between food and debris, unless of course the bait is larger and more smelly than usual. What is suggested are larger, bloodier baits that will increase the visibility and smell of the bait. Red eye sardine and chokka for the attractive white normally works best. We know that fish do not like sand in their gills and we know that fish enjoy moving water. In a very rough sea most of the water is working water and has movement, but most of it has sand in it. One needs to find the working water which has no sand churned up in it. This water is more often than not far out and either braid needs to be used or lighter nylon than is normally used. Braid also has less resistance in the current and is easier to detect a bite with.

Zinkwazi - This area saw slightly better seas and had a few more fishable days, still no more than a few shad and some grey sharks, but some fish nonetheless.

Ballito - Shaka's High Rocks was a spot that enabled anglers to get some shad out, most of which were caught on bait. Smaller blacktail were also caught.

Virginia - Saw a few species during the week and on the calm days, mostly shad and a stumpnose or two. Most fish being landed early in the morning.

Blue Lagoon - This spot produced loads of shad before the big seas came through, with Friday and Saturday being the most productive days when the sea flattened a bit.

Durban Piers - Saw a few anglers braving the spray and waves to get their share of shad. Reports of a geelbek caught from North Pier give us hope for the weeks to come.

Durban Beachfront - Our beaches have produced very few fish over the last week, but again only due to the condition of the sea. With excellent weather predictions for the next week or so, more fish will be seen by anglers in the Durban area.

Bluff - Anglers from far and wide have all managed to have fun here with shad caught on bait and spoon. Although the sea was big, anglers still managed to find some fishable spots. Most shad have been taken on Falcon spoons. Anglers have used the gold Falcon spoons in the dirty water and the silver spoons in the clean water with huge success.

Toti - Garrick were caught on live shad slide baits in the Toti area. These fish are on and off the bite on a daily basis and anglers persisting in one spot have been successful.

Umkomaas - Not too many reports from this area, but again more shad, juvenile grunter and a few kob. Most kob have been caught on baits, but the odd fish has been taken on McArthy Paddletails. 

Scottburgh - Big seas kept most anglers off the rocks here, but those who braved the waves had success with shad and also one or two kob.

Hibberdene - Better size fish even in the big seas, most shad making size easily and many bronze bream as well. Kob have been landed, but not as many as previous weeks.

Margate - Orange Rocks has been producing good fish, but has also claimed terminal tackle. When fishing these areas be sure to stock up on sinkers, hooks and swivels.

Port St John's - Garrick have been landed in numbers in the PSJ area, mainly on baits but on McArthy Paddletails as well. Kob of the larger sizes have been landed on paddletails and chokka baits for the stand and wait approach. Brazen Head saw some good catches of hammerhead sharks.

Durban Harbour - The norm in Durban for the anglers who can't be away from water’s edge for longer than a few days is to head to the harbour in the event of bad seas. That seems to have been the case over the last week as we received more reports from the harbour than normal. Grunter reports from all over the harbour have poured in and not only are there a lot of fish being landed, but the size of the fish seems to be very good as well. Art lure angling seems to be a bit slow at the moment, with only a few reports of kingies and small shad at the mouth.

Twitter - @SportswaveAndre

(File Photo:Gallo Images)