Good pompano fishing in Durban

Kosi Bay/Cape Vidal - Kosi Bay at this time of year becomes a magical place to visit, with the hatching Turtles making their way from the nest to the ocean to start their lives. Although an extremely moving and stunning sight, most of the beaches become slightly crowded with tourists and viewers. This has steered anglers away from certain areas, but those who chose to take a walk in search of alternate grounds were all rewarded with good catches. Bigger baits such as Shad cutlets and Mackerel slides grabbed the attention of some Blackfin Sharks and a few respectable Honeycombs. Cape Vidal produced many edibles at the start of last week, mainly Pompano, Stumpnose, Bonefish and Cave Bass. When these fish are on the bite, Chokka is a must when considering baits to use. Many families are still enjoying dropshot fun in the shallows with the Wave Garrick, Shad and Smaller Kingfish.

Richards Bay - An endless supply of Brown Rays, Honeycomb Rays, Daimonds and the odd Sand Shark with 99% of all inedibles being landed on Mackerel and Red Eye baits. Red Eye being the more versatile of the two, has seen a good few edible species as well. One will notice many Snapper Salmon pecking at the baits and many have been landed. Although these fish are not known as a target species as such, they do make for excellent table fair. So the next time you hook into a few of these "pests" there is no harm in taking one or two home for the pot.

Salt Rock/Shakas Rock - Before the bad weather and upside down seas arrived, quite a few Grey Sharks ranging from 5-10kgs were landed around Shakas High Rock on a variety of baits from live Blacktail to Chokka throw baits. The light tackle spinning enthusiasts have had a great time with Snoek and Kingfish off all of the deep water ledges. Here are some hints and pointers to the anglers who may have been struggling to hook into some of the Snoek that are around: Snoek are fussy feeders, if they are not eating your offerings, try downsize your spoon if your tackle permits a lighter weight to be thrown the same distance. Remove any steel trace used in front of your lures. Even if the Snoek are biting, the presence of steel trace will lessen your chance of a bigger, more weary Snoek, this applies to all species. Cast further by filling your reel with a lighter braid such as triple Fish Gator braid 20lb. This may seem light but Snoek are not dirty fighters and no pressure will need to be applied to steer the fish away from obstacles. Look for what we call "working" water. Rips, current lines, scum on the surface and sand banks are a great place to target Snoek. The golden rule, ignored by most, but the most valuable piece of advice, retrieve your spoon as fast as possible. If you think you are retrieving too fast, wind faster! This technique will produce a bite 95% of the time when slower moving presentations are proving fruitless.  

Durban - Durban Piers are heating up with many Pompano being landed on Sea Lice, Grunter on a variety of baits including Sea Lice, Cracker Shrimp, Red Eye and Chokka, and of course many Snapper Salmon on any bait they can get the few-toothed mouths around. A very lucky angler who found himself at Blue Lagoon over the weekend managed a very respectable Pompano of 6kgs.

Bluff/Toti - Longfin Kingies have been plentiful off most areas on the Bluff, caught on bait, lures and fly, these are great fun on light tackle. Bigger Blacktail are starting to show face recently, along with some nice Stumpies. At Toti and Doonside there have been plenty small shad that are falling victim to S-bend spoons.

Umkomaas - Grunter, Snapper Salmon and the odd Brown Skate at Umkomaas were all taking small baits and Red Eye cutlets readily. Port Shepstone has been producing Brown Skates off the beaches, in front of the station, as well as great catches of Blacktail and Stonebream.

(File Photo:Gallo Images)

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