KZN deep sea fishing news and advice
The locals at Sodwana have been making the best of the weather and have seen a few good fish next to the boat including some rather large marlin and sailfish. Dorado seemed to be feeding mainly in the deeper water and were taken on Konas and strip baits.
Smaller live bonito have also been popular bait if they can be acquired and have been successful in catching marlin, sailfish, wahoo and dorado too. There are some fairly large kingfish in the shallower waters and around the ledges, which are being targeted by boats willing to get into the shallow waters. These fish have been taken on the Daiwa D Minnows and other casting lures such as the Halco C Gar and poppers such as the Maria Pop Queen and Halco Rooster Poppers.
Down the coast at Maphelane there have been excellent catches of dorado, wahoo and some good sized couta. The 50m mark off the lighthouse has been one of the preferred spots. In this area live bonito have been king when targeting wahoo or couta. The bait is preferably down rigged with a 5oz sinker to get to the correct depth, which is usually a 4-5m off the bottom.
At Richards Bay bottom fishing has been good, seeing a lot of rockcod in the deeper waters and trawl soldiers throughout the day. The marlin gurus are starting to get into the swing of things and have already managed to land a fair amount of decent sized fish in the last month, many of which have been on lighter tackle while targeting wahoo or dorado. Sailfish have been plentiful in most of the Richards Bay area and all the way down to around Zinkwazi where there seems to be a cut-off.
From Zinkwazi down, the main concentration has been on tuna which have been abundant. The Tinley Manor and Westbrook areas have been popular with larger specimens up to 38kg. The Daiwa D Minnows again doing wonders for these fish when used on a spinning outfit. Dorado have seen the hatches of many skis over the last week from Westbrook down to the Bluff, including the entire stretch between the two areas. The cargo ships have held plenty dorado and will continue to do so for a few months to come. Live bait works best here and a Shallow Diving Rattler in at a close second.
All the way down the south coast there have been good catches of yellowtail on live bait as well as lures. Tuna have been coming out thick and fast and have been rather large compared to most of the other weeks. In the Winkelspruit area a number of wahoo have made their way down and have fallen victim to a few of the live bonito set out for couta.
The locals in the Port Edward area continue to have fun with the yellowtail which have all averaged around 15kg in the last week. Live bait is the key here, with jigs coming in second best. The new range of Evil Eye Jigs from the Kingfisher have taken off at the speed of light and have been working for yellowtail, tuna and even wahoo, which were caught last week off Shelley Beach.
(File Photo: Caroll Hermann)
Twitter - @kingfisherdaiwa @SportswaveAndre
Down the coast at Maphelane there have been excellent catches of dorado, wahoo and some good sized couta. The 50m mark off the lighthouse has been one of the preferred spots. In this area live bonito have been king when targeting wahoo or couta. The bait is preferably down rigged with a 5oz sinker to get to the correct depth, which is usually a 4-5m off the bottom.
At Richards Bay bottom fishing has been good, seeing a lot of rockcod in the deeper waters and trawl soldiers throughout the day. The marlin gurus are starting to get into the swing of things and have already managed to land a fair amount of decent sized fish in the last month, many of which have been on lighter tackle while targeting wahoo or dorado. Sailfish have been plentiful in most of the Richards Bay area and all the way down to around Zinkwazi where there seems to be a cut-off.
From Zinkwazi down, the main concentration has been on tuna which have been abundant. The Tinley Manor and Westbrook areas have been popular with larger specimens up to 38kg. The Daiwa D Minnows again doing wonders for these fish when used on a spinning outfit. Dorado have seen the hatches of many skis over the last week from Westbrook down to the Bluff, including the entire stretch between the two areas. The cargo ships have held plenty dorado and will continue to do so for a few months to come. Live bait works best here and a Shallow Diving Rattler in at a close second.
All the way down the south coast there have been good catches of yellowtail on live bait as well as lures. Tuna have been coming out thick and fast and have been rather large compared to most of the other weeks. In the Winkelspruit area a number of wahoo have made their way down and have fallen victim to a few of the live bonito set out for couta.
The locals in the Port Edward area continue to have fun with the yellowtail which have all averaged around 15kg in the last week. Live bait is the key here, with jigs coming in second best. The new range of Evil Eye Jigs from the Kingfisher have taken off at the speed of light and have been working for yellowtail, tuna and even wahoo, which were caught last week off Shelley Beach.
(File Photo: Caroll Hermann)
Twitter - @kingfisherdaiwa @SportswaveAndre