FISHING REPORT 24TH APRIL 2010.

Angling
Shad have been coming out at most known spots and the average size also seems to be getting better, these fish seem to be feeding well during the mornings with anglers getting their quotas fairly quickly at places like Toti and Winkle.

These fish have also made an appearance on the north coast with places like Umdloti river mouth and the La Mercy stretch starting to produce quite a few fish during the past week. The same can be said for Durban and the piers where some good bags have been reported recently.

Some very nice stumpie, some up to the 6 kg mark have been reported from the Isipingo, Doonside and Greenpoint areas. There are also reports of some good grunter fishing in the Umkomaas north bank and river mouth areas. Although generally on the small side a few very good fish in the 4 kg range have been landed recently.

Among the grunter a number of shoal kob have been landed. Terry Nel from Tacklenet in Port Edward report that some good sport was had over the weekend when hound sharks and skates came on the bite and careful planning by our local club reeled in a number of these fish giving them a good score for the competition round.

Grunter have also been reported from the Umgeni North bank area and in Durban Bay. Numerous big fish have been caught in the vicinity of the ‘Center Bank’ area. Boats operating in the Bay have also had very good results recently as far as grunter are concerned and there are reports of snoek and smaller kingfish as well. The inedible species however are keeping anglers busy as there are good reports of fish on both north and south coasts.

A few nice size sand sharks have been caught in the Tinley, Ballito and Tongaat areas recently together with some brown skates. A few above average size honeycombe rays have been reported in the Illovo and Green point areas. Good catches of both sand sharks and skates have from the Umdoni area.

The Transkei is also fishing well with favorable reports coming in from the Port St Johns and Hole in The Wall areas. Mostly hammer head sharks are coming out but there have been some good size grey and spinner shark activity as well. Shad angling down here is as good as it can get with some very good reports of some nice size fish coming out in the Brazen Head and Poenskop areas.

Zululand is still producing some good catches of flatfish and sharks particularly in the Tugella North bank and Mtinzini areas. There is some encouraging news from the Tugella area in that quite a few lobotes have come out here recently together with grunter and smaller kob. Small spinner sharks have also become a menace here for anglers targeting edible fish.

Boats operating off Durban are still getting the odd dorado but couta have moved in and boats are now getting some good fish in the Durban and surrounding areas. This is a good sign for those anglers fishing in the Durban Ski Boat Club annual competition this week end. The average size of these fish has been rather on the bigger size and numerous fish over the 20 kg mark have been reported so anglers can expect to see some big fish being weighed in.

Further down the coast The Aliwal shoal and Protea banks have really lived up to their reputations recently as a large variety of fish have been caught at these venues for the past few weeks. Some very big couta and wahoo have been accounted for along with dorado, yellow fin tunny and a variety of other game fish. Unfortunately sharks are now also in on the action at these venues and many hooked fish are now being converted by the taxman.

Fishing Ski’s
Fishing Ski’s are also in on the action and some good reports of couta have come from both north and south coasts. On the north coast the Zinkwazi area seems to be the place while places like Toti, Greenpoint and Scottburgh have produced some very good catches during the past week.