Please remember to leave the areas that you fish in a better condition than when you got there. Take a few moments to pick up some litter and take it to the nearest bin. Tight lines and screaming reels.

Just like the famous soundtrack of Beverly Hills cop, the heat is most definitely on! With temperatures holding over 30 degrees it is a great time if you sell ice cream, sunscreen or water. The fishing is pretty great as well.

Top tip: Fish handling.  One of the most important parts of fishing for the future is making sure your fish goes back as healthy as possible. It is pointless releasing a fish that is going to die because you handled it incorrectly. There are a couple things to remember when practicing safe handling of fish. Keep the fish wet and in the water if possible. Stay away from their gills (skates and fish) as these are very sensitive and easily damaged. Keep their body weight supported. This means having your hands under the heavy section or keeping the fish on flat ground and not on its back. Keep these basic principles and you will ensure fish for the future generations. 

Offshore:

The offshore fishing has been phenomenal! The only issue or hurdle has been the big surf, making launching a clenching affair…

The north coast is seeing great catches of summer fish, with tuna, snoek, and couta making up the bulk of the haul. While the dorado catches have slowed down, trolling lipped lures—especially purple and pink ones—has been incredibly effective for both tuna and dorado.

Tinley Manor has been buzzing with excellent snoek catches this week, and it’s definitely worth a visit. Over along the Durban coast, both gamefish and bottom fish have been showing up in the reports. For bottom fishing, bigger live baits have been the key for species like geelbeck and dagga salmon, while the gamefish are targeting big bait balls. If you’re trolling around these shoals, it’s a great way to cover a lot of water and find those hungry fish.

Down on the south coast, th

e tuna fishing has been outstanding in both shallow and deep waters. Live mackerel has been the go-to bait, and using a 6/0 circle hook like the Mustad Tuna Circle works perfectly for most of the baitfish. Bottom fishing down south has been thriving as well, with shallow reefs yielding rockcod of various species, and deeper reefs and pinnacles producing a fantastic mix of fish.

Rock and surf:

The bigger seas have made fishing a bit tricky, but the fish have been biting if you can keep your bait in the feeding zone.

The north coast is where you want to be, no question. It’s time to get serious—make sure your traces are prepped, your reels serviced, and your braid is top-tier quality because in this game, preparation is EVERYTHING! It’s the difference between an epic day on the water and a frustrating day stuck on the sand. Trust me, you don’t want to be scrambling for tackle when the big one bites.

While the heat and the wind might make those inedible fishers feel a bit weak at the knees, we’re not backing down! Yes, the big fish have been a little elusive, but you know what? The hunt is on! Richard’s Bay, Tugela, and Ballito are the hot spots this time of year, and the action has been picking up fast. Grey sharks are prowling, especially after dark. You’ll need those fleshy fish baits with some serious floatation to entice them into striking. Plus, those areas have been producing solid sandies and other flatfish, so don’t even think about using light tackle—go heavy, and pull those beauties into a landing spot where they can’t escape!

For all you light tackle junkies, the rocky gullies are an absolute blast! Smaller rock species are there in full force, offering some of the most fun action you’ll get this season.

Now, let’s talk central coast—WOW, what a week for the bigger inedibles! The basin has been on fire, producing unbelievable action with that consistent northeast wind pushing everything into overdrive. If you’re looking for variety, a fleshy fish bait is the way to go—this is going to target multiple species at once, so you’re ready for whatever bites. But for those after the sharks, you’ll want to go all in with a 90-150lb FMJ wire trace and a 9/0-12/0 circle hook. Don’t skimp on gear here—you’re going to need it to handle the fight.

And down on the south coast? It’s picked up big time since last week! There have been some epic grey sharks off the points in the evenings, but the real highlight of the week was a Bludger Kingfish. Congrats to that angler! You know the fish are around when kings like that are showing up.

Freshwater:

News in from Jan Korrubel, The Kingfisher in PMB. So much for the “settled weather”! … and the fish are conspicuous by their absence… ☹

The weatherman took umbrage at the fact that we reported that the weather appeared to be settling … and upped the ante somewhat … of course <sigh>.  The Midlands has been the scene of some violent storm activity over the past week, the rainfall (up to 58mm) actually being the least of the worries … the hail however, was on another level! … from peas all the way through to tennis balls!  The weather cycling from clear and hot in the mornings, to overcast mizzle (and thunderstorms) in the afternoons, isn’t helping any either, and has pretty kept the anglers at bay.

But, ‘there’s always one’ as the saying goes, and the solitary return received from Natal Fly Fisher’s Club river anglers, reports “WATER OFF-COLOUR AND FAST” … not too surprising that!  What is surprising however, is that there were a number fish listed in the return, primarily in the 9-11 inch / 23-28cm bracket, with a couple in the 13-15 inch / 33-38cm class.  Deep water nymphing with a brick was no doubt the order of the day, but Well Done that man for getting it done!

Local angler and author Andrew Fowler reports of snatching a gap “between wild storms and heat”, and finding the Umngeni River in perfect condition! “… the fish mostly deep, and also just really not on the prod … we really had to coax the few small fish that we got … but hey … it was a lovely day on the river against all odds .. I’ll take it”.

And, there’s another singular, solitary, return from the NFFC stillwater stable and anglers – and lo and behold, some fish to boast about as well … the best pulling the tape into the 17-19 inch / 43-48cm bracket. 

No mention of water temperature in either of the returns, but on the upside, it is hoped that the copious amount of rain (and that hail) would have had a bit of a cooling effect.

Even the bass have been conspicuous by their absence!  No word from the water, apart from mumbling about “absolutely nothing happening”.  Even the Socials are trolling the depths of their archives and (re)releasing images of some pretty fine fish … no doubt in order to keep the angler’s spirits up!

Midmar continues to spill over, with the result that Albert Falls Dam has picked by some 5% over the past week, and is now sitting just shy of 88%.

With the stillwaters not producing, local angler Tyron McGarry jumped onto a local river and managed to hit some smallmouth bass on Rapala’s.  “Nothing huge, but fun nonetheless” reports Tyron.

Jeremy Rochester of Escape Fly Fishing reports “More gold bars and screaming reels … These beauties keep coming!” from Sterkfontein.  Yours truly is headed up next week, and will report from on site.

For the best in tackle and advice, pop into any of the seven Kingfisher stores, they are open 8am-5pm Mon-Fri, 8am-1pm on public holidays, Saturdays and Sundays. The Kingfisher has opened their new store on the upper north coast. Situated in the Tiffany’s Shopping Centre in Salt Rock, pop in and see them or give them a shout on 032 307 0041.

Series 23 (can you believe it; this is Petri’s 23 series) of Hier Gaan Ons Alweer on kykNET, premieres are on from the 6^th of January 2025 on Monday evenings at 17:30 on kykNet, channel 144 and there are a number of repeats during the week. The repeats are on Tuesday’s at 11:00, Wednesday’s at 10:00, Thursday’s at 11:30 & Friday’s at 14:30. Series 23 ends on the 31^st of March 2025.

As most of you know, Petri and his guests cover various angling styles (fresh and salt water) in and around Southern Africa.

The KZN Angler News audio fishing report is South Africa’s first fishing podcast series that focuses on the latest fishing reports of the East Coast. This report is free and available on all major Podcast platforms including Apple Pods, Google Pods, Spotify and Deezer as well as SA’s most popular Facebook Pages.

https://www.ecr.co.za/podcasts/ansa

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Please send any info about fishing or fish caught in your area to vineshs@kingfisher.co.za