Straight Into 2026: The KZN Coast Is On
From all of us at The Kingfisher, we’d like to wish our customers a Happy New Year and an epic 2026 on the water.
Up north, it’s pure New Year chaos. Grey sharks cruising like they own the coastline, honeycomb rays gliding through like armored tanks, and every skate imaginable prowling the shallows looking for trouble. It’s full-contact fishing and the ocean is wasting no time easing into 2026.
And mackerel? Still the undisputed New Year king of bait. Dead, alive, half-chewed or fresh off the knife — drop it in and it gets absolutely erased. No debate. No mercy.
Rocky gullies are lighting up with bronze bream on full send mode. Prawn baits are getting punished, the wind has finally backed off, and every cast feels perfectly dialed. Clean hits. Hard pulls. No easing into the year here.
Durban anglers who pushed through the rough stuff earlier are now cashing in big time. With conditions settling, the bite has gone nuclear. The harbour remains a gold mine if you can dodge the Wala Wala madness, and that size 14 light-gauge circle hook? Straight-up ridiculous — fish barely breathe on the bait and they’re pinned.
Down south, Margate Pier is a New Year battleground. Shad charging, bream scrapping, hammerheads circling. Everything is feeding. Everything is fired up. Everything is ON.
With calmer seas lining up, 2026 is opening with clean casts, smoother water, and fish that are completely switched on.
Gear up. Get out. Pull tight.
From all of us at The Kingfisher, we’d like to wish our customers a Happy New Year and an epic 2026 on the water.
Offshore:
Buckle up, because 2026 is rolling in hot with an offshore season that’s already showing serious promise. The KZN coastline is alive with energy, and anglers are being rewarded with consistent, high-quality action across the board. Dorado, snoek, tuna, couta and a mixed bag of hard-fighting gamefish are lighting up reports from north to south, setting the tone for what’s shaping up to be a standout year on the water.
Along the north coast, smaller boats and skis have been right in the action, producing solid dorado and couta and keeping rods bent session after session. Deeper reefs and wrecks are also delivering the goods, with productive bottom fishing yielding large trawl soldiers and an impressive variety of species. Squid and sardines continue to be the go-to baits in deeper water, while dorado have been particularly aggressive, with several larger fish pushing anglers and tackle to the limit.
In the central Durban zone, dorado remain the headline act, showing remarkable consistency week after week. While a few couta are still making appearances, dorado continue to dominate catches, and there’s no indication of the bite slowing down. Bait supplies are improving steadily, with fresh stock filtering through to tackle shops. Tuna remain responsive to a range of lures, but anglers targeting bigger fish are finding the most success on live bait. Mozzies, mackerel, shad and redeye sardines are all producing results. Tuna don’t have cutting teeth, so wire isn’t necessary, but quality fluorocarbon leaders such as Maxima or Siglon are essential to handle long, powerful runs and extended fights.
The south coast is matching the momentum, with tuna and couta actively feeding and offering consistent opportunities. For anglers looking to get a little more technical, snoek have been providing exciting sport, particularly around river mouths. Trolling baits on the backline with lipped lures like the Strike Pro Magic Minnow or casting spoons into the backline surf zone has resulted in explosive strikes and memorable sessions.
Before heading back out, a reminder on something that often gets overlooked: gear maintenance. A simple freshwater rinse of rods, reels and tackle after each trip goes a long way in protecting your equipment from corrosion and wear. Taking a few minutes to look after your gear ensures it stays reliable and ready for the next run of fish. A little care now means many more sessions of trouble-free fishing ahead.
With conditions lining up and fish actively feeding across the coast, 2026 is shaping up to be a year worth chasing. Gear up, get offshore, and make the most of a season that’s already delivering plenty of bent rods and unforgettable moments.
Freshwater:
News From Jan: Welcome to the first report of the New Year – wish it was a hearty Fishmas and full of Fishy Festivities that we could portray, but the water certainly had other plans over this changing of the year. Rain, rain and more rain, and with the lands all super-saturated already, any more simply shed itself into the water courses and any other holding water. Did we already say rain? … the final report of 2025 mentioned that the forecast looked wet, and if there was any more rain, Midmar would top over … and literally 2 days later, an epic storm had waves coming over the wall. Flood warnings were issued for the area(s) below the wall, but so far, nothing like last year’s burst banks and flooding has taken place. The rains seem to have taken foot off the pedal over the last week to 10 days, with more single-figure reports and only the occasional double-figures, but as mentioned : any input now simply turns into runoff. The waiting game is on for when the Weatherman really does turn the dial down…
The rivers have unfortunately been unplayable over the Festive Season. Anglers travelled far and wide, and particularly up into the higher reaches in search of quieter water, but word filtering down (pun intended) was “Don’t bother…”
Much the same for the stillwater anglers … reports noting off-colour water and howling winds when the storms decided to test the mettle of the anglers that dared venture forth. On the upside, there were a couple of returns from the Natal Fly Fishers Club anglers that reported fish, so as we know, the fish are (always) still there … just take that teaspoon of cement, get out and put a line in the water…
Further afield, there have been some good fish caught on the “other side” of the mountain in the Underberg area. The traditional patten of rainfall is that the tropical, warm, moisture-laden weather moves up from the coast, and offloads when it bumps into The ‘Berg … so much / most of the precipitation happens THIS side, leaving the Underberg area a little drier and somewhat more amenable to fishing.
It’s been very quiet from the bass angling side also … hardly a peep from our two major waters, Albert Falls and Midmar. One report noted bluegill and Red Breast from Alberts … although word is that Midmar is fishing better, with some numbers of smaller fish in the 500-750g range coming out. Some private waters are apparently fishing well, with a report of a 4.5kg fish coming to hand recently.
For the comp anglers : the waters for the Joey’s Tournament Trail for 2026 is out, so get the dates locked into your fishing calendar.
Top of the Fishing Pops once again however, is Sterkfontein Dam, which has been producing consistently since the start of the season last year. Some great fish coming to hand in the mostly excellent weather, with just the odd squall moving though, and even then once the rain has settled, the flying ants are out and about and the fish get into a feeding frenzy on the surface. If it’s that Bar of Solid Gold you are still after, the time to head up north is NOW…
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 Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.
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Please send any info about fishing or fish caught in your area to Vinesh Soogreem – vineshs@kingfisher.co.za
