Seems this year is speeding up as we get closer to the end. The summer fish are starting to become more regular on the reports and the weather is warming up.
Top tip. Layering. The summer weather may be looming, but the mornings are still icy along the KZN coast. With the cold mornings, this is something you have probably heard your significant other talk about. The key to being ready for a long fishing day in winter is a good number of layers. This means you will be comfortable all day long. The warmer jackets and longs can be taken off if the sun gets too hot and can be put back on later when the evening draws near.
Offshore:
Fishing has been good offshore with the good weather days seeing bottom fish and gamefish filling the hatches.
North – The north coast has seen a lot of action in the last few weeks. The area from Umhlanga north has been the most productive section of coast for the offshore anglers. The sheer variety of species and the number of bites one can get make the trip up north worth it.
Sodwana and Vidal are both fishing very well with very few anglers coming back disappointed. There have been quite a few billfish around, so if long fights and jumping giants are your things…better get all the tackle ready for work.
The more conventional tactics have been producing plenty of gamefish up north. Tuna have continued to be the main catches, but the presence of dorado has made for some variety in the hatch. There have been couta in the colder water spots along the coast with Umdloti producing the best.
Central – The Durban area has been fairly kind to the ski boat anglers. Tuna have been the main catch for the gamefish guys. These have mainly been caught on live bait, but a few anglers have landed some big specimens on poppers. Seeing a 20kg+ tuna engulf a surface lure is enough to get anyone’s heart racing. If you haven’t done it before, get yourself some poppers and head to your favourite hunting grounds. The couta classic did see a lot of good-sized couta brought to the boat as well.
The bottom fishermen have landed some decent fish with the prize catch at the moment being a big cracker. Heavy tackle, strong hooks and proper knots are the order of the day.
South – The shallower areas down south have produced a couple of couta and some nice snoek. The fillet baits have been the pick of the bunch for the snoek while a larger live bait has been a killer for the couta.
The bottom fishing continues to produce really good quality catches with some bomber rockcod being brought up from the depths. The geelbek and daga are still keeping the commercial guys busy while the charters target the closer reefs. Please stick to your limits no matter how wild the fishing is.
Harbour:
The light tackle lure and bait angling on offer in the harbour is something everyone needs to experience. Yes, the water at the slipway can be smelly, but the fun and excitement of catching a springer, kingy or big grunter on a light rod quickly gets that memory behind you. Try it out, you won’t regret it!
Rock and Surf:
The shore angling has been good on both the edible and inedible front.
The big seas have scoured out some sanded areas so we hope this will improve the fishing.
North – The north coast has been the true mix of edibles and inedibles. Blythedale and Zinkwazi have been the two most productive spots along the north coast. These spots have seen edibles and inedibles in most conditions.
On the edible side, chokka and prawn have been the best baits mentioned while the bigger shad have preferred sardines. There have also been plenty of spadefish around which love a white bait. Fishing has been best around rocks and particularly in bays that form some protection from the seas.
The inedibles have favoured mackerel and redeye as a bait. There have been some good sandies landed as well as some big flatfish.
Central – The central coast has seen mostly edibles from the reports but there have been some inedibles scattered in the mix.
The shad have been around even though the season is a bit late. The stumpies and smaller kob have been around in good numbers. These fish will both eat a neat chokka bait on a longer hook snood (promotes a more natural presentation).
The inedibles have mainly been of the grey shark kind. For these fish, floatation is vitally important as well as a bit of attraction in the form of glow. Use a mix of chokka and a meaty bait to target these fish as well as most other species.
South – The south coast has seen some very good kingfish hooked by the anglers throwing bigger spoons and plugs. There have been both GT’s as well as blacktip kingies. These are very hard fighting fish that require full use of your pulling power and drag as they will try to cut you off.
The gullies and ledges are still a great place to target the edibles on both chokka and prawn baits. Most bream species are around at the moment as well as a host of surprises waiting in the foamy white water.
In the gaps between the bigger seas, the deeper points have been fishable. These spots have produced some big fish as well as some big hidings.
Freshwater:
The dams and rivers are fishing well. The bass are still the pick of the crop, but the trout are making their presence felt and the carp are keeping their anglers happy.
Bass – The bass fishing has been great in all the dams and smaller venues around KZN.
Midmar and Nagle have been producing some fantastic bass fishing with those putting in the time on these venues bringing home full live wells. Spinnerbaits have been the best reported searching bait. In clean water, use the standard willow blades in silver with a white or chartreuse/white skirt. In the dirtier water, change the blades for Colorado blades in gold or orange with a chartreuse skirt. These little changes can make all the difference.
The guys fishing slower have done very well with frogs in the shallow back pockets. These are cast into the thickest structure using heavy braid. Otherwise, pitching jigs through the heavy cover has seen some big bites this past week.
Carp – The specimen anglers have been quiet; this usually means there are some big fish biting.
The conventional anglers have reported good numbers from most of the dams. The fruity banana and strawberry flavours have produced results in most of the KZN waters. remember to fish accurately so as to make the most of your feeding area.
Trout/Fly – The rivers are still running a bit low with the dry season we have had.
Once we get a bit of rain the fishing will definitely pick up. That being said, the scaly fishing has been going very well with some proper specimens being shown off on social media!
The Stillwaters are still producing good fish. There is everything from stockies on every cast to long days chasing that one big bite.
News in from Jan Korrubel, The Kingfisher in PMB – “Just like summer didn’t want to give up its hold, it seems that winter is onto the same game … and brought us another flurry of the white fluffy stuff. The last event seemed to last only a few micro-seconds and was gone in the blink of an eye … there appears to be quite a bit more snow this time, so let’s hope that it has a greater effect as the melt sets in and there is some run-off into the desperately dry arteries of The ‘Berg.
We reported on river conditions last week, after Opening day on 1 September the weekend before – and it appears that anglers have taken heed of conditions, as there is only a solitary river return from the Natal Fly Fishers Club anglers. Probably the most die-hard river angler in the NFFC fold (name withheld to protect the (not so) innocent), who practically curled up in a fetal position for 3 months while the rivers were closed, but is now back at it, come hell or high water … “keeping the fishing hunger at bay for a few days”. While we wait for the high water, conditions are bit more hell currently, but pick your spots wisely, and just rewards will follow. “Not too many fish around” says the return, “but enough to keep interesting” … and yes, a couple of fish in the 11-13 inch / 28-33cm, 13-15 inch / 33-38cm, and 15-17 inch / 38-43cm brackets will do just nicely. Fish were taken on a mix of nymphs and dries, and water temperature was reported at 15deg.C.
While there were a number of returns received from the NFFC stillwater anglers, it seems the pickings were slim, with only a couple fish here and there … but of a fair size, all sitting in the 15-17 inch / 38-43 cm class.
No doubt the weather has had an effect – the rapid switching between hot and cold days over the last week … where we have gone from temps near 30 deg.C head south well into single figures in less than 12 hours, along with a rollercoaster barometric pressure, has put fish into a sulk. Water temperatures are also on the rise, so fingers crossed that there is some decent rain on the horizon in the not-too-distant future before we hit baking temps in the dog day of summer.
After last week’s Albert Falls Bass Classic, it seems that the bass are taking a sabbatical, as there has literally been no news of anything being caught anywhere … in the main news channels that is. Pretty sure that the ALL the fish couldn’t have gone to sleep just like that, so no doubt some fish have come to hand, but nobody’s talking about it…
On the yellowfish front, there have been a few returns from the NFFC beat on the Umkomaas River. Post last week’s frontal system, there were plenty of small fish in the 7-9 inch / 18-23 cm class reported. And then with the spell of warmer weather prior to the weekend’s system, water temperatures went up by a couple degrees, and the fishing took off. Good numbers of fish again primarily in the smaller classes, but with some excellent big ‘uns in-between that fell into the 17-19 inch / 43-48 cm and 19-21 inch / 48-53 cm bracket. Fish are being taken on a mix of tadpole, caddis and nymph patterns.
Further north must be warming, as the topic of Sterkfontein is also heating up on the socials – the lemming run must be getting close”. Thanks Jan.
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.
Go to https://www.facebook.com/thekingfisherdaiwa and “Like” us on Facebook to catch reviews, videos, fishing reports, great promotions and lots more.
As always, remember to subscribe to our YouTube channel to stay up to date with all our new video releases and to brush up on your species knowledge, tactics and tips/tricks.
https://www.youtube.com/c/TheKingfisherFishing
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/
Please send any info about fishing or fish caught in your area to mike.pereira@kingfisher.co.za
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.