The fishing has been good on all fronts with the catch reports heating up along with the weather. We are heading for some windy months so be prepared…
Top tip: Getting your sinker stuck is part of fishing in the rocks. The last thing you want is to lose your entire trace (and possibly your catch) if your sinker gets stuck. There are a few things you can do to combat this. The two main ways to prevent total loss is to either use a lighter sinker line and/or to shorten your sinker snood. Shortening your sinker snood (shorter than your hook snood) will prevent your sinker getting stuck while fighting the fish. Making your sinker snood out of a lighter nylon than your hook snood will allow you to part off your sinker and retrieve some of your tackle. Make sure that the sinker snood is strong enough to handle your cast but light enough to part off if need be.
Offshore:
The offshore fishing has been mainly based on bottom fishing for the past few weeks and for good reason. The yellowtail has been putting some serious bends in the rods!
North – The north coast has seen some good snoek fishing along most of the usual spots. Tinley Manor and Blythedale have been the true hotspots. Trolling fillets on the backline along with good quality, small lipped minnows is the way to go. Make sure you are trolling these smaller lures on lighter lines (less than 25lb) to make sure they swim properly. Heavy lines can cause them to kick out or not reach the proper depth. Also consider fishing them without wire to increase the number of bites.
The bottom fishing up north has been a bit quieter than the rest of the coast but there have still been some good hauls of geelbek and daga.
Central – The tuna has managed to keep the gamefish guys pretty happy over the past week. The big seas have made targeting snoek on the backline a bit of a tricky affair. The big waves can be unpredictable so please be very careful close to the backline.
The bottom fishing has been phenomenal along the Durban coast and further south. The main targets have been the bigger reef predators. That being said, there has been a very good mix of species. A lot of anglers have been experimenting with slow pitch jigging and have reaped the rewards. This facet does require slightly specialised gear so make sure you get the proper rod and reel for the job.
South – The south coast has been throwing some amazing bottom fish down in the lower south. The Transkei has been calling and those that answered were well rewarded with some beastly fishing.
The areas on the upper and middle south have been more focussed on geelbek and daga and the boats have done well with these. Bigger baits have produced the bigger fish down south and live baits have remained king!
Rock and surf:
The rock and surf fishing has been interesting… The fish have been around, but the fishing has been tough. Put the time in and you will reap the rewards.
North – The north coast has seen the bulk of the early summer flatfish and sharks. There have been some decent blackfin and sandies hooked already with the fish leading the scoreboard. Bigger, meaty baits have been the trick to get the bite. Look for colder water areas and try to get into the deepest water possible.
The edibles have been difficult with not much happening on the north coast apart from a kob or seven. Please remember to limit your catch and not catch your limit…
Central – The central coast has seen a patchy catch report. There have been some spots like Glen Ashley and Blue Lagoon that have seen consistent results over the past week. Then, the rest of the central coast has been very quiet with not much to mention.
Shad, kob and stumpies have been the main catches on the edible side but a few garrick have been landed. Live bait has seen the bigger fish but chokka has been the key for those fishing for the kob.
There have been grey sharks around for those wanting to catch something that will take a bit of drag but unfortunately those are the only inedibles around on the central coast.
South – The scratchers have been doing very well down south with some quality fish being landed. There have been stumpies, bream and pompano on offer with some bomber shad mixed in. Speak to the anglers in the area you are fishing and find out what has been working in the days prior.
The deeper points down south are still holding some of the better inedibles and anglers have managed to get a few bus eagle rays and some honeycombs. The eagle rays prefer an octopus bait while the honeycombs will love a redeye sardine concoction. It is early for these inedibles but it is always worth trying for them.
Freshwater:
The trout are still doing well, despite the rivers being closed; the bass are eating everything, as usual; and the carp are vacuuming up most baits.
Bass – The bass fishing has been fantastic. We are finally moving out of the colder months so the fishing will start to pick up.
Moving lures and minnow imitations have been the most successful of the patterns mentioned. Spinnerbaits and cranks have been the best of the methods mentioned. Colours have not been too important but make sure you use more chartreuse colours if the water has a bit of colour. Most of the waters in KZN have been fishing well so focus on putting the time in on your water and don’t worry about the colour of the grass on the other side.
Carp – The carp fishing has been steady in the past few weeks. The specimen angling is starting to pick up with more fish being landed this past week. The fronts have helped to drop the water temperatures and make the carp a bit more aggressive. Particles have done very well this past week with some quality fish coming to the net.
The conventional anglers have done well with smaller fish. Plenty of fish have been caught with very few going over the 5kg mark. The best reported baits have been strong, fruity mielie pips. Almond and banana have been the most productive of the flavours.
Trout – The stillwaters are fishing very well. The size of the fish has not been the same as in previous weeks, but the fishing has been good.
Minnow imitation streamers have been the most successful flies mentioned across the different venues. Those fishing the smaller venues have seen better results with smaller patterns. Fishing a PTN on a long leader and floating line as slowly as possible can often bring excitement to a quiet day. The fronts coming through have slowed fishing down a bit and might need you to scale down to worm patterns and hand-twist retrieves.
News from our Jan, The Kingfisher in PMB – “Apart from a wee downward blip in the weather during the week, it looks like we are safely on the way to spring … the forecast for the next while is looking good. Only a week and some change and it will be 1 September … as reported last week, the trout anglers are gearing up for the opening of the river season – gear is being dusted off and flies frantically tied … looking forward to swinging my 1wt and watching a brownie smash it off the surface. But before that – a big river up north and some toothy critters … stay tuned.
The August “trout trickery” seems to be continuing its run – while some excellent fish have been reported from the Natal Fishers Club Anglers, there has been a fair sprinkling of null returns in-between … guess it’s that old adage of lucky anglers vs not so lucky. The fish that have come to hand have pretty much all been on the upper end of the tape measure … only a few in the 30-40cm / 12-16 inch bracket, the bulk in the 40-50cm / 16-20 inch range, then a good showing in the 50-60cm / 20-23 inch range, and a single fish pulling the tape to over the 60cm / 23 inch mark.
Anglers are still reporting success with some larger patterns; of interest is a report that mentioned The Black Mamba, a well-known competition fly used to great effect in the UK. Across the board however, it’s a mixed bag with some anglers reporting dragonfly patterns (e.g. Papa Roach) in olive and back, the ubiquitous Woolly Bugger in black / brown and olive, and as well as strip leech / minnow style patterns … and then other anglers noting nothing going on the big food, but having to resort to egg / blob patterns and trailing wee nymphs; e.g. PTN in size 14 and 16. If it was easy, everybody would be doing it as they say … so the finicky fish keep us coming back for more.
Last weekend was the Kamberg Outdoor Challenge which sees the Challengers engaging in an afternoon fishing the Kamberg waters. One such Challenger reported that the fishing was tough … intimating that were no fish in the fabled Kamberg waters! “It is what it is” was the response … come back next year!
This weekend see’s the Finals of the TOPS Corporate Challenge taking place around Nottingham Road … 15 teams, the top 5 teams from each of the 3 preceding legs, will battle it out – including the “Stranger Dangers” all-ladies team, winners of the 3rd Leg – wishing all the anglers Tight Lines, and look forward to reporting the war stories next week!
There have been some good bass around – you just need to find them. Last weekend saw the Bass Warehouse Tournament Trail event taking place on Albert Falls Dam and local anglers Kirk van Reeuwyk and Willie de la Rosa did just that – a practice session on Friday had them putting a fish of 4.4kg and 3.7kg in the box, followed by a 3rd place out of 40 boats on Saturday with a bag of 8.38kgs, as well as biggest fish of the comp coming in at 3.4kgs. Congrats guys!
Fish are in pre-spawn and moving about, but once found, reports are that it’s a case of anything that you throw at them. Midmar is reported to be fishing well.
The scaly (Natal Yellowfish) anglers are getting out and about, but reports are somewhat varied. Very quiet, with little no action on the Umkomaas and Umngeni system, but it was full tilt this last weekend on the Tugela even with the water low and clear. One reported mention “a little tricky, but once you located fish, you got quite a few”, and mentioned “22 fish in 2 sessions” … sounds like good fishing to me! Most fish were in 30-40cm range, with some bigger fish coming out, including a solid fish of 55cm”. Thanks Jan.
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.
Please send any info about fishing or fish caught in your area to mike.pereira@kingfisher.co.za
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.
For all your angling needs, (freshwater or saltwater) pop in and see The Kingfisher’s new store at the Tiffany’s Shopping Centre in Salt Rock or give them a shout on 032 307 0041.
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