The weather has been a beautiful mix of sunshine on some days and wind and rain the next. The fishing has been great in all facets with social media full of smiles and big fish.
Offshore:
The offshore fishing has been treating everyone well this past week. The gamefish have been the main species caught while some proper bottoms have rounded out the list.
North – The north coast has seen a lot of action on the gamefish front. There have been couta, snoek and tuna as the main catches. Live bait remains the most successful of all the reported methods.
Remember to fish a trap stick when you are catching bait as you never know what is lurking around the baitfish. The sharks have taken their “fair” share, but some very impressive fish have been landed. There have been a large number of bigger kingfish around this last week. These hard-fighting gamefish are great fun to catch and release.
Unfortunately, they fight similarly to a shark so make sure you are certain you hooked a taxman before you break him off. Bigger mackerel and bonito are your best live baits for these gangsters.
Central – Durban has also seen some good couta but the tuna have been the main species in terms of weight. The sharks have been a problem so make sure to beef up your tackle so you can pull as hard as possible.
Much like the north, trolling lipped lures has been a great way to put numbers in the boat. The tuna have jumped on most of the faster trolling lures (lipped or skirted). The purples and pinks have been the top performers.
The snoek have been around in small numbers around the uMgeni river mouth in the early mornings. Trolling fillets and smaller lipped lures from the mouth to the lighthouse is a great area to target these fish.
South – The south coast has seen much the same as last week with some decent fish in the deep on the trolling lures while the shallows have seen some big couta and a couple of snoek.
The couta have favoured a bigger bait down rigged on a 4oz sinker. Try get your hands on some bigger mackerel, bonito or the king of the couta baits…the walla walla.
The snoek have favoured fillet baits and spoons down south. The Umkomaas area has seen some decent fish but no big numbers. Try spin on the backline just after you launch to get the day started properly.
Rock and surf:
The scratching has dominated this past week but a few early inedibles are starting to make an appearance along the coast.
North – The north coast has seen the bulk of the inedible catches. The usual spots like Tugela and Mtunzini have been the places to go if you are looking for something to test your drag. Remember that these spots should be fished in a group as there have been incidents in the past.
Bloody baits like mackerel and bonito have been the most successful.
There have been some good edibles around most of the north coast. Look for some protected bays and gullies for the best results.
Central – The central coast has also seen some good fish being caught on lures.
There are fish for all levels and interests. The snoek have been scarce as well as the garrick but they are there, you just need to target them. The kingfish have also been there but mainly as a bycatch.
On the bait side of things, the main catches have been pompano, grunter and kob.
South – The south coast has been much the same as the central. A lot of anglers have been putting in the hours throwing a selection of lures.
Garrick, snoek and kingfish have been the main species caught. Not much can excite an angler as much as a plug being smashed on the surface by a big fish!
The rockier areas down south have fished pretty well with some decent fish being caught while scratching. Prawn has been king for the smaller fish while sardine belly baits have done very well for the rockcod and bigger predators.
Freshwater:
The bass are biting, and some giants have been landed. The carp and trout are playing second fiddle but are still keeping their anglers happy.
Bass – The bass fishing has been wild in most of the KZN venues. From the smaller private dams to Inanda, the bass have been eager and aggressive so get out there and get some bass.
Weightless soft plastics have been the most successful target method for the smaller dams. With the shallower water and general weedy nature of these dams, the weightless plastics excel. Those looking for the bigger fish will do well to use a hollow body frog.
Inanda and Albert Falls have been the pick of the bigger venues. Both dams have fished well for the shore and boat anglers, but the boat guys have done better. A mix of techniques have been reported but spinnerbaits and cranks have been the two most popular.
Carp – The carp fishing has been consistent for the past few weeks. The smaller fish have kept most of the anglers busy in the dams. Albert Falls has been fishing well for the carp guys with the new water levels opening up more fishing area. The flooded grass is a honey hole for the carp to feed in so placing your bait near these areas is always a good idea.
The specimen anglers have been fishing a lot of private waters with good success. Those fishing the public waters have reported success from both Nagle and Inanda. Boilies have been the bait of choice for the bigger fish with a bed of mixed particles proving to be a great attraction.
Trout – The Stillwaters have been fishing well even though the fishing has slowed down from previous weeks. Stripping streamers on sinking lines around drop-offs has been a great way to target the bigger fish. Make sure to use a decent leader and not to go too light as the fish hit the fly hard!
The fly anglers have also had a lot of fun with the scalies in the rivers. If you have not tried this yet, give it a go. Pop into one of our stores to get the right tackle to get you started.
News in from Jan Korrubel, The Kingfisher in PMB – “With the cold spell It would appear that The Weatherman has lost the plot once again, the apparent start of HIGH summer with near 30degC days, and then a rather frosty front with some rain that must have dumped some snow on high because the great Midlands area had a really chilly start midweek. On the forecast horizon is a spit and spot of some more rain, so here’s hoping that it formalises as the surge of water that came with the big snow has all but disappeared according to reports, and the rivers are back to end-of-winter skeletal levels as the rainfall has been out on the flats and away from the mountains. One might have thought that the upside-down weather would have negatively affected the fishing, but by all indications, spring is well and truly sprung and the fish are out to play.
With the trout streams back to low levels, only a couple of returns came in from the Natal Fly Fishers Club anglers. Both were from the lower reaches and reported low water with poor visibility, with water temperature in the upper teens, and topping the 20deg mark by midday. Not good news for trout. Out of luck with the dry fly action, dragonfly nymphs and a minnow patterns were resorted to, yielding fish in the 13-19 inch / 33-48cm bracket from the deeper pools.
No returns from NFFC beats from the scaly anglers, but there have been some excellent fish about from both the rivers and stillwaters. Word is that the limited rains so far are allowing for a proper extended scaly season this year. Time to get out and get in on the action before the REAL summer rains come down and flood the system with chocolate brown water.
Even though the stillwater temperatures are also on the up, the lower altitude waters feeling the heat most, there has however been a show of some stunning over the last week. Most fish in the returns were rainbow trout in the 13-17 inch / 33-43cm class. There was however a magnificent brown trout reported in the 25-27 inch / 63-68cm class – a magnificent trophy what a fantastic fish!
The past weekend saw the Kamberg Outdoor Challenge taking place in the upper Kamberg Valley. The morning is taken up by clay shooting, and a variety of other outdoor challenges, with the afternoon reserved for (fly) fishing on the local stillwaters. Taking top place was Patrick Bechard with a beast of a 60cm / 24-inch rainbow hen.
Not to be outdone, the bass anglers have also been getting in on some action. Albert Falls has been producing some good fish in the 1-2kg mark, and Midmar showed off a fish of 2.37kg.
Carp have also been on the go for both bank and boat anglers, with some excellent fish … the boat anglers getting into these tackle busters with the dry fly on the scum lines. Some barbel also showed an interest in the surface flies, now there’s another tackle buster of note.
Tight Lines all and do stop in at Kingfisher-PMB for the best in tackle and advice! Opening hours are 8am-5pm Mon-Fri, and 8am-1pm on weekends and Public Holidays”. 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.
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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