The weather has been far from ideal this past week. That being said, there have been some amazing fish caught.

Top tip. Edges. Predatory fish like to hunt along edges. This is mainly because it is easier to attack their prey. Edges include colour lines, current lines and physical structures like rocks. Try to fish along these edges to make the most of your fishing time and to keep your bait or lure in the strike zone.

Offshore:

The offshore fishing has been a bit bumpy with the winds we have had recently. This being said, the fishing has been very good!

North – The north coast has seen couta, snoek, dorado, kingfish, sailies and tuna to name the main culprits. Live bait has been the key to most of the gamefish captures. This can make for a difficult day if you can’t catch the livies. If this is the case, then rather spend your time with good quality dead bait in the water. Spend the time to make sure you are presenting the bait as naturally as possible.

The upper north coast to Sodwana has been the zone to fish with few launches being fruitless.

Central – The central coast has also been very productive. The river mouths have done very well for the snoek anglers. These fish can be frustrating but as long as you fish light and make sure your lures/baits are swimming straight you should fool a few. Going slightly deeper to the wrecks and reefs has seen anglers get some couta. Purple flashers as well as chartreuse have been the most reported colours.

The deeper drop-offs have produced some good-sized tuna lately for those trolling skirted lures and high-speed lipped lures. If you see any floating structure in the water, take a few minutes to fish around it. This debris can often hold dorado.

South – The south coast has seen snoek around the Umkomaas river mouth. The colour lines and rips are the places to focus. Try trolling a fillet bait as well as a smaller lipped lure around these areas.

The couta have been quiet on the south coast with most anglers rather making the trip out to the shoal to focus on the tuna, wahoo and dorado. These have mainly been taken on lures with bright skirted lures and purple lipped lures doing most of the damage.

Rock and surf:

The rock and surf scene has gone to summer mode. The fishing is picking up and the conditions are starting to settle enough that we can predict the better days.

North – The north coast has seen a lot of fish even though the fish have been patchy. Try to fish and move to find the fish. Bloody and fleshy baits are the way to go. The banks have produced diamonds recently, but you need to find them.

Most of the north coast has seen good fishing off the points with sandies and honeycombs being the main bigger fish being caught. There have also been plenty of grey sharks on the lighter tackle. There has been an influx in reports of edibles being caught recently so get your sealice and smaller prawn/chokka baits out.

Central – The central coast has still been fishing very well with good edibles and inedibles being landed. The basin area has seen some of the best fishing along the coast this past week with a host of species being caught. The sandsharks have been the main draw with plenty of smaller specimens being caught. Smaller specimens are great fun on the lighter tackle and put up a very good fight. redeye sardine and mackerel are the baits of choice.

South – The south coast has seen some good garrick and kob fishing on live bait. These fish have not been too keen on the artificial lures but have been happy to eat a frisky live bait.

The scratching on the south coast has been the main attraction with any of the rockier areas being the place to try. Pink prawn and chokka are the baits of choice.

Freshwater:

The freshwater fishing has been good on all fronts with fish being caught in all facets.

Bass – The bass in most venues have been feeding very aggressively. Taking advantage of this, most anglers have fished either topwater or faster moving baits. The benefit of the topwater is seeing the fish come up and smash the lure, there are also some topwater lures that are extremely resistant to getting stuck.

Midmar and Albert falls have both been producing some giants these past few weeks. A variety of methods have been successful in the bigger dams so make sure you stick to your guns and find the fish. Don’t be afraid to move.

The smaller dams have seen good success on topwater’s in the form of hollow body frogs and buzzbaits as well as weightless flukes. The topwater’s have been working very well in the early mornings as well as the evenings while the weightless plastics produce fish during the day.

Carp – The carp fishing has been limited to conventional catches as no specimen catches have been reported recently.

The conventional anglers have done very well adding a bit of fluoroscein into their bombs. This can be in the form of a powder mixed in to the mielie bomb or as a spray/gel added on before casting.

These additives are extremely effective in both clean and dirty water and can be flavoured or unflavoured.

The sweet and fruity baits have done very well with mielies being reported as the best bait most frequently. There have been a lot of smaller fish, but these are great fun as they can keep you busy for an entire session.

Trout – The trout fishing has continued on a high and even the hotter weather can’t dampen the fishing. With the hot days we are currently experiencing, try to fish early in the day and then again in the afternoon. The middle of the day is best left out as the excessive heat can lead to fish death.

With all the rain we have had recently, the inlets into the dams will be flowing well. These are great places to fish in most dams. Start your day of fishing around the inlet and then work your way around the dam. If the day is very warm, then focus on the deeper areas of the dam where the fish will seek the comfort of the depths.

News in from Jan Korrubel, The Kingfisher in PMB – “The return of Spring Rains! Well, I never … who would have thought it, as the last couple of years have been dire until late in the year, and then deluge. The mm are still only in the single-figure range, but hey – we’ll take what we can get! At least it settled the current dust.  Here’s hope that last week’s snowfall, the current precipitation AND the impending snowfall(s) (if the forecasts are to be believed) are the foundation for proper summer rains to come.

With the trout streams on the thin side, there have been no returns from the Natal Fishers Club Anglers – it seems that all rods are on the scaly rivers.  An excellent day’s fishing was reported from the NFFC beat on the Umkomaas River by local angler Chris Shuttleworth, with good numbers of smaller fish in the 7-10 inch / 18-25 cm bracket but managing to find some lunkers in-between that went into 17-19 inches / 43-48cm class.  Water temperature was reported at 14 deg., with the fish taken on nymph patterns.

Also, on the Umkomaas, river carp are known as serious testers of tackle and Durban-based angler, Fritz de Koker, has been targeting them with success on fly.  Conditions in the lower reaches are crystal clean, and fish are wary … “probably one of the most wary freshwater fish I have ever targeted on fly” reports Fritz.

Further afield, there has been some good scaly action seen on the Socials from the Tugela River system … it certainly is the time to “prospect for gold” currently!

With a number of positive returns from the NFFC anglers, the stillwater trout action is picking up.  Fish are primarily in the 13-15 inch / 33-38 cm bracket, with some bigger fish also being reported in the 15-17 inch / 38-43 cm and 17-19 inch / 43-48 cm classes.  Water temperature is reported to be in the mid-teens.

Word from the bass anglers is that Albert Falls is picking up again, and that there are some good numbers of fish coming to hand in the 2kg mark.  Good news for the KZN Junior League with the next event scheduled for this weekend, 21-23 September on Alberts … wishing all anglers Tight Lines.  Midmar is apparently also fishing well.

Apart from the bass, the carp and tilapia are also making a strong appearance.

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”. Unfortunately, no report next week from Jan, he will be on a well-deserved break.

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.

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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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/