The cold has made waking up early a bit difficult but those that have have made some awesome catches this past week.
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.
Top tip. Spinning or lure fishing can be one of the most exciting facets of angling. Unfortunately many give up because they have not seen the social media success that others flaunt. Time and effort are the two things to keep in mind. You need to put in both to see success. When your arms are too tired to cast anymore, have one more throw.
Offshore:
The offshore fishing has been dominated by snoek, garrick and some good bottom fishing.
North – The north coast has seen some good snoek and couta for the smaller boats and skis. The deeper reefs and wrecks have seen some very good bottom fishing with big trawl soldiers and a host of other species being caught. Squid and sardines have been the baits of choice for the deeper fishing.
The tuna have been full up with some giants being hooked and breaking tackle. These are very powerful fish so allow them to tire themselves out before you try to horse them to the boat.
Central – Much like the north, the tuna have been around the central coast. Guys continue having great success with the surface lures and the poppers have been the winner. Splash and profile have been the most important factors when choosing the poppers. Colour has come down to personal preference.
Trolling lures off Durban has also been producing results with a mix of species being landed and a few dorado making it to the boat.
South – The south coast has not reported much in the line of catches. The backline areas along the south coast have seen some good garrick and snoek being caught. Using live baits and a slow troll is certain to catch the attention of the garrick. This paired with throwing a lure like a spoon into the backline and rapidly retrieving it back can see you with a few surprises in your hatch.
Rock and surf:
Spin to win! Garrick and shad have been full up with those putting in the time, seeing the rewards.
North – The north coast has seen some of the spinning action. The deeper points have been the spots to try in the early mornings. Spinning for snoek at the beginning of the session with smaller spoons and then changing over to a plug for garrick and kingfish later has been the most successful.
Central – The central coast has been producing a good mix of species for the intrepid angler. The shad have been feeding well along most of the piers and beaches. Drift baits have been doing very well when the sea is small enough.
The stumpies and smaller kob have also been feeding on the rolling banks. Look for the whitewater along the sandbanks. Chokka and prawn baits are the choice for these fish.
South – The south coast has seen the bulk of the garrick action. The river mouths have been the most productive spots. Bucktails and plugs have been the most successful lures. Darker colours will work better in the early hours as they have a more solid silhouette. As the sun gets higher, change to brighter colours but remember, there are no rules so experiment.
Freshwater:
The further inland, the colder the water. The fishing in the fresh has been very good but you have to face the cold to get the rewards.
Bass – Inanda and Albert Falls are the two most successful spots for boat anglers. The benefit of being able to cover a lot of water means these bigger systems are better fished with a boat.
Senko style baits have been deadly over the past week (and since their original launch). These “do nothing” baits have a subtle wiggle on the way down and present a large food item to the bass. They are a must have in your box. Those that prefer a more visual bite will do well with walking style top waters for the more open areas and frogs for the vegetation. Both of these lure types allow you to fish the selected areas effectively and are both extremely exciting to fish as the blowups are phenomenal!
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 temps 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 have not been the same giants 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. The fronts coming through have slowed fishing down a bit and might need you to scale down to worm patterns and hand-twist retrieves.
Herewith this week’s report from Jan at the Kingfisher in PMB – “After the “doom and gloom” of the last couple weeks of frontal activity, we have had some good looking weather this week – good looking because KZN is blessed for the most part with clear and blue skies, but at the same time, being winter, it’s still been pretty frigid and the usual mention of polar bears and penguins abounds…! On the upside – and literally – air pressure is back on the upward swing again, so after the low of last weekend, it looks like fishing should be better (can never say easier) for the next wee while…
We can now also happily report that it is now officially less than a month away from the opening of the Trout River Season on 1 September. I haven’t had any confirmed reports, but pretty sure that from the recent snowfalls, there will have been some good melt coming off the top of The ‘Berg, feeding the streams and keeping the levels off the bare bones of the bottom. If the flows stay up till month end, and warm up a bit, the fish should start moving up and it will be game on.
In anticipation of the Streams, the Natal Fry Dressers Society is pleased to announce that well known author and flytyer, Peter Brigg (of ‘Call of The Stream’ fame), will be making a guest appearance at next weeks meeting. Peter will be demonstrating a versatile caddis/hopper type pattern that he used with great success at the Dirt Road Wild Trout Association Festival earlier this year. Anyone interested in attending, please give Jan a shout at the PMB shop for more info.
So while we didn’t get any of the “disruptive snow” that was forecast for last weekend, the frontal system did have some impact, with frosty conditions and a howling wind to boot. To add to the weather woes, the air pressure went through the floor, dropping some 11 points from Thursday through to Saturday. There were some good fish about though, for those intrepid anglers of the Natal Fly Fishers Club that braved the elements. Again, only a couple returns reporting a few smaller fish in the 13-15 inch / 33-38cm and some in the 17-19 inch / 43-48cm. There were however a good few fish reported in the 21-23 inch / 53-58 cm bracket. Withe water temperatures on the cool end of the scale at between 9-11 deg.C, smaller flies were the “go to” this weekend, with a black leech / taddy pattern being the top producer.
This past weekend saw Leg3 of the TOPS Corporate Challenge taking place around Nottingham Road … no doubt under the influence of the weather, fishing was somewhat slow with 174 fish recorded for the 2 days fishing over 4 sessions … 91 fish on day 1 and 83 on day 2. and . r, and for the 1st time in the 22yr history of the event, a Ladies Team took top honours! Congratulations must go to team “Stranger Dangers” consisting of local ladies Roxanne Stegen and Sindi Beach, who partnered with Bianca Viljoen and Amy Visser from Gauteng North. Not only did they take top spot, but with a fish 61cm / 24 inches reported by Amy early on, she walked away with the award for biggest fish for this event. Congrats once again to the Stranger Dangers … see you in a few weeks for the Finals!
Reports are that the bass fishing is still on the up at both Albert Falls and Midmar, and the fish that are coming out are on the bigger end of the scale. The social networks have been rather quiet again, but Neels Beneke Fishing dropped a video clip this week showing a 18kg / 40lb bag at Albert Falls! No date on the clip unfortunately, so cannot confirm when it happened … but in any event, that’s a proper bag – Congrats!
The KZN Small Craft League held a Winter Bass Challenge on Midmar (and Hazelmere) last weekend, but no reports seen as yet.
A reminder that the annual Albert Falls Classic will be held at the end of next month, 24-26 August – so guys get your entries in.
The boat anglers are reporting carp on the surface on flat, calm days on Albert Falls Dam.
The scaley (Natal Yellowfish) are getting into gear with angler reporting from the Umkomaas and Tugela. Current “go to” patterns include nymphs like Hare and Copper (the fish like them scruffy), and jig buggers in black and brown.
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.
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://ansapodcast.buzzsprout.com
Please send any info about fishing or fish caught in your area to mike.pereira@kingfisher.co.za
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
Go to www.facebook.com/thekingfisherdaiwa and “Like” us on Facebook to catch reviews, videos, fishing reports, great promotions and lots more.