October is here and the tinsel and lights of the Christmas holidays are almost in sight. On the fishing side of life, the cold weather has been keeping the fishermen away despite the good fishing to be had.
Top tip: Take your time. How long did it take you to get to your fishing spot? How long did it take to make the bait and cast it out? How long have you been dreaming of the fish you are going to catch? Why then do you want to rush the fight and possibly part the fish off because you are over-exerting your tackle?!
We fish to enjoy it and maybe take something home for the pot. Take a breath, look at the scenery and enjoy your time.
Offshore:
The fishing has been very productive offshore with most regions producing good fish. Make sure to prioritise your safety over catching a fish or two as the seas have been a bit gnarly…
North – The north coast has seen a lot of action in the deep. The summer visitors are starting to make it on to more catch reports. Some monster tuna have been landed off Richards Bay along with some good marlin sightings.
The dorado have come on the bite in the deep. The recent rains have pushed a lot of debris out of the rivers and these floating structures attract collections of bait. This bait in turn attracts the dorado and other gamefish. Target these areas by slow trolling past them or drifting close by and pitching baits or lures as close to the structure as possible.
Central – Fantastic bottom fishing has been had off Durban. The bulk of the catches have been geelbek and daga. These have mainly been caught at night, but late afternoon has seen some good fishing on the deeper reefs. The rest of the bottoms have been a mix of reds (soldiers, slinger etc) and rockcod. The bigger fish have preferred eating a live bait with mackerel outperforming the rest of the bait.
The deeper drop offs and temperature shifts have been the most likely spot to encounter the early season dorado and sailfish so head out to the deep blue if you are after these hard fighting pelagics.
South – The south coast has been upside down much like the north. The launches have been few and the reports from the launches even more so. Similar to the northern sections of KZN, your best bet for the gamefish is to head to further offshore water and look for areas that have big changes in depth, water colour or water temperature. These areas attract and congregate bait which in turn brings the gamefish.
The south has also seen good hauls of geelbek and daga with most of the commercials struggling to bring the boats back after a successful night.
Rock and surf:
Much like the offshore fishing, the sea has not been too kind in terms of conditions over the past week. The summer fish are starting to come out regularly though so it is best to get to your favourite spot as soon as you can!
North – The north coast is really starting to get hot. The honeycombs are becoming a frequent visitor on the reported catches with a lot of sad stories of long battles and paining backs. The deeper beaches have seen more bites than the rocky points but anywhere with access to deeper water is the place to be. Fleshy baits of mackerel or redeye sardine are the best way of targeting all of the summer inedibles.
The bronze bream continues on their wild season with an unprecedented number of fishing being landed on the coast. The north coast has seen more fish than can be remembered. Please keep to the limits and consider releasing as many as possible.
Central – The beachfront section of Durban has seen some decent fishing. It is one of the few areas that can be fished in the rough seas we have been experiencing of late. Sardine and redeye sardine have been the most successful baits for the smaller flatfish with brown skates and blue rays making up the bulk of the catches.
The edibles have been a little scarce other than the currently banned season shad. The stumpies have been around and a bunch of crackers or a cracker and pink prawn combo bait has been the best chance at catching them.
South – The south coast has been very quiet. The smaller diamonds are around in number but are more of a nuisance than a pleasure. These smaller fish are generally unable to get the bait into their mouths but will often pick it up and move it around.
The edible fishing has been focussed mainly on the brusher and bronze bream, both of which are having an amazing season. The brusher have been suckers for a crab (particularly a muscleman crab) while the bream have preferred a bigger prawn bait. Both these fish like much of the same area so you can target both where you are fishing. One with the light rod and the brusher with the heavier outfit.
Harbour:
The Durban harbour has been producing some amazing fish over the past few weeks. Springer, oxeye tarpon, big grunter and a host of kingfish species have all been landed. The artificial/lure anglers have been doing very well with surface lures. Small poppers have accounted for many different species and they are also great fun to fish. A slower pop-pause retrieve has seen the most successful results. The bait anglers have also seen good success fishing in the evenings with most nights seeing a grunter or two over the 3kg mark.
Freshwater:
The freshwater scene has been a good mix of all facets. The carp anglers have done well with both specimen and conventional anglers reporting good catches. The bass guys have landed some beasts and the fly anglers have been spoilt with both trout and scalies. A great time to fish in the fresh.
Bass – Some personal bests have been landed in the past few days from a few KZN venues. The fishing has been a bit finnicky with the big fronts coming through. The fishing post front can be slow and methodical, but the prefrontal fishing is normally wild.
Before the front, look at using more power fishing type techniques.
Throwing a chatterbait or spinnerbait is a great way to cover large areas of water effectively. Once the front has passed over, change to either a reaction bite like a quality jerkbait or switch to a finesse approach like dropshot or Ned rig.
Carp – The carp fishing has been cold but productive. Much like the bass, the fish have been sensitive to the frontal conditions.
Make sure to keep your areas topped up with bait to keep the fish interested in your area. This is the kind of activity you can do to keep yourself busy between the bites.
In terms of flavours and scents, the summer patterns are starting to produce more bites so make sure you have sweeter flavours in the mix but also keep the stronger scents in the box in case it gets tough.
Trout – The stillwaters are fishing very well for the guys fishing sinking lines and streamers. The deeper waters have been a bit more stable in the mixed frontal conditions. The recent snows have dropped the temperatures and given a bit of input into the rivers and stillwaters. This has energised the fish and produced some great action.
The scalies have been feeding well and the fishing is something everyone needs to experience. We have a world class fishery that needs to be exploited but most importantly, protected.
News in from Jan Korrubel, The Kingfisher in PMB – “So The Big Freeze came and went … followed by a forecast that a second system was going to eclipse the first … but apart from a chill, turned out to be more of a damp squib than anything, with the main event being relegated to the southern parts of the country (and local Services no doubt breathing a sigh of relief). While the white fluffy stuff was not so well received, the current “damp” is certainly much more appreciated as we come out of a very dry winter, and water levels below those of this time last year. With a good, early recharge, I suspect that we are on for some great fishing … when the snowmelt is done and the waters warm up that is!
This late surge of a snowy winter is not at all uncommon – my Facebook “Memories” was quite active this past week providing a (useful) record of similar such incidents at this time over the past years. With the resulting snowmelt providing a much-needed input, all of the local rivers have fared well from the collective 40-60mm of rain and snow received. In the thick of it, the rivers were reportedly blown out, opaque from the first proper flush, and water temperature sitting at a chilly 4deg.C. A week later, and with conditions still somewhat tough, the Natal Fly Fishers Club beats on The Bushman’s River are providing some fish through the range from 9-15 inches / 23-38 cm … so they are there. Looking at the long-term forecast, it’s safe now to say that Spring has (finally) sprung, river season may now be declared officially on, so it’s time to plan your fishing…
Whilst on the topic of moving water : after the recent run of good fish being reported, the scaly’s all but disappeared with the cold waters rushing down from The ‘Berg. As with the trout, a week later and conditions are still cold but having ameliorated somewhat. Well known Midlands anglers Michelle and Jeremy Rochester, headed to the lower Bushman’s River and found some willing fish. As conditions warm up, the fishing will only get better.
On to the stillwaters … as was to be expected from the low-lying snows, the crowds were out and of course there had to be some anglers that gave it a punt under the somewhat circumspect conditions! The number of stillwater returns out numbered the river anglers by a factor of 4, but in the same breath, there was a 50:50 split in those that came away with some fish to show, and those that went away empty handed. There were some excellent fish noted in the returns, that fell in the 17-23 inch / 43-58cm range. The stillwaters being less affected from the snow, water temperature was reported sitting at 12deg.C.
Slightly further afield, but worthy of mention here! is that the Underberg-Himeville Trout Fishing Club’s annual stillwater event fell … yes, you guessed it … on the weekend of the snow … and undeterred, the event went ahead. It was mentioned that a couple of Durban-based anglers took one look at conditions, swiftly turned tail and headed back to their more tropical shores … while local PMB-based anglers Wayne Stegen and Andrew Beach took full advantage of fishing in the snowy scenery, and deservedly came away with some fish to show for their efforts.
A recent quote on the social’s states “Wind or Snow – bassin’ we will go…” but with socials devoid of any fish, there is unfortunately no evidence to show for the bravado! Being further removed, and out of the “snow zone”, there would have been little to no effect of the chilly weather on the fishing, apart from a change in air pressure no doubt. Water temperature would also have remained pretty stable. So we have rely on “word from the water” and that is that there some good bass coming out of both Midmar and Albert Falls Dams. Midmar is apparently the place to be for those after some carp action, but no word from Alberts.
21 Anglers took to the waters at Albert Falls Dam on 21 and 22 September in the third and fourth events of the S.A. Bass Anglers Association (SABAA) KZN Junior League for 2024/25, including three new participants. Tarryn Saville reported that “Conditions were certainly different to the norm, as snow could be seen on the mountain peaks near Karkloof … Despite the weather, some decent fish were caught”. The top five anglers all weighed in 5 fish bags over the two days. Overall winner went to Tristan Saville, with 2 bags of 6,005kg and 4,950kg, with Stella Ryley taking the award for the single biggest fish of 2.680kg. Congrats to all those tough youngsters that made the event!
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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