As Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas fills the airwaves, anglers are also gearing up to fill their stockings with catches. The fishing season is looking exceptionally promising, so make the most of it while the action is hot!

Top tip: Focus on the Edges 

Predatory fish thrive near edges—color lines, current lines, and physical structures like rocks—because these areas make hunting easier. Keep your bait or lure in these strike zones for better results.

**Offshore:**

The offshore facets have been producing a lot of news. There have been plenty of competitions from Billfish to local club rounds with some amazing catches. 

**North Coast:** 

The recent weather has been ideal for anglers, with our coastline delivering rewarding days on the water and impressive pelagic catches hitting the decks.

Starting up north near Umhlanga, if you’re on the hunt for Dorado—the “chicken of the sea” in green and gold—they’re out in spectacular numbers and sizes. This season, pink and purple Rattlers are the lure of choice, with their irresistible swimming action luring in both juveniles and bulls alike.

**Central Coast:** 

Along the Durban coast, fishing skis have been the talk of the town. While Snoek takes a backseat, Couta and Tuna are stealing the spotlight. Notable catches have been made mostly on live bait, which is the preferred choice across all fishing facets this summer. For Tuna, drifting live bait over bait marks is proving highly effective. If live bait is scarce, try rigging with a Pelagic chin-weighted bait swimmer for a steady, wobbling action that increases strike rates. For those chasing Durban Dorado, keep an eye out near large container ships or floating debris, where these fish like to congregate

**South Coast:** 

While Garrick catches have slowed, the deeper waters are yielding some nice Tuna caught while trolling with high-speed lipped and skirted lures. Though this demands medium to heavy tackle, the payoff is well worth it. Closer in, a few Couta are starting to appear, though it may still be early days. Meanwhile, bottom fishing continues to impress, with solid rockcod catches keeping both commercial and charter boats busy along the reefs. As always, make sure to stick to your fishing limits and respect the environment, no matter how tempting the bite may be.

With plenty of action across both the coast and the deeper waters, it’s a great time to be out on the water!

Rock and Surf

Shore-based fishing has been as hot as the summer sun, with anglers reeling in impressive catches across the board! The action has been nonstop, offering plenty of excitement for all fishing styles and skill levels. From trophy catches to abundant bites, it’s been a rewarding time to be casting lines along the shore

The lower north coast has been buzzing with non-edible catches, featuring a range of species from Grey sharks to Honeycomb rays and nearly every skate in between. Shad have been especially abundant, and KZN anglers have shown great responsibility by releasing their catches, as the season is still closed for another two weeks. Mackerel bait has been the top choice this week, whether rigged dead or alive, with live bait yielding a quicker strike rate.

In the rocky gullies, rock species like bronze bream have been biting well, particularly on prawn baits, which have proven highly effective.

The central coast has seen a fair share of non-edible catches, with the occasional shad adding variety. The talk of the town has been a Bowmouth Guitarfish, rare catch caught unexpectedly by angler JJ Turner on Sunday evening at the Durban Ski Boat Club basin, the specie was carefully handled by Rob Kyle from the Oceanographic Research Institute (ORI) and transported to the uShaka Marine World aquarium. This encounter offers scientists valuable insights into the fish’s condition, behavior, and adaptations to local waters.

Rob Kyle noted, “It is currently going through our quarantine procedure before it’s added to our collection in the open ocean exhibit. It should be on display in time for the Christmas season.”

 Meanwhile, most of the rock and surf action has been concentrated outside of Durban, though the central coast made headlines with productive offshore and harbour fishing. The harbour has been particularly rewarding when anglers manage to get past the Wala Wala. For bay fishing, a light gauge circle hook—ideally a size 14—is highly recommended, as it significantly improves hook up rates regardless of the species or size on your line.

The south coast’s hot streak continues, once again proving to be the most fruitful stretch along the coastline. Whether you’re targeting edibles or non-edibles, Margate Pier has delivered across the board with impressive sizes. Catches have ranged from Kob and Sandsharks to Bream and Greys, showing that both grounded and floating baits are getting bites. If you’re planning to head to the south coast this weekend, be sure to pack a fully loaded tackle box—there’s something here for every angler!

The prime fishing season is here, and summer feeding patterns are in full swing, bringing a variety of species—from hefty Bass to Tilapia—into play. Anglers at dams across KZN have been soaking up the warm weather and celebrating personal bests as they reel in impressive catches. With conditions improving each week, this summer promises to be unforgettable. Let’s dive into some of the most productive dams and the techniques that made this week’s hauls a success.

Bass:

It’s been an exciting week! Inanda has had a fantastic run with some sizeable catches, and Goedertrouw Dam has also performed well, producing catches averaging around 2.5 kg. Despite stormy conditions on Saturday, Hazelmere Dam hosted the divisionals and delivered an impressive 3.2 kg Bass, proving that the fish are in a serious feeding frenzy.

Carp :

The Carp scene remains lively for both conventional and fly-fishing methods, though wind direction plays a role—Inanda’s hyacinth can be an obstacle, but with favorable winds, it’s the perfect spot to cast a line. Albert Falls has also seen consistent action despite the occasional sludge lines on the water.

Trout:

Trout fishing in still waters has been more productive than in free-flowing rivers, with anglers braving the weekend’s storms to land some impressive rainbow trout. Although this weekend’s forecast shows a slight chance of rain, conditions for getting on the water look promising, and there’s a good chance for reel-screaming action.

Yellowfish and Tilapia:

Yellowfish at Sterkfontein Dam are on the bite, with reports of both smallmouth and largemouth yellows being caught. Meanwhile, Tilapia activity is picking up, especially when they strike at lures intended for Bass. If you’re targeting Tilapia specifically, try smaller lures like the Strike Pro Archback 35 or the new My Turn 31 as these have proven highly effective for getting Tilapia hooked on the first strike compared to larger lures, which often miss on the initial hit.

News in from Jan Korrubel, The Kingfisher in PMB – .  The Kingfisher in PMB. Weekend storm put a bit of a spanner into the rivers, but the rest is fishing well…!

The summer cycle is well on track currently, and with the spate of rains (in excess of 100mm across The Midlands over the recent while), the runoff had put the rivers up and with some colour. On the up side, the high(er) water gives the rivers a good flush, and reports indicate the slippy stuff is just about all washed out, and the colours will subside quickly in the upper reaches where there is no farming.  Most of the stillwater levels are up, and also with some colour … Albert Falls and Midmar are reported sitting at 80% and 88% capacity respectively.  As mentioned last week, now is the time of unpredictable weather, but with December just around the corner, the end of the year is nigh with things (usually) quietening down, grab the gaps as they come and get out there.

The recent spell of cold weather kept rising water temperature at bay … current water temperature on The Bushman’s River is 15deg.C. reported by local angler and author, Andrew Fowler.  If one can tolerate a lowering of standards and turn to swinging a woolly bugger in the high, coloured water while one waits for levels to subside and clean up, there are fish to be had … some good browns of up to 15 inches / 38cm coming to hand this week.  The Natal Fly Fishers Club beats on the Mooi River are reported at 17deg.C. … also reportedly high and with colour, the dry fly getting no action, so necessitating a switch to sub-surface nymphs which provided the Women in Waders ladies some action in the “Mooi River Invitational” fund-raiser held this last weekend.

Top Tip : with the faster flow, fish will move to the margins … the eddy’s and slow(er) water is where the fish are to be found.

For those NFFC stillwater anglers that have made it out inbetween the bursts in weather, the Club waters have provided some excellent fishing of late … returns indicating good numbers of rainbows in the 13-15 inch / 33-38 cm and 15-17 inch / 38-43 cm brackets.  Of course there be lunkers inbetween, and both rainbow and brown trout have been reported in the 21-23 inch / 53-58 cm class.  Word from a local private stillwater mentioned a 10.4lb brown taken on a minnow pattern, and further afield, the Underberg waters are also fishing well.  Locally, water temperature was reported at 18deg.C., and without the input of cooler water, will continue to rise steadily now. Temperatures over the 20deg.C. mark will result in a higher mortality rate for the C&R anglers, so time to get out and throw that line before we hit the dog days of high summer.

Top Tip : large, dark coloured flies for coloured water!

All anglers are well versed in the saying “East is Least and West is Best”, but there is a new line to added after the wild weather experienced during the S.A Bass Anglers Association (SABAA) Divisionals on Albert Falls this past weekend : “Wind from the North, Do Not Go Forth” … reports mentioned a few incidents of wet decks!  Albert Falls is reported to be giving up some good numbers of bass in the 1-2kg range, and Midmar also providing some decent fish in the 3-4kg bracket.  The next event on the bass calendar is Event 8 of the KZN Small Craft Bass League, to be held at Mearns Dam on 7 December.

There some excellent carp coming to hand for the fly guys on Albert Falls – a small ant pattern doing the business.  Fishing larger surface patterns like a hopper or a flipper/gurgler, will have the barbel aka ‘Whiskered Mermaid’ coming to look.  There have been reports of some excellent carp from Midmar from the specimen anglers, along with some good Bluegill.  Tilapia will also be making an appearance.

The hot weather had turned Sterkfontein back on, reports Jeremy Rochester of Escape Fly Fishing, with some excellent small and largemouth yellowfish being taken on surface hopper patterns.

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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 vineshs@kingfisher.co.za