The swallows and yellow-billed kites have already made their appearance in Durban, so spring is definitely here. The weather didn’t get the memo this week, but we are almost into the warmer months.
Top tip. Floats. Adding floats to your trace can drastically increase your success rate. Not only do floats give the bait a more natural presentation but they also add attraction in the form of colour. Common colours that work for certain species are as follows: Orange is a fantastic colour for scratching fish and in particular bronze bream, glow in the dark works very well for kob, red and white floats work extremely well for shad.
Offshore:
The offshore fishing is really picking up with a lot of decent tuna, dorado and couta being caught along the KZN coast.
North – The north coast has seen great fishing when the conditions lineup. The currents and water temperatures have been the things to look at. Cape Vidal and Sodwana have produced good fish for the skis and boats.
Live bait remains the best baits to use but the dorado and tuna have favoured faster plastics.
Central – The central coast has seen the same small snoek invasion as the north.
Most anglers have opted not to fish in the shallows with the risk of the sewage. Tuna and couta have been around the deeper marks. The tuna have been the main target. Some giants have been hooked on both the poppers and live bait. Obviously, the guys have preferred to fish with poppers as seeing a +20kg tuna inhale a popper on the surface will get your adrenaline going.
South – The south coast has seen some good gamefish action further offshore.
The south has seen a lot of boats launching and heading out to the shoal. The fishing has been a mix out deep with the currents proving to be the most significant factor. Speak to the locals at the launch site to see what is happening. Faster trolling lures have been the most successful lures to use for the tuna, wahoo, couta and all the other predators.
Rock and surf:
Brusher continue to top the target list and for good reason. There are still decent numbers of garrick around the river mouths.
North – Spinning along the north coast has accounted for some very good fish recently. Throwing spoons at first light and into the morning off deeper points and bays like Christmas Bay will produce kingies, snoek and some surprises. Distance is very important so make sure your tackle is balanced, and your technique is good.
The north has seen the first of the summer flatfish/sharks. The beaches along the Zululand coast have seen some big raggies as well as a few honeycombs and sandies. Big fleshy baits and a throw into the deeper water is required.
Central – The central coast has been quiet, other than the basin area. This section of beach is fishable in most water conditions and does not stop producing fish. The diamonds and grey sharks have been the main species coming out but the odd sandy and honeycomb does make it on to the catch lists. Same baits as mentioned above will produce fish.
On the edible side, there have been brusher along the Bluff side, and these have drawn a lot of angling pressure.
South – The south coast has seen a spike in kob catches around the Toti to Umkomaas area. Chokka and live baits have been the best for these fish. Remember with your chokka baits that floatation and movement are very important as well as some noise from a rattle in the foam.
The rest of the south coast has seen good scratching for species like stumpies using prawn baits. There have been a lot of fish caught, with most of them between 1-5kgs. On the inedible side, there are some grumpy honeycombs hanging around the deeper points, so persevere if you are after an early season flatfish.
Freshwater:
The freshwater fishing has been good on all fronts with carp, bass and trout to be caught.
Bass – Hazlemere has been the pick of the shore venues with most anglers fishing from the side seeing good numbers of fish as well as some decent sizes as well. Moving baits and particularly small minnow imitations have done very well. Darker colours with a bit of a gold or copper flash have done well.
Midmar have been the better boat venue with anglers reporting some very big fish. A host of techniques and methods have been working so try your favourites and work the day out from there.
Carp – The carp have been consistent over the last month with mostly smaller fish making their way to the reports but the bigger catches being kept private.
The local dams have been producing fish for both specimen and conventional anglers. Garlic has been the most reported flavour with floaties out-fishing mielies.
Specimen anglers have been best suited using boilies in the 16mm size range and up. Remember to use whole and chopped boilies in your feed mix to make sure you give the fish plenty to eat.
Trout – The fishing has been decent on most of the trout waters with the hot temperatures are a limiting factor. Most of the venues in KZN have been seeing some fantastic fish. Those in the float tubes are out-fishing those from the banks. The float tube allows you to get to places that the bank anglers cannot access. The streamers are fishing well on sinking lines. The generic “bugger” style flies have been the most successful as they are easy to cast, easy to fish and they catch fish almost anywhere.
News in from Jan Korrubel, The Kingfisher in PMB – “Last week we reported that summer was coming in HOT … so by direct correlation and the rules of cause and effect, this week holds a snow forecast … of course! We shan’t argue, and <fingers crossed> that it’s correct, as the greater Midlands and The ‘Berg are excruciatingly dry, and any precipitation at this stage would be most welcome.
This week heralds the opening of the trout river season, so there is much to get excited about for us stream anglers. I, for one, among many others I am sure – will be headed to my favourite stretch, in the hopes that a) there is enough of the moving stuff (aided some by that snowfall hopefully), and b) the fish are in an obliging mood so that I can open my account for the season … just one fish required to make that deposit! Full report to follow next week!
There has already been some moving water action over the last week – some excellent scaly’s have been reported from both the Umkomaas and Tugela systems. The Natal Fly Fishers Club beat on the Umkomaas gave some fish that stretched the tape into the 17-19 inch / 43-48cm class – no doubt giving the anglers rod a proper workout. Water temperature was reported at 18deg.C., so warming nicely already. No word locally from the uMngeni as yet, but no doubt very soon…
From the stillwaters, the returns from the NFFC anglers show varied results as a result of August living up to its windy reputation (keeping anglers off the water), and a barometer that is bouncing all over the place. There were no “Red Letter Days” reported, the returns mostly noting a just couple of fish per outing. Of course there were a couple “big un’s” reported that made it into the 19-21 inch / 48-53 cm bracket, making it worthwhile to get out there get that fly into the water. Water temperature was reported at 14 deg.C, so also starting to warm.
On the bass front – this weekend sees the the Albert Falls Bass Classic taking place, with Alberts having been closed for the past weeks for competitors. In the meantime, speculation is rife as to what the fish will be doing as a result of the frontal system flying over prior to the event. The theory is that fish will feed as the barometer falls, sulk in the deep when the barometer hits bottom, and then start feeding again as the barometer rises out from the trough of low. As mentioned previously however, the RATE OF CHANGE is important, so while the pressure may be on the up, a screaming rise will also put fish off. It is what it is! … Tight Lines to all competitors and looking forward to the results … watch this space!
Contrary to reports seen on the socials, Midmar is apparently fishing well, with some good fish coming to hand in the 3-4kg mark. Water levels are dropping fast, and fish are already staging (pre)spawn and are apparently in the shallows.
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/
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