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.
The northeast winds and the summer heat have turned the fishing on. Whether you are on the shore or in a boat, the fish are biting!
Top tip: With all the different facets of angling, there are a few essentials that you always need.
A good set of pliers goes a long way and can be used in most facets of angling from fly fishing to big game trolling. Quality sun protective clothing allows you to keep fishing even in the heat of summer. A decent headlight makes all the difference if you fish in any form of low light. With our need for technology and our sport involving water, a waterproof pouch is essential.
These are but a few items to put on your list of must haves.
Offshore:
The couta and tuna have been keeping the offshore anglers very busy. The north has been the place to go but the local waters have held some giants.
North – The north coast has been the place to be if you are looking for couta. Cape Vidal has come alive with fish and although most of the fish have been on the smaller side, the big fish are there.
The shallower areas have held most of the smaller fish, so if the giants are what you are after and you don’t mind waiting it out, head to the deeper water. Bait of choice has been an open category up north with most dead baits and live baits getting bites. Try get your hands on some good mackerel and sardines just to be sure.
Closer to Durban the anglers have done well in hooking fish, but the sharks have been a major problem.
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 some good tuna as well from Toti down to the Aliwal Shoal. Live bait slow trolled around the bait marks has been the number one method for these fish. A 6/0 circle hook bridled or rigged lightly through the back is the best way to get a solid hookup with these fish. This also works for the dorado that have been around.
The Shoal has seen good numbers of wahoo around and these speedsters love a fast trolled lipped lure or a skirted lure. Work out the feeding area and then troll through this spot from different angles to find the money zone.
Rock and surf:
The summer fish are here, and the fishing has been good when the weather allows. There have been edibles and drag-peeling inedibles.
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 of reports of pompano being caught recently so get your sea lice and smaller prawn/chokka baits out.
Central – The central coast has seen some good pompano these past few weeks with some big specimens being landed. Chokka and prawn is a great combo bait for these fish which also works for other species.
The shad are still around but the catches have dropped. Try making your hook snood a bit longer to increase your chances of getting the few bites.
There have been plenty of grey sharks around the beachfront as well as some decent size diamonds. Float your bait if you are after the greys and make it bigger with no foam if you are after the diamonds.
Freshwater:
The dams and rivers have been very productive for all facets of freshwater fishing. The bass and carp have been the main attractions in the dams while the trout and scalies have drawn fly fishermen to the rivers.
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 top waters in the form of hollow body frogs and buzz baits as well as weightless flukes. The top waters 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 consistent of late with a lot of smaller fish making up the catch reports. Banana flavoured mielies have been the most successful bait in all of the KZN venues. Rigging these on small hooks and a Rietvlei trace will see your best chance at success. On the bomb, adding some colour with a spray or dip will bring the carp in from a long range.
The specimen anglers have not reported much in terms of catch returns. Boilies have kept the smaller fish at bay while targeting the bigger fish.
Trout – The river fishing has been very good these past few weeks. Nymphs have done very well to get down to the fish in the faster waters. The Eddie’s and slower pieces of the rivers have fished well with DDDs and terrestrial patterns.
The Stillwaters have seen the bigger fish lately with some decent fish being landed by both float-tube and bank anglers. Stripping bigger streamers up from the depths has resulted in some mighty takes.
Those looking for something different will be happy to know that the yellowfish bite is wild at Sterkfontein. Black beetles, black DDDs and small buzzers have been the main flies working of late.
After the little bit of a cooler spell we reported on last week, the Weatherman has turned up the heat dial right back up to peak summer! With very little in the way of rain in the forecast, waters are slowing down all over – the decrease in input is good news for the river anglers, but perhaps not best for the dams and stillwaters most noticeable by the lack of overflow. The wall of Midmar is only slightly damp at present, and the spill will no doubt come to a halt within the week.
With the flows entirely manageable at present, the river anglers – both trout and scaly – have flocked to their favourite beats on the Bushman’s and Mooi Rivers. The trout beats of the Natal Fly Fishers Club have given up some good numbers of fish across the board from the 5-7 inch / 13-18cm class all the way through to 17-19 inch / 43-48cm bracket. Water temperatures are still a little on the high side, starting at around 17deg in the morning, and rising to 22deg later in the day. Fish were eating happily however, taking in both nymphs and dry flies … perfect conditions if you ask me!
The sudden lack of precipitation has had the Umkomaas River clear up nicely, and some excellent late season scaly were reported. Haven’t had any reports of scaly on the dry fly this season, nymphing is the name of game with this guys, with the top fly being an orange beadhead nymph.
The stillwater anglers are gearing up for the autumn feed-up – plenty discussion of stillwater patterns being bandied about at present – before the cold winter waters put much of the trout food larder to bed. The NFFC stillwaters provided a good range of fish from the 9-11 inch / 23-28 cm class at the lower end, up to a couple of better specimens in the 19-21 inch / 48-53cm class. No word on water temperatures from the stillwaters, but I suspect they will still be hoovering around the 20deg mark … nighttime temperatures are starting to drop now however, helping get the water temps down, especially for those waters at a higher altitude.
Apart from a couple of fish here and there, The Midlands two most popular bass waters, Albert falls and Midmar Dam, once again seem to be on the quiet. There have also been a few good fish coming from private waters, and Gary Maas from Troutbagger Farm reports that his bass dam have given up some fish. Word from the water is the anglers are struggling in general, even though there are plenty bait fish in the shallows, with “dinks” inbetween that one needs to work through. One report mentioned that a Ned Rig has produced the goods so far, while another mentioned “My favourite time of the year … Slower fishing, but bigger than average fish … Swim Jig time”.
This weekend sees the long-awaited very popular New Hanover Prep Bass Fishing Competition, now in its 20th year, taking place on the waters around New Hanover. Tight Lines to all the anglers taking part – looking forward to reporting next week.
While once cannot use the “G-word” when it comes to fishing – guaranteed, that is! – with the current run of better weather, Sterkfontein Dam seems to be the place to g…. a fish. Driving past this weekend, the water looked positively superb … an azure sea, slightly ruffled by a not-too-bad wind, and a numbers of boats seen buzzing the scum lines between the Driekloof wall and the main dam.
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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://ansapodcast.buzzsprout.com Please send any info about fishing or fish caught in your area to mike.pereira@kingfisher.co.za
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