Icy and dry! The conditions have been perfect if you are a polar bear.
For the rest of us, a decent jacket and some hot coffee have been mandatory for the early morning adventures. Nonetheless, the fish have still been biting.
Top tip. Essentials. 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 wind has made for a couple of bumpy trips this past week. The fishing has been a bottom fishing dominant affair with a few decent gamefish in the mix.
North – The north coast has seen the bulk of the gamefish action. There have been some very good catches of couta, dorado, tuna and sailfish to name the top four. Live bait has been (and always will be) king. All of the species will rarely turn down a well-presented and lively baitfish trolled behind a boat or ski. When bait is scarce then lures will still produce good results.
Cape Vidal has been the place to be with social media full of amazing catches from there.
Central – The central section of the KZN coast has produced a lot of bottom fish and gamefish for the boating crowd. The tuna and dorado have been the main gamefish coming out and they have not been that picky when it comes to bait. Both species have been caught on trolled lures, poppers and live bait. Use whichever method you prefer and look for the action (birds or fish busting). The bottom fishing has seen a lot of geelbek, daga and rockcod being landed. The sharks have taken their tax and beating them has required some heavy pulling so make sure your knots are good.
South – The south coast has seen a lot of bottom fish action over the last few weeks. The rockcods have been very greedy and always and they have jumped on most baits dropped down to the. The tuna have been the only reliable gamefish to target down south with the rest of the bunch being hit or miss. The tuna have been taken on everything from small live baits to large, skirted Konas.
Much further south the guys have done very well in the Transkei with giant red steenbras and poenskop. These brutes need proper tackle and skill to land.
Rock and surf:
Winter = edibles. The garrick have been the main attraction for most this past week but the brusher and bream have been making a good account of themselves.
North – The north coast has still seen some good inedible fishing with a couple sandies and honeycombs testing knots and backs in the north.
Blythedale and Zinkwazi have been the two most productive spots along the north coast. These spots have seen edibles and inedibles in most conditions.
On the edible side, chokka and prawn have been the best baits mentioned while the bigger shad have preferred sardines. There have also been plenty of spadefish around which love a white bait. Fishing has been best around rocks and particularly in bays that form some protection from the seas.
The inedibles have favoured mackerel and redeye as a bait. There have been some good sandies landed as well as some big flatfish. The sea has been a bit warm, but the northeast winds should help drop the temperature.
Central – The Durban coast has seen consistent fishing with both edibles and inedibles being landed on most of the days.
The inedibles being caught have mainly been diamond rays and dusky grey sharks. The greys have required a bite trace and a smaller circle hook while the diamonds have needed a larger hook and bait.
The edibles have been much the same as the north coast with a lot of pompano being caught on the blue lagoon pier. Sea lice and prawns have been the best baits. The shad have been a bit quiet, but a drift bait has been very effective along most of the central coast.
South – The south coast has mainly been an edible fishing venue this past week. When the bigger seas come through, the south coast offers plenty of locations to duck away and find protection in the back bays and gullies. The area around Umkomaas has been particularly effective for kob. There have been a host of edible fish coming out on both fleshy and prawn baits. Chokka, sardine and prawns are the three baits to have in your box.
There have been bream, kob and some decent stumpies down south so pack your medium tackle and go have a jol with the scratching fish.
There have not been very many inedibles on the south coast reported.
Look at the beaches and points that allow access to the deeper water and launch a bait deep sea.
Freshwater:
Cold weather, clear water and stable conditions. The fishing has been tough but most of the facets have reported good results.
Bass – The mighty topwater frog bite has been wild. If your heart does not stop briefly when a bucket-mouth opens up underneath your topwater frog as you work it through the weeds, then you might need to check in at the local morgue…
Fishing with these frogs requires a rod with plenty of backbone but it must have a fast tip action to allow you to work the frog properly. to this a fast baitcaster so you can take up the line quickly. On to the line, braid is a must and 50lb is a minimum if you are going into the thicker weeds.
Inanda and Albert Falls have been producing in the back bays.
Carp – The carp fishing has shifted away from targeting numbers and instead is now focussed on the big specimens. This means longer hours waiting for a bite, but that bite could be a new personal best. This time of year, requires more thought and patience in all aspects from preparation to feeding your spot.
When specially targeting the bigger fish, try to make as little disturbance as possible as well as keeping a vigilant eye out for any action. The colder water sees the stronger flavours producing better results.
Trout – Cold and dry have been the conditions of late. The waters have been a degree or two around the 10 degrees Celsius. We are almost into river season, but we have not had much in the line of rains so clear and skinny is going to be what we have to start with.
The Stillwaters have been fishing a bit slow with windy conditions producing most of the bites. Determination has been the most effective method this past week so keep it up and enjoy the outdoors.
News in from Jan Korrubel, The Kingfisher in PMB – “After 2 weeks of moaning about the end-of-winter fishing with fish being either asleep or frozen stiff – or most likely, both! – we are happy to report that the fish came out of hiding this past weekend and there was some action to report on … at last! With frontal systems pushing up from the deep south, the barometer is still very much up and down, and if one was watching the pressure, one might actually have called it and stayed inside by the fireplace – but with events on the go this past weekend, those anglers were “forced” to be out and about, and the results speak for themselves … so let’s get into it.
A quick reminder that the trout river season reopens on 1 September – a mere 3 weeks away now, so start dusting off your “little tackle” and filling those fly boxes. For those dead keen on some moving water before the trout avail themselves, word is that there are scaly around on the both the Umkomaas and Tugela systems. Fish are few, but generally of a better class than of the summer run.
It would appear that the aforementioned weather patterns certainly put a damper on the Natal Fly Fishers Club anglers, as the returns were (very) few … in fact only 2 : one from late last week, and the other from the latter end of the weekend. The return from in the week reported some excellent fish, all in the 17-19 inch / 43-48cm class, and one fish in the 19-21 inch / 48-53cm class. This was of course prior to the frontal system that arrived mid-weekend, with the weekend anglers suffering the indignity of a null return for their efforts.
This weekend saw the long-awaited Finals of the TOPS Corporate Challenge taking place, with 68 TOP anglers of the three legs battling it out for the TOP spot. Fishing took place over 4 sessions on Friday and Saturday … all things started rosy with some great fish coming to hand on the 1st day. Of note, is that the Women in Waders ladies team were lying in 2nd place and the end of the 1st days fishing. Day 2 fishing slowed down with the incoming front and pressure drop, and unfortunately some blanks followed, and the ladies ended with a very creditable 6th place out of the 17 teams. By the narrowest of margins, the men’s team consisting of their respective other halves, barely pipped them, taking 5th place overall. Well-known local PMB angler Alistair Moores-Pitt, took home the trophy for biggest fish, which stretched the tape to 60cm / 23 inches and 57cm / 22 inches. TOP angler for the most fish went to Midlands-based Richard ‘Roo’ Bechard.
With the weekend also seeing a Joey’s Tournament Trail event on Albert Falls, the bass also came out to play. Fishing was reported “challenging but rewarding”. The team of Mark+Mark (MarkSquared!) from Rochester’s took the win with a bag of 9.4kg, with Down South (Martin de Kock) taking 2nd place, and Redline (Basil Mayne and Nic Lombard) completing the podium. Next local event on the calendar for this weekend is the PMB Bass Masters ‘Tiple Skins Challenge’ on Albert Falls, followed by the Albert Falls Classic Bass Tournament at the end of this month. Next Joey’s event is scheduled for September on Woodstock Dam”. Thanks Jan.
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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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