#FishEagle: Durban surf anglers reap shad and garrick bounty

The sardines mostly moved out of reach last week but nets were taken up at Pennington and Umgababa. Large shoals were also observed moving north of Amanzimtoti.

One or two small nets of mixed baitfish were netted but just when it was thought the sardine run was over on the South Coast, a small net was landed at Shelley beach.

This year’s run was, unfortunately, marred by the deaths of one of the netters and one of his crew early in the season.

Pockets of sardines continue to be seen moving north in the deeper waters of the North Coast but the windy conditions will make spotting them difficult in the rough seas.

There remains the possibility of sardines suddenly appearing close inshore somewhere along the coastline.

A colleague fishing the lower South Coast using light tackle at various venues last week, said he enjoyed some excellent catches on every outing.

He caught shad during every early morning session but put most of his catches back in the water as they were just measuring over the limit size.

In rocky gullies he also found karranteen to be plentiful, many quite large. There were also a number of big salmon or kob caught and anglers fishing with live bait caught garrick almost cast for cast.

Surf anglers fishing in Durban and along the Durban North beaches also enjoyed some excellent fishing, catching a variety of edible fish.

Shad seemed to have been the main target with Blue Lagoon proving to be a popular venue also producing a number of garrick. Blue Lagoon is a well-known garrick angling spot as live bait can be caught in the area as well.

The Durban North beaches of Glenashley and the wreck at La Lucia also fished fairly well with shad plus a few garrick and the odd stumpie being caught. The surf conditions were favourable for surf angling almost the entire week and the early mornings at first light plus the early evenings proving to be the best angling times.

Anglers fishing at Tinley Manor found the shad on the bite reminiscent of historical times, with areas such as Salt Rock and Chaka’s High Rock also producing.

The Tongaat River mouth was a popular venue as usual producing a few shad and a number of good-sized garrick.

Sardines passing by out of sight from the beach probably had an effect on the fishing and the catches will improve once the sardines disappear and the fish begin searching for food again.

Offshore anglers fishing the backline have found snoek to be plentiful again with garrick coming out off the Umgeni River mouth. Snoek are really plentiful this year and the movement of sardines seems to have increased their numbers.

Further north offshore anglers are catching some really big snoek, with Richards Bay very active. Although the offshore anglers are encountering pockets of sardines, fishing on the bottom is producing excellent results with half-kob plentiful at present. A number of daga salmon are also being caught along with the usual rockcod and red fish species.

Unfortunately bumpy seas caused by this week’s winds will make offshore fishing uncomfortable but by the end of the week the offshore conditions are predicted to be good again.

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