Anglers along the Kwa Zulu Natal coastline reported reasonably good fishing from Monday to Wednesday, after which the fish went off the bite along the entire coastline.
Bad weather on Wednesday caused the sudden slump and the strong south-westerly on Saturday morning made sea conditions unfishable.
Before this local anglers mainly targeted copper bream, with the La Mercy area proving to be a popular venue.
Although some good-sized bronzies were caught, the fishing was said to be a little slow with anglers having to be patient in between bites. Other species being caught among the rocks at present are stone bream and the smaller karranteen and blacktail. Every now and then the odd lantern bream and spade fish move in to feed.
In the La Mercy area, a few really nice zebras have been caught, especially in the lower rocky areas, plus the odd stumpie. The stumpies feed mainly at night. Prawn is the most popular bait being used at present but some anglers prefer rock bait and mussels.
A number of sizeable brusher came out down south and the heavy seas may just hurry these fish along into local waters, so anglers who target these fish should go for it when the sea settles. Brusher enjoy rough surf conditions though, so a live crab or craytail could produce good results.
Unfortunately, anglers do not have a large choice of venues these days when planning night fishing trips but the Ballito area is probably one of the safer venues and Salmon Bay has produced some decent catches at times.
Local rock and surf anglers could consider a trip to Durban Bay to target the grunter that is on the bite at present, with big fish weighing up to 7kg being caught. Along with the grunter, anglers have also found snapper salmon plus small kingfish on the bite. I believe some garrick have been caught in the bay by anglers using live mullet baits. Mullet are plentiful in the bay at present. The only problem with fishing in the bay these days is the water quality which leaves a lot to be desired at times.
The water has warmed a little and the early-season summer flatfish are slowly arriving with the odd diamond ray already caught and released. Up north there have been reports of one or two big sand sharks being landed as well, while along the local beaches small grey sharks are becoming more numerous. It is great fun catching and releasing them and late afternoon are the best times to target these fish.
Westbrook is a favourite spot for anglers targeting the sharks, with areas south of Salmon Bay especially a great venue to target salmon and stumpies at night.
Offshore anglers have found baitfish are “full-up” at the popular bait spots, but so are the garrick. Anglers fishing these areas report that all one needs to do is put a live bait into the water and this will guarantee a garrick. Garrick were also caught on u-zuri lures last week and I believe the fishing has been hectic at times.
With the availability of mossies and mackerel at present, it could be time to stock up with fresh bait, especially when the sea is rough out deep. Fresh bait really comes in handy when the fish are back on the bite and especially when the dorado arrive, which should be quite soon.
Apparently bottom fishing was a bit patchy last week with just a few decent fish caught but this could have been because of the changing conditions at sea.
Some anglers tested the deep reefs and then returned inshore to fish for garrick. The odd big queenfish was caught as well. I think it is going to take a couple of days before the swell drops enough to allow trips out deep, so filling up with bait could be the way to go.
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