#AnglingReport: Grey sharks dominate surf, leaving anglers high and dry
Anglers eye estuaries for fishing action.
Grey sharks and sandbanks made for slim pickings this week. Local and South Coast surf anglers struggled to find fish, with only a few small shad caught at first light, then disappearing quickly. Grey sharks are moving in to feed in the surf, ensuring edible species make themselves scarce. One may as well just enjoy the sport or pack up and leave. Grey sharks should be returned unharmed to the water and not left to rot on the beach.
This time of year those fishing the rocky gullies fare best finding edibles. Although this has been a quiet period because of the rough seas, some copper bream came on the bite but information on locations were not widely shared. Prawns seem to be the preferred bait. A few stone bream and blacktail were also tagged and some areas are producing karranteen and some big pinkies. Tobies remain a nuisance.
There are plenty of garrick in local waters at present but I think only selected areas such as Chaka’s High Rock and Tinley Manor would be areas to persevere at. Offshore anglers in the Umgeni mouth area are catching most of the garrick. I’m sure that once the sea settles some of the popular garrick angling spots will still be sanded up, thus preventing fish from moving inshore in search of food.
It was mainly the Durban ski boat guys that were able to put to sea early last week, with most fishing the bottom. The target species were mainly salmon or kob, while daga provided some sport. Half kob are becoming more numerous and some geelbek were caught out deep by the larger charter craft. Because of the big swells, most skippers opted to fish the closer reefs.
Mackerel are thick at present, so live bait is no problem and, as mentioned before, the Blue Lagoon area produced most of the garrick, with some being caught along the Durban north backline areas.
Some anglers have reverted to stock up on bait for the coming summer season and this is not a bad idea considering the adverse fishing conditions. The mackerel and maasbanker will become very handy once the dorado and couta begin to arrive because fresh bait can become scarce during the summer gamefish season.
The winds will continue throughout this week, and coupled with the big swell at sea, I do not think anglers will be able wet their lines much. The estuaries may be worth looking at if one is desperate to cast a line.
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