There were mixed results from local and Durban offshore anglers as the sea conditions were not always favourable, with most catches recorded from the bottom reefs.
Soldiers, slingers and rockcod made up most catches but a few daga salmon and half kob were also caught. The guys fishing at night hauled in some geelbek salmon.
Anglers fishing the backline continue to catch garrick on live bait and soft plastic lures, with the best areas reported to be from the Umgeni mouth up to the Umhlanga lighthouse.
Good catches were also recorded at the Tongaat River mouth. Catches of snoek seem to have eased off a bit though.
The rocky areas seem to be producing the most fish for the shore anglers, with copper bream and blacktail on the bite.
Copper bream seem to be entrenched along the entire coastline at present. Anglers fishing the rocky gullies for bronzies have also seen the odd brusher making an appearance.
The low sea water temperature has been ideal for the bronzies and brusher, but this week anglers may struggle a bit because of the winds forecast from the north and from the south.
Shad catches remain low, even on the South Coast. The odd big shad of between 3-4 kilos were caught but they are few and far between.
I have seen photos of good-sized shad on the bite at St Lucia and one would assume the shad are bypassing the local coastline for some reason.
Raw sewage being pumped into the sea could be one reason why the shad are not moving close to the beaches to feed during the early morning periods.
Normally at this time of the year the backline areas are teeming with small shad.
Anglers fishing at night are also doing fairly well with grunter, big stumpies and the odd big daga salmon being reeled int. Peckers have been a problem at times but this is normal for this period of the year when tobies suddenly appear in the surf.
Apparently anglers have had to dig deep at times when fishing in the dark, especially when the cold weather moved in and the fishing was slow.
Those fishing from the early evening say grey sharks remain a menace, shredding every bait in the water.
Early season rays and sands sharks seem to have gone a little quiet after appearing and providing excellent sport recently, and this may be because of the cold water.
The northern areas will now be targeted for those looking for big rays and sand sharks. As soon as the weather begins to warm up these fish will likely return.
At present the Tugela mouth is producing some really nice daga salmon plus the odd pompano, and St Lucia is also producing some salmon, grunter and shad in the early morning.
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