Big prizes for Durban Ski Boat Festival
Many boats have been on the water practicing for the upcoming events, the first of which being the much anticipated Durban Ski Boat Festival which is hosted by the Durban Ski Boat Club on 26 and 27 of April.
First prize for this competition is the all new Seacat 520 with 2x60hp Yamaha Motors and trailer valued at R350 000. All it takes is the biggest Couta of the weekend. Time to stock up on Walla Walla and Mackerel - good baits for the large couta you will almost certainly need to win.
Over the last week the North East winds have made fishing on a ski boat extremely uncomfortable, if not impossible. There were few gaps to fish, but anglers took advantage when possible. With the winds blowing for this long and as strong as they have been, the water becomes very choppy and off-coloured. This will cause most fish to move off in search of cleaner water.
Our entire coast line from Vidal to Protea Banks has been effected by this and fishing has been difficult throughout. There have, however, been fish landed in dribs and drabs. Some big Yellowfin Tuna have been landed off Durban on live baits, but there are a lot of Sharks taxing most catches. The one species which doesn't mind off coloured water and has been caught by many is our Natal Snoek.
Snoek have a keen sense of smell and can locate a fillet strip bait in the dirty water, which has been the most popular presentation so far. There have been a handful of Couta which have been landed in the cleaner patches of water off Seabelle and Umdloti, mainly on Mackerel and Walla Walla.
Blue Lagoon has been working for most, with plenty of Snoek coming out on Blue Dusters. This may be due to the dirty water. Strike Pro lures have also got a few bites. Further down the South Coast near Green Point there have been good catches of Couta off both kayaks and boats. Bottom fishing has been good recently, with many winter species moving through. Large shoals of Geelbek have arrived with the colder water. Durban wrecks and the table top area have produced good catches of Geelbek over the last week.
(File Photo:Gallo Images)
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