Garrick eating pinkies in KZN
Big seas and strong winds have made for average fishing on the North Coast over the last week. The species that has stood out and made the most appearances over the last week has been the garrick. Believed to actually enjoy the rough conditions, garrick will take a live bait off backline in almost any conditions. For anglers who may struggle to believe this, then last week's catches should be evidence enough. Anglers were successful at every river mouth or garrick hot-spot from Cape Vidal down to Blue Lagoon, even though anglers were unable to position themselves close to the backline due to the swell size. Pinkies have been the bait of choice and this has been the hardest part of the outing, as anglers have had to find these tasty critters on the shallow bait marks. In the deeper waters, some anglers managed a few tuna on Rattlers and small Konas.
Blue Lagoon saw some terrible conditions last week, but the fishable days did produce a few Natal snoek. Once again, Strike Pro Magic Minnows and Sprat spoons did the trick. There has not been a presence of bait closer in on backline besides shad, which means that the snoek could be holding deeper in search for smaller sprats. Jetski anglers had fun with tuna off Number One, pulling Rattlers and fishing with live mackerel, which have been found in abundance near the South Pier. Geelbek have been caught on the good days, but the weather has not permitted many fishable days.
On the South Coast, there have been a few kingfish which have been caught on smaller artificials in the shallows. These smaller GTs and blacktip kingies seem to prefer the smaller lures such as Rattler Poppers, small Halco Rooster Poppers, Strike Pro Thai Sticks and also small drop-shot lures. Aliwal Shoal is producing one or two smaller yellowfin tuna, mostly between 5-7kg. The tuna should start to become more abundant in the Shelly Beach/Aliwal Shoal area from this point, so stock up on Rattlers now and beat the sharks.
(File Photo:Freespool)
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