Toti anglers stack up on shad

Kosi Bay - This area has surprised many anglers during last week's smash up of edibles and non edibles which took place during the end of the week and over the weekend. Nothing exciting as far as species count goes, but the sheer numbers themselves were enough to cause huge excitement amongst the anglers who were lucky enough to find themselves at Kosi. 

Dozens of reports of edibles in the lakes were received from a number of anglers who tried out the lighter tackle, with the major species being Kingfish and Rock Salmon all on Strike Pro Thai Stick top water baits and the Halco Rooster Poppers. Some fairly large GT's have also been landed on live baits on the surface. On the surf side, all of the expected species showed face, but Bonefish, Kingfish and Blackfin Sharks came out tops for this week.  

Cape Vidal - also had good reports of Kingfish, and although not as large as the trophies up north, made decent size and made up for it in numbers. Many fish were caught on McArthy drop shot lures of the 5" variation; including some good Black Tip Kingies and some good sized GT's.  Small Chokka baits and Mackerel baits managed to land a large number of Sand Sharks on the sand banks during the day and in the evenings.
 
Richards Bay - Reported catches of Honeycombs and Diamond Rays with a fair amount of Raggies at night too. Many anglers have been successful using Mustad Demon circle hooks for all of the above mentioned species but in particular the Raggies which have been targeted with these hooks for a number of years already. The areas south of Richards Bay have also fished particularly well and many fishermen have spent hours on the beach landing countless Milk Sharks,  good sized Diamonds, Honeycombs and even some very nice Grunter on lighter running sinker traces. When the Grunter are on the bite, be careful to present your baits very well and make sure that only the best Mustad hooks are used, this will increase your catch rate.

Ballito - In the Ballito area the reports of inedibles have been impressive, mainly Sand Sharks, Brown Skates and smaller species if Sharks such as Milk Sharks and Grey Sharks. Sheffield has been quiet recently, but anglers who have persisted with the spinning have managed to land a handful of Snoek and Kingies from the rocks fishing into deeper water. Most of these fish have been caught on McArthy drop shot and small spoons. 

Umhlanga - Umhlanga and areas south of the Light House had good catches of Blacktail, Stumpies and Grey Sharks throughout the day and Grey Sharks into the evenings.  The bait of choice has been Chokka and Prawn baits. 

Local - Blue Lagoon had anglers bending with Shad for the majority of the week, on bait cast out on the high tide. Smaller flat fish were also caught on the weekend by anglers using the new range of Poseidon Coastline 12'6" Medium action rods. This range of rods really packs a punch and is surprisingly affordable. Durban Piers and beachfront have both been good to our anglers recently and have produced fish all week.  Shad have been landed consistently throughout the week too, by anglers using bait on the high tide. Fishing early mornings produced many fish on glow foam top bungs with Japanese Mackerel.  Snapper Salmon have also been taking most smaller baits in the shallows. 

Bluff - On the Bluff side, the usual suspects, the Black Tip Kingies, have been very active and managed to be landed only on heavier tackle such as the Daiwa Saltist 4500 or 6500 spinning reels with 80lb Sunline Super PE braid which is excellent against the bricks. 

Toti - Toti anglers stacked up their Shad catches, which were unfortunately smaller than before but still fun nonetheless.  Other edibles in the Toti/Warner beach area include Stumpies, Stone Bream, Rock Cod and also some nice Grunter. It is nice to see that a lot of these fish have been released to fight another day. A good option for your hook selection when it comes to catch and release is the Mustad Demon circle fine wire, which is strong enough for most fish but still fine-gauged enough to penetrate like no other. 

Scottburgh - Scottburgh Point was quiet compared to its surrounding areas but still managed to keep anglers busy with a few good inedibles and some nice Stumpies too.  An angler using slide Chokka was given a proper hiding straight into the nets fishing off the pool. There seems to be some larger fish around which will surely be landed in the weeks to come.  

Transkei - Further down the coast at Port St John's, the Kob and Garrick have slowed down substantially but the Kob are still the main target species, being caught on most days. Live baits are working very well and accounted for most of the catches.  Back to back Mustad Hoodlum hooks have been deadly for this rig. Most reports from the Transkei region consist of large edibles such as Kob or Garrick with some lovely rock species being caught as well. Larger Sharks have been targeted flat out and without doubt has been the most productive spot along our entire coast.

(File photo)