Fishing Report - Richards Bay grunter action
We have heard of good fishing in Richards Bay harbour over the past week.
Richards Bay harbour was in form in the strong westerly winds this past week and saw dozens of good edibles coming out for both boaters and anglers fishing from the side. Grunter in the 2kg range were common, as well as stumpnose and perch. All of these were landed on cracker shrimp.
The area from upper Salt Rock to lower Ballito was among the more popular of spots and saw many anglers as well as many fish. The best approach in a rough sea is sometimes to downscale completely and to scratch in the gullies, instead of fishing in the rough seas where the sanded up waters can have a negative impact on the fishing. Fish do not like sand in their gills and nor do they enjoy low visibility conditions which render them easy targets to predators. In the gullies the list of predators is substantially lower and visibility is much higher due to the lack of sand. A small prawn bait in the gullies will produce a variety of species from blacktail to stumpnose, rockcod and even shad at times.
Umhlanga also saw anglers scratching for smaller fish at the Lighthouse. A variety of edibles were taken there, as well as a few grey sharks and the odd lesser sandshark.
Blue Lagoon saw some huge seas and was unfishable for the majority of the week. When the sea did start to settle the fish did come back onto the bite in the cleaner water and anglers saw a few shad, bonito and even a pompano or two.
Durban beaches have been another spot for anglers to congregate in these strong southwest winds, as the Bluff and interior of Durban acts as a shield and helps calm the seas in the basin. The fishing does however suffer a bit in the southwest and edibles were the bulk of the catch. Anglers found themselves catching a fair amount of grunter, stumpnose, pompano and a handful of grey sharks.
The Bluff fished very well and had anglers stocking up on bait daily. Prawn and squid mix baits produced many an edible and anglers willing to put up with the conditions were rewarded greatly. In the beginning of the week a few anglers had good success with the blacktip kingfish on live bait, but the prolonged westerly combined with the dwindling live bait availability meant that this would soon come to an end.
Toti had another small shad run, but anglers soon left and set off to find calmer waters to fish.
Umkomaas was a washing machine and saw few fish apart from a few brown rays and snapper salmon.
Scottburgh had some lovely clean water moving though thanks to the westerly, but unfortunately suffered from rough seas. Grey sharks, pompano, grunter and smaller edibles were the only fish around for the majority of the week.
(File Photo: Gallo Images)
Twitter - @kingfisherdaiwa @SportswaveAndre
The area from upper Salt Rock to lower Ballito was among the more popular of spots and saw many anglers as well as many fish. The best approach in a rough sea is sometimes to downscale completely and to scratch in the gullies, instead of fishing in the rough seas where the sanded up waters can have a negative impact on the fishing. Fish do not like sand in their gills and nor do they enjoy low visibility conditions which render them easy targets to predators. In the gullies the list of predators is substantially lower and visibility is much higher due to the lack of sand. A small prawn bait in the gullies will produce a variety of species from blacktail to stumpnose, rockcod and even shad at times.
Umhlanga also saw anglers scratching for smaller fish at the Lighthouse. A variety of edibles were taken there, as well as a few grey sharks and the odd lesser sandshark.
Blue Lagoon saw some huge seas and was unfishable for the majority of the week. When the sea did start to settle the fish did come back onto the bite in the cleaner water and anglers saw a few shad, bonito and even a pompano or two.
Durban beaches have been another spot for anglers to congregate in these strong southwest winds, as the Bluff and interior of Durban acts as a shield and helps calm the seas in the basin. The fishing does however suffer a bit in the southwest and edibles were the bulk of the catch. Anglers found themselves catching a fair amount of grunter, stumpnose, pompano and a handful of grey sharks.
The Bluff fished very well and had anglers stocking up on bait daily. Prawn and squid mix baits produced many an edible and anglers willing to put up with the conditions were rewarded greatly. In the beginning of the week a few anglers had good success with the blacktip kingfish on live bait, but the prolonged westerly combined with the dwindling live bait availability meant that this would soon come to an end.
Toti had another small shad run, but anglers soon left and set off to find calmer waters to fish.
Umkomaas was a washing machine and saw few fish apart from a few brown rays and snapper salmon.
Scottburgh had some lovely clean water moving though thanks to the westerly, but unfortunately suffered from rough seas. Grey sharks, pompano, grunter and smaller edibles were the only fish around for the majority of the week.
(File Photo: Gallo Images)
Twitter - @kingfisherdaiwa @SportswaveAndre