Big shad eating mackerel
We have been told of anglers catching big shad on mackerel baits in KZN this past week.
On the north coast over the last week it has been all about the flatfish. Sandsharks, honeycombs, diamonds and brown rays have been on the loose and have been caught throughout the week, but were most active on Tuesday and Wednesday. This has been the case from Kosi Bay all the way down to around Zinkwazi, but particularly in the Zululand areas. As usual, the larger fish are coming out on fresh shad head or cutlets, with second best being fresh mackerel. As far as edibles go, there have been few reports apart from the odd stumpnose, pompano and wave garrick. Shad are still coming out in certain areas, but the size of these fish on the north coast have been far smaller than that of the ones being caught on the south coast. This is fine for most anglers who are looking to keep a few for bait (remember the 30cm size limit).
At Richards Bay the diamond rays have been keeping anglers busy and have been targeted heavily after two or more days of the NE winds. There have been good reports of stumpnose around Richards Bay, most of which have been caught on sealice or small chokka baits. There have been a fair amount of sharks around lately, mainly smaller Zambezi sharks, spinner sharks, blackfin sharks and the odd raggie too. Sandsharks have been plentiful in most areas, but particularly in the Mtunzini area.
South of Richards Bay, the milkies have been out of control and feeding on any bait available. The shad are making a nuisance of themselves at times too, cleaning most of the baits off larger traces.
Zinkwazi remains unbeaten in producing some good sized sandsharks over the last week. Most of these have been caught on shad head and mackerel. Amazingly there are still a few garrick in the Zinkwazi area which have been caught on live shad.
At Tinley Manor there have been a few Natal Snoek coming out in the cleaner water, a few shad and also some nice sandsharks at night.
Just over a week into shad madness and the catches are excellent. Numerous catches of shad between 1kg and 5kg have been reported including a beast of a fish weighing in at 8kg. It was caught by Cosy Govender off High Rocks in Ballito. Anglers have had great success with a variety of methods and baits, but one bait has stuck out like a sore thumb and has been getting plenty of attention. Mackerel is not a usual bait for shad, but has recently been noticed as one of the most successful baits for the larger shad in the recent weeks. A conventional trace is used as would be used for sardine and the same rigging style. Either a fillet can be used or a whole mackerel if it is small enough. This bait stays on the hook longer and seems to get the attention of the larger fish.
(File Photo: Gallo Images)
Twitter - @SportswaveAndre @ECRSportswave @kingfisherdaiwa
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At Richards Bay the diamond rays have been keeping anglers busy and have been targeted heavily after two or more days of the NE winds. There have been good reports of stumpnose around Richards Bay, most of which have been caught on sealice or small chokka baits. There have been a fair amount of sharks around lately, mainly smaller Zambezi sharks, spinner sharks, blackfin sharks and the odd raggie too. Sandsharks have been plentiful in most areas, but particularly in the Mtunzini area.
South of Richards Bay, the milkies have been out of control and feeding on any bait available. The shad are making a nuisance of themselves at times too, cleaning most of the baits off larger traces.
Zinkwazi remains unbeaten in producing some good sized sandsharks over the last week. Most of these have been caught on shad head and mackerel. Amazingly there are still a few garrick in the Zinkwazi area which have been caught on live shad.
At Tinley Manor there have been a few Natal Snoek coming out in the cleaner water, a few shad and also some nice sandsharks at night.
Just over a week into shad madness and the catches are excellent. Numerous catches of shad between 1kg and 5kg have been reported including a beast of a fish weighing in at 8kg. It was caught by Cosy Govender off High Rocks in Ballito. Anglers have had great success with a variety of methods and baits, but one bait has stuck out like a sore thumb and has been getting plenty of attention. Mackerel is not a usual bait for shad, but has recently been noticed as one of the most successful baits for the larger shad in the recent weeks. A conventional trace is used as would be used for sardine and the same rigging style. Either a fillet can be used or a whole mackerel if it is small enough. This bait stays on the hook longer and seems to get the attention of the larger fish.
(File Photo: Gallo Images)
Twitter - @SportswaveAndre @ECRSportswave @kingfisherdaiwa
Facebook - ECRSportswave