Durban snapper salmon action

Kosi Bay - This area has had a good few sessions with plenty of fish being caught. As expected for this time of year, there are reports of various kingfish which are being landed on bait as well as heavier spinning tackle. Ideally, use an 11' or 11'6" spinning rod with a fairly substantial backbone to it, such as the Daiwa Exceler Elite which boasts a 4oz casting capability. Not only does the Elite cast like a dream, but has enough pulling power to stop almost anything that decides to challenge it. To complement the Elite, a perfect reel for the outfit would have to be the trusty Daiwa Exceler Oceano 4500j which has been one of the most reliable reels released since the BG range. With the ability to hold over 300m of Triple Fish Gatorbraid 33lb, or 300m perfectly of Saltiga 55lb braid, it has the line capacity to suit its abilities. For the KZN north coast, an outfit of this level will be ideal for throwing plugs, drop-shot or spoons for kingfish, or even as a scratching outfit when targeting edibles of any size, including pompano, stumpies and snapper which are biting at the moment.

Cape Vidal - This area has been busy and many of the youngsters have been making lifelong memories fishing in the shallows with light outfits for wave garrick and moonies. Richards Bay has been a bit offbeat recently and has not produced the goods as much as the surrounding areas. Hopefully with the good weather on its way we will see an increase in catches. The only reports from this area have been of spinner sharks and grey sharks.

Zinkwazi - Reports from here have been first class. Ballito and Salt Rock saw some good grey sharks up to 20kg which gave anglers using spinning tackle much joy into the night. Good numbers of shad have also been around and have been fairly easy to catch. La Mercy also produced good grey sharks on bloody baits such as shad cutlets or Japanese mackerel clusters.

Durban - The Umhlanga area and several other popular spots have been taken over by holiday makers and some have managed to rack up a few brown skates and small grey sharks. Blue Lagoon is starting to look better for shad in the mornings, but with the morning tide being low this week, anglers may need to wait for the high water mornings to catch a fair amount of fish. The Beachfront and piers have both been relatively consistent with catches of shad, stumpies, grunter and a few pompano as well. Sandsharks have been landed on bigger fleshy baits on the Addington Beach stretch. In the uShaka area, there have been large concentrations of snapper salmon which have fed on almost any bait in the water.

Bluff - For those who have been considering going down to the Bluff for a spinning session, some motivation has come in the form of a 16kg GT caught on a chartreuse and white Kingfisher Buck Tail Jig by an angler targeting smaller big-eye and blacktip kingies.  This is an extraordinary catch as the angler was severely under gunned with only 20lb braid and a 9ft Daiwa Exceler Saltwater spinning rod.

Amanzimtoti - Toti and Warner Beach have had some good catches of shad and smaller rock species.  In the right conditions, a number of brown skates and smaller sandsharks were landed too.

Umkomaas - Further south in the Umkomaas area, there have been good reports of sandsharks and brown skates at the river mouth with good catches of edibles as well. We have also had reports from numerous anglers about some bigger grunter and snapper salmon around the river mouth.

(File Photo: Gallo Images)

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