Fishing Report - Wahoo at Aliwal Shoal
We have been told of wahoo success on live bonito at Aliwal Shoal off the KZN south coast over the past week.
North
Despite reports of unsettled seas from our north coast, a fair amount of boats managed to launch and return with fish too. Most fish being caught include couta of the larger variety, caught in a depth of 30m or less. These have been landed on live bait with sparse dusters or even just green beads due to the clean water having moved in. In this clean water extra precaution is to be taken when tying leaders. An extra-long fluorocarbon leader of 8m or more should be used, of plus minus 0.60mm. This will increase bites drastically. Other species include sailfish, tuna and wahoo, also caught on live bait and Rattlers 160 Shallow divers. Zinkwazi is on fire with the couta at the moment and reports of fish between 15-25kg have been common.
Central
The tuna have been less plentiful than expected, which is a change from last year in these months. Westbrook and surrounding areas have been fishing really well and have seen the lion’s share of couta recently, which have all been over 10kg. Many larger fish around the 20kg mark have been taxed by sharks close to the boat. However, there have still been some good reports of these fish being landed. Over the last week a few tuna over 15kg were reported being landed off kayaks around the Umhlanga Barge or Containers. Although the sharks have been an issue, anglers are still getting their trip's worth by passing the Barge. Once again, clean water calls for fluorocarbon. Couta have been a popular catch over the last week too, seeing many an angler through their dry spells.
South
Aliwal Shoal is still the number one wahoo supplier this time of year and more have been landed over the last week on live bonito. There has been an abundance of bait offshore and the fish seem to be holding tight to the bait shoals, following the blue and warmer water.
(File Photo: Caroll Hermann)
Twitter - @SportswaveAndre
Despite reports of unsettled seas from our north coast, a fair amount of boats managed to launch and return with fish too. Most fish being caught include couta of the larger variety, caught in a depth of 30m or less. These have been landed on live bait with sparse dusters or even just green beads due to the clean water having moved in. In this clean water extra precaution is to be taken when tying leaders. An extra-long fluorocarbon leader of 8m or more should be used, of plus minus 0.60mm. This will increase bites drastically. Other species include sailfish, tuna and wahoo, also caught on live bait and Rattlers 160 Shallow divers. Zinkwazi is on fire with the couta at the moment and reports of fish between 15-25kg have been common.
Central
The tuna have been less plentiful than expected, which is a change from last year in these months. Westbrook and surrounding areas have been fishing really well and have seen the lion’s share of couta recently, which have all been over 10kg. Many larger fish around the 20kg mark have been taxed by sharks close to the boat. However, there have still been some good reports of these fish being landed. Over the last week a few tuna over 15kg were reported being landed off kayaks around the Umhlanga Barge or Containers. Although the sharks have been an issue, anglers are still getting their trip's worth by passing the Barge. Once again, clean water calls for fluorocarbon. Couta have been a popular catch over the last week too, seeing many an angler through their dry spells.
South
Aliwal Shoal is still the number one wahoo supplier this time of year and more have been landed over the last week on live bonito. There has been an abundance of bait offshore and the fish seem to be holding tight to the bait shoals, following the blue and warmer water.
(File Photo: Caroll Hermann)
Twitter - @SportswaveAndre