Garrick success at Umkomaas

North

Kosi Bay was the spot to be over the last week, particularly towards the end of the week. Kingfish in the 20kg range as well as sand sharks up to 80kg were present in certain areas. With the water temperature hovering around the 22 degree range, edibles were feeding well and kept anglers busy for most of the week. The usual catches of stumpies, pompano and wave garrick were reported, along with a few nice rockcod being landed in the rocky areas. Anglers who treated themselves to some spinning in the northern KZN areas such as Kosi Bay and Maphelane had fun with smaller blacktip kingies and wave garrick. Anglers will begin to see more action in these areas with garrick and kob as the water temperature drops a few more degrees so get ready for a good season, as the boats have already started to catch daga salmon, or kob as it’s known to shore based anglers. Most anglers will prefer the use of soft plastics for kob, which include paddletails, jerk minnows and also curly tails. Anglers targeting garrick will prefer either plugs or a wide S-bend spoon. A slower retrieve with the spoons will not only attract the attention of garrick, but also kob, shad and also the odd kingfish. For the above mentioned species, no more than an 11ft medium action spinning rod like the Exceler Elite is needed. A rod with a 2-3oz casting capability and Triple Fish braided line between 20-30lb will suffice. A reel with a retrieve ratio between 6 or 7:1 is preferred but a slower 5:1 can be used with a few changes to the angler’s style of fishing. St Lucia has been one of the north coast’s best spots for kob, shad and garrick historically and is starting to show signs of increased activity with the winter species. Kob have started to show face in the last week and although not the biggest, have added excitement to many an angler waiting in anticipation. The shad have also been on the increase and anglers have also started to see slightly larger specimens being landed as well. Richards Bay north has been relatively quiet and apart from a few rockcod and stumpnose has seen very little action. This is also an area to target kob and gGarrick in the months to come, so be sure to keep an eye on reports to get in on the action. South of Richards Bay has been slightly more productive and has seen more shad, snapper salmon and also a few small kob. The odd bonefish and stumpnose has been seen in the area too. Ballito was a bit difficult to fish due to the sea conditions, which resulted in a lack of reports from anglers. Grey sharks and bonefish were the only two species reported this week. The grey sharks have been larger than before and have fought well, indicating an abundance of baitfish in the water which they have been feeding on.  

Central

Umhlanga Lighthouse had an average week with only grey sharks in the evenings and the odd shad about. Virginia is where things start to heat up slightly, producing a number of pompano, snapper salmon and the odd small kob.  Towards the end of the week when the sea got big, reports dropped and many anglers decided to fish elsewhere. Blue Lagoon has seen its fair share of shad and smaller grunter at random times of the day, both on sardine baits. Mackerel has also been accountable for a few catches of grey sharks during the evenings. Durban piers have only managed to produce the odd stumpnose and shad in the beginning of the week. Anstey’s Beach on the Bluff produced a few larger shad in the mornings with some slightly cooler water moving through. These shad have been a little larger than the shad caught in the Durban area.

South

Toti was lucky enough to see a few shad and stumpnose throughout the week, as well as some Natal snoek for the anglers spinning.
Winkelspruit had quite a few undersized shad being caught towards the beginning of the week, along with a few brown skates late in the afternoon. Scottburgh saw a few grey sharks on live blacktail, mackerel and also shad baits. Spinning enthusiasts had some snoek action in the mornings as well as one kingfish reported at 4kg. Umkomaas has had a few grunter, small kob, snapper salmon and the beginning of the garrick with a small specimen of 4kg. Port Shepstone was another spot which had few fish, and apart from the few bronze bream, shad and grey sharks, nothing much was reported. The Transkei coast had some good kob coming through, along with some better garrick and sharks.

Reminder - Quattro King of the Sea at Pumula on the KZN south coast this weekend.

Andre Bloem and Cell C Sharks flanker, Jean Deysel, will both be fishing in the annual deep sea fishing contest.

Natal snoek, wahoo, couta and yellowfin tuna are the target species at Quattro.

(File Photo: Gallo Images)

Twitter - @SportswaveAndre @kingfisherdaiwa