Good fishing at Snake Park Pier

Kosi Bay – This area has had some good fishing, but only in the protected bays, with very little to no fishing at all being done in the surf. Smaller stumpies and grunter were landed on running traces with heavier sinkers, using chokka and red prawn baits. There have been a few catches of speckled snapper just south of Kosi off the ledges.

Cape Vidal - Shad have been on the bite on the high tide in the bay at Cape Vidal, although most have been undersized, there have been a few that made pan size. Reports of a kob or two from north of Vidal in front of the sandbanks have been reported.

Richards Bay - The odd kob and garrick have been landed on the ever so plentiful shad off the North Pier. Most kob have been landed on shad cutlet or shad head. Garrick have been landed on live shad slide baits.

Tugela - This spot has been a whirlpool of rough seas, but despite the conditions, some decent fish have been landed. Off the southern rocks anglers have caught a variety of species ranging from sharks to stumpies, with the major species being grey sharks.

Ballito - If it is grey sharks and blue rays that you are after, then Ballito is the place to go. Most points and beaches have been producing these fish even in the rough seas. Remember to use a bite trace of 80lb nylon coated Fishmate when throwing your chokka and red-eye baits to avoid being bitten off, as there have been plenty of grey sharks around. Be sure to watch out when handling blue rays as most of them are heavily pregnant and have been known to give birth once landed. Be sure not to drag these heavy females over the rocks and make sure that they are not flipped over onto their backs as this will kill the young. Please make it a priority to release these fish back to the water as quickly as possible.

Blue Lagoon - Most of the sea around Blue Lagoon has been relatively unproductive over the last week as the sea picked up. The weekend saw very few anglers trying their luck and the only species to report has been shad which have been few and far between.

Durban - This area, being the only real protected grounds in the Westerly winds we have been experiencing, seems to have been the best spot. Anglers off the piers had a great time with some shad and grunter.  Plenty of fish came out from the Snake Park Pier in the evenings, mostly shad, stumpies and grey sharks. Thekwini beaches produced some large grunter on red-eye baits fished on Mustad Chinu size 2/0 hooks. This hook is perfect for these fish due to the needle sharp point and thin gauge wire for easy penetration. uShaka Beach stretch produced grey sharks and blue rays in the beginning of the week.

Bluff - Big seas and strong winds stopped most fishing in this area. In the more protected areas the anglers using smaller baits managed to hook into good size bronze bream on red prawn baits. Along with the bronzies came the zebras and even a few smaller brusher. Generally at this stage of the year anglers using crab or mussels as bait will start landing brusher more frequently.  Be sure to use a strong hook such as a Mustad Hoodlum, Big Gun or the trusty Kendal Round.

(File Photo:Gallo Images)

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