Grunter action at Umkomaas
We have been told of grunter action at Umkomaas over the past week. These fish have been caught on both cracker shrimp and chokka baits.
North
With the record breaking rains we have experienced over the last week, fishing has been more than difficult, it has been close to impossible. The rains have come down and even up till now the surf zone has been chocolate brown and has had a huge amount of trees, hyacinth and rubbish as far as the eye can see. Luckily over the last few days, things are looking up and have made for half decent fishing conditions. Amongst one of the very few spots which produced fish over the last week, Kosi Bay was good to anglers and out-fished all areas along our coastline. Chokka baits with a hint of prawn added to the mix was the bait responsible for many of the catches along this stretch. Wave garrick, bonefish, pompano and various rockcod species were seen throughout the week. Cape Vidal had some good catches of wave garrick as well as two good sized blackfin sharks. The larger sharks were all caught on larger slide baits. Richards Bay has been quiet with nothing more than a few shad and smaller kob being caught at night. Garrick were spotted by divers slightly deeper off backline, but have been slow to the bite. Ballito had only some very few shad coming through, some of which were of decent size and were caught early in the mornings. Pompano have been caught throughout the week around midday on sealice or chokka baits. During the evenings, the odd shad and grey shark of around 8-10kg were caught.
Central
Umhlanga saw some very large fish that were hooked, but unable to be landed on Sunday evening when the water settled a bit, possibly some larger sharks coming through the dirty water. Shad are making a positive appearance and have been present early in the mornings. Durban had a good run of shad during the nights and most days. Strange enough, anglers fishing off the Piers also managed to hook into some decent Pompano during the evenings too which is very unusual. Pompano, usually day-time feeders, have been caught on sealice and sardine fillet baits during the evenings by anglers targeting stumpies. Anglers fishing for shad off the piers have had good success with a glow stick tied on just above their sardine fillets, as well as with the double hook traces.
South
Toti has been very quiet, with only small shad, stumpnose and the odd garrick being seen occasionally. However, fishable days have been limited to one or two at most. Live shad has been the best bait for these garrick so far. Umkomaas had shad feeding all day throughout the fishable days, although most have been undersize. Grunter have been caught on the low tide near the mouth on cracker and smaller chokka baits. Scottburgh Point had only a few grey sharks at night on mackerel head. Nyoni Rocks and Shad Place had a bit of a decent run for some anglers. Port Shepstone had an average week with a few kob and garrick coming out, with plenty of Shad 24/7. Port St John's north had a decent week with a few good sized brusher being taken, along with kob, garrick and bronze bream on a regular basis. Port St John's south saw some very large sharks during the week, of which very few were landed due to the sheer size and strength of these fish. Mazeppa Bay is fishing very well and can be expected to fish well in the week to come, producing plenty of kob, sharks, garrick and other edibles such as brusher and bronze bream. After the bad weather, rough seas and chocolate water, anglers can look forward to some great fishing, including some Natal snoek, kob, sharks and other species which enjoy a bit of colour in the water.
(File Photo: Gallo Images)
Twitter - @kingfisherdaiwa @SportswaveAndre
With the record breaking rains we have experienced over the last week, fishing has been more than difficult, it has been close to impossible. The rains have come down and even up till now the surf zone has been chocolate brown and has had a huge amount of trees, hyacinth and rubbish as far as the eye can see. Luckily over the last few days, things are looking up and have made for half decent fishing conditions. Amongst one of the very few spots which produced fish over the last week, Kosi Bay was good to anglers and out-fished all areas along our coastline. Chokka baits with a hint of prawn added to the mix was the bait responsible for many of the catches along this stretch. Wave garrick, bonefish, pompano and various rockcod species were seen throughout the week. Cape Vidal had some good catches of wave garrick as well as two good sized blackfin sharks. The larger sharks were all caught on larger slide baits. Richards Bay has been quiet with nothing more than a few shad and smaller kob being caught at night. Garrick were spotted by divers slightly deeper off backline, but have been slow to the bite. Ballito had only some very few shad coming through, some of which were of decent size and were caught early in the mornings. Pompano have been caught throughout the week around midday on sealice or chokka baits. During the evenings, the odd shad and grey shark of around 8-10kg were caught.
Central
Umhlanga saw some very large fish that were hooked, but unable to be landed on Sunday evening when the water settled a bit, possibly some larger sharks coming through the dirty water. Shad are making a positive appearance and have been present early in the mornings. Durban had a good run of shad during the nights and most days. Strange enough, anglers fishing off the Piers also managed to hook into some decent Pompano during the evenings too which is very unusual. Pompano, usually day-time feeders, have been caught on sealice and sardine fillet baits during the evenings by anglers targeting stumpies. Anglers fishing for shad off the piers have had good success with a glow stick tied on just above their sardine fillets, as well as with the double hook traces.
South
Toti has been very quiet, with only small shad, stumpnose and the odd garrick being seen occasionally. However, fishable days have been limited to one or two at most. Live shad has been the best bait for these garrick so far. Umkomaas had shad feeding all day throughout the fishable days, although most have been undersize. Grunter have been caught on the low tide near the mouth on cracker and smaller chokka baits. Scottburgh Point had only a few grey sharks at night on mackerel head. Nyoni Rocks and Shad Place had a bit of a decent run for some anglers. Port Shepstone had an average week with a few kob and garrick coming out, with plenty of Shad 24/7. Port St John's north had a decent week with a few good sized brusher being taken, along with kob, garrick and bronze bream on a regular basis. Port St John's south saw some very large sharks during the week, of which very few were landed due to the sheer size and strength of these fish. Mazeppa Bay is fishing very well and can be expected to fish well in the week to come, producing plenty of kob, sharks, garrick and other edibles such as brusher and bronze bream. After the bad weather, rough seas and chocolate water, anglers can look forward to some great fishing, including some Natal snoek, kob, sharks and other species which enjoy a bit of colour in the water.
(File Photo: Gallo Images)
Twitter - @kingfisherdaiwa @SportswaveAndre