Raggie landed at Blue Lagoon
North - Wind patterns and rough seas affected the fishing in a rather negative way, as with most areas. A few anglers fished when possible at Kosi Bay and landed a few small edibles along this stretch. The odd larger flatfish was also landed on heavy tackle with heavy sinkers to stay out in the big seas. St Lucia and Cape Vidal have produced reports of small kingfish and shad which have both been taking baits fished in calmer, shallow waters on the inside of the sand banks. Along with these smaller species, there have also been plenty of bonefish on the bite and a few larger specimen too. Reports indicated one angler managed to land a lovely bonefish of 6kg on a Poseidon Power angler 11" rod paired with a Daiwa Laguna 4000 spinning reel while targeting wave garrick. Sometimes these are good areas to target as the smaller fish move into these spots to escape the rough seas. Richards Bay produced a few small milkies, grey sharks and a few diamond skates throughout the week, with most fish being landed during a break in the wind. Zinkwazi produced a few small brown skates and small shad, but fishing was rather slow. Not much fishing has been done in the Ballito and Salt Rock areas, but a few anglers managed to catch small stumpnose on sea lice, the odd shad and a few other bits and bobs around the rocks. The tides at Umhlanga Rocks were perfect for junior anglers to target juvenile blacktail, stumpies and karanteen in the shallow gullies, which they did and had great fun. The species count when doing this is incredible and children have the opportunity to catch anything from blacktail to rock cod, sergeant majors to blennies and everything between. Nothing more than a small Mustad size 18 hook with some thin monofilament is needed, with a tiny bit of squid or sardine.
Central - Blue Lagoon produced a raggie of about 80kg during the week, which is highly unusual for this time of the year and for the water temperature which we have been experiencing. Small shad were also caught during the early morning sessions, as well as a few smaller species such as cave bass on McArthy 3" Paddletails. Good pompano were caught on sea lice and Mustad 4/0 Kendal rounds at Thekwini Beach during the week too.
South - Bluff is starting to produce more fish with shad and a few kingfish being caught on live baits. Toti and Warners have not produced many fish other than a few greys and few shad. Winklespruit is reportedly still producing shad in the mornings. Small kob and snapper salmon are being caught at Umkomaas river mouth. A few non-edible anglers have also had luck with brown skates and diamonds in the area and have been hugely successful with lighter spinning set-ups. Scottburgh Point produced a few grey sharks and diamonds before the big seas came later in the week. Hibberdene has only produced a few shad in the mornings. Margate has produced shad as well as bronze bream, which have been taking smaller baits and have fed better on traces made up with Fluorocarbon. Splash Rock at Port Edward saw an angler fighting a fish for over an hour and a half before the line was cut on a rock, the species is unknown. Port St John's in the Transkei has produced big grey sharks as well as a number of small garrick. Most of the deep water points have produced a mix of raggies, greys and some shad.
Reminder - Imperial Nissan Zululand Couta Classic at Mtunzini on 25 and 26 April 2015.
For more details on this KZN north coast deep sea fishing competition you can contact Hylton on 078 854 9358 or Rod on 083 587 3990.
May will see Pumula on the KZN south coast hosting the annual Quattro King of the Sea fishing contest.
Contact [email protected] to enter the Pumula event scheduled for 23 and 24 May.
The 2015 Inanda Bass Classic will be held at Inanda Dam over the first long weekend in May 2015.
Friday 1 May 2015 will be the show day where our sponsors will display and sell some of their goodies.
Entry forms are available at www.inandabassclassic.co.za or from Ken Ainslie who can be contacted on 031 205 3777.
(File Photo: Gallo Images)
Twitter - @SportswaveAndre @kingfisherdaiwa