Rock and surf fishing update

Kosi Bay - This area has had some fine fishing over the last week and managed to avoid the massive swells which hit most of our coastline recently. Edibles came out thick and fast and made fishing a very pleasurable task for anglers of all ages. Soft plastics got plenty of action, with reports of kingfish and wave garrick on McArthy 4" Finesse Minnows in particular. The clean water colours such as Gold Fish and Chrystella took the back seat as the northeast winds put some colour in the water. Colours such as chartreuse pearl, copper/chartreuse etc. performed much better. For anglers who wished to fight something for a bit longer, raggies were on the menu and were feeding relatively shallow. Anglers casting baits and anglers sliding bigger baits both managed to land good numbers. These are great sharks for youngsters to start off with as they are mild fighters in comparison to many of the others such as blackfin sharks or Zambezi sharks. Many of these raggies have been spotted off Nine Mile Reef and should come into the shallows to feed in the evenings. St Lucia has seen a fair amount of sandsharks, blackfin sharks and an endless supply of milkies. Pompano have been landed as well, however few and far between.  

Richards Bay - The harbour has had some excellent catches of grunter as well as some nice size kingfish on small top water lures. Off the beaches, the bulk of the catches were made up of diamond rays and brown skates which there was no shortage of. From Richards Bay down to the Salt Rock area, most anglers found themselves spending their time fighting brown skates and sandsharks, with the odd grunter on smaller baits on the high tides.

Ballito - Some incredible sandsharks have been landed. As most anglers know, these are exceptional fighters and any model of over 50kg is enough to set your back on fire!  Many anglers fishing off Ballito/Rice Fields area had a blast with diamonds, browns, grey sharks and also a variety of edibles such as grunter and stumpnose.  

Durban - Blue Lagoon, Durban Piers and Durban beachfront in the uShaka area experienced mayhem throughout the northeast winds, with anglers catching crazy amounts of flatfish in the evenings. Big diamond rays, up to about 70kg were landed, some smaller honeycomb rays, a thorntail ray of over 100kg and some large sandsharks and numerous brown skates. Anglers also managed a few decent edibles in the chaos.

Bluff - Anglers struggled as rough seas made angling particularly difficult and many anglers found themselves going home empty handed. With westerly winds predicted for the week, anglers will be getting their live bait outfits ready for some kingfish action off the Bluff.

Toti - This area has had lovely off coloured water which has kept the brown skates around. The swimming pool area has been the most productive spot over the last week and weekend. Very few shad have been caught in the area, so mackerel or red-eye has been the bait of choice.  

Winkelspruit/Umkomaas - This area has been a bit off lately and only reports of a few grey sharks have come through. Umkomaas river mouth on the other hand has been on fire and has produced many fish over the last week. Brown skates, shad, grey sharks, grunter, stumpies and also some good size kingfish.

Scottburgh - Point has had lots of greys, brown skates and a few sandsharks, which have gobbled up most red-eye baits. Bailey High Rock had diamonds, browns and honeycombs in good numbers.

Transkei - Port St John's saw a few hammerhead sharks and larger grey sharks, which both took large chokka slide baits. Further south at Brazen Head, anglers had a field day with the hammerhead sharks and shad. Further south, reports of kob and other edibles such as galjoen, blacktail and brusher.

(File Photo: Gallo Images)

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