Spinner sharks feeding at Tugela
Kosi Bay - The lack of rain has effectively cleaned up the water along the Kosi stretch and visibility is extremely good. The clean water has made it easy to catch smaller edibles such as wave garrick and smaller stumpnose. The slightly warmer water has brought along a few bonefish which have been used as bait for larger species such as diamond rays and spinner sharks. There have been a few Blackfin sharks at night that have been harassing anglers with inadequate tackle. So be sure to kit up for the task. Kingfisher Giant Abrasion 0.50mm tied to a long leader of 1.00mm should be fine in areas with a few rocks. Anglers will generally go one size up on each around rocky areas.
Cape Vidal - This area has produced a variety of species, including some very nice springer on chokka and red-eye baits. Speckled snapper have been landed more frequently throughout last week and some larger species were seen on the weekend. Anglers using spinning outfits have managed to hook into more of these fish due to the added casting distance and bite detection in the strong currents. Along with the speckled snapper there have been very good catches of cave bass and shad too.
Maphelane/St Lucia - Many shad have been landed in the bays around these areas, many of which have been sent back to the water on a trace in hopes of hooking into a garrick or other larger species. Some fairly decent garrick have been landed as well as a number of respectable kob. Good reports of stumpnose have been seen off Crayfish Point over the last week with most of the fish weighing in at 2-4kg, which is excellent for the start of summer. Most anglers like to keep their traces simple when it comes to stumpies, as they are dirty fighters and on a bad day a lot of tackle can be lost. The good old Mustad Kendal Round ranging between 3/0 and 5/0 can be used with an excellent hook up rate, without breaking the bank. The beauty of these hooks is the proud standing point, which can also be sharpened to a needle point in a matter of seconds. An offset can also be easily bent using a pair of pliers if the angler wishes.
Richards Bay - Over the past week anglers were kept busy in and around Richards Bay, catching a substantial amount of diamond rays and also raggies. There have been some extremely large females, some blue rays, garrick and also big shad. The activity on plugs and artificials has been relatively slow, and in contrast, the live bait option has produced many garrick and also kob.
Tugela - This spot has been fishing well of late, with more spinner sharks being landed by the day. The usual suspects - shad, kob and garrick - have been frequenting the river mouth and a few lucky anglers have managed to land some excellent grunter on cracker or sea lice. The shad have been mixed sizes and live bait is not an issue.
Umdloti - Grey sharks were caught almost daily at Umdloti over the last week, with most successful anglers using mackerel head as bait. Smaller baits rigged on 4/0 to 6/0 hooks have picked up blue rays and brown rays, with a few edible species in the mix too.
Blythedale - Grey sharks and blue rays have been plentiful in the Blythedale and Zinkwazi area, with catches on the rise due to the large number of anglers using medium to heavy spinning outfits. Most of these fish have been caught in pre-frontal Westerly conditions especially after two or three days of Northeasterly winds. The fish have been feeding well and a session producing 5 or more fish is not uncommon.
Ballito - Shakas High Rocks produced an excellent haul of shad, brusher and garrick. With no shortage of shad to use as bait, plenty of in-edibles were caught as well as some lovely kob.
Virginia - This stretch has had some very nice conditions for fishing of late, with more and more large shad being taken on a daily basis. The larger shad seem to prefer the Japanese mackerel or fresh Viking sardines presented on a double hook trace at first light.
Blue Lagoon - There has been an increase of catches at Blue Lagoon over the last week, from saladfish and wolf herring to big shad and the odd garrick. Ski boaters have managed to hook into Natal snoek all week along the backline at Blue Lagoon, so it seems the wise move would be to wipe the dust off the spinning gear and make your way down to water’s edge for a shot at a few snoek. Again, the suggested tackle would be an Exceler 10'6" paired with a Daiwa size 4000 grinder and loaded with 20lb Triple Fish Gatorbraid for maximum distance. Kingfisher Pro Jet spoons or Iron Candy green glow have been on the top of the list for these fish. Make long casts into the rips and along current lines, retrieving as fast as comfortable for best results.
Durban - After a relatively slow start to the week, anglers got off the mark and managed to rack up a good report for themselves by the end of the weekend. Inedibles have been relatively quiet apart from the odd spinner sharks off the piers and grey sharks in dribs and drabs. Blue rays and brown rays were landed far less than in the previous weeks, with the only reports of catches being from anglers casting over the banks with grinder set-ups and braid. Grunter showed face mid-week, with reports indicating cracker or sea lice to be the bait of preference.
Bluff - Plenty of bastard mullet or threadfin have been landed along the Bluff, many of which have been caught on shad baits or small red-eye baits. Small kingfish were caught on drop-shot and also live bait towards the Station over the weekend, all of which were released to fight another day. Good catches of various rockcod species were reported towards Cave Rock and off the tidal pool. These were landed on big sardine baits, mackerel head and also live bait.
(File Photo:Gallo Images)
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