Wahoo and tuna off the Bluff
December has been the month for the gamefish along the KZN coast, with huge numbers of fish coming out all the way up to Sodwana.
A sure sign that the Natal snoek are biting is when the anglers spinning from the surf start to catch them on spoon etc. This means that they are feeding well and have come shallower to feed. This is when boat and kayak anglers should be getting close in, pulling small Strike Pro lures and Clark spoons in the backline and fillet if the fish are feeding slowly. When targeting these fish on fillet, be sure to keep a spoon rigged on a light spinning rod, and when a fish is hooked on the fillet trace, have a few casts into the area where the fish was hooked. This will increase your chances of hooking into another fish from the shoal. Be sure to keep the lines apart to avoid a tangle.
North
On the Maphelane coast, there have been large shoals of tuna, dorado and couta too, which have been feeding well. In the deeper waters there have been some good marlin and wahoo taken, mainly on Konas. At Cape Vidal there seems to be no shortage of dorado and tuna, which have come out on a variety of trawled and casting lures such as the Daiwa D Minnow. At Zinkwazi there have been far better bottom fish and gamefish catches over the last week, with a busy week of boating meaning there were plenty of lines in the water. A lovely dorado bull of 21kg was landed deep off Zinkwazi on a bottom trace while trying for rockcod on a live mackerel. The live bait was taken on the way up from the depths.
Central
Umdloti and Westbrook seem to have been the firm favourites for kayak anglers over the last week, having seen plenty of tuna and dorado action, plus a few sneaky couta in the mix too. The snoek have been more prolific in the Umdloti and beach stretch between Umhlanga and Blue Lagoon, which have not only been caught by boaters, but spinning from the beach too. These fish seem to be a lot closer inshore and a dry mouth approach is often needed when trying to locate the snoek. Many boats will attempt to trawl a Clark spoon very shallow at a speed and try to get the lure into the strike zone. Once the shoal is found, spoons can be used to pick more fish off the area. The Bluff is producing masses of fish and is becoming the most productive spot of late. Tuna, wahoo, dorado and yellowtail have been coming out off the Bluff the whole week. The cargo ships anchored off Durban and Umhlanga are holding a lot of dorado and can be fished early in the mornings with live baits.
South
North
On the Maphelane coast, there have been large shoals of tuna, dorado and couta too, which have been feeding well. In the deeper waters there have been some good marlin and wahoo taken, mainly on Konas. At Cape Vidal there seems to be no shortage of dorado and tuna, which have come out on a variety of trawled and casting lures such as the Daiwa D Minnow. At Zinkwazi there have been far better bottom fish and gamefish catches over the last week, with a busy week of boating meaning there were plenty of lines in the water. A lovely dorado bull of 21kg was landed deep off Zinkwazi on a bottom trace while trying for rockcod on a live mackerel. The live bait was taken on the way up from the depths.
Central
Umdloti and Westbrook seem to have been the firm favourites for kayak anglers over the last week, having seen plenty of tuna and dorado action, plus a few sneaky couta in the mix too. The snoek have been more prolific in the Umdloti and beach stretch between Umhlanga and Blue Lagoon, which have not only been caught by boaters, but spinning from the beach too. These fish seem to be a lot closer inshore and a dry mouth approach is often needed when trying to locate the snoek. Many boats will attempt to trawl a Clark spoon very shallow at a speed and try to get the lure into the strike zone. Once the shoal is found, spoons can be used to pick more fish off the area. The Bluff is producing masses of fish and is becoming the most productive spot of late. Tuna, wahoo, dorado and yellowtail have been coming out off the Bluff the whole week. The cargo ships anchored off Durban and Umhlanga are holding a lot of dorado and can be fished early in the mornings with live baits.
South
On the south coast shallow marks are producing a lot of shad and smaller yellowfin tuna, which is not common but is providing plenty of fun for the kayak anglers. Bottom fishing further south has been good and various reports of yellowtail over 20kg have been received.
(File Photo: Caroll Hermann)
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