Fishing Report 03 September 2014 With some of the biggest seas and strongest winds recorded this year, last week’s fishing has left much to be desired. With seas settling down this week, we will be sure to see some excellent catches from the boats and Rock n Surf. Rock n Surf: Kosi Bay – This area has had some good fishing but only in the protected bays, with very little to no fishing at all being done in the surf. Smaller Stumpies and Grunter were landed on running traces with heavier sinkers, using Chokka and Red Prawn baits. There have been a few catches of Speckled Snapper just south of Kosi off the ledges. Cape Vidal - The Shad have been on the bite on the high tide in the bay at Cape Vidal, although most have been undersized, there have been a few which make pan size. Reports of a Kob or two from north of Vidal in front of the sand banks have been reported. Richards Bay - The odd Kob and Garrick have been landed on the ever so plentiful Shad off the North Pier. Most Kob have been landed on Shad cutlet or Shad head. Garrick have been landed on live Shad slide baits. Tugela - Tugela has been a whirlpool of rough seas, but despite the conditions, some decent fish have been landed. Off the southern rocks anglers have had a variety of species ranging from Sharks to Stumpies, with the major species being Grey Sharks. Ballito - If it is Grey Sharks and Blue Rays that you are after, then Ballito is the place to go. Most points and beaches have been producing these fish even in the rough seas. Remember a bite trace of 80lb nylon coated Fishmate when throwing your Chokka and Red Eye baits to avoid being bitten off as there have been plenty of Grey Sharks around too. Be sure to watch out when handling these Blue Rays, most of them are heavily pregnant and have been known to give birth once landed. Be sure not to drag these heavy females over the rocks and make sure that they are not flipped over onto their backs as this will kill the young. Please make it a priority to release these fish back to the water as quickly as possible. Blue Lagoon - Most of the sea around Blue Lagoon has been relatively unproductive over the last week as the sea picked up. The weekend saw very few anglers trying their luck and the only species to report has been Shad which have been few and far between. Durban - Durban, being the only real protected grounds in the Westerly winds we have been experiencing, seems to have been the best spot all round. Anglers off the piers had a great time with some Shad and Grunter. Plenty of fish came out from the Snake Park pier in the evenings, mostly Shad, Stumpies and Grey Sharks. EThekwini beaches produced some large Grunter on Red Eye baits fished on Mustad Chinu size 2/0 hooks. This hook is perfect for these fish due to the needle sharp point and thin gauge wire for easy penetration. Ushaka Beach stretch produced Grey Sharks and Blue Rays in the beginning of the week. Bluff - Big seas and strong winds stopped most fishing in this area. In the more protected areas the anglers using smaller baits managed to hook into good size Bronze Bream on Red Prawn baits. Along with the Bronzies came the Zebras and even a few smaller Brusher. Generally at this stage of the year anglers using Crab or Mussels as bait will start landing Brusher more frequently. Be sure to use a strong hook such as a Mustad Hoodlum, Big Gun or the trusty Kendal Round. Toti - The protected bays produced a few Shad in the Toti area over the last few days. Smaller fish around the rocks were also landed, mainly Cave Bass, Snapper Salmon and a few Flat fish. Scottborough Point – Has fished well for the anglers braving the big seas. Blue Rays were plentiful on grinder setups which allowed anglers to cast into the strike zone. Anglers who targeted these fish on multipliers struggled to get the distance and if they did, the drag on the nylon from the heavy wash didn’t allow the bait to stay put. Grey Sharks were present as well and proved fun on the lighter grinder setups too. A few Sandies were landed as well, mainly on bigger baits such as whole Red Eye or Shad cutlet baits. Umkomaas - Yellow Fin Kingies and the odd big Grunter have been reported around Umkomaas. Bait and spoons have been doing the trick for the Kingies and Red Eye baits for the Grunter. And the Blue Rays have been caught on baits thrown for Grunter. Port Shepstone - Nice size Bronze Bream have been landed off the rocks, on bigger more juicy baits. Because the sea has been bigger making for more difficult bite detection, it is extremely important to use the sharpest hook possible. A Mustad Big Gun size 2 or Chinu size 1/0 is advisable. A few Kob were landed in the areas which were not as rough and windy. Transkei - Throughout the Transkei, there have been a good few catches of Garrick, Kob and Hammerhead Sharks. Some large Grey Sharks were also landed and in the gullies throughout the coast there were good catches of Bronze Bream which were caught on a variety of baits. Harbour - Durban harbour has seen plenty of anglers over the last week and weekend. Good reports of Grunter and a variety of Salmon species have been landed around the mouth and off the banks. A surprisingly large number of King Fish have been landed towards the Silt Canal on small Rattlers and spoons. Smaller Shad are being caught near the mouth, and a few of the bigger specimens towards the Coaling Terminal. There are a handful of anglers who have been having fun with the Flat fish such as Honeycombs and Blue Rays. Be careful when handling these fish, they are pregnant and need to be handled with care. If you are fishing from a boat, make sure that you do not lift the fish out of the water. Rather lift the head up and reach underneath the fish to remove the hook. Ski Boat: North - Better reports of Tuna in Sodwana in the beginning of the week have come in, most of these fish have been landed on either Blue or Green Rattlers and Halco Lazer Pro lures. The Tuna have been feeding well in 25-50m of water along the current lines and be sure to try out Halco’s new C-Gar sinking stick baits for these Tuna as well. As the seas picked up towards the end of the week, the fishing became slow and fewer boats launched. All the way from Cape Vidal down to Zinkwazi the Garrick were still on the bite and were caught on backline using live bait, Shad seems to have been the prize bait last week. Tugela – had some awesome bottom fishing before the sea picked up with Kob, Geelbek and general bottoms. Tinley Mannor still threw a Snoek or two at anglers on the Skis, but mainly for the anglers using bait or Strike Pro lures. These fish were feeding slightly deeper than usual. Durban - Had excellent catches of Geelbek throughout the week and only slowed down with the big sea. The weeks to come should produce equally as well if not better. Most fish were caught at night between 6pm and 12pm on the shallow reefs or wrecks. Sardine seems to be the best bait, probably due to the Sardine activity in the deep. Tuna have been slow, but still around, taking Rattlers at Number One and live baits on the bait marks. The Tuna have been much smaller than previously and seem to be taking Rattlers or smaller Halco lures before baits. South – The lower south coast has been fishing a bit slow at the moment, probably due to the weather patterns. A handful of Mussel Cracker have been landed as well as Garrick in the shallows. From King Fisher ......
Posted on: Wed, 03 Sep 2014 17:45:48 +0000
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