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State of the Coast: KZN

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20 Aug 2021

Anglers turned away by regulars at top fishing spots

(North Coast Courier: Sealice)

With beaches remaining closed owing to chemical contamination, anglers have been turning elsewhere to catch their fish only to find themselves unwelcome. Anglers casting lines at Blue Lagoon said they were not welcomed as well as hoped. Regulars left the beach with double figure catches.

Conditions for rock and surf anglers were awful last week with changing weather and sea conditions.

Durban View and Umhlanga Rocks beaches were closed to anglers so the guys have been fishing a little south at Eastmore. This area has produced a few shad at times but, not consistently. An example of this being Tuesday morning where there were about half a dozen anglers fishing at first light. The shad moved in and there was some hectic angling for a while with a few decent sized shad being caught.

Come first light on Wednesday morning, word had obviously gotten around and the beach was pretty crowded. Unfortunately, fishing was quiet, but the fish showed a preference for Japanese mackerel and the guys fishing with fresh Natal sardine or the normal pilchard variety were left wondering what to do.

Blue Lagoon has also been producing some shad, but the guys who fish there regularly do not make newcomers feel welcome. They are clearly unwilling to share a productive fishing spot. One angler was overheard saying that he had not done that well as he had only caught 15 shad!

It is also a popular angling spot for garrick and this year has not disappointed. Many anglers fish on the river side of the pier where many smaller fish can be caught to be used for live bait to catch garrick.

Many years ago the pier was a popular angling spot during the winter months for the kite anglers, who are not seen these days as drones have taken their place. Anglers fishing the rocky gullies were out of luck last week, but there were a couple of copper bream caught in La Mercy by regular outcrop anglers.

One or two spade fish were also caught and one angler claimed to have lost what he swore was a brusher last Tuesday morning. Some nice sized blacktail have also been on the bite here along with a few sizeable five fingers and the odd lantern bream.

South Coast anglers have been spoilt again this week, with some really nice shad on the bite during first light. Some weighed in at least 3 kilos, but a couple larger fish have been caught, too. The lower South Coast has seen the larger shad but the upper South Coast is now starting to produce a few big fish, too.

A number of garrick have been caught from several of the popular areas with most fish caught on live baits, plus it has been encouraging to see how many daga salmon have been caught at night. Only one daga salmon is allowed per outing.

At the river mouths there have been some decent sized shoal salmon feeding as well and among the stone a number of big copper bream caught.

Off-shore anglers found conditions a little dicey with the swell that had built up but, they persevered to catch the snoek. Apparently they have been hassled by shad attacking their fillet baits.

Along the backline area from Umhlanga Rock to Blue Lagoon, surf-ski anglers have managed a few garrick as well, and this year seems to be far better than last.

 

Online Article