Coast KZN

Ideal weather conditions greeted both surf and off-shore anglers last week, though previous heavy rain had caused muddy water to flow out to sea, picked up by a northerly current.

The popular Tongaat River mouth was unfishable owing to the debris in the water. Unfortunately, a large groundswell moved in-shore and remained for most of the week, causing strong, unpredictable surf.For much of the week, the popular game fishing grounds at La Mercy remained quite deserted because of the groundswell, but by Saturday morning conditions had become sensible again.

A cold front was causing some heavy falls of rain in the Cape and moving towards the KZN coastline.

Sardines are getting people excited again. It was reported that large shoals, kilometres long, were seen moving north off Kei mouth. The shoals were accompanied by thousands of Cape gannets, dolphins, sharks, game fish and a few humpback whales. There is still some way for the sardines to travel before they reach this coastline, however. But anything could happen! Water temperatures are still high and this could cause the small fish to head out deep where the water is cooler and they would pass by out of sight of the land.

At this time last year, rock and surf anglers were eagerly waiting for the sardines because fishing was really quiet but, when the small fish hit the South Coast they certainly came in their millions and the run seemed to just go on and on. But local surf anglers saw no improvement in catches.

Normally, the first species to arrive are shad but they were late, as were the much sought after garrick and daga salmon. Fishing only improved later in the year after all signs of sardines had disappeared. The guys enjoyed a fair shad run but not too many garrick were caught.

Maybe this year will be different. At present fishing remains quiet, probably due to big in-shore groundswell.

Fishing from local beaches is historically quiet at this time of the year because as anglers say, ‘it is in between seasons’. Anglers tend to stay away from the beaches when the surf is rough but this is the type of water which the large stumpies enjoy. There is plenty of white water in which they like to hide as they are searching for food. I and others have have caught some big stumpies in these rough waters.

Word is that even though there was a large swell running, game fish anglers found the couta on the bite in some areas and a couple of big fish were boated.

Surprisingly, anglers are still finding dorado hanging around flotsam or other floating structures at sea, and it is surprising because these fish are normally long gone at this time of year.

The sea water temperature is still high, so is this a sign of global warming and a rise in the ocean temperatures.

There are still plenty of yellowfin tuna around as well, and in some areas anglers have found some snoek action in the early mornings. I believe that South Coast off-shore anglers are having a great season as well, when launch conditions have allowed. A variety of edible game fish have been caught. As usual, at this time of the year, a few really big couta have been caught plus a few decent wahoo and the usual bottom fish that the South Coast is renowned for.

Anglers along the South Coast are slowly gearing up for the forthcoming sardine run and they are expecting some hectic fishing for a few weeks. The weather is slowly going to change from now onwards and the warm, balmy days will soon be over. I spoke to several regular rock and surf anglers during the week and they told me that during the summer months they tend to pack their fishing equipment away. They said they wait for the first signs that limit-sized shad are on the bite, they then ready their tackle for the winter season. I think that this change in tactics is because fish stocks have declined over the years and some species have almost disappeared.

The strict marshalling of shad angling has definitely worked but all the good work could now be undone as there seems to be a lack of policing the angling beaches, and some anglers are ignoring limit sizes and limit bags.

Hopefully, prospects for this week will be more productive for the rock and surf anglers but as always, tight lines.