Coast KZN

Another week of perfect weather and fishing conditions meant little for Eastmore and Umhlanga Rocks beach shad anglers who were ordered to pack up their fishing equipment and leave the area because of contamination from a chemical store that was destroyed in the recent unrest.

Anglers had been catching a few shad at first light and now their favourite fishing areas are out of bounds. Some will join the crowd fishing at Blue Lagoon every morning, but regulars have not been welcoming. A few shad were caught at Glenashley Beach last week but just as the shad begin to arrive for this year’s run, anglers have found that many of their favoured beaches are now closed – there is no knowing as yet when beaches will reopen.

The season will officially close at the end of September but I can foresee that anglers will continue to catch shad well after the end of September.

Sardines were reported along North Beach, but the catch turned out to be mackerel.

Pietermaritzburg resident and former Tinley Manor local, Kriben Gounder caught this stumpie at Tinley Manor on Sunday last weekend. The fish measured in at 59cm in length and 4.4kgs in weight. He used sardine as bait.

There were some sardines netted off Snake Park Beach later in the week just when everyone thought that the run was over.

In-shore reefs will be full of baitfish from now onward and some anglers spend their time fishing for bait only and stock up for the year ahead. In the past a couple of boat owners supplied outlets with fresh bait and made a good profit.

Off-shore anglers have again found nice sized snoek feeding along backline and a few really nice fish were caught. Durban North to Blue Lagoon seemed to produce snoek on a fairly regular basis, with anglers using fresh fillet baits and small spoons at times. Sometimes, fishing for snoek can be really frustrating as they can be seen but will not take the bait.

Backline at Durban North seems to be full of shad and these shad have been attacking fillet bait, making a real nuisance of themselves. Small grey sharks have also been a bit of a problem at times.

Summer game fish season is coming to an end now and some boat owners have already begun to target the garrick along the backline at the river mouths. A number of nice sized garrick have been caught mainly between Umhlanga Rocks and the Umgeni Mouth.

Many of the ski boat anglers target geelbek salmon plus, at times, shoal salmon have arrived on a reef and for a short while there was some hectic fishing. Other species have been the inevitable rockcod, red fish and the odd musselcracker boated.

Surf anglers looking to catch their share of shad should consider travelling south. Some of the upper South Coast beaches are rewarding anglers with shad and at times, some nice garrick. Shad are being caught at first light but the favourite spots are crowded. Large shad weighing over 4 kg have been caught and I believe that the fish have been eating spoon as well.