Getting HOOKED

THE shad season draws to a close tonight (Wednesday) and with weather playing its part anglers can look forward to some exciting times with the variety of fish on offer.

Here’s an account of what was caught along the KwaZulu-Natal coast over the past week:

KOSI BAY: Some edibles (especially grunter) were caught here, as were some smaller flatfish.

St LUCIA: Even though rough seas pounded this coastline, shad and stumpies were among the main species caught here.

CAPE VIDAL: Kob have started to come on the bite and this stretch should be alive over the next week.

RICHARDS BAY: Was unusually quiet but some decent-sized shad were landed here in the early mornings. Spinner sharks were caught in the afternoons with larger baits.

TUGELA: The north bank fished particularly well through the bad weather and produced a fair number of fish on baits and lure. Kob were taken on paddle tails early in the mornings, followed by shad as the day progressed. Smaller grey sharks were landed south of the Tugela mouth towards the end of the week.

BALLITO: Spinning enthusiasts caught a few snoek as well as some kingfish in the early mornings on dropshot and spoon. Anglers throwing out baits had great fun with grey sharks.

UMHLANGA: Had quite a few shad and grey sharks during the week. Some very nice Kingfish were caught on McArthy paddle tails in the early mornings.

VIRGINIA: This stretch has been relatively quiet apart from a few kob (around 4kg) that were landed on baits and paddle tails. Live shad also accounted for some kob.

BLUE LAGOON: There were some decent catches of shad in the mornings as well as some grunter. There were also lots of toby fish around which pecked the bait clean.

DURBAN PIERS: Larger shad were caught off the piers. Toby fish also demolished the baits here.

DURBAN BEACHFRONT: The stretch in front of uShaka produced some nice-sized stumpies on sea lice bait. Kob and geelbek are once again becoming popular species targeted at night.

DURBAN HARBOUR: Garrick and kob were conspicuous by their absence in the harbour. However, spotted grunter made up for this. Snapper salmon and sand gurnards were also caught in the incoming tide.

BLUFF: There was a good run of bronze bream on pink prawns. Remember to pack extra traces as these fish dart into the rocks once hooked.

WA R N E R BEACH: Some garrick were landed on live shad as well as drop shot. Live bait was preferred by the larger specimens.

UMKOMAAS: D e c e n t - s i z e d grunter were caught on cracker shrimp and sardine baits. Stumpies were also accounted for along this stretch. Some good-sized shad were caught in the early mornings.

SCOTTBURGH: A few small blue rays and grey sharks were caught in the evenings on mackerel heads and cutlets.

PORT SHEPSTONE: This stretch fished well with shad, kob and garrick.

MARGATE: Anglers fishing off the pier got their quota of shad in double-quick time.

PORT EDWARD: The strong winds did not make for ideal fishing conditions but anglers who braved the weather were rewarded with shad. Some good-sized yellow tails and hammer heads were caught off the rocks.

TRANSKEI: Kob, garrick and shad were the main species targeted all along the Transkei coastline.

THE leader board for the Biggest Shad competition which ends tonight (Wednesday) is as follows: 1 Carl Newman 5.58kg. 2 Nazeer Suleman 4.44kg. 3 Bryan Reddy 3.44kg.

Send any info about fishing, fish caught or competitions in your area to mike.pereira@kingfisher.co.za

Until next week… TIGHTLINES!