getting HOOKED
THE good news for those who love the taste of crispy fried sardines is that larger shoals have been spotted further south.
So let’s hope we’re still in for a bumper season. And as usual, the sardines bring a host of game fish.
ROCK AND SURF:
Fishing has been on fire from Kosi Bay to Cape Vidal with bait and spinning anglers getting stuck in. Pompano and stumpies were caught with sealice and chokka bait. The area south of Richards Bay produced loads of milk sharks and small kob.
Tugela to Ballito saw a lot of kob (1-3kg) with a few bigger (up to 16kg) coming out on live mullet as well as fresh chokka bait. Garrick were caught from Seola southward.
Guys spinning off the rocks near Ballito caught some snoek, with kingies caught on bullet spoons. uMhlanga has seen its share of action with pompano and stumpies coming out near the lighthouse. Bait slid out for garrick attracted grey sharks instead.
Durban beaches provided some fun, with stumpies coming out on sealice bait while black fin sharks took grunter heads.
The pockets of sardines netted at Warner Beach attracted garrick, which were caught on plugs and spoons. Some good-size kob were caught on live bait and dropshot.
uMkomaas produced some big kingies and kob, with loads of bait fish in the water. Lots of sardines have been spotted in Pennington. Garrick, snoek, kingies and diamond rays have been following the shoals. Black fin sharks have been taking live bait.
Port Shepstone to Splash Rock has seen nice kingies come out. Kob and rock cod have been taking sardines and small live bait. Shad were caught during high tide.
Port Edward to Port St Johns is attracting loads of game fish, which are feeding on the sardine shoals. They are still in deep water and should approach the shoreline in days to come.
DEEP SEA:
Sodwana produced decent fish on bait and artificial lures. Sailfish picked up bigger Konas. Couta were taking live mackerel. Most of the snoek caught took small Halco artificials.
Reports of decent couta, tuna and snoek came in from St Lucia. Wahoo have started to show in Richards Bay and some salmon were caught in deep water on live bait.
Fishing in uMdloti is picking up again, with couta and wahoo taking live and strip bait.
Fishing in water off Durban continued to produce the goods, with bigger tuna preferring poppers to bait.
DURBAN HARBOUR:
Some decent fish were caught in the harbour over the past week, but it took patience. Big perch were caught on live bait near the BAT Centre, with a few small kob hauled in. The sighting of sharks near the banks put off anglers. Those brave enough to wade in reeled in torpedo scads and kob.
Send info about fishing, fish caught or competitions in your area to mike.pereira@kingfisher.co.za