Snoek season is going strong on the north coast

THE big seas have made fishing very difficult. Most of the catches have been fish caught while scratching in the back gullies and areas protected from the massive waves.

The north coast has not reported much in the line of fish caught. The guys fishing for edible fish have managed some better rockcod and stumpies but the inedibles have been absent from the reports. The edible fish have mainly been caught using softer baits like red eye sardine heads with cutlets on the outside. Alternately you can use a more pecker-proof bait like chokka with a bit of sardine or prawn on the outside.

The south coast has seen the bulk of the action for the predatory fish and sharks. The upper south coast has seen a handful of garrick caught on live bait, spoon and plugs. These are fantastic fish to catch and deserve their gentleman status. Make sure to put in a rapid retrieve for your plugs and that they have eyes on them as this is a vital trigger for the garrick.

The shad have been loose on the upper south coast with an almost guaranteed limit every morning. Please remember that the limit on shad is four (not 20) and that the minimum size limit is 30cm.

The anglers wishing to target the big sharks are best suited to the lower south coast. The drone anglers are doing very well with any big bait dropped from 200-300m out. The Mustad Demon circle heavy in 14/0 has proved to be the hook of choice if you want to land your fish.

The offshore fishing has been a bit nasty this past week with the sea being a bit “big”. Big is a serious understatement as the massive walls of water smashing against the coast have made launching a bit tricky. Luckily the guys managed some fish before the big seas and post big sea should see some better results.

The north coast managed to escape the bigger waves. North of Richards Bay seemed to miss the big seas that hit KZN. The fantastic snoek season continues on the north coast with some of the biggest snoek coming to the boat in a long time. Fish close to the 10kg mark have been a regular occurrence which is wild!

The fish have been landed on various methods but the fillet bait has claimed most of the bigger fish. In terms of lures and spoons, the new Kingfisher Mucho spoons are starting to prove their worth along with the ever-popular Kingfisher Anchovy spoons. The lipped lure of choice continues to be the Strike Pro Magic Minnow.

The central coast has also seen the big snoek and the same methods apply. The deeper waters have seen some good tuna on livebait and poppers. There has also been a fantastic “run” of bigger couta off the KZN coast that has brought with it the magic song of screaming drags.

The tuna and couta have preferred a live mackerel over any of the other baitfish. The couta have mainly been caught on down-rigged bait while the tuna have favoured something closer to the surface. If the tuna are your sole target then a circle hook will be the best way to rig the live bait.

Please remember to leave the areas that you fish in a better condition than when you got there. Take a few moments to pick up some litter and take it to the nearest bin. Tight lines and screaming reels.