Amazing couta all the way from uMdloti to Sodwana
OFFSHORE fishing has been a mix of bottom fishing when the gamefish go quiet and chaos when the drags start screaming.
The North Coast has been fishing very well, from uMdloti all the way to Sodwana.
The closer inshore reefs have seen some amazing couta caught, mostly on live bait. Down rigging your live bait has been key to getting the bigger bites.
Try to fish one bait close to the bottom and another slightly higher in the water column.
The general rule is to start fishing closer to the surface and move deeper as the day goes on. The bottom fishing has been a bit slow on the North Coast but some smaller reds and daga have been caught.
The Durban section of KZN has produced some good gamefish and bottom fish catches over the past few weeks. The charter boats are keeping their clients happy with plenty of tuna and the odd billfish to get the heart pumping and the drag screaming. Darker coloured skirted lures have been the most successful for these faster gamefish.
Remember that the wahoo also love a skirted lure at speed so use some wire or a chain gang.
The bottom fishing has been patchy but good. The slinger and soldiers have been the bulk of the catches in terms of numbers with a few rockcod rounding off the catches. Squid and sardine have been the most successful baits used, according to reports.
The South Coast has seen some good fishing on Aliwal Shoal with tuna, wahoo and a mix of other gamefish making an appearance on the catch reports.
Trolling lipped lures in purple colours have done very well, as well as higher-speed skirted lures. Tuna have also been around at most of the depths with live bait, poppers and trolled lures working for them.
On the rock and surf side the inedibles are giving a good account of themselves.
The kingfish have been around in good numbers with most being taken on lures.
The upper reaches of KZN have been a bit quiet for the summer but the days that have produced fish have seen good hauls of raggies with a splash of diamonds in between. The raggies have mainly come out at Tugela with bigger head baits getting the best results.
The rest of the North Coast has been hit or miss with some spots producing amazing action and others that are seemingly perfect, not seeing fish. Your best bet is to line up the conditions as best as possible and to check out the spot you want to fish on a low tide to see the banks.
Wait for three or so days of northeast wind to blow and ideally a small sea. Look for a spot where you can fish into the deeper water either over the sandbank or between two banks.
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Please send any info about fishing or fish caught in your area to mike. pereira@kingfisher.co.za