Weather makes it a time for diehards

AS EXPECTED, the winds of August have taken over, leaving very few fishing days for anglers around KZN and the rest of the country.

Fortunately we have had a few good catches from diehard anglers, particularly in the Eastern Cape. Get your fishing done early in the week because the weekend forecast leaves very few outdoor activities as options.

The entire coast starting up at has had some big seas and very strong sidewash. Most baits cast have been towed along the sand at a rate of knots.

Smaller edibles have been the only real option for most anglers, and even that has been on heavy outfits with small baits on Big Gun 1/0 and down. Small Chokka baits have worked well. The only real talk

down to has been of quite a few smaller shad landed in the mornings and evenings on bait.

The areas which allow anglers to fish in bays have been the most targeted due to more relaxed conditions and smaller sidewash.

If the sidewash is affecting the drag on your shad trace then a good option is to cut your shad float in half to limit the surface area and limit the drag.

Kosi Bay Cape Vidal Richards Bay Tugela Ballito

f rom

St Lucia

Harbour has produced some very nice fish recently. There have been garrick on the bite, kob, big grunter and also some good-size shad. The surf has been a bit slow, with the sea on its head.

had some smaller edibles in the big sea, small shad on bait and a few snapper salmon on small baits in the evenings. Very few garrick have been reported.

produced some good sharks earlier in the week and a few kob on throw baits. The cold up-welling of waterhas made for difficult and unpredictable fishing.

Smaller baits have worked better in the big seas and strong sidewash. Very bloody baits have worked better.

Umhlanga lighthouse

has produced a decent number of grey sharks and also a few kob. Lighthouse is known for its large shad at this point of the year, and as soon as the sea has settled down we can expect an increase in catches.

Blue Toti, Lagoon’s

big seas towards the end of the week caused fishing to slow down substantially, but the diehards held strong and ended up with a few shad and smaller flatfish.

as the most protected from big seas and heavy sidewash, has seen more activity than in previous weeks. Small grunter have been taken in large numbers, on cracker and chokka baits. Small shad have been landed most days on bait only, so be sure to stock up on sinkers and hooks.

Heavy wash has caused many hook-ups in the rocks, but the has been one of the more productive spots around Durban recently. Bronze bream are coming out on most ledges, taking prawn or chokka baits.

Shad have been few and far between, but all are decent in size. Blacktail, stumpies and zebra fish have been on the bite as well.

There were only small fish in the protection of the bay at

small shad and blacktail and grey sharks in ones and twos.

Durban, Bluff Scottburgh Point

has been very busy with anglers catching quite a few different species throughout the week. Lessers, blue rays and grey sharks have been taken regularly.

Towards the end of the week things started to cool down as the sea gradually became more aggressive.

has fished well throughout the week, with many different species landed – bigger bronze bream, zebra fish and some massive blacktail have been taken on chokka and crayfish baits.

As the sea gets big, many anglers flock toDurban Harbour. Plenty of charter boats launch to anchor at Limestone Reef, just outside the harbour, which gives each angler four size-making shad within 10 minutes.

Port Shepstone