Getting HOOKED
BIGGER shad and more of them!
Anglers around KZN had huge success with larger shad in most shad hot-spots. Congratulations to the winners of the Kingfisher Shad competition for the month of August.
In first place we had Krish Govender with a lovely fish of 4.24kg, winning him the Daiwa Sl50SHK reel. In second place was Bilal Ramjan with a fish of 4.04kg.
He won a Poseidon Deep Blue rod. Third place and the winner of the Daiwa AG6000 fishing reel was Kiren Bali with a 1.97kg shad.
Here’s what went down with rock and surf angling along the KZN coast:
KOSI BAY - Has been relatively quiet and produced a few edibles and smaller sharks. The edibles included stumpies, grunter and three spotted pompano. The odd speckled snapper was landed off the rocks on chokka throw baits.
CAPE VIDAL - This area and surroundings have been producing ship loads of flatfish. Most of these fish have been caught on medium sized throw baits such as mackerel head or chokka baits.
RICHARDS BAY - The Hlobane area has been on par with Cape Vidal in terms of the non edibles. Anglers who have been sliding baits achieved most success.
ZINKWAZI - Zinkwazi has had a fair amount of action with the likes of grey sharks and blue rays. Edibles have been slow to bite but have kept ticking while most shad were taking fleshy baits.
BALLITO - The odd diamond skate has been landed on shad head off the beach section at Ballito. Shad were caught on almost every day.
UMHLANGA – The Light House has been fishing extremely well over the last week, and despite the strong winds, has produced plenty of good sized shad. The edibles have been feeding well and have been taken on prawn and chokka baits.
BLUE LAGOON - Locals have been stocking up on shad which is freely available to everyone fishing these waters. Garrick have been sighted chasing shad and a few were hooked. Try a live shad slide bait for best results. There were good catches of blue rays and grey sharks off the rocks and the beach to the right of the point.
DURBAN - Grey sharks have been landed throughout the Durban stretch, off the piers and beaches. These have been targeted with grinder outfits and 50lb braid. Catches of blue rays, stumpies and the odd kob were also reported.
BLUFF - The odd shad has been coming out on the high tide on the Bluff, with more success being had on bait than spoon. There have been sightings of smaller kingies in the shallows.
TOTI - Shad are on the loose and so are the anglers. Crowded fishing conditions have meant plenty of catches of shad and a few garrick too.
WARNER BEACH - The lack of shad in the Warner beach area has meant anglers have had to transport their own live bait to the beach in order to fish for garrick. There have been a number of garrick around and if there is a bait in the water, it's likely to be taken.
UMKOMAAS - Shad, small yellowfin kingies and hundreds of juvenile grunter were landed in the Umkomaas River mouth area. There were also a few snapper salmon in the evenings for the anglers using light tackle.
SCOTTBURGH - Blue rays, grey sharks and the odd edible such as lantern fish were landed in dribs and drabs off the point. Up and down weather patterns may provide for uneasy fishing in the week to come.
HIBBERDENE - Better size bronze bream and zebras were caught along the Hibberdene coast recently. These fish can often be found to swim towards the angler once hooked.
PORT SHEPSTONE - Nice catches of shad and some bigger kob were seen at Port Shepstone over the weekend and throughout the week. First light has been best for the shad.
MARGATE - Orange Rocks has produced excellent catches over the last week and particularly on the weekend. Garrick, shad, kob and good stone bream were landed regularly.
PORT EDWARD – Shad returned to this stretch after the winds subsided. Anglers also got stuck into garrick, kingfish, bronze bream and ragged tooth sharks.
Send any info about fishing, fish caught or competitions in your area to mike.pereira@kingfisher.co.za or fax 031- 368 4007.
Until next week … TIGHTLINES! Akesh Harricharan caught this 12kg garrick in Richards Bay. If you caught a whopper then send a clear picture together with the details to postsport@inl.co.za.