Anglers need to take advantage of sardines’ presence

THE sardines are here so make the most of this spectacular event while the weather is good.

The shore-based fishing has been wild on the South Coast.

The rest of the coast has been fairly quiet but this is mainly due to the pull of the silver tide drawing everyone to the action.

The North Coast has not had much in the form of reports. This is mainly due to the pull of the sardines.

There have been some good inedibles hooked up north but most of these have been on droned baits.

The deeper drops have produced some very big fish.

Those throwing baits have been mainly hooking the smaller inedibles and flatfish.

Mackerel head and cutlets have been producing bites for those able to get the baits into the deeper water.

Look for an area that you can wade onto a back bank and get a cast into the deep. Please remember to only ever wade where you are comfortable and never wade when fishing alone!

The beachfront has also produced some good stumpies in the evenings. Redeye sardine heads and sealice have been the top two baits for these brutes. The evening is the best time for these fish.

The bigger stumpies have been feeding in the white water around the more rockier areas.

The use of a circle hook is essential in these rocky areas.

The curved point drastically reduces the chance of you getting stuck on the way in.

If you are fishing in a particularly rocky area then I would recommend putting a knot into your sinker line or using as light a line as possible.

If you get stuck then it can be easily parted off. The inedibles have been very scarce along the Durban coast.

Those that have caught fish have reported mostly grey sharks and the occasional flatfish.

The South Coast has been the main action centre along the KZN coast.

There has been plenty of netting happening. The latest netting has been on the upper South Coast, so is a good area to start.

The best bet is to follow the main action but please remember to keep social distance and angling etiquette at all times.

These bigger sharks are not to be taken lightly so make sure that you are ready for them and do not tackle something beyond your angling means.

Make sure you and your tackle are ready.

These sharks and edibles are all feeding on the abundance of sardines.

Use a bigger sardine bait for the big sharks and a single sard for the edibles.

Circle hooks are best for 90% of the fish unless you are using a jig and drop, in which case you are best set to use a bigger treble hook.

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