Diamonds are sparkling in Durnford
THE heat of summer has made the days long on the beaches, but the rock and surf fishing rewards have been worth the wait (and sunburn).
The hot north has been just that, hot! The fishing has been good and the sunburns even better … please remember your hat!
The beaches up north that allow wading onto banks for a further throw are starting to produce bigger hauls of flatfish. Durnford is starting to see good numbers of diamonds, so watch the weather and head there when the conditions line up.
The deep-water points are producing a lot of grey sharks in the evenings. A decent throw and fleshy baits are needed. You do not need heavy tackle for these fish, medium will do just fine.
The Durban beachfront has seen edibles and inedibles. The piers have been the place to go for an edible. Prawn and cracker baits have been the most successful. The main species have been stumpnose and grunter. When the conditions allow, a longer trace with lighter hook snoots allow more movement of the bait which will get you more bites.
The inedibles have been limited to grey sharks, small sandies, blue skates and the odd diamond ray. Smaller baits have allowed for better casting distance while the bigger baits have survived the peckers longer, so the choice is yours.
The South Coast has been productive for the shore anglers. The bronze bream have been feeding well around the rockier areas. A juicy prawn bait on a 20lb hook snoot will generally get their attention. Fish as close to the rocks as possible as the bream like to stick to the bricks. This method of fishing is also multi-targeted as you can catch multiple species while looking for bream.
The offshore fishing on the South Coast has seen dorado in the deeper water. Most have been caught trolling higher speed lipped lures and skirted lures. This generally requires heavier tackle, so the fight is not as much fun.
The bottom fishing continues to produce good quality catches with some bomber rockcod being brought up. The geelbek and daga are keeping the commercial guys busy while the charters target the closer reefs. Please stick to your limits no matter how wild the fishing is.
For the best in tackle and advice, pop into any of the seven Kingfisher stores, 8am-5pmweek days; 8am-1pm on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.
The KZN Angler News audio report is South Africa's first fishing podcast series that focuses on the latest fishing reports of the East Coast. It delivers weekly content from the province’s prominent anglers on various facets of angling. This report is free on major Podcast platforms including Apple Pods, Google Pods, Spotify and Deezer as well as Facebook Pages:
https://ansapodcast.buzzsprout.com Send info about fishing to mike. pereira@kingfisher.co.za.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel for video releases and to brush up on your species knowledge and tips/tricks:
https://www.youtube.com/c/TheKingfisherFishing
Go to www.facebook.com/thekingfisherdaiwa and “Like” us on Facebook to catch reviews, videos, fishing reports, and more.