Tips to catching your dream fish in winter

WINTER is a great time to put away your rock and surf heavier tackle and fish for the finer edibles that we are blessed with on the KZN coast.

This means more finesse and a bit more focus on bait presentation – which means taking a little more time in making the bait and using more tricks in your arsenal to try to tempt the more discerning edibles to bite.

Things like using thinner cotton when tying up your baits can make a huge difference. Adding foam to your bait to add some movement and body can also really help. Most importantly, learn where your target likes to feed and what it likes to eat. This will greatly improve your chances of catching your dream fish.

The North Coast has seen a lot of good action with both edibles and inedibles. Unfortunately, this past weekend saw lots of weed in the water from the recent rains and big seas. This makes fishing very difficult.

That said, a number of edibles were caught while scratching and some decent inedibles were landed by those looking for that bigger fish.

Pink prawn has been the most successful bait for the scratching fish and has accounted for a number of species. The bigger inedibles have shown a preference for mackerel and redeye combination baits.

The central coast has not seen much fishing as the polluted water has put most anglers off catching fish.

Despite this, Blue Lagoon has seen some good catches of shad, pompano, kob and the odd garrick. Prawn and chokka have been the most successful for the smaller edibles while the bigger fish have favoured a live bait. The basin area has also seen plenty of fish in the northeast winds.

The South Coast has been a bit quiet lately with few reports being sent in.

The guys who enjoy scratching have done well along most of this coast from Trafalgar all the way to Toti.

Look for the gullies and ledges that offer some calmer water close to the churning white water. Fish these areas with prawn and chokka baits for a chance at most rockfish species.

There have been some very good kob caught lately and this is definitely the time to actively target these amazing hunters.

Sliding or throwing live baits is a great way to pursue them. Mullet, karanteen and shad are all fantastic baits to use. Look for the deeper water along the banks for the ideal kob ambush spot.

Please remember to leave the areas that you fish in a better condition than when you got there. Take a few moments to pick up some litter and take it to the nearest bin.

Tight lines and screaming reels!

*For the best in tackle and advice, pop into any of the seven Kingfisherstores, they are open 8am-5pm weekdays, 8am-1pm on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.

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Please send any info about fishing or fish caught in your area to mike.pereira@ kingfisher.co.za