ANGLERS RETURN TO THE SEAS AS GAME FISH SEASON HITS FULL STRIDE
Decent weather and sea conditions have at last allowed anglers to get back to business.
The offshore game fish season is in full swing, with those participating in the various club competitions and the recent Durban Ski Boat Club’s inter-club shoot-out weighing in a fair number of game fish.
The largest catch was a barracouta weighing 15 kg, but apparently there were larger fish lost to sharks. Included in the catches were dorado, queenfish and Natal snoek.
Sharks are still taking a huge toll hitting hooked fish and there have been hard-luck stories on every outing.
Anglers fishing their favourite bottom reefs have been kept busy. Apart from the usual big rockcod and red fish species, geelbek salmon and at times shoal salmon have also been found in some areas.
Before the onset of the unfishable seas, the in-between season did produce a few fish for the rock and surf anglers but there were no fireworks along the coastline.
The beaches are normally quiet at this time of the year, with the odd pompano and wave garrick in the shorebreak and a few copper bream in the rocky gullies.
However, the area stretching from Glenashley to the Durban basin has been producing some decent catches, with some nice salmon caught at Glenashley and some shad and grunter at the Umgeni mouth.