ROCK & SURF Angling- Durban

Shore anglers have not been treated kindly this summer season as many of the expected fish that frequent the KZN coastline, namely big sand sharks have simply not appeared although a few smaller specimens have been landed. Anglers targeting shad have had a reasonable start to the season with quite a few specimens being landed at most known shad spots.

With autumn on our doorstep anglers can start looking forward to the garrick run and hopefully a sardine run will materialize this year. Anglers fishing for natal snoek have had some really good fun on the piers and at Umgeni Mouth. These fish have now stayed in the Durban area for some time now and most anglers are rigged up with the right equipment and relevant spoons to effectively target these fish. The ‘drop shot’ method is also proving to be very effective in targeting these fish. The average size of the snoek have not been to big but seem to be hovering around the 1kg to 2kg mark.

ROCK & SURF Angling - South Coast

News from Port Edward is that although a few hound sharks were taken during the week, not to much else has happened apart from the odd stone bream and blacktail being caught on ultra light tackle.

SKI BOAT'S & FISHING SKI'S

Ski boats, fishing ski’s and charter boars on the other hand have had one of the best game fish seasons for many years. Couta are obviously the main target specie and these fish can be found on both North and South Coasts in good numbers. Snoek have also not disappointed boat anglers either as vast numbers have already been landed. The bigger specimens seem to be a little further out to sea and it looks like they are feeding on the shark net line. Some fish of up to 8kg have been landed recently.

Deep water spots like the ‘number one’ ground off Durban and the Aliwal shoal and the Protea banks on the south coast have been prolific this season with quite a wide variety of game fish being caught. Yellowfin tunny have made a welcome return to these venues and some fair size fish have already been landed. Sailfish have also been caught on these venues and a really big fish of an estimated 60kg was lost after a lengthy fight on the Aliwal Shoal.

The Durban Ski–Boat Club are having a fishing festival on the 26 &2 7 April 2008. First prize for the biggest couta is a completely rigged 565 Sea Cat with trailer and 2 x 70HP Yamaha’s, the value is about R310, 000.00. There are R200, 000.00 worth of other prizes to be won and pre-entry is R200.00.
Next month 19th and 20th April the Winkle fishing ski club and Eric’s canoes host the Annual Fishing Ski Team event run from the Winkle Lifesaving club. For further information phone Karel 083 679 0818 or Jaco 082 782 9114.

FRESH WATER Angling

Bass Anglers, the 11th Inanda Bass Classic takes place at the Inanda Dam on the 26-27 April. Entries are limited to 300 boats and it is strongly recommended to register early. The past 2 years have seen entries turned away because of the popularity of this tournament.

For the latest KZN fishing news presented by O.J., tune into East Coast Radio at 5.40am Monday - Friday.