Believe it or not but they are still netting sardines in the Durban area! Natal’s biggest sardine run continues to surprise veteran anglers.
Anglers fishing at night are still getting quite a few kob and the odd stumpy.
Terry Nel from Tacklenet in Port Edward reports that it is great to have much news to report this time and the coast is alive with fish during one of the better sardine runs we have had for some time now.

Angling
Believe it or not but they are still netting sardines in the Durban area! Natal’s biggest sardine run continues to surprise veteran anglers. On Monday there were plenty of sards netted and some big grey sharks rolling in the shallow shores of Addington Beach. This was of course was after some netting had occurred.Netting has mostly been happening at Sun Coast area or Ushaka / Addington.

Anglers fishing at night are still getting quite a few kob and the odd stumpy. On Tuesday quite a few nets were landed in the Warnedoon/ Winklespruite area, this was certainly the place to be.

There are a few nice big winter diamond skates around and these big fish can give anglers a surprise when not expecting them.

This year’s shad run continues to be a bumper and is the best in several years from the Transkei all the way up to Cape Vidal. From Ifafa right down to Margate area has produced a few nice fish the last few days, maybe this is the place to go this weekend. The Sandspit has been throwing a few nice size kob on live bait and artificial but once again, few fish amongst many anglers.

Terry Nel from Tacklenet
Terry Nel from Tacklenet in Port Edward reports that it is great to have much news to report this time and the coast is alive with fish during one of the better sardine runs we have had for some time now. On Sunday morning the first real shoals of these fish were sighted as they stretched from as far south of the casino as the eye could see and the bird activity was a reminder of just how nature ran in harmony to a feature which our predictions seemed so small as far human intelligence goes.

The sea became alive and for those who had never seen this before, a sight to remember and to pass on to future generations. Although shoals were present much further up the coast, Port Edward started to experience a sardine run as stories of the past described. No fish actually washed up, but those who were on the beach netted a good catch close in. The fishermen on the points began to have a great time with game fish and sharks together and some large sharks were captured and many others lost as they stretched the fishermen’s arms only to vanish into the deep.

Early this week some now rare catches were made and those who were fortunate enough to be on the points took home good catches and not only sad stories. We all look forward to a good July season and catches that build our confidence in the prospects of fishing to come. It is the time of the year when the bronze bream and brusher start to show their faces, I haven’t heard too much about the brusher but the bronze bream have been caught all the way up to the Bluff.

Fishing for these fish takes special tackle and bait. To target them you need light tackle and small hooks as their mouths are very small for their size, the Mustad bait holder, number 4 or 6 hooks are ideal and 15 to 20lb Kingfisher clear nylon for your traces will be correct. You will only find these fish close to very rocky areas where it is quite deep with lots of rolling white water. Their bite is quite distinct as they will either pull very hard or pick up your bait and race towards you. Once hooked they fight extremely hard and a lot of the time they tend to go for the rocks. The best baits for these fish are crayfish, pink prawn and chokka. Apart from being hard fighters they are extremely tasty fish to eat.

The garrick on the mid to lower South Coast have gone relatively quiet but there are some still being caught by those willing to go to the effort of getting live bait. Foster Road should still be the name on the tip of most tongues. In Durban it’s been all about the shad and sardines. Blue Lagoon has been full with shad when the banks are right but Ushaka has been abundant with shad almost every evening.

The deeper points should start to produce some snoek for the light tackle spinning anglers. The snoek will start to heat up and get better and better over the next 4 months…. Daiwa 4000 size spinning reel, Triple Fish light braid, a Daiwa Exceler 9 – 10’ 6” rod and a 35g Pro Jet bullet spoons will put you into the action for this form of fishing.Zinkwazi and the Tugela are having been the hot spots for garrick recently with the occasional kob being caught.

Petri de Wet’s "Hier Gaan Ons Alweer" on Monday evenings on Kyknet, channel 111 at 17.30. There will be six rebroadcast as follows:

Tues 14:00, Wed 8.30 & 2.30.Thurs 16:30, Fri 11.30 & 1.30. This series will run for three months.