Fishing Report 5 June 2010   

Sardines should by all accounts lift anglers spirits somewhat as there are favourable reports of these fish being sighted in the Transkei and some pilot shoals seen even as far as Port Edward on the KZN coast.
Ski Boats are back in action as far as the couta season goes as there are good reports of fish being caught on both north and south coasts.
Fishing ski’s are also in on the action and reports coming from theToti and Scottburgh areas suggest that fishing has definitively picked up with some good bags of big couta being reported.

Sardines should by all accounts lift anglers spirits somewhat as there are favourable reports of these fish being sighted in the Transkei and some pilot shoals seen even as far as Port Edward on the KZN coast. There is a lot of bird activity along these particular parts of the coast but as yet there are no confirmed beaching or netting as the shoals are staying out at sea.

With current conditions being experienced along the coast things seem to be going the way for a hopefully good run. Along with the imminent sardine run, shad have come on the bite and were being caught in good numbers at all known spots. The more productive areas during the past week have been Winkle Rocks, Foster Road, Toti and the Umkomaas beach stretch.

The Durban area and the Umgeni North bank also produced some good numbers and a few good fish in the 2 kg mark were landed. Amongst these shad a few fair size garrick have also been caught, particularly the Illovo stretch during the early morning session. These fish should start entrenching themselves along the south coast any day now. As far as the flatfish season goes things have slowed down quite dramatically although there are some reports of big sand sharks and the odd diamond skate being landed.

Other good winter fish that are coming out now are small kob, grunter and some very nice stumpie. A few nice specimens of between 4 kg and 6 kg have been landed along the coast before the cold water moved in. There are also reports of some good grunter fishing in the Umkomaas north bank and river mouth areas as well as along the Durban beaches and the Umgeni North Bank.

The Transkei is also fishing well with favourable reports coming in from the Port St Johns and Hole in The Wall areas. With the recent cold water spell quite a few big ragged tooth sharks were landed at these spots along with hammer head and black fin sharks. Shad angling down here is as good as it can get with some very good reports of some nice size fish coming out in the Brazen Head and Poenskop areas.

Anglers fishing in the river at Port St Johns reported some excellent Grunter fishing and the odd fair size kob is also being landed at night.  Zululand, although things seem to be slowing down is still producing some good catches of flatfish and sharks particularly in the Tugella North bank and Mtinzini areas. There is some encouraging news from the Tugella area in that quite a few lobotes have come out here recently together with grunter and smaller kob. Small spinner sharks have also become a menace here for anglers targeting edible fish.

Ski Boats
Ski Boats are back in action as far as the couta season goes as there are good reports of fish being caught on both north and south coasts. The Aliwal shoal has produced numerous fish but anglers fishing there recently have had some great fun with big wahoo. These fish have been in this area for some time now and a few specimens in the 40 kg range have been landed. On the North Coast the Zinkwazi area seems to be producing some very good fish with the Westbrook and Umdloti areas not far behind.

Fishing ski’s
Fishing ski’s are also in on the action and reports coming from the Toti and Scottburgh areas suggest that fishing has definitively picked up with some good bags of big couta being reported. Ski’s operating the Zinkwazi area are also getting some big couta and the Westbrook area is also producing some couta along with quite a few very big snoek. A reminder to ski boats, Jet Ski’s and fishing skis is that ORI have deployed a few ‘Drifter Buoys’ off our coastline. These are black buoys with a material substance hanging below them and their basic functions is to gather information for ORI as far as offshore currents and the KZN Bight are concerned.

If any of these buoys are encountered anglers are asked to leave them alone (satellite tracked) or phone the relevant people at ORI. If they are encountered in the surf zone a call would be appreciated by ORI so that they can be deployed. Contact people are: Lisa Guastella 082 860 4043, UCT Oceanography Sean Fennessy 073 648 4804 or Lisa Hancke 082 713 0270.

Action packed ESA fishing shows on TV
Don’t forget to watch the action packed ESA fishing shows on TV. These shows feature both saltwater and bass fishing and are aired on Super sport 1.

The ESA Saltwater show will be broadcasted weekly on Thursdays between 19h30 and 20h30, and the ESA Bass show will air weekly on Tuesdays between 19h00 and 19h30.