LEAVE THE SHAD, FOR THE SUMMER GIANTS ARE HERE
THE summer fish are here! Although not in great numbers yet, the summer giants are starting to make an appearance and the sound of drags screaming is becoming a regular occurrence.
If you are struggling with baits for these fish and knowing when to use what, The Kingfisher is hosting a free bait clinic on Saturday at the 53 Hunter street branch from 9-10am.
The shad season is closed and you can not keep any shad or use them as bait. Any shad caught must be released immediately.
Well done to the winner of the September shad competition: 1st Vinay Seoraj (5.86kg), 2nd Tyler O’Connor (4.66kg) and 3rd Tyrone Botha (4.46kg).
The north is where the first summer action starts and is thus highly monitored at this time of year. The banks have started to produce fish; so has the Richards Bay area. The banks have mainly been throwing diamonds while the RB area has been producing the variety. Most of this fishing can be done using the same trace and baits with a little variation to target specific species.
The Durban beachfront has been seeing a lot of action the past week. This is due mainly to the poor weather restricting fishing in other areas and the beachfront being a lot more protected and thus more fishable than many other spots. The piers are still producing shad (now closed season) and other edibles. The other edibles include stumpies, stone bream, brusher and pompano.
The best baits have been mixes of chokka and prawn for the stumpies while the brusher have found a muscleman crab irresistible.
The beaches have seen a lot of anglers targeting the inedible summer fish with varying success. The main catches have been blue and brown rays with some grey sharks and diamonds mixed in.
The south coast has been very similar to the central coast with the headlands and points mimicking the piers. The south coast has seen more inedibles on the beaches in the form of honeycombs, brown skates, sandies and some blackfin sharks.
The beaches with rips pushing into the deeper water and areas where you can get onto a bank and put your bait into the deeper pockets are the best spots to target these summer fish.
Make sure you have some decent bait in the form of mackerel, redeyes and chokka in your box and you are good to go.
The Durban harbour is starting to see a lot more action than in past weeks.
The shore-based spinning anglers are getting some decent kingies on lures. Small paddletails, poppers, bucktails and spoons are your best weapons for these fish. Remember to go as light as you can get away with.
The boat-based anglers are getting some very nice grunter on the banks and are also hooking some big brown skates and honeycomb rays. The garrick have all but disappeared and your time is best focussed on one of the other predatory species (kingies, springer or tarpon). Tight lines and screaming reels. The Kingfisher’s trading hours are Monday to Friday 8am to 5pm, Saturdays 8am to 1pm.
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Please send any info about fishing, fish caught or competitions in your area to mike.pereira@ kingfisher.co.za