Tuna and daga off Durban

North - Maphelane, Cape Vidal and St Lucia have all been fishing fairly well over the last week and on the weekend. With the generals such as couta, tuna and Natal snoek being landed on most days of the week, it seems that the pattern is set and we will be expecting a decent influx of couta and snoek from this point. There have been reports of Cape yellowtail on the north coast as well, which have been caught mainly on live baits fished on the bottom and occasionally on the surface too. These fish are in excess of 10-14kg and when targeted on the reefs, at least 100lb Saltiga Boat braid should be used. Many anglers prefer to use mono for these fish as one would try to "hit and hold” for as long as possible and with the stretch in the nylon, this is possible without losing too many fish. The catches of musselcracker have not slowed down over the last week and Zululand anglers have managed to boat a good few bigger specimens over the weekend.

Central - Durban saw few anglers launch over the weekend due to the predicted cold front and pumping westerly winds, however the predictions turned out to be an exaggeration of what was actually experienced. The sea was very fishable and anglers that did manage to launch had a good time on the water catching a variety of species. Anglers fishing off Ballito managed some fairly decent couta up to 29kg. The paddleski fishermen have successfully targeted daga salmon off the wrecks with live baits and have returned to the beach with full hatches. There are tuna around, however they are of the smaller sort once again and have been taken at Number One and around the containers. Mark de la Hey of FreeSpool landed a decent tuna on Tuesday morning.

South - This stretch seems to have had a disappointing sardine run, with a high presence of red eye and sprat only. There have been many whales, dolphins and sharks, but very few gamefish. Around the Shelley Beach and Aliwal Shoal areas there have been good reports of tuna and wahoo action. There are plenty of smaller bonito around, so be sure to spend a bit of time on the water targeting these fun gamefish with our younger generation. The bonnies will take a small spoon such as a Kingfisher Pro Jet Bullet or a Bite Me jig readily.  Light outfits such as a Daiwa Laguna 2500 spinning reel on a 7 ft. Laguna rod with 15lb Triple Fish Gatorbraid will be a great outfit.

(File Photo:Gallo Images)

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