A number of pig-nosed grunter and a few white musselcracker, as well as some shad, have kept anglers at the water’s edge this past week. From photographs I have studied, these catches are widespread from the Coega Harbour to Blue Horizon Bay.
The two aforementioned species are primarily winter species and some fine specimens have been caught. In the estuaries, the art-lure anglers have had good success catching garrick and kob. The Swartkops has a good school of spotted grunter at the moment – good news for bait anglers who enjoy the fruits of this river with its many challenges.
I have taken great interest in the sardine run this year and I could not help but notice the sardines in the Umkomaas River in KwaZulu-Natal. I am not aware that this is a common occurrence? The use of gillnets seems common practice there too, it seems, with a human feeding frenzy the result.
This illegal practice is well organised with a blind eye being turned by the authorities, it seems, as it is virtually at riot proportion and intervention appears impossible. Traditional fishing rights are being used as motivation here, including by those who are in for a fast “buck”. A very disturbing bit of news has been received of mass fish mortality in the Seekoei River that was recently opened and from accounts, the river has now once again silted closed.
The mortalities of mostly grunter and juvenile bait fish have raised the question again about the origin of the problem and whether intervention should take place. In all probability the problem manifests itself up-river, with the latest rains being funneled to the “cul-de-sac” at Paradise Beach.
We are monitoring the situation at the Gamtoos River closely, where all seems quite in order by way of good angling; however a reader has mentioned the mullet are scarce. If indeed this is the case, then alarm bells should be ringing.
They are so important for the predator species in the system which may well just die out if not fished out. What might seem rosy now in terms of good catches,will eventually be far from what we enjoy today.Calendars are being filled at the moment with all the clubs hosting forthcoming competitions with the arrival of spring.
A visit to a tackle store should offer a chance to pick up more information as most clubs post these details at the shops and at other clubs. There is limited harbour access on the cards too, with certain preconditions to be put in place, but we are still awaiting details at the time of going to press.
We experience moderate northerly bergwind conditions that bring a little sunny weather for the duration of the weekend. Low tide is at 4.39am on Saturday with a high barometer reading throughout. We progressed past the first quarter moon phase on Thursday, with full moon next Friday providing good prospects for the midweek period ahead.