The Post

Live bait key to landing bigger bottom fish

THE offshore fishing has been firing. The game fish have been testing the drags and the bottoms have been teaching the guys to backwind a KP.

The North Co has seen some good snoek fishing in the early mornings. Fillet baits have seen most of the action. Get your hands on some quality sardines (redeye sardines if possible) and hit the backline in the early morning. There have been tuna and dorado in the deeper waters.

Poppers have been the go-to method for specifically targeting the tuna. Although blind casting can be tedious, it does produce good results if you are fishing the right area. Next time you are slow trolling or even fishing on the bottom, pick up your popping rod and throw the popper around for a couple of minutes. You might just surprise yourself with what attacks your lure.

The Durban coast has seen some massive bottom fish caught this past week with daga tipping the scale over the 30kg mark! Most of these bigger bottom fish are caught on live bait.

The rigs generally consist of a long sinker line attached to a good quality three-way swivel with a short branching line attached to a 9/0 circle hook. This is then pinned in to the live bait and dropped to the depths.

The tuna have kept the game fish anglers happy along the Durban coast and some have caught one or two of the early season dorado already. These have been taken on skirted lures and live baits. With summer just around the corner, remember to get all your tackle rigged and ready for the season as servicing departments get very busy once the fish start biting.

The summer fish are starting to appear in more reports from most of the coast. The conditions are starting to settle in to more of a summer pattern so planning trips has become a lot easier.

The north coast has been producing fish for both the edible anglers and those seeking the bigger fish. There have been flatfish around in good numbers on most of the north coast with diamonds being the predominant catch.

These fish, like many other flatfish, love a big juicy bait.

The Durban beachfront has seen plenty of fish. The basin area has had a lot of flatfish in most conditions and is a great place to take your family if you are looking for a safe place to go. Smaller, soft baits work very well for the smaller diamonds and blue skates. These smaller baits are more aerodynamic and allow you to get the proper distance required.

There have been some decent edibles along the beachfront. The stumpies have been the main target and catch. Prawn and chokka baits are the weapon of choice. When the conditions allow, use a longer trace to allow for more natural movement.

As always, remember to subscribe to our YouTube channel to stay up to date with all our new video releases and to brush up on your species knowledge, tactics and tips/tricks. With all the rain the water has been given a lovely bit of colour, making the river mouths a great place to fish. https://www.youtube. com/c/TheKingfisherFishing

Go to www.facebook.com/thekingfisherdaiwa and “Like” us on Facebook to catch reviews, videos, fishing reports, great promotions and lots more.

Please send any info about fishing or fish caught in your area to mike. pereira@kingfisher.co.za

The Kingfisher’s trading hours are Monday to Friday 8am to 5pm, Saturdays and Sundays 8am to 1pm.

SPORT

en-za

2021-10-20T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-10-20T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://thepostza.pressreader.com/article/281981790784252

African News Agency