Anglers have been having more luck with trout than carp lately.
The dams and rivers are still recovering from the recent floods and will take some time to fully recover, but on the bright side, the fishing has picked up.
At last, it seems that the weather is finally moving into Autumn proper — a most splendiferous time of the year!
From reports coming in, seems like many made full use of the sunshine and outdoors this past long weekend and got a line out somewhere.
Nights are suddenly chilly in the Midlands and water temperatures are dropping correspondingly — and fish are feeding up for the cold ahead.
There have been a couple of competitions run in the past few weeks and all have seen good bags to win. The Durban venues are still struggling with overly dirty water, but Midmar and Albert Falls are both producing some fishing.
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Most of the consistent fishing has been in the deeper water with dropshots, Carolina rigs and deep cranks, but there are still some fish keen to destroy a frog in the shallows.
Last weekend saw a Major League Fishing (MLF) event take place on Albert Falls Dam — biggest bag of 6,45 kg went to local angler Zeyn Habib — while the biggest fish came in at 2,4 kg by Ronnie Thompson.
There is not much to speak of on the carp front.
There have been no reports in from anglers, but the KZN dams have been very tricky.
Those looking for fish will be best set to go further inland to Midmar or Albert Falls.
On the Trout side, the river season is all but over. The water temps are out of favour and the flow rates are very high.
It is stillwater time now!
This is a fantastic time of year to take that Berg holiday you have been talking about. The weather is still mild enough to be pleasant but cold enough to fish.
The dams and lakes are all fishing well and are looking good for the spawn. Remember to add some orange flies to the mix and you will be in the mix. Remember as well that the fish can be very spooky in the shallows, so approach with stealth and be as quiet as possible.
Judging by the stillwater reports received from the Natal Fly Fishers Club (NFFC), the fish are definitely on the prod, and there have been some excellent fish reported, a couple in the 60+cm / 23+inches bracket!
Most anglers are reticent about their weapons of choice, but from the flies being bandied about, we can safely say that larger items are on the menu, e.g. woolly buggers, dragonfly patterns, and minnow patterns in particular.
There have also been some hatches reported, and fish being taken on the dry fly, interesting times!
As previously reported, June is the month when the stillwater trout season goes into high gear, the first weekend kicks off the events with the Kamberg Trout Festival, the second weekend sees Leg 1 of the TOPS Corporate Challenge, and the third weekend sees the Boston Fly Fishing Festival — best to start getting the stillwater fly boxes in order!
There are still some 3 weeks before the official closure of the trout river on the last day of this month May 31 — so the time is now for those still wanting to get a couple of sessions in.
A late season note from Sterkfontein guide Mark Yelland reported some good fish still on the bite a wee while back now, but as reported previously, the Sterkies season is effectively done.
Slow catches
On the salt side with all the dirt and debris plaguing our waters for the last few weeks, the fishing has not been fantastic. That being said, there have been a few great catches all round.
The offshore fishing has been slow but those putting the time in have managed to get fish to the boat.
The baitfish are still scarce, so don’t put too much time into it.
Please send any info about fishing or fish caught in your area to mike.pereira@kingfisher.co.za.
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