A website dedicated to fishing ski angling in Kzn

                                                                  TARGET SPECIES

 

King Mackerel—

 

  The Couta (King Mackerel) is generally your most common encountered fishing ski species, arriving in significant numbers on the Northern KwaZulu Natal coastline around December each year and gradually spreading down the coast. This mean mid to late January they extend all the way down into the lower South Coast and often into the Transkei. Nothing is cast in stone though as they have been known to arrive either earlier or later, with many fishermen having their own theories as to when the couta will show up in numbers. Throughout the summer months they provide many memorable catches, and as the season progresses into late autumn and early winter, big crocodile couta make their presence felt with many anglers longing for an encounter with fish of twenty kilograms or more. Couta generally remain on our coast line until after the annual sardine run, which usually means by the middle of July each year, they rapidly disappear until the following seasons welcome return. Smaller couta of between four and eight kilograms are generally prolific in clean and warm water. They feed in loose shoals often spread out in the water column as they move between areas known to hold baitfish and cover. Good areas to target couta off a fishing ski are reefs, wrecks, pinnacles and drop offs in fifteen to thirty five meters of water. Early mornings are considered to be the best time of the day to target couta, the anticipation associated with having your first baits in the water as the orange sun rises over the horizon is hard to beat. Having said that, there are times when couta feed strongly well into mid morning and some good catches of this species are made in the afternoons and evening. As the season progresses and the bigger couta arrive in greater numbers, they too can be caught in similar clean and warm water. Any angler worth his salt knows when targeting really big couta it is best to fish in greener water where bigger fish feed and are more often fooled by our offerings. Couta can be caught on a wide variety of dead baits with some of the best being mackerel, Natal sardine and red-eyed sardine. Other effective baits are mozzies (maasbankers), half beaks, silkies (wolf herring) and walla-walla, the latter being particularly effective for the bigger couta. Depending on their seasonal availability, these baits can be found in the bait fridges of most good tackle stores. Live bait is very effective when couta fishing and if you can get your hands on live mackerel, mozzies or small bonito, you have a good chance of meeting with success.

 

Queen Mackerel—

The Queen Mackerel, known to local anglers as the Natal Snoek is found in varying numbers throughout the year on most of the Kwazulu Natal coast line. Their numbers peak and they seem to feed most strongly just prior to and into the summer months and again through autumn. The majority of snoek caught are around the one to three kilogram mark, although there are certain times when bigger fish up to eight kilograms are encountered in good numbers. These shoals of larger fish seem to pop up in a certain area and remain there for a couple of weeks, and such spots can become extremely popular with anglers as word gets out these fishes presence.

Snoek are encountered in two distinct habitats. Firstly open beaches, often around either blind or open river mouths. These fish are generally confined from the backline to water of around ten meters in depths where they form small shoals of like sized fish in search of baitfish and prey items using strong rips and color lines to their advantage. The second habitat is reefs in water depths of between eight and twenty meters of water. Here you often encounter the larger snoek and the size of fish encountered can make up for their lack of high numbers. Many anglers fishing for couta on offshore reefs hook a good sized snoek, which is always a welcome surprise. Using artificials is an effective way of targeting snoek. Smaller swimming lures which put out a strong vibration made by the likes of Strike Pro, Halco and Rapala can account for a good number of strikes, particularly early on in the morning where the snoek are attracted by the lures erratic movements as it speeds past them. Although not very inspiring to look at, small metal spoons often referred to as “Clarke spoons” are also very effective for catching snoek. Their rolling action catches the suns rays and makes the lure look very realistic when seen darting below the waters surface. Spinning for snoek with swimming jigs like the Onde-Onde is a great way to catch them, and when they are feeding strongly, you can be guaranteed a follow and vicious strike on virtually every cast, and if one fish misses your lure, another is often there to pounce .As mentioned previously, snoek are sometimes caught on whole sardines or mackerel meant for couta but they are much better targeted using fillet traces. Best fillets are those of fresh natal or red-eyed sardine which give off both good scent and shine.

 

 

Dorado—

 

The Dorado also known as the Dorrie, Dolphin fish or Mahi-Mahi is one of our oceans most beautiful predators and the sight of a lit up and agitated fish tail-walking across the surface of the water or  fighting in the water below you with the sun across it’s flanks is difficult to forget. These fish hail the arrival of the summer game fish, arriving in northern Natal around November and increasing in numbers and moving progressively southwards throughout the summer months. Dorado definitely prefer clean water, and are located in their highest concentrations around floating debris, the bigger the better. Patches of floating weed, reeds, flotsam or logs, quickly become home to marine life in the form of small fish and crabs and the Dorado gravitate to these areas in search of a meal. If no such area can be located, search out some clean water (which can often mean a paddle out to the deep) or look for distinct color lines as these are also areas that attract Dorado .Dorado are suckers for whole, dead, small natal sardines and red eyed sardines although many are caught on Mackerel meant for Couta. They seem to feed more confidently on the smaller baits, and often when a bait gets too big, they become difficult to hook as they seem to mouth the back half of the bait, refusing to take hold and swallow it. As Dorado are generally considered to be surface feeders, it is seldom necessary to run deep baits. I have found the best combination to be a surface running bait combined with a bait pulled slightly deeper with the aid of a 2 or 3 oz goat’s ball down rigger. When you come across a shoal of Dorries, it is not unusual to have a double hook up, but this can get quite tricky as Dorado often fight with spectacular aerial leaps, and can make knitting out of your two lines in a matter of seconds, resulting in a burn off. A hooked fish will often be followed by others from the same shoal, so keep an eye open for this and if other fish are around, get a bait back in the water as soon as possible after landing your fish in order to grab another before the shoal moves off.

 

 

Garrick—

 

This coastal species hunts in the wave zone in small shoals along the backline and around rocky points. Garrick are an exellent clean fighting fish that show a preference to live bait such as shad , mackerel & mozzies. Lures can also be used such as spoons & plugs .  Season time here is winter from July to October. Not good eating . Limit 2 per day.

 

Queenfish—

 

The Queenfish is usually found hunting in small shoals near reef & rocky pinnacles . They will take live & dead baits as well as lures . Season time here is mainly summer months . Not good eating.

 

 

Yellowfin Tuna—                                

 

  This superb fighting game fish is usually found near the surface and will eat live bait , dead baits & lures . It is an opportunistic feeder and it preys on any small live baits that are plentiful . Exellent eating.

 

 

Sailfish—

 

This exellent fighting pelagic fish is generally found near land masses and will freely take lures  , live baits & dead baits . They will tire rapidly during a fight and will need to be revived before release if possible. Good eating .

 

 

Dagga Salmon—

 

This shoaling predator is found in shallower waters particulary along sandy edges of reefs & esturies. They will take live shad , live mackerel & live mozzies . Season time here is winter months from August to November . Good eating. Limit is 5 per day with only 1 fish over 110cm allowed.