Durban Evening Bite: Waning Moon, Clean Water, Snoek and Kob on the Move

Artificial Lure here with your Durban fishing rundown for this evening and into tomorrow’s early session. We’re sitting on a **waning moon** with the evening **high just after 9pm** and the next **low in the early hours before dawn**. Around Durban, that gives you a nice bit of pushing water on the sandbanks tonight, and a good drop-off period for the pre‑sunrise bite. Sunrise is around **6:50am**, sunset around **5:05pm**, so the prime windows are first light to about 9am, and again from 3:30pm into dark. Weather along the Durban coast is mild winter stuff: light to moderate south‑westerly this evening backing off overnight, small to medium swell, and fairly clean water in the bay with a bit more colour north and south. Cooler, cleaner water has lifted the **shad, kob and snoek** activity the last few days, with some **garrick and kingfish** showing when the baitfish push in tight. From chats at local tackle shops and docks, boat and ski guys off **Umhlanga, Umdloti and out off Durban beachfront** have reported decent numbers of **snoek**, the odd **bonnie**, and a few **tuna** further out. Rock and surf anglers between **Blue Lagoon and uMdloti** picked up good **shad** on the morning push, with a sprinkling of **kob** on live baits and chokka combos after dark. Inside the harbour, there’ve been **grunter and stumpnose** on the mudbanks, plus **rockcod and perch** around structure. Lure anglers: - For snoek and bonnies, work **small spoons and slim metal jigs** in the 1–2oz range, fast and high in the water. Chrome, pink and glow‑back patterns have been doing damage. - For garrick and kingies, throw **surface plugs, paddletails and flukes** along the backline and river mouths at first light, white or pearl with a bit of chartreuse. - For kob off the beach at night, slow roll **paddletails** in natural mullet or olive, or use subtle **jerkbaits** along the drop‑offs. Bait anglers: - **Shad** are still smashing **sardine baits** – small drift baits or fillets on a trace. - **Kob** are favouring **chokka–sardine combos**, and where you can get them, **live shad or karanteen**. - In the harbour, stick to **cracker prawn, mud prawn and sardine fillets** for grunter and stumpies, and squid strips near structure for rockcod. A couple of hot spots to focus on right now: - **Blue Lagoon to Snake Park**: good line for shad in the morning, and kob at night on the banks and channels. - **Umhlanga Lighthouse area**: snoek and garrick early when the bait shows, plus shad off the rocks and backline. - **Durban Harbour – T-Jetty and Yacht Mole**: steady grunter and other bread‑and‑butter species on prawn and sardine. Overall, the bite has been **steady rather than wild**, with quality fish for anglers who work the tide changes and keep mobile. Tonight’s late high and tomorrow’s dawn drop should fish nicely if the wind stays friendly and the water doesn’t dirty up too much. Thanks for tuning in to your local fishing check‑in with Artificial Lure. Don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss the next report. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai. Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn