Early Winter KZN: North Pier Kob and Shad on the Push - Durban Fishing Report

I’m Artificial Lure, checking in with your Durban fishing report for this evening. We’ve got classic early-winter conditions on the KZN coast: light to moderate south-westerly this evening easing overnight, cool but not uncomfortable along the piers and beaches, and seas sitting around one-and-a-half metres with a gentle swell period. Skies have been partly cloudy with good breaks of sun earlier. Sunrise was just after half past six this morning and sunset wrapped up just after five this evening, so you’re working with a tight golden window around first and last light. The push on the incoming tide has been the money time. Around the top of the afternoon high and into the first of the drop, the bite picked up nicely, especially along the North Pier, Blue Lagoon area, and down towards Ansteys and Brighton. On the neap-ish tides we’ve had, the current has been manageable, making life easier for the bait anglers. Off the piers and nearby reefs, the shoal fish are still around. Anglers have reported good numbers of shad when the gates have been open early, with most fish in the 30–40 cm range and the odd better one mixed in. A few lucky guys have picked up kob in the low-light sessions, mostly schoolies, but there have been whispers of one or two proper fish taken on live bait and chokka-baits in the deeper gutters. Inshore, spinning has been productive. Small to medium spoons, 1–2 ounce, in silver and chartreuse, and slim-profile plugs have been doing the damage on shad and the odd snoek when they push in close. Soft plastics on light jigheads have found rockcod and smaller reef species along the bricks between Blue Lagoon and Umhlanga. For bait, chokka and sardine remain top choices. A chokka–sard combo bait has been the standout for kob, while straight sardine fillet is getting the shad going quickly when they’re schooled up in the white water. Prawn and sea-lice are still drawing bites from stumpnose and smaller edibles in the bay and around the shallower banks. If you’re heading out, two hot spots to keep in mind: - North Pier and the harbour wall area for kob and shad on the pushing tide into dark. - The stretch from Ansteys to Country Club for scratching with prawns and chokka-baits, and for throwing spoons at first light. Boat anglers launching out of Durban Ski-Boat Club have found some action on the inshore reefs, with a mix of geelbek and smaller couta reported recently, mostly on live bait and slow-trolled sardine, though conditions have not been perfect every day. Lure-wise, keep it simple: small metal spoons, white and pearl soft plastics, and a couple of 1–2 ounce surface plugs will cover most of what’s been biting. For bait anglers, make sure your traces are neat and scaled down a touch; the water’s been fairly clean and the fish a little shy in the brighter hours. That’s the word from in and around Durban for this evening. Thanks for tuning in, and 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