Nikao Fishing Adventures went fishing in Durban Harbour in the late afternoon/early evening for a few hours to see if the Springer (aka Ladyfish, 10 Pounder) had arrived.
The tide was right, the first signs of spring are upon us, but the North Easterly wind was pounding, the water was cold and we have just had a serious cold front in the last week. I was hoping that the first Springer would have arrived, but it was still too early and I think early in September we will find the first ones. I always like to get the first Springer in the season as these are usually the large ones and they can get up to 12Kg (26lbs), with an average specimen around the 5Kg (11lbs) mark and many in the 3Kg (6.5lbs) area.
We were also hoping for a chance at a nice King Fish (Jack), but we did not find any.
Springer are awesome game fish to catch on light tackle, and will take a lot of line and give aerial acrobatic displays as you fight them.
We were fishing with suspending Jerk Baits using Bass MH Bait Casting rigs, and although we did not find any Springer but we had great fun catching Walla Walla (aka Cutlass Fish, Ribbon Fish, Hairtail). I knew once we started getting the Walla Walla we would get nothing else, but on light tackle they are good fun. They also make excellent trolling bait for Off-Shore fishing, and so we kept them all to try turn them into some large game fish in the summer.