Officially, any fishing other than off a fully licensed boat is ILLEGAL in the Durban Harbor. It seems that the authorities allow fishermen to fish on the sand bank between the Yacht Mall and Wilsons Wharf, but some days they chase us and somedays they wave hello.
We (my fishing pals and I), have employed commando tactics to try and extend the fishing in our various favorite places, but alas, even the last bastion of invisibility, the Yacht Mall pier, has become a "hot" place.
So, there is simply nowhere in Durban harbor where a person can go fishing without being treated like a second-class citizen by the police. And you thought it was the thieves you had to watch out for!

The reasons for this situation are varied, and actually we, the fishermen, have not been able to get a suitable explanation why we have not been given even a small area to carry out our pastime.

Anyway, my own solution is to go the official boat route, and we are just weeks away from getting our own little piece of heaven into the water. It is not much, a small tinny with a 10 horse motor is all we need to get our lines wet once more.
As far as boats go, don't ever try and get an unlicensed boat on the water in Durban harbor, the water police will be on your backs before you can dry your feet. It is a very well regulated harbor, and you will have your boat confiscated.
Please note: To run any boat with a motor of 15 horse and over one needs to have at lease an R category skippers ticket. This applies for the Durban harbor and soon for ALL inland waters.

OK, so you managed to duck the cops or you scrounged a ride on somebody's boat, how do you catch fish?

FLY FISHING (Mostly Durban harbor)
As far as fly fishing goes, if I could only use one fly (and I did for almost 2 years) it would be the olive Crazy Charlie. This was both in the harbor and in the surf, and it caught just about everything. Small (No 6) for the harbor and large, 1/0's and up for surf.
Most guys who fly fish in the harbor regularly have their own methods and there are many who are much more successful than I was. You may read other methods than the ones below, don't be afraid to try anything and everything, that's where the fun comes in.
Target Species - Predators, Kingfish and Springer. Also Torpedo Scads, Pickhandle Barracuda, Salad Fish (Needlescale Queensfish). Occasionally small to quite large Garrick, Queenfish, Bonnies, Zambezi Sharks, and of course, the lowly (but not to be taken lightly) Sand Gurnard. The list of potential target fish is endless, which is what makes fishing in this estuary such fun, you never know what you may pick up.

What?!!! Zambezi Sharks? Ummm, ja. Big mothers, that swim in very shallow water without making a sound or a ripple. Two years ago I was wading with the water just above my knees. I had just received a bit of attention from a small kingfish at my lure and I turned around to tell Owen who was about 50 meters down the sand. I saw a dark shape by my feet. I looked down and straight into the eyes of a Zambezi of about 8.5 feet in length. It was not more than 4 feet away from my two feet. A huge tadpole with razor sharp teeth. I froze, and the shark rose up next to me, swam past me so close that I had to lift my hands away otherwise it would have touched me. It did not move swiftly, it cruised past me, and after showing me an extreme close-up of its dorsal and tail fins, about 5 feet apart, it sank into the water leaving a big hole for a moment, and then was gone. I was also gone. I think I ran on top of the water to get back to dry land.
A few days later Owen also had a fairly close encounter as a shark slowly moved past him, but it paid him no real attention.
So, be warned, the sharks are real, and they are real BIG! and YOU CAN"T SEE THEM until it is too late. Don't wade at sunrize or sunset.

Tactics to catch fish.
Most guys who are fishing for Kingfish recommend retrieving as fast as humanly possible. Mostly the fly is stripped in long fast jerks, but the two handed retrieve is also very successful, although I never found it comfortable. Kingies like loud bright flys, things that are very visible and make a bit of disturbance in the water. Poppers and flippers are very successful and, in my opinion by far the most fun way to fish because one can see the chase and the take. Pickhandle Barracuda also like surface lures, but they prefer slower retrieves because they are ambush hunters whereas the kingfish are like schoolyard bullies that like to hunt in gangs and rush in and beat up anything they can see.
Kingfish provide about the best overall fight for the light tackle angler because they don't give up. They are dirty fighters and will head straight for any structure when hooked with the intention of cutting your line.

Springer are by far the fastest of all fish you are likely to catch in the harbor, and the initial runs of a hooked springer are truly astounding. They can strip a hundred meters of line in a couple of seconds, and the fisherman must be very wary. Only about 1 in 10 springer that are hooked are landed even by experienced fishermen so be prepared for some on-offs. They are able to throw hooks, and they can break line because they have some very sharp gill plates.
After a couple of good runs the Springer gives up quite easily. At this point get him in, unhooked and back into the water as fast as possible to give him the best chance of fighting another day. Although they are edible, they have many many bones, and they don't taste very nice, so please return them to the water.

Springer have shown us a variety of feeding habits. We catch them occasionally of the sandbank during the day on slow to medium speed retrieves. During the day they sometimes feed on moving prey, kingfish fashion (but not nearly as frequently as kingies), but they are mostly caught near wharfs and jetties when sunset coincides with a hightide. As the water begins to drop they show up to feed on glassies, which tend to make up the bulk food source of most predators in the bay.
Springer in feeding mode can be vary frustrating for anglers because they smash the water surface furiously as they feed, but very often refuse to take any lure or bait presented to them. Even a glassy on a small hook (normally a guarantee) gets ignored, and we go home empty handed after having been surrounded by a feeding frenzy for an hour. My theory is that when they smash the surface they are not actually feeding but smashing the glassies with their tails to stun them. They then return to feed on the dazed and confused bait fish. We often pick up a fish in the quiet periods just after a smash, and I think this is the reason.

I found the best way to catch these fish was to drift a small olive Crazy or Clousers Minnow (light weight or no weight) on a floating line with as little retrieve as possible. These two flies are very good for imitating glassies. Often the outgoing tide is enough to keep the line straight. Let the fly just swirl around a bit and every now and again give it a little twitch. Occasionally Springer take in a rush but mostly the first sign one gets is a gently nibble, an enquiry. DON"T STRIKE! He will hook himself. Fasten your safety belt, and put a little bit of pressure on the line. As he realizes he is hooked he will head for the horizon VERY quickly. Let him take line, you will have no choice, but never give him slack. NB!!! Your drag must be fairly light. You must let him run because the moment you put your drag up he will either break your leader or throw the hook. Small and medium sized Springer jump, hence the name, so be ready and enjoy the spectacle.

There are sharp things in the harbor.
Apart from broken bottles, rusty cans and all sorts of manmade dangers, there are also many large crabs, skates and other nasties that can cut a fishing trip short in many unpleasant ways. I wear rubber booties which sorts out most of these. The fish can also make one pay in blood. Salad Fish or Needlescale Queenfish are great fun to catch but their dorsal fins have a toxin and if poked by them the wounds can take months to heal. Sand Gurnards are quite ugly looking fish that lurk on the bottom of the sand and take almost anything. You will catch a large number of these. Beware, not only are they ugly they also have numerous spikes all over. The best way to handle them is to grab the bottom lip between thumb and forefinger. Its teeth are not sharp or pronounced and won't harm you. Once you have a firm grip on him you can then unhook him.

Remove the barbs from you hooks. This saves much pain both for the fish, and also for the fisherman. I get more injuries from removing fish from hooks than from any other way, and no barb means one can just twist the hook and the fish is off.

Spooning and Dropshot in the harbor.
Well it is a couple of years since I threw a fly line in Durban. It is a hard job throwing a nine weight rod and line, and the fish bite mostly in windy weather which makes it even more of a game for diehards.
I now use a small dropshot rod for most of my fishing, and a bigger dropshot rod for the surf. I catch much more fish than I ever did with fly, and it is MUCH easier on my back. However, it needs to be said, fighting a fish with a fly line is still by far the most fun, simply because one feels the line in one's fingers, whereas with a spinning rod one's hands are on the reel handle and not the line.
But, when it comes to covering water and coaxing reluctant fish to bite, spinning can't be beat. We throw small 7 and 10 ounce spoons and they go three times the distance of a fly cast. The retrieve can very fast, MUCH faster than any fly retrieve, perfect for kingfish, and one rod can fish both surface and deep without changing lines. We have caught 29 different species on just one type of spoon.
I am also quite a fan of some of the new dropshot lures that are available. There are many that look EXACTLY like glassies, and I have had great success with them for all of the species. By far my favorite method in the harbor is pulling surface poppers for kingfish, and the spinning rod is perfect for it.

Difficult fish.
Mullet are thick in the harbor. So thick that sometimes one feels one can almost walk on them, but they don't take fly easily. However, if they do take a fly or lure the fisherman is in for a fight that almost rivals the Springer. They are preyed on by all the lager predators in the harbor and by birds like pelicans, and as a result they have well developed survival instincts and when hooked they run and jump and are wonderful fun.
I have heard a few methods for catching these fish on fly and spent a lot of energy over 5 years to catch these guys regularly but was not too successful. There are two main types, big bull mullet that feed mostly on green slime that is found growing on rocks and wharfs, and smaller ones called bread mullet by the locals because that is what you can use to catch them.
Mullet are well worth targeting but are a science all on their own.

Grunter are the other difficult-to-catch fish. They are very plentiful especially in spring and summer, but they don't often take a fly. I think I caught 3 in 5 years and all by accident. I recently meat a guy who says he catches quite a few using an olive Wollybugger.
We catch them using live crabs that one can pick up off the sand at low tide. Use a small hook on a meter and a half of 6lb flurocarbon, with a sliding sinker. Push the hook through the crab (not a nice job) from underneath until it protrudes from the back by a couple millimeters. Cast the crab gently and then walk back a long way and wait. Grunter are very spooky and get frightened easily so don't make any disturbance. Grunter test the bait before eating. They suck it in and then spit it out. Then they may go back for another proper go. When you feel some attention DON"T STRIKE!!!! Wait for the fish to commit itself. Your drag must be completely soft. If the fish feels any tension on the line it will spit out your bait. That is why you need a sliding sinker. As the fish swims off you can reel into it and tighten your drag, but only a little bit. A 4kg Grunter is a beast on light tackle. He will make numerous runs, and just when you have brought him close to you, and tightened up your drag, he will turn and bolt and snap your leader. Be warned.

Fishing the surf around Durban
The coastline both north and south of Durban holds many many lovely fishing places. Find a beach anywhere and throw a line, you may get lucky. I normally direct new fishermen to the beaches on the bluff simply because they are easy to get to, fairly safe, and one's chances of catching fish there are as good as anywhere around Durban and better than most. But really, all of the beaches on the East Coast produce fish and Durban is particularly blessed in that a small section of coastline just where Durbs is situated, is an overlap area, meaning we get fish from the south in winter and fish from the north in summer, so in theory at least, Durban should have fish all year round.
We have our fair share of quiet periods though, so if you happen to fish in one of these times then, bad luck, just enjoy the surroundings.

My tackle
Fly fishing - Nine or twelve weights for the surf, mostly to get big heavy flies out far enough to stand a chance of catching something. Harbor - nine weights but five weight is ok because one normally has space to let a fish run if necessary. Floating lines mostly but intermediate and sinking if one can get out on a boat.
Flies of choice - Harbor - Small - Olive and natural colours, but white Saltybuggers are also very effective. Other colours - orange, pink and of course chartreuse. Black at night or low light. Surf - Go big or go home. Chartreuse Clousers Minnows are about the best, but big white fluffy things worked very well too. Crazy Charlies are good for imitating shrimps near rocks.

Spinning - Berkley rods small as possible for the harbor with 6lb fireline (only fireline) reel - Daiwa Exceller Plus 2500 , Surf - Berkley Air with Daiwa Oceano 4500 and 14lb fireline.
Spoons - small for harbor, large for the surf. Any of the spoons made by Spanyid (Australian) are very good. Surface poppers, Strike Pro or Raapies if you can afford them.
Dropshot, any and all of them. Gee, too much stuff and not enough time!!!
Berkley dropshot lures are really good but pricey. There are some very good local makes, McArthy are very good and half the price.
Berkley make something called Camo Worm. It is an essential for any rock and surf trip if you have a small dropshot rig. Camo worm catches ANYTHING!!! Break a long worm into three or four pieces. Thread some onto a small jighead. We use 1/8 or 1/16, as light as possible in the surf conditions. Gently toss this into the swirling water in the gullies and rock pools, but hold onto your rod, Black Tail, Moonies and any of a hundred species will attack your Camo worm with gusto. Camo Worm comes in a few different colours, we have found that they all work, but the dark green one called Motor Oil and the one called Camo Worm which is green and brown the best. They also come in a smaller size which also work well.
We have yet to catch anything of significance in the harbor with camo worm.

Lastly, when to go fishing is always a difficult one to answer. Whenever one can, is about the best answer. A bad day on the water is better than a good day in the office! However, saltwater fish feed predominantly around sunrise and sunset, mostly on an incoming tide and when the water is full. That is what the experts say.
I have noticed that fish seldom bite at full high or low tide, and we often get fish on an out going tide, but more regularly on an incoming. There are many other factors that affect fish feeding, and to be honest, I have yet to develop an really sound theory relating to weather, barometric pressure wind direction etc.

I have recently changed my theory to include the moon. I will elaborate at a later point, but essentially it appears that fish, animals and plants feed for two one hour periods during a twenty four hour period. This is when the moon is at its zenith, either directly overhead, or directly beneath one's feet. This is the time to go fishing, regardless of where the sun is. When the moon is overhead it is called Moon Up, and when the moon is below our feet it is called Moon Down, and when either of these periods coincide with sunrise or sunset the fish will bite furiously.
Well, it is just a theory, and not mine, but it has been around since the 1930's. I have yet to really give it the test of time, but we have to work with something, and I have had at least some success so far.

Of course, to test ones theories, one needs to go fishing ALL THE TIME! Which is what I intend to do. See you on the water.

Gary

February 2006
Fishing in the Durban Harbor is the best it has been in many years. The sand banks are the healthier than they have been for 20 years, and they are litterally crawling with crabs, shrimp and all sorts of tastey snacks for a huge variety of fish, and fishermen.

A number of good sized Kingfish (trevally) have been caught on fly, mostly off the North and South Piers. Pickhandle Barracuda are plentiful and much larger than seen in previous years. We have caught a good number both on fly and spoon.

Wading on the banks, normally a peaceful and soothing past time has been given a bit of an edge with the arrival of a large number of Zambezi shark. This is no joke folks! According to the Natal Sharks Board, the degrading of the estuaries on both the north and south coasts of KZN have caused the Zambezi sharks to enter the harbor in great number. There have always been a few shark sightings in the harbor but recently there have been up to ten sightings a day. Fishermen are frequently being chased and are loosing many fish to the dreaded taxman. Fortunately so far nobody has been injured, but it is just a matter of time. Last weekend the boat fishermen hooked ten snoek and only managed to land one. Taxman took nine.

In the interests of retaining all of our limbs, my fishing pals and myself decided to stay as much as possible to dry land, especially at sunrise and sunset. We have been fishing both North and South Piers, with a fair amount of success, mostly with Pickhandle Barracuda on South Pier, but also with a fair bit of success at the Yacht Mall pier.

The variety of fish that take a fly in the harbor is quite astounding. Every cast is like throwing one's line into a lucky packet. You never know what might come out. Mostly it is nothing, because these are not canned fish and fishing is seldom easy. But when the line goes tight you are in for a fight!

Kingfish and Pickhandles are most commonly caught by the fly fisherman off the piers. Wading, nine out of ten fish caught will be the much maligned Sand Gurnard. Actually this is one of my favorites simply because they provide much entertainment when the predators are not around. Beware of his viscous dorsal spikes. These can penetrate fishing gloves with ease and wounds can bleed for hours.
I try and let them get away without handling simply by letting my line go slack. They will quite often unhook themselves. If this does not work then trap him with his back against your stripping basket and hold him firm with one hand against his white stomach. Then you can remove the hook and just drop him back into the water.
Gurneys take almost anything as long as it it retrieved slowly over the bottom.

When talking about sharp spikes then one must mention the Needle Scaled Queenfish (Salad fish). This is a lovely fish to catch and fights like a tiger. It has a black tip to the dorsal fin which is visible when it fights on the surface. Watch out for the dorsal spikes. They are sharp and carry a toxin which slows down healing.

I always wear gloves, as much for the sun protection as for the comfort and confidence it gives me when handling a fish.

Other fish you might catch on fly include Garfish, Torpedo Scad, Garrick or Leerfis, and the illusive Springer which is notorious for its fighting ability. North Pier has been particularly generous to my species list. The Flute Nosed Candelabra Fish must surely be one of the ocean's strangest creatures. Have a look at the gallery for the picture of this one, I am not even going to try and describe it.

I had one memorable weekend when I cracked the Zebra Fish code. These frustrating little fish shoal in their hundreds in amongst the rocks off North Pier. They seem to defy all attempts to catch them. One Saturday morning I caught one by "accident" by pulling a tiny white mullet fly through a shoal of them. The next day I returned armed with my 5weight rod and a bunch of little white flies. I caught 12 Zebra in about half an hour. I had cracked the code! I have not been able to catch one since.

Hey, I even caught a pigeon once when one flew into my leader while I was casting. Fortunately he was retrieved, revived and released with just a bad hair style to show for his adventure.

Hey, if you want to come and fish in and around Durban email me, I might be able to give you some advice.

Gallery - Click thumbnail for large image.