Weigh points for Richards Bay (bottoms fishing)

[Bassa]

Hi gooday UA members


Any ski boater on the forum have any bottom fishing GPS weigh points to share for Richards Bay area


We fish regularly in the Zululand north coast area, mostly north of richards bay and Cape vidal in which we only target pelagic gamefish


I have been told , bottom fishing is generally more productive south of Richards Bay harbor from New mouth to port dunford area


I would really appreciate it, if anyone out there willing to share some spots


Thanks in advance


Pm me, or email
Mobassa@rocketmail.com

[Awief]

Will email you the WPT list, it's no secret.

[stephenrplumb]

Since you are up the N coast, do you per chance have any bait marks for Sodwana? First time I went there with the kids we dropped a yozuri down and hauled up a little rockcod which did not make it back down, so not too happy about that.


Would prefer a place that we are less likely to pick up anything other than bait fish as I don't want to kill any other little reef guys unnecessarily.

[gerrievdm]

Morning Guys,
I am new to deep sea fishing.  Coming all the way from Gauteng, here now to stay.
Can you please also help me with way points in and out the harbour.  Botto fishing.
I will appreciate it so much.
BTW, is it worthwhile to try the harbor.  So far only caught small stuff?
Thanks
Gerrie
e-mail gerrie@gpbrokers.co.za

[Drago]

https://www.ultimateangling.co.za/index.php?topic=16122.20


Above should lead to old post where you have coordinates for RB

[Drago]

Harbour , it’s not productive , unless you want to catch bait . Lots of mullet around river , close to Merensee club .
You can catch odd diamond ray , if day is rough to go out , you can anchor in harbour and chum and see what you catch.
Petingo wreck - south ( 18km ) can be fun place to catch bait and do bottom . North Hlabane is ok for bottom but smaller fish.
Now there are lot of dorados that you can catch on live or dead bait by drift on trap stick . They are in shallower waters - app 25-60m . If you catch one keep on chumming with small pieces of pilchards and you will catch more . Use pilchards for chum , on trap stick put Spanish Mackerel.
Decent bottom fish can be caught in deep waters - 100m plus , where depth drops faster from  80 to 130m for example  Hard work and only on calmer days with less or no current .
I suggest if you carry phone on the boat to download app called Boating by navionics . You have 15 day trial. Year sucriptuon is around R 600 for SA map  . But it’s well worth it .

[Drago]

Screen shot from app

[Drago]

Petingo wreck

[Drago]

Wind forecasts - one of best features of this app . You can watch how wind changes during the day all the way to next day

[gerrievdm]

Thanks Drago,  I appreciate.  Going to try this week.

[emjay]

There's lots of good reef to be found off of Richards Bay if you're prepared to look for it. Look more for structure than showing, as fish mos hide in caves. Showing helps though. Don't anchor immediately if you find an interesting looking reef. Drop your bait down while drifting for about 10 to 15 min. If nothing is happening, move off the reef and find another one. Once you've found a productive reef, drop anchor. This method is called speculation and we've been very successful using this method for finding good reef and fish. You don't need to go far to find these reefs. The reefs off New Mouth to Port Durnford are definitely good. We generally fish between 15 to 20m deep and have found a few gem reefs not far from home. The reefs just off backline can also hold lekker rock cod, but you need to be awake and keep an eye on the waves. Don't anchor too close to the backline. Some reefs off of Richards Bay are very sinker hungry, so bring plenty of terminal tackle

[BJR]

Thanks Drago,  I appreciate.  Going to try this week.

Pse name the App Drago ?

[Drago]

App is called Boating
You need to chose Africa map
15 day free trial - try all settings with different screens see if you like it .

[Drago]

Good advice from Emjay . Nice reefs behind back line where you can pick cob , rock cod , mof grunter etc . We don’t take chance to go too close on days where waves are higher then 1.5m [size=78%]. There is a clearly marked area “ heavy breakers “ which should be stayed far from . With testing bottom action while drifting , you better mould lot of sinkers .[/size]