KZN FISHING REPORT - 24 May 2008

ROCK & SURF

The word on everyone’s lips at this time of the year is sardines. Nature is strange and there must be hundreds of theories of why there will or won’t be a run. Three years ago these fish surprised us and we experienced one of the best runs ever and last year when conditions seemed perfect there was a dismal run. Until we receive confirmed reports from reputable authorities could we possibly report that a run is imminent. Sardines apart, anglers fishing along the middle South Coast areas had some excellent garrick angling during the course of last week and the past week-end. These fish seem to have entrenched themselves down there. Anglers are urged to heed the law of two garrick per angler per day. The authorities have recently been ruthless on offenders and it is just not worth the fine and above all the hassle of not obeying the law. The same applies to shad, you may only catch four of these fish per angler per day. Other than the garrick and shad, there is still other edible fish on offer. A lot of good size pompano were landed at Toti rocks and the Isipingo areas.

The main bait that was working here was whole mussels but anglers that used small strips of chokka were also successful. Terry Nel from Tacklenet in Port Edward informs us that there is not too much to report now except for a few shad taken on spoon in the Glenmore area. Sardines are now the main topic of talk in the fishing circles but no recent definite sightings have been made and there is a high expectancy at the moment. 9kg Pampano caught by Vinesh Bhagwanparsad at Tongaat Mouth

FISHING COMPETITIONS
The Kwazulu-Natal Coast Anglers Union fished their fourth round postal competition, open tackle, on the 9, 10 & 11 May 2008. The top clubs were 1st Leviathan with 708.5 points, 359 fish (Greg Sutherland was top with 59 fish), 2nd NCAA with 593.9 points, 3rd Trevally with 573 points, 4th McWillaw with 424.6 points and 5th were Umvoti on 383.4 points. A total of 1089 milk sharks and 1068 spinner sharks were caught. Top 3 anglers were 1st Poonsamy Naicker from Flying Fish with 188.6 weight points, 2nd Greg Sutherland from Leviathans with 116.8 weight points and 3rd was Deon Naidoo from Leviathans with 114.9 weight points. Thanks to Dave Nisbet from KZNCAU for supplying the up date.

The Nseleni River Fishing Competition is being hosted by KZN Wildlife Honorary Officers on 14 and 15 June at Hippo Hollow, Richard's Bay. Briefing to be held at Hippo Hollow on the 13th at 19h00. R100, 000.00 1 st prize for a tagged fish and R10 000 guaranteed prize for the heaviest fish. Tickets are R150 per angler and limited campsites are available. Contact Denis on 083 652 1611 or Ian on 082 312 9790.

The Kokstad Fly Fishing Club is hosting the 10th annual Festival on the weekend of 6th – 8th June and will be giving fly fishermen the opportunity to fish some of the finest waters that East Griqualand has to offer. This year entrance will be limited to 100 fly fishermen on a first come first come basis, so get in early. For more info give Bruce a call on 083 306 7317 or Trevor on 083 462 3676.

HEER GAAN ONS ALWEER
Heer Gaan Ons Alweer is back on TV. This very interesting show is hosted by Petri de Wet and covers many different fishing spots, fresh and salt water in Southern Africa. This fishing show is on kyknet, channel 35, every Thursday at 18:00 with reruns during the week. Check your TV guide for details. Episode 59 they are finishing in Angola and moving to Cahorra Bassa in Mozambique, they land tigers up to 9.1kg’s and vundu up 25kg’s on bass tackle.

ESA
Also don’t forget to tune into SS1 on Tuesday at 19.00 for ESA bass and Thursday at 19.30 for the ESA salt water section, great viewing. In LBSA, Ray and Abel, take us on a fishing adventure to Mazzeppa Bay in the Transkei – where they catch garrick with plugs and spoons. We later join our ESA Pro Series anglers at Cane Cutters on the North Coast – where a fun day is had by all. Ray, Dean, Lloyd and Abel take us to Rio Azul in Mozambique for drop shot fishing where among many other species they catch couta, queen fish and swallow tail rock cod. We then cross over to OSSA where Mark takes us on a deep sea fishing expedition on a Tom Cat off Durban and targets shark and couta.The highlights during the day are a 65 - 70 kg black fin and a 70kg bonito.
In ESA bass, Xavier and Tommy Van der Merwe take us to Maguga dam in Swaziland where they explore the dam and try different lures, throughout the show they catch bass ranging from 800g to 2.78kg. We then catch up with the ESA Pro Series bass anglers at Albert Falls dam to see what happened at the Pro Series held on the 3rd of May.
The latest ESA magazine is out and on sale at The Kingfisher for R19.95. In this issue they discuss, jigging and plugging in S.A, the hound shark, extreme species of the month, bait demo on glow chokka, what is H.M.G?, drops hot for bass, and the five top fishing spots in Umkomaas.

THE KINGFISHER CLINICS
Lloyd Pereira (as seen on ESA) will be hosting a drop shot clinic on Sat 14th June at The Kingfisher, 53 Hunter Street, Durban. 9:00 to 12:00. These clinics are there to help beginners and experienced anglers to see what the sport is all about and how to target certain species of fish. It also shows anglers what equipment to use and also elaborates on safety. This should be a very popular clinic so book early to avoid disappointment. The Kingfisher also hosts a free Fishing Ski Clinic on their premises once a month by Markham Pollard and a Rock and Surf clinic run by Ivan Stopforth. These Clinics are very informative and covers all the basics, including equipment, knots, bait presentation, and tactics. To book for one of these free clinics phone the Kingfisher on 031-3683903.