ROCK & SURF
Weather patterns of late are spot on for this time of the year. Big Easterlies followed almost immediately by strong South Westerly winds accompanied with rain, however fish are still being caught in these conditions but overall things seem to be slowing down a bit. In the Durban area fish were scarce and only a few lucky anglers managed to find some shad. The odd garrick came out along the South Coast and the Margate pier has produced some good size shad with anglers getting their quotas fairly quickly. Garrick are still being caught all along the coastline but now the Zululand beaches are coming into their own, especially the Amatikulu and Port Durford areas where good numbers of garrick have been reported recently. Amongst the garrick, anglers at these beaches have also landed some good size kob as well as the odd big grunter. The Richards Bay piers are also producing some fine catches of garrick and shad. The middle South Coast area, anglers who are targeting brusher have had some good catches recently, especially along the Twini ledge where some good specimens in the 6 kg mark have been reported. The Umkomaas stretch is now producing a variety of good edible fish. Some fair size yellowtail kingfish and queen fish have been caught during the past week. Kob and grunter are feeding well for anglers who are willing to fish during the night.
If you are thinking of visiting the Port Edward area to fish, get hold of Terry at Tacklenet or phone him on 0393 113 013, he will be more then willing to help you. It would seem that the annual migratory movement of garrick to the North is on, according to Terry. Although there have not been to many reports of shad, karrenteen have been caught and been used as live bait with astounding results and one angler landed four garrick at Splash Rock last week. Two were released and this is fantastic as compared to what is happening at Sandspit at Port Shepstone, where garrick are being taken home and fishermen are ignoring the bag limit of two fish a day. Please guys play the game, these fish can’t last forever so please leave a few for our kids to catch and release. On Saturday afternoon at Lucky Dip in Port Edward a number of garrick were spotted moving swiftly North in the waves and because of weather conditions, no one was fishing there.

FLY FISHING
Good rains have come so we can stop moaning about smelly estuaries and as soon as warmer weather approaches, we can begin to have results from fly and lure fishing at these spots.

SKI BOATS & FISHING SKI'S
Fishing Ski anglers dread this time of the year purely because of the adverse weather conditions which are experienced at this time of the year, however when a good window of weather presents itself, ski anglers can expect to get stuck into some nice snoek.
Ski Boats fishing along the Tongaat Long Beach area have recently had some very good catches of good size garrick. Shad here is obviously the first prize bait but when scarce live mullet netted from the river is an excellent alternative.

KINGFISHER'S BIGGEST SHAD COMPETITION
Don’t forget The Kingfisher is running their “Biggest Shad Competition”. The heaviest shad will receive a 14’ Kingfisher Poseidon 5pc Graphite Rod, valued at R1,585.00, the second heaviest shad will receive a Daiwa SL 50SHK Reel, valued at R998.00 and third heaviest shad will receive a Daiwa Opus Plus 6000 Reel valued a t R448.00. Please note that all shad (fresh) must be weighed at The Kingfisher, 53 Hunter Street, Durban during trading hours and please remember there is a bag limit of four and the minimum size is 30cm. A couple of massive shad have been landed recently. Craig Haimsworth land a 3.95kg fish at Pennington, Ashneel Ramkissoon landed one of 4.06kg’s at Mapalane and Siva Govender landed a shad of 4.796kg’s at Scottborough.

ESA
ESA has another action packed week of angling entertainment in store for you. In ESA Bass premiering on Tuesday the 23rd of September 2008, we meet up with Wayne Wagner and Xavier at Drie Koppies Dam, then we cross over to the last ESBA Far North event that took place at Injaka Dam which was a determining factor for most anglers, of the top 10 going through to the Final.
ESA Saltwater premiering on Thursday the 25th of September 2008, the LBSA team with Ray, Abel and Lloyd take off with a Helicopter from Margate Airport to scope out the Transkei coastline and identify some angling hotspots. In DSSA we meet up with Abel and Raymond in Caprivi where they target nembwe bream.
We then join the OSSA team in Tanzania for their final day of this adventure where they once again produce a number of good fish.

KINGFISHER FISHING CLINICS
The Kingfisher hosts free fishing clinics on their premises, 53 Hunter Street, Durban once a month. They will be running a spear fishing clinic on the 8th November, this clinic will be run by Shane from Freedivers and will cover all aspects of spear fishing, book early for this clinic as it should be a good one. The Kingfisher also host a Paddle Ski Fishing clinic by Markham Pollard, a Rock and Surf clinic run by Ivan Stopforth and a Drop Shot clinic by Lloyd Pereira. These Clinics are very informative and covers all the basics, including equipment, knots, bait presentation, and tactics. These free 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. These are very popular so book early to avoid disappointment. To book for one of these free clinics phone the Kingfisher on 031- 3683903.