FISHING REPORT 18TH  JULY 2009.

Fishing report
By now, hopes of sardines are pretty low and it would seem that they have traveled past in the deep and the dark. However, that is why the run is one of the Seven Wonders of the World because everybody wonders where they are. Seriously though, they could pop up out of nowhere at any time and all the experts could be wrong. It has happened before. One thing though we can look forward to a good season and there has been plenty of action with garrick and shad being the main catches. Bronze bream have been plenty, even though the sea has been very calm and there is little white water. However what the limited run did supply is some nice quality fish. Shad are now well entrenched at all known spots and the average size is getting better although there are still some undersize specimens around.

The Durban area in particular has over the last week or so produced good numbers of shad as well as a few garrick and snoek at the Umgeni Mouth and North Bank. On the South Coast things are much the same with a lot of shad being taken at places like Toti, Isipingo and Winkle High rocks.
These venues have also produced good numbers of garrick recently and the odd big kob has been landed by anglers fishing into the night. A little further down the coast, the Umkomaas River Mouth and north bank area has for the past few weeks really produced a variety of quality fish. Apart from the shad and garrick that are being caught, shoal kob, grunter and queen fish are keeping anglers busy on this stretch. Anglers fishing the sands pit area with Strike Pro lures at night are still getting their fair share of kob at night.

Fishing in the Transkei has also stepped up a gear with reports of garrick being caught in the Port St Johns and Poenskop areas. Live bait seems to be a problem at these venues and anglers are going to great lengths to collect shad at different spots and transport them back. The Lighthouse area has been producing some fine results of kob by anglers using spoons at night. The river here has equally not let anglers down and some steady catches of grunter and kob are being reported.

Drop shot
On the drop shot scene, the Mc Arthy Drop Shot Plastics range has been increased considerably. This new drop shot lure has hit the market with vengeance and has shown that drop shot lures don’t have to cost huge amounts of money to catch fish. Being a proudly South African produced product, McCarthy’s shapes and colours have been picked specifically for South African waters. Check out the range of plastics at your nearest tackle store or at The Kingfisher, some great fish have been landed using these products.

Ski boats
Ski boats have turned their attentions to bottom fishing as the couta season seems to be drawing to a close. There are only few reports of these fish being landed. The first of the daga and geelbek salmon have been reported and this should capture the attentions of the majority of ski boaters. These are also some good red fish and rock cod around. Fishing ski’s are now targeting mainly snoek as the couta season is slowly coming to an end. A lot of these fish are being caught along both North and South Coasts.

The TV coverage of The Durban Ski Boat Club Festival competition will be shown at the following times.
Tuesday 21 July on SS1 & SS1A at 19h30 (Premier).
Wednesday 22 July on CSN, SS1 & SS1A  00h30   SS6 and at 20h30. Thursday 23 July on SS1 & SS1A at 15h00.
Friday 24 July on CSN, SS1 & SS1A at 04h00.
Monday 27 July on CSN, SS2 & SS2A at 22h30.
Tuesday 28 July on SS6 at 13h15. 
Wednesday 29 July on SS6 at  19h00.  
Please note that these are subject to change

ESA
Catch the ESA team doing battle on ESA Saltwater at 7:30pm on Thursday and don’t miss the bass show at 7:00pm every Tuesday on Super sport 1 (unless mentioned otherwise – check your DSTV guide for details) the latest ESA magazine is out and on sale at The Kingfisher for R19.95. This issue it is jammed packed with great features.
The Kingfisher’s trading hours are Monday, Wednesday to Friday 8:00 to 17:00, Tuesday 8:30 to 17:00 and Saturday 8:00 to 13:00.

Divingclinic
Shane from Freedivers is holding a clinic on diving (spear fishing and cray fishing) at The Kingfisher, 53 Hunter Street Durban on the 25 July. This clinic is free and like all of the clinics, booking is a must.

Fishing Ski Clinic
The Kingfisher at 53, Hunter Street, Durban hosts a free Fishing Ski Clinic on their premises once a month by Markham Pollard. These monthly 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. Over and above this they also hold Rock and Surf clinics 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. To book for one of these free clinics phone the Kingfisher on 031- 368 3903.