FISHING REPORT 19TH SEPTEMBER 2009

Anglers
After a brief but rewarding appearance from the sardines all seems to have gone quiet now as far as any more surprise showings are concerned. General angling has remained steady all along the coast but shad for whatever reason have remained rather scarce. The only area that has produced some fish have been the Durban piers and the Umgeni stretch. Normally at this time of the year the bigger shad start feeding and to catch a few specimens into the 5 kg mark is not uncommon. Anglers can only hope that these fish make an appearance soon. Most of the action is now taking place on the north and Zululand coasts. Garrick and kob are the main target specie and anglers fishing at Seoula and the Tugella north bank areas are getting some good fish particularly during the early morning sessions. Further north the Zululand beaches are producing the same fish and a few reports of some big early spring sand sharks have started filtering through.
Transkei is still holding it’s own as anglers fishing the points in and around the Port St Johns area reports some good catches of garrick during the day and quite a few big kob during the night hours.

Ski Boats
Ski Boats are still having a great season as far as bottom fishing is concerned. Good catches of daga and geelbek salmon are being reported from both South and North coasts. General bottom fishing is performing well with good catches of ‘reds’ and rock cod being reported. As far as game fish is concerned anglers are going to have to wait a few more weeks before the dorado return. There are still a few snoek around and boats fishing off the Umgeni mouth area have caught some good specimens

Biggest Shad Competition
The Kingfisher’s “Biggest Shad Competition” is in full swing. The heaviest  shad  for the month of September will receive a 14’ Kingfisher Poseidon 5pc Graphite Rod, valued at R1, 925.00, the second heaviest shad will receive a Daiwa SL 50SHK Reel, valued at R1,189.00 and third heaviest shad will receive a Daiwa Opus Plus 6000 Reel valued at R567.00. 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.
So far, first place is a shad of 4.776kg’s caught at Orange Rocks by Raveen Ranjuam. Second place is a shad of 3.634kg’s caught at Richards Bay by Bishawanath Samraj (Suresh) and third place is a shad of .944kg’s caught at Hole In The Wall by Mesigan.

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.

ESA SHOW
ESA BASS, TUESDAY @ 7:00PM on Super Sport 1.
We hit Hazelmere Dam in KwaZulu Natal with Howie and two die hard teenage GIRLS!
This is Bass education 101 for kids, so DO’T miss it! HEADS UP, You may want your kids glued to the screen for this one.
ESA SALTWATER, THURSDAY @ 7:30PM on Super Sport 1
This week in LBSA we join Ray and Dean at Casino Beach in the Transkei. In OSSA we jump on board the Tom Cat with Mark and Dirty Harry as they continue their quest for daga and in DSSA we witness something never seen before!  New ESA Pro Angler Craig Stubbs and Mark the shark, head out to the backline to do battle with garrick ON DROPSHOT!

Amanzimtoti 3rd annual bass classic
Mnini dam, located within 15 kms of Amanzimtoti is hosting its 3rd annual bass classic over the weekend of 3rd and 4th October 2009. Thousands of rands are available for the biggest bass and the heaviest bags of 5 bass on both days. Lucky draw prizes will also be handed out on the presentation day, the 4th October. Entry fee is R150 per angler and covers both days. For more info contact Ron on 0833007528.

Fly fishing competition
The Matatiele Mountain Lake is hosting their fly fishing competition on 31st October and the 1st November 2009.  First prize for a tagged fish is R10, 000.00, 2nd R5, 000.00, 3rd R2, 500.00, 4th R1, 500.00 and 5th R1, 00.00. There are many more prizes to be won. Entry fee is R350.00 and this includes your entry, Saturday dinner and Sunday breakfast. There is a cash bar and camping facilities with ablution blocks available. For registration and bookings please contact either Shane on 083 299 4996, Lionel on 039 7373170 or Dale on 082 331 7262. This is always a very well run competition and is certainly worth while making the trip up the hill. Some info supplied by Dale that will hopefully wet your apreciate. “With all that out of the way, we hope to see you fishing here this
year. The fishing has been the best that I have ever seen, we had a
5.3kg brown trout caught 3 months ago and personally I caught a 4kg
rainbow last week-end, with the average catch of fish ranging between
2.5 to 3kgs. We have also just recently stocked with browns and
rainbows. The lake is clean and cold and an absolute pleasure to fish
in at the moment.”

The Kingfisher’s trading hours
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.
Shane from Freedivers is holding a clinic on diving (spear fishing and cray fishing) at The Kingfisher, 53 Hunter Street Durban on the 25 October 2009. This clinic is free and like all of the clinics, booking is a must.