FISHING REPORT 10TH OCTOBER 2009.

Anglers
After a few weeks of really bad sea and weather conditions things looks as though they are finally settling. Forecast for the week end looks favorable for angling and with the shad ban in place anglers are now targeting brusher, pompano and the odd bronze bream. Brusher have already made an appearance mainly along the Isipingo ledges and the rocky stretches of La Mercy.

Pompano for what it is worth are still hard to find and no reports of any fish have come to light, but it should not take long before catches start filtering in. Locally there are only some sketchy results as far as sand shark and skate action are concerned. The only real results are coming from the Zululand beaches where some good specimens of both sand sharks and skates are being reported.
Angling up here now can be very rewarding as there are still some garrick around as well as quite a few kob. Snapper salmon have also been caught in good numbers along the Amatikulu stretch but the main area seems to be in front of the river mouth.

The Transkei which is fishing very well now also starts producing some very big sharks off most of the deep water points. The main areas are the traditional Port St Johns and surrounding points and the Hole In The Wall areas, as well as Mezappa Bay. Jos Lourens, Matthew Dennington, Mike and Lloyd Pereira have just returned from a quick three day trip to Mezappa Bay. The conditions played the game and they landed and lost some magnificent fish. The more notable fish landed being Matthew’s (first ever shark) bronze whaler of 112kgs, Jos landed another bronze whaler of 97kgs and Mike landed a beautiful raggie of 174kgs, this fish was landed at the point with the new 13’ Kingfisher “Donsa” HMG rod and a Daiwa Saltiga 50 reel. There where some small hammers around and the occasional grey shark. 

 News from Port Edwards Terry Nel is that not to many crowds down there this weekend and people have stopped targeting shad with the closed season till Dec 1st. However, the odd shad being caught by 'mistake' have been large. Bronze bream are now the top of the list of targeted fish and some nice fish are being caught in most of the shallow reef areas where bronzies are active. Splash Rocks 'live bait fraternity' are still seen there just about all the time and one wonders sometimes if they remember to go home because their profiles seem to have become a very common sight at Port Edward. For info in the Port Edward area give Terry a call at Tacklenet, 0393 113 013.

Mike Nikao Fishing Adventures
Mike from Nikao Fishing Adventures sent in this report on the 5th. “The sea has been rough lately with the large frontal system and today was no exception and so I had to postpone my deep sea fishing booking off Durban for safety reasons and decided to go down to Inanda Dam South Africa with some buddies for a morning of bass kissing (fishing). We launched at 06h00 and wanted to be home by 12h00 as there was a storm predicted for the afternoon. Our hopes were high as we were expecting some really good top water action; when we got down there the water was as flat as a sheet of glass, there was no wind and it was warm, the water was crystal clear and the surface temperature around 22 deg. C.

We started in some bays that I know have given me good top water action in the past, and 1st cast one my buddies got a hit but missed the fish, he cast again and immediately was into a bass, landing a fish of around 1Kg (2.2lbs). This gave us a false hope and we continued with the top water for a while with no further results. I then decided that the fish were deeper and went to some areas where I have been getting fish lately on my bookings and we found fish at the 6m (20ft) on finesse worms rigged drop shot style and mojo style carolina, and starting joking with each other about who was going to get the pig that day.

We started kissing the bass to tell their big mamas to come see us, but unfortunately this did not work and we never landed a pig. In the end we landed another 14 fish mostly around the 1Kg size with a few slightly smaller ones but all keeper size (over 300mm / 12”) with the best 2 fish weighing in at 1.5Kg (3.3Lbs). We ended up fishing until 13h00 and only getting home at 14h00, but were pleased with a 15 fish total for the morning. I had spoken to a few other anglers, all were fishing deep and many were struggling and complaining about the tough fishing conditions, and we heard of a 1.9Kg (4.2lb) bass that was caught”

                                                           
The Matatiele Mountain Lake 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 appetite. “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.