ROCK & SURF
Some news from Graham Smith, a visitor from up North. Having been on the rocks early on Tuesday morning and then again later the same afternoon, I can report that the fishing was excellent with absolutely brilliant weather to boot. A few small shad came out and a shoal of black tail that arrived in the Gully behind the swimming pool at about 09H00, and stayed the entire day, with some very nice sized specimen being caught. Also a few nice pompano were landed. The big news for Tuesday were the 6 nice sized garrick taken from the Inyoni Rocks, two of which were landed by Victor Hurley on live shad bait. Wednesday held a lot of promise as well, with a beautiful sunrise and a sea that was begging to be fished, but that was the day for getting back to Jo'burg!!!. Tough.
Mark from Tackle Box in Shelly Beach reports that fishing over the week-end was just about blown out with the strong South Westerly winds and huge swells and seas running.
The second last round of the Common venue rock and surf competition was fished on the lower South Coast last Saturday afternoon in atrocious conditions. Most of the catches consisted of either stone bream or bronze bream, with no noteworthy fish being caught. Congratulations goes to Tuna A who finished tops for this round.
With conditions almost perfect on Wednesday, the fish turned on and some good catches of shad were made again Orange Rocks seemed to be the hot spot. However most of the local spot threw shad but the garrick and kob are still on the scarce side. Some good sized bronze bream were reported from the Trafalgar reef and Munster areas.
The Geelbeck are back on the bite with some good catches being made. Please guys remember only two fish per angler. The Parks Board are aware and anglers will be fined for exceeding their limits. This goes for shad fisherman as well with anglers already being caught for exceeding the four fish bag limit.
Henry Oosthuizen fishing on his boat Father Time landed a magnificent amberjack on the vertical jig. The fish weighed in at 15.2kg’s and goes to prove amberjack do frequent our waters. Tuna are still relatively scarce however Sensational Charters returned with a couple.
Hopefully the good weather holds however with a big westerly wind expected over the week-end, guys get in while the goings good.

KINGFISHER'S BIGGEST SHAD COMPETITION
Don’t forget The Kingfisher is running their “Biggest Shad Competition”. This year it will be run over a three month period, July, August and September, with three prizes each month. The heaviest shad for each month 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.The biggest shad so far for the month of August is a shad 4.17kg’s caught by Muhsin Shaik on the evening of the 12th at Issipingo Beach. Second is a shad of 3 kg’s weighed in by Verej Ramharak for The Kingfisher “Biggest Shad Competition”, we will have to wait and see how these fish will feature in the top three shad for this month.

ESA
Here is what is in store for you in this weeks ESA show. In ESA Bass, Xavier and Abel Alexandre take us to Albert Falls dam where they get so competitive that they even challenge each other to a DSSA competition in future! Through all the banter they do manage to land a few good fish, one being a 2.4kg fish. In the Saltwater episodes we join Ray and Abel for some stump nose action in Xai Xai! Then in the DSSA next week Mark, Silan, Jakes and King Cat take us fishing in the Durban harbour, they manage to catch 10 different species. Later we cross over to the OSSA in Sodwana on a Tom Cat where they target the mighty Amberjack but due to the ever present “Johnny’s” they battle to land the fish.
The UHTFC are holding a river fishing challenge on 31 October, 1 and 2 November 2008. This is limited to 50 entries, entry fee R2500 without accommodation, R3000 with accommodation. First prize R30 000 to angler with greatest accumulated total length of trout caught. Limited to beats on the Umzimkulu allocated by lot, with 1 beat per rod. Other prizes and auctions etc. Full details and entry forms as well as commercial opportunities on Club's Website: www.uhtfc.co.za. Thanks Bill Simson from UHTFC for the info.

KINGFISHER FISHING CLINICS
The Kingfisher hosts free fishing clinics on their premises, 53 Hunter Street, Durban once a month. They 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.