KZN FISHING REPORT - 09th May 2009

ROCK AND SURF
FISHING REPORT 09TH  MAY 2009.
Rock and Surf anglers are still finding the odd garrick along the Illovo and Umkomaas stretches. Shad seem to have entrenched themselves at most known spots and anglers are getting their quotas during the morning sessions. As the month of June slowly creeps up anglers are starting to talk about yet another imminent sardine run. Some encouraging news is that a few vital sign’s indicating that a run could materialize is that there are already reports of sardines being sighted as far south as Plettenberg Bay and right up to the East London area further north, together with the amount of couta that are being caught as far down as Grovener could possibly be a good indication.

Lloyd Pereira from The Kingfisher managed to land a good zambezi of 125 kg’s on Sunday at Hlangwane (Hole In The Wall). Lloyd was using the new Daiwa Saltiga SA 50 Hyper reel and the Poseidon “Staffie”HMG rod and had this fish beat and up the gully in forty minutes. Lloyd and Nirosh have just returned from a three day trip to the Transkei and had some good fun. Besides the zambezi Lloyd managed a small hammer and Nirosh had two sharks in the 30 – 40kg mark eaten by bigger sharks while fighting them. Nirosh also got stripped on the third day. Chris Quayle had a simular time in Mezeppa Bay, most of the sharks hooked were not landed because they were eaten by bigger sharks. Chris did however land a bronzie of 128kg’s and his brother landed a bronzie of 105kg’s.

Marlin Ski Boat Club Couta Classic
The last long week-end of March saw the annual Marlin Ski Boat Club Couta Classic taking place at Port Edward. The weather gods played along and the competition was off to a fine start. Both days anglers had fine weather and plenty of fish being boated. To host a competition of this magnitude takes a great deal of organization and a massive thanks must go to the organizing committee for the way this event was run. From the first boat launching on Friday morning to the prize giving on Saturday evening it was nothing less than total professionalism on the part of Marlin Ski Boat Club. Anglers were not disappointed as some very big couta were at the weigh in on both days. In the end a total of 96 couta were weighed in with a staggering average weight of just over 16 kg. Top angler and winner of the fully rigged ski boat valued at over R200,000 was local lad Mark Snyman fishing off the boat ‘Sharp Shoot’ with a monster couta of 33.47 kg, not content with this prize, Mark also accounted for 3rd place with another great fish of 25,95 kg.

A worthy winner indeed. Second place went to Marlin Ski Boat club member Peter Philip with a giant fish of 28, 57 kg. Another interesting fact was that there were no less than 16 couta that weighed more than 20 kg. Hopefully this is an early indication of an imminent sardine run. Junior angler Nathan Defilipi got the prize for the heaviest prodical son that weighed in at a healthy 26, 19 kg. The yellow fin section was won by Pieter Bodenstein with a good fish of 19, 58 kg and the yellow tail category was won by Rowan Schoeman with a fish of 15, 05 kg. Not to outdone by their male counterparts the 1st prize in the ladies section went to Caryl  Combrink who mixed it with the men to weigh in a big couta of 19, 36 kg. In the junior category Willie Schoeman (jnr) fishing from his dad’s boat ‘Bull Dog’ secured the junior prize with a good fish of 20, 16 kg.
Game fish, mainly couta are also being caught in good numbers in the Zinkwazi and Westbrook areas in the north along with a few good size snoek.

The more traditional area where couta and snoek should be being caught, namely the middle South Coast has to date performed well bellow average as very little fish are being reported from the Toti and Scottburgh areas.

"Hier Gaan Ons Alweer" is airing on Thursday evenings on Kyknet,  channel 111 at the following times: Thursday 7th of may18:30hr. There will be six rebroadcast as follows: Fri 13:00, Sat 9:00 and 0:00, Mon 13:30, Tue 9:00 and 1:00.This series will run for three months. “Hier Gaan Ons Alweer” is in "Stywe Lyne” as well as "Fish" magazine. Both magazines are doing a series of articles on this fishing series. Petri and his team fish all over Southern Africa, fishing in salt and fresh water and will be fishing with The Kingfisher products, reels, rods, lines lures etc.


Trading times
The Kingfisher’s trading times for the public holidays during April / May are as follows, 27th April closed, 1st May open from 8:00 to 13:00. Our normal 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.

Fishing 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.
We are looking for guys or girls to help us with clinics in the bass and fly fishing fraternity if anyone would like to get involved
please give Mike Pereira a call on 031 368 3903. 

Any info about fishing, fish caught or competitions in your area please send to
kingfish@iafrica.com or fax 031- 368 4137, attention, Mike.
For the latest KZN fishing news presented by O.J.,
tune into East Coast Radio
at 5.40am Monday - Friday.





Any info about fishing, fish caught or competitions in your area e-mail Mike at kingfish@iafrica.com or fax 031- 368 4137.
For the latest KZN fishing news presented by O.J., tune into East Coast Radio at 5.40am Monday - Friday.