FISHING REPORT, 23rd MAY 2009
Angling in general has picked up quite well along the coast as shad are now being caught at most spots along the South Coast as well as in the Durban area. Most catches are made during the early morning sessions and the overall size seems to be much better now although some very small specimens are being taken in and around the Umkomaas River mouth.
This particular area has for the past few weeks produced some early shoal kob, some up to the 5 kg mark.

The majority of these fish are being caught in the early evenings and at night. The same can be said for the Port Shepstone area where some good reports of kob have been reported.

Garrick are still being caught along the South Coast with the Illovo and Green Point areas producing the better catches. The flatfish seem to be getting much slower now that the cooler water has moved in except for the odd big sandie and diamond skate that are being caught mainly at night. The Transkei has also started producing a good variety of fish lately with shad featuring prominent at most well known placed.

Shark activity has also increased down there with the onset of another sardine run. Bronze whaler sharks along with dusky and hammer head sharks are being caught at most deep water points here. Some sardine activity was reported from the Umgazana area during the week but these reports still have to be confirmed.

The last confirmed sightings were just north of East London during the course of last week.
Toyota Angling Club fished their first round for the 2009/2010 season on Saturday 16.05.2009 and these are the results:

They had a total of 76 anglers who attended and only 8 fish was landed.

The boundaries were from south of Cutty Sark Hotel north of Mtwalume, the times was from 14:00 until 19:00 and the presentation was at Rocky Bay. 1st was  Shane Takurpersad with a  spinner shark  2.8kg’s and a  daga salmon 23.41kg’s
2nd Mervin Govender with a  blacktip shark 11.3kg’s.
3rd was Derek Gengan also with a blacktip shark 9.1kg’s.
The Team Results for the Round is as follows.
1. TDM, 9
2. TSD, 8
3. A Plant, 7
4. Truck Plant, 6
5. Services, 5
6. Maintenance, 4
7. B Plant, 0
8. Engine Plant, 0
9. TAC, 0.
Info from Sunil Piyall’s about his recent trip to Port St Johns
Date: 14 May 2009 @ approx 08H30 Fish: Spotted Ragged Tooth Shark
Weight: 199.5 kgs (ORI conversion) Venue: Bird Rock, 3rd Beach, Port st Johns. Tackle: Poseidon Extra Heavy (Staffie), Saltiga 50, 0.55mm main line
Bait: Bonito Head. Fight Duration: 55 mins. Tide: Outgoing. Water: Ginger

News Western Cape
News from the Western Cape, always great to receive info from the other provinces.
“in the western cape (false bay) area the winter has “kicked in” in a big way!!
a lot of “bankfish”
are being caught along our coast.
there are some reports on galjoen, blacktail and white stumpnose on the reefs
(if you are “brave” enough)
we are expecting our first big coldfront to move in this weekend (16/17 may)
this will open up all the usual haunts for galjoen etc that has silted up due to the weather being too nice.
a big steenbras (pignose grunter) for you natal guys, was caught on melkbaai beach using pike as bait! the angler was using prawn and bloodworm (targetting steenbras)
the whole day with no results and thought he will try for a kob with some fishbait and then caught a big steamtrain using the “wrong” bait!!go figure!!
it just goes to show, there are no rules in fishing, only guidelines!!!!!
brian went out yesterday (friday) to melkbaai and only caught a small spearnose skate (on bloodworm targetting steenbras!)and a small white stumpnose.
both were undersize and returned alive.
it is brian’s opinion that the mountain side in gordons bay (voorberg) will work this weekend and in the new week. please just be carefull of the huge swells.
10 foot plus swells are predicted for the weekend.
the big bronzies that were caught off bikini beach in gordons bay , have moved away (hopefully to the sardine run!!) and we can now look forward to catching those big spearnoses and cowsharks of the harbour wall again”

Ski boat fishing
Ski boat fishing has also got much better as there are reports of the first daga and geelbek catches being made along the South Coast. Game fish are still a bit scarce in our local waters but good catches of couta are being reported from the Zinkawzi area in the north and the Hibberdedne to Port Edward areas in the south. There are still quite a few snoek around and these seem to be restricted to the Umgeni and Undloti areas in the north and the Umkomaas stretch is still producing some good fish in the south.
This week on ESA Saltwater on Super sport 1, we learn how to prepare and utilize an octopus slide and throw bait. In DSSA the team targets edibles in Sodwana, the OSSA team head back to the Cape where the two oceans meet.

ESA
This week,  ESA Bass is back with “To The Top With Howie and Rob!”
They give their secrets and trade tricks at Inanda Dam for fishing in pre frontal conditions. Want to know how it’s done?? Don’t miss it!

"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.

Photo of Sunil Piyall’s 199.5kg’s spotted ragged tooth shark, landed with his Kingfisher Poseidon HMG rod and Daiwa Saltiga reel.

Rock and Surf Clinics
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.
Photo of Sunil Piyall’s 199.5kg’s spotted ragged tooth shark, landed with his Kingfisher Poseidon HMG rod and Daiwa Saltiga reel.

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.