FISHING REPORT 11TH JULY 2009.

Anglers
Despite many rumours going around about the imminent sardine run, the truth of the matter is that they are still down in the Transkei and don ’t seem to be moving north at all. Anglers are just going to have to be patient and hope that a late run will materialize. The good news is that there are a lot of shad around and anglers on the South Coast are getting their quotas in quick time. These fish have also moved into the Durban area and some good catches have been made from the Piers and at Blue Lagoon. Anglers targeting garrick have also not been disappointed as they are being caught in fair numbers at most known spots on the South Coast. The main concentration however seems to be along the Illovo and Foster Road stretches where many of these fish have been landed lately. Due to the accessibility of these venues overcrowding has become a problem as there are more than fifty anglers competing against each other at most given times. Some good catches have also been reported from the Green Point and Sezela areas. Amongst the garrick, anglers are also catching the quite a few yellow-tail kingfish and the odd big kob has also been reported.

 ESA will be offering a sardine run package deal during July for anglers to participate in one of the greatest angling phenomenon’s along the South African coastline, namely the annual sardine run. The guided angling trips will be conducted by the ESA presenters. Booking can be done by mailing raymond@charadon.com Also please note that due to the nature of the sardine run they cannot guarantee sardine run action every day, however they will fish in and around the most likely areas to catch your dream fish.

The Transkei is fishing very well despite the presence of the sardine shoals. After the big swell there were plenty of grey sharks, one landed weight in at 146kg, there have also been reports of good catches of edibles the likes of bronze bream, black stein bass, bronze bream all coming out at Mazzepa Bay. A lot of bigger sharks have been caught at Port St Johns and at  Hole In The Wall. Garrick and kob are being taken at places like Poenskop and at the Lighthouse. Shad are also being caught freely down here. The river at Port St Johns is now yielding some very good catches of mainly big grunter and some shoal kob.

Ski Boats
Ski Boats are busy with what looks like a very good ‘bottom’ fishing season as there are reports of some nice big fish being caught. The first of the annual daga and geekbek salmon have already come out as well as some good size black muscle cracker and rock cod. The couta season has been somewhat dismal for anglers on the South Coast as the run never really got under way in this traditional area where at this time of the year some really good catches are made in the Scottburgh and Aliwal Shoal areas. These fish seem to have stayed on the North Coast with the Zinkwazi area featuring quite prominent. Snoek however are a good enough alternative and they are being caught all along the coast including the Durban area. Some very large snoek, up to 6kg’s are being caught in the middle North and South Coasts.

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.

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 July. This clinic is free and like all of the clinics, booking is a must.