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Angling - Rock & Surf
With summer finally settling in things are looking much brighter for anglers. Warm seas and hot and humid days make for good angling. Most big rivers have come down with the summer rains, causing some off coloured water which brings in the big flatfish. Locally angling has picked up quite well with good reports of big sand sharks and skates being caught off most of the deepwater points. On the South Coast places like Umkomaas, Green Point, Scottburgh and the Umdoni areas produce some very big fish from now on. The North Coast is also having its fair share of these big fish with reports of a few very big sand sharks coming from the Tinley and Tongaat Long Beach. However, further north the Zululand areas are now in their prime as far as angling for big fish are concerned. Reports of the annual diamond skates are positive as anglers fishing in the Amatikulu and Mtinzini areas report the first of what hopefully will be a very good season as far as these big fish are concerned.
Fishing in the Transkei should also start picking up as far as shark angling is concerned. Reports from Mazeppa Bay and Hole in The Wall areas suggest that a few nice size raggies have come out recently and that some average size grey and hammerhead sharks have also been caught.
Ski Boat and Fishing Ski
Ski Boats have stared catching some good numbers of dorado mainly off the deep reefs off Durban but quite a few have recently been caught on the shallower reefs off the North and South coasts. The Cape Vidal area is also fishing well with reports of dorado, wahoo, sailfish, small tunny and the odd couta being boated. Fishing on the Aliwal Shoal has picked up dramatically over the past few weeks with catches of couta, dorado, wahoo and tunny being reported. Fishing Ski’s on both North and South Coasts has also shown signs of a good season coming up. The traditional Westbrook to Umdloti areas have recently yielded some very good catches of bigger snoek, couta and the odd dorado and tunny. On the south coast things are much the same except snoek are very scarce. Places like Pipeline, Scottburgh and the Mtwalumi areas have produced some couta and dorado.
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Mike Laubscher from Nikao Fishing Adventures sent in this report.
Warmer waters off shore Durban – 17-12-09
We launched from Durban harbour at 05h00 for a short 5hr trip. It was a nice morning and very little wind. We headed straight out to the 35m depth contour. On our way out the harbour mouth we saw a huge Queen Mackerel (Natal Snoek) jump several meters out of the water chasing a smaller fish. When we got to the 35m mark I saw a small Dorado jumping out the water. The water surface temperature was just below 25deg. C and I set my spread of 6 lines, the boat had just got to speed and 3 reels started screaming, we landed 2 Eastern of around 3Kg (6.6lbs), and the other line was something huge and we got smoked with the whole spool emptied. I put the 2 Eastern little Tuna out as live baits and trolled to 60m where we hooked up a large shark. The water here was a little warmer. Whilst pulling the live baits I put new line on the smoked reel and set the spread again and we continued to troll hooking up several Eastern Tuna and then it all when quiet at around 07h00 and the wind started to shift and pick up. All our fish were taken on shallow run Rapala’s. We then did some bottom fishing but the second of the guests started getting sick and so we trolled some more yielding only 1 more Eastern Little Tuna before we went back in.
Lots and Lots of Little Bass at Inanda Dam – 17-12-09
We launched at around 13h00 at Inanda Dam and the wind was blowing quite hard. The water surface temperature was around 26.5 deg. C. The water levels at the dam are rising fast now and we decided to target the flooded grass areas with flukes. We were not getting any takes and then picked up that the Bass were associating themselves to a particular type of grass and were only taking our flukes when we dead drifted them and so we changed to the Strike King Zeros and then we started getting fish. There were lots of small fish around and we caught about 60 or 70 fish during the afternoon all on the weightless Zero’s with our largest fish being 760gr (1.7lbs).
Fishing next to the Rain in Durban – 19-12-09
We launched from Durban Harbour at around 06h00. I have just fitted my outriggers and was eager to test them. It was raining on the way out of Durban harbour mouth but once we got out to sea the rain was only over the land and so the whole day we could see the rain, but did not get wet. The water surface temperature averaged around 24 deg. C; there was little swells and no wind. We started out south of Durban and caught some Mackerel to use as live bait, after that I set my spread and with my new outriggers we started trolling some small lures. It was very quiet and when we were heading North over Reef no.1 we had a triple hook up of some Eastern Little Tuna. I continued all the way over the flats until Umhlanga Rocks where we turned to head south and I changed over to trolling the live baits which we pulled all the way to the Umgeni mouth along the 20m contour line with no takes. We then shot back to Reef no. 1 and fished on the bottom with light tackle and caught a lot of smaller fish and a huge variety of species like Copper Bream, Englishman, Slinger, Rockod (On Drop Shot), Stumpy, Black Tail, Trigger Fish etc. I put a large Eastern Little Tuna out as shark bait on a balloon with no takes. We headed back at around 15h00.
Triple Yellow Fin Tuna hooked up Deep Sea Durban – 21-12-09
We launched the morning at 05h00 and headed out of Durban Harbour, where we stopped to collect some live bait. There was a lot of bait fish around and we quickly filled up the hatch. There was a lot of large Shad around as many of our live baits came up with only the heads left. The sea was flat, there not much wind, the sun was out and it was a lovely day. The water was dark and turbid, and the surface temperature averaged 24 deg. C. Later on the wind picked up and the water was choppy. We headed North to the old Well and then started trolling lures from around 60m and continued North until Umdloti at the 170m depth and then turned South and continued until 250m. There was no surface action and we passed several boats which had caught nothing. I then started heading towards Durban and we had a pod of around 15 Dolphins swimming with the boat on the bow, and there was a baby in the pod which shadowed its mother all the time. Such a beautiful sight; and the baby was so cute, perfect in every way and fully formed, just smaller. The Dolphins travelled with us for quite some time, and immediately after they left us 3 reels started screaming and we had a triple hook up of Yellow Fin Tuna on the Rapala’s and Sailfish Catcher. They all weighed in just under 5kg (11lbs). We continued towards Durban and at the 170m mark we had a double hook up of Oceanic Bonito’s which weighed in just under 6Kg (13lbs). All caught on light tackle. After that we headed back to port.
Mike can be reached on 076 2999 445.
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ESA Magazine
The latest ESA magazine is out and on sale at The Kingfisher for R19.95. This issue (With Craig Stubbs on the cover) it is packed with great features.
Action-packed ESA highlights shows airing this month.
Eight action packed ESA highlights shows, featuring both saltwater and bass fishing, are to be aired this month on Super Sport 1. The ESA Saltwater show will be broadcasted weekly on Thursdays between 19h30 and 20h30, and the ESA Bass show will air weekly on Tuesdays between 19h00 and 19h30.
As the year draws to a close, the crew at ESA have been working (and playing) tirelessly to bring breathtaking angling action to our screens. The hour long ESA Saltwater show consists of three sections, namely Land Based Sports Angling (LBSA), Drop Shot Sports Angling (DSSA), and Off Shore Sports Angling (OSSA). The ESA Bass show is 30 minutes long, and consists of various anglers and guests exploring both small and largemouth bass angling.
The final ESA Saltwater show ends off the ESA Season with a bang on Christmas Eve! Take a journey through each of the most memorable fish of the year, this including amazing catches such as Ray's 110kg raggie in Mazeppa on LBSA, Marks 30Kg dogtooth tuna off the Wave runner on DSSA in Mozambique, and Lloyd Pereira's 200kg blue marlin in Richards Bay. Do not miss this one!
For the freshwater fisherman out there, do not worry as the four ESA Bass episodes lined up for the, 22nd and 29th of December are just as action packed as the ESA Saltwater shows. Some highlights include the ESA crew fishing at Goedetrouw Dam in the rain, and smashing some prize largemouth bass thanks to the anglers’ perseverance. ESA Guest Angler Jason Van Der Wath bags his personal best at Goedetrouw, an impressive 5.1kg largemouth bass.
Also not to be missed is the duo of Rob Fisher and Howard Johnson, who are at it again, this time at Inanda Dam. The pair can be seen catching some monster bass at Inanda Dam, while ESA cameraman Duncan Grant shows the boys that he too has a trick or two up his sleeve as he pulls into a good size bass.
The Kingfisher's free Fishing Clinic
The Kingfisher hosts free Fishing Clinic’s on their premises once a month, booking is essential. These 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. To find out more about these clinics and to book a seat please phone The Kingfishers sales staff on 031 368 3903.
The Kingfisher's trading hours are Monday, Wednesday to Friday 8:00am to 5:00pm, Tuesday 8:30am to 5:00pm and Saturday 8:00am to 1:00pm.
The trading hours for the festive season are: Every Sunday in December, including Saturday the 26th, plus Sunday the 3rd January, from 9:00pm – 1:00pm.
Dean and Mark from ESA with a lovely Yellowtail Albacore
caught on the Lower South Coast last week.
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. |
