FISHING REPORT 05TH DECEMBER 2009

Anglers
Due to the weather we have dealt with over the past two weeks fishing has been slow and anglers haven’t had much of a chance to get out and wet a line. This time of year we usually begin to see the bigger game fish like couta as well as dorado and other summer fish. Rock and surf anglers have the mighty flatfish to look forward to in the summer season. According to the weather reports things should settle and clear into this coming week.

Terry from Port Edward reports that at last there is something to report. He was beginning to wonder if he ever would have material for the fishing report.  A large number of bronze bream have been caught at the local beaches to the north of Port Edward this week. Reports are that some anglers have been taking much more than their bag limit, please guys stick to the limit.  There have been a lot of reports of shad coming out, and are beginning to eat well so it looks like the shad season will open with a `Splash'.

A 60.5kg zambezi shark was caught by one of the locals of Splash Rock, the water temperature was cold at the time.Sunil Piyarlall landed a 210cm (180kg’s) female spotted ragged tooth shark at Light House, Port St Johns recently. The tackle that Sunil used was, a Kingfisher Poseidon HMG Extra Heavy (Staffie) rod, Daiwa Saltiga 50 reel, 200lb carbon coated wire with 10/0 hooks, power slide and a 1.5mm tapered leader. The bait was a yellow head and this fish took about fourty minutes to land. The conditions were a light North Easter wind with a flat sea (1.4m waves) and the water was a ginger/brown colour. Sunil landed and successfully released two other raggies, one of 210cm and the other 185cm. Both at high tide – going out water. As the tide got lower, the landing became more difficult because of the rocks in the area. Nine fish were hooked, but only two were landed.

Nikao Fishing Adventures
Mike Laubscher from Nikao Fishing Adventures sent us this informative report. First up a little fresh water fly fishing. “We left Durban at around 04h00 and headed up towards the Drakensburg to the Bushmans River for a day of wild brown river trout fishing. It was overcast and misty all day but not cold. The river water was turbid with about 1.2m (4ft) visibility. We were a little dubious, but decided to go ahead anyway. We started fishing at around 06h00 and both of us hooked up on our 1st cast and 1 fish was landed of around 31cm, the other came off, we continued making our way up stream and in the end landed 27 Brown Trout and 1 Rainbow Trout, we got a lot of smaller fish in the 15-20cm range and a few of around 30cm and 2 Browns of over 50cm. We saw a beautiful Eagle close up and he was magnificent. We lost several trout during the day as many were biting short and as the day went on the fishing got harder, at around 13h00 we called it and headed back home.”

Then on to off shore:“We launched out of Durban harbour at around 04h30. I wanted to find warm water and see if we could get our first Dorado for the season. I also wanted to use my new light tackle trolling rods for the 1st time. It was a super day with no wind, warm weather and a few clouds, the sea was flat, but the water was green and not crystal clear. The water surface temperature in shore was around 21.6 deg. C. It was really good to have such a nice day after all the foul weather we have had lately.

I rigged 2 jet feathers which we could pull at high speed and headed SE for the canyon, the boat had just got on the plane when the 1st rod went and it was an Eastern Little Tuna of around 4Kg (8.8lbs), which I decided to keep and use as live bait later on when out in the deep. As the sea was so flat we were able to maintain good speed and our trip to the 450m depth at the canyon was not as long as usual and the feathers produced us nothing else along the way.

The water here was slightly warmer at around 22.5 deg. C, but not warm enough yet for Dorado which was a little disappointing. I set up my spread anyway in hope of a stray and we started pulling lures at around 8 knots heading north towards the ledge and trolled our lures along the ledge on the 300m contour. There were no chases and when in front of Ballito, we turned to head back in shore in a SW direction. I changed our rigs and put the Eastern Little Tuna out as live bait and we also put out 4 sardines to pull with it and made way at around 2-3 knots. I was not watching my speed and we went a little faster than planned at the 200m depth contour and the sardines came up to the surface and the birds had a go at them and we caught an Albatross and another Bird I still need to identify.

Luckily the birds were only tangled and once we had sorted them out and made sure they were Ok and there were no injuries we released them. The Albatross is a huge bird, and it was not aggressive and allowed us to help it, it has the most beautiful eyes and its feathers are really soft, it was a privilege to se this magnificent creature up close. During this commotion we had stopped the boat and the Eastern Little Tuna and gone deep and a huge Shark which I estimate at well over 150Kg (330lbs) had taken the live bait. It felt as if I had hooked a submarine, I only gained a little line and after about an hour into the fight the shark bit through our 75lb steel trace.

I am pleased that the new light tackle was able to handle the amount of pressure that I put on it. After the bird and shark encounter, I rigged up some smaller lures and made way at about 6 knots and at 170m depth we hooked up 4 oceanic Bonito all at once, all between 3 - 3.5Kg (6.6 - 7.7lbs). After that we carried on passed the Well towards the flats and reef no. 1 where we did a little reef fishing on bass tackle and we put out a drift sardine which caught us a Hammer Head Shark of around 8Kg. We then headed back to port at around 15h00.”  To contact Mike give him a call on 076 2999 445.

The Mtunzini Diamond classic
The Mtunzini Diamond classic, a fund raising initiative by the Zululand Juniors to raise funds for their national tournament to be fished in Zululand next year will be held on the 6th December in conjunction with the annual Turkey with a prizes totalling the value of R450,000.00. Please e-mail either Barry.Tedder@mondigroup.co.za or contreac@saol.com for a pre entry form at R180 per entry.

Inaugural ESA King of the Bay fishing competition
ESA reluctantly postpone Inaugural ESA King of the Bay fishing competition. Extreme Sports Angling’s inaugural King of the Bay fishing competition, which was meant to be held in Richards Bay this December, has now been postponed until 2010. The event, which will still offer prizes with a combined value of over R1 million rand, has had to be restructured after an unexpected influx of entries from local Richards Bay and KZN North Coast anglers. Armando Costa, ESA’s Executive Producer, said that “while we are of course disappointed that we cannot hold this event when we had hoped, there are many other fishing events that anglers can enter this festive season”. Costa also said that “when we planned the event, with the entry fee included in the various accommodation packages, we had not anticipated such an overwhelming response from the local anglers, and this has necessitated a restructuring of the contest”.

Costa commented that “the strong relationship that we have built with Protea Hotel The Richards, Protea Hotel Richards Bay, The Bayshore Inn and Protea Hotel Hluhluwe & Safaris, will only get stronger, and will allow us to provide a bigger and better inaugural King of the Bay event in the New Year”. The event will still provide Land Based, Off Shore and Bass fishermen a chance to test their skills, as well as an opportunity to learn from the pro’s at multiple ESA fishing clinics. Check the ESA website, www.esaworld.co.za, for updates on the revised date for the event.

The Kingfisher hosts 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
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 Wednesday the 16th and Saturday the 26th, plus November the 29th and Sunday the 3rd January, from 9:00pm – 1:00pm.

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 jammed 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).

ESA Bass show
The ESA Bass show is 30 minutes long, and consists of various anglers and guests exploring both small and largemouth bass angling.
Some of the highlights of the upcoming ESA Saltwater shows include the launch of the Aqua Cat off La Mercy by Ray de Bruyn. Ray and fellow ESA Member Zeyn Habib are rewarded for all their hard work as Zeyn pulls in a 120kg zambezi shark! This airs on the 3 December.

New element to the ESA Saltwater show
Wave runner fishing has added a whole new element to the ESA Saltwater show, and fans can tune in on 10 December to watch Craig Stubbs as he attempts the first ever Drop Shot Sports Angling off Wave runners on ESA. Craig and ESA regular Mark De La Hey quickly master the art, and as a result pull into some amazing ambers off the coast of Mozambique.

Richards Bay, the setting for the upcoming ESA King of the Bay fishing competition, is given a thorough inspection by Mark De La Hey and his guests in the show on 17 December. They have an incredible Off Shore angling experience as Mark and his guests catch a variety of fish such as tuna, dorado, and a beautiful marlin, a perfect setting for what promises to be a massive event!

ESA Saltwater show ends off the ESA Season
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!

ESA Bass show
For the freshwater fisherman out there, do not worry as the four ESA Bass episodes lined up for the 8th, 15th, 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
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.