FISHING REPORT 03RD APRIL 2010

Angling
Weather predictions for the Easter long week end look favourable at this stage and for those anglers that are travelling up and down the coast the for the long week end should have good angling conditions. Locally the only areas that seem to be doing relatively well as far as shad are concerned is the Durban area and the Toti, Winkle and Umkomaas areas on the south coast. With the Easter holidays in full swing these spots are going to be very crowded.

Port Edward is back on the map with a kingfish of 28kg landed by Buks Lindeque just south of Splash Rock in Port Edward. He was using chokka slid as bait.

Other fishing news still are few hound sharks at night and a few odd bronze bream in the area. Some shad are coming out at Glenmore and most holidaymakers are targeting smaller reef dwelling species.The inedible species however are keeping anglers busy as there are good reports of fish on both north and south coasts. Sand sharks and skates are giving anglers some great fun as these fish can be in excess of 80kg’s, especially the sand sharks. Make sure that your tackle is in tip top shape as these fish could take you to the cleaners. Your reel must have a good drag system with lots of power, reels like the Daiwa Saltiga (especially the new Daiwa Saltiga Hyper with a 15kg drag rating ) and Daiwa Saltist do the job very well, for your rod, the Kingfisher Poseidon HMG heavy rod is ideal for these hard fighters.

A few nice size sand sharks have been caught in the Tinley, Ballito and Tongaat areas recently together with some brown skates. A few above average size honeycombe rays have been reported in the Illovo and Green point areas. Good catches of both sand sharks and skates from the Umdoni area.

Those anglers travelling to the Transkei should have good angling conditions as there are favourable reports coming in from the Port St Johns and Hole in The Wall areas. Shad seem to have entrenched themselves at these and most other known spots. Anglers targeting sharks could also be in for some fun as there has been some excellent reports of hammer head, grey and spinner shark activity as well. Anglers fishing well known rivers down here at night are getting some small kob and grunter. The Zululand and far Northern beaches should also provide some fun as there are still diamond skates and big sand sharks in the Amatikulu and Port Durnford areas.

The Aliwal shoal and Protea banks have really lived up to their reputations recently as a large variety of fish have been caught at these venues for the past few weeks. Mostly average size yellow fin keep anglers busy but dorado, wahoo, couta and even a few rainbow runner have made up bags here.

Ski Boats
Ski Boats could be in for a busy week end as there are numerous competitions on the south coast this week end.

Fishing ski’s
Fishing ski’s are also in on the action and reports coming from the Toti and Scottburgh areas suggest that fishing has definitively picked up over the past two weeks. Dorado and snoek make up most of the catches but a few good size couta have also come out.

ESA fishing shows on TV
Don’t forget to watch the action packed ESA fishing shows on TV. These shows feature both saltwater and bass fishing and are aired 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.
This is what you can expect over the next couple of weeks in  ESA saltwater.

Episode 14, 01/04/2010. Watch the team as they get up to some mischief and land some beauties. Watch the DSSA team as they target green job fish amongst the denizens of the deep. In OSSA Mark explores the waters of Kenya.

Episode 15, 08/04/2010. In LBSA the guys enjoy some of the best of summer angling on the North Coast. Dean drop shots in Port Alfred. In OSSA Mark takes on the good old waters of Cape Vidal.

Episode 16, 15/04/2010. The LBSA team catch kingies while the DSSA team explore angling off Wave Runners on the South Coast. Make sure you don’t miss this exciting OSSA show in Kenya.

Episode 17, 22/04/2010. In LBSA learn more about targeting diamonds with Ray and Lloyd. In DSSA take a look at fishing off a house boat in Port Edward while Mark in OSSA targets Marlin in Cape Vidal, stay tuned to see if he hooks his target specie.

Episode 18, 29/04/2010. Watch as the Ray and his guests catch an array of interesting species in LBSA. Be sure to catch this episode of DSSA as Clive hooks a Zambie off a wave runner. Watch as the OSSA team land marlin.

Episode 19, 06/05/2010. In LBSA watch as Ray catches some record breaking fish. The DSSA team targets fish in Port Edward while Mark in OSSA says goodbye to his beautiful extreme destination, Kenya. 

The Kingfisher Free Fishing Clinic’s
The Kingfisher hosts free Fishing Clinic’s on their premises once a month, these clinics cover Shore Angling, Off- Shore Angling, Fresh Water Angling as well as Diving. 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.

The Kingfisher Bass Clinic
The Kingfisher is hosting a bass clinic on the 10th April at their premises, 53 Hunter Street, Durban, from 9-12 noon, 2010. Garth Liefeldt and Grant Herwitt will be sharing their secrets to their success. These guys are the KZN BETT Leaque champions for 2007, 2008 & 2009 seasons. They were also the Inanda Bass Classic Team Champions for 2008 & 2009. Garth and Grant are really good with 9 x 1st place finishes and 15 x top 3 finishes. Booking for this bass clinic is essential. To find out more about these clinics and to book a seat please phone The Kingfishers sales staff on 031 368 3903.

”The Ray de Bruyn bait encyclopedia”, NO MORE SECRETS
Raymond de Bruyn from ESA extreme sports angling recently released a very informative bait presentation guide. This reference book contains some proven bait presentations with large full color photos with very easy to follow steps. Volume 1 covers baits made using Sardines and includes some very useful information on collecting and preserving your bait. This series of reference books will comprise of 12 issues.

There is some fantastic information available in this series which is called
”The Ray de Bruyn bait encyclopedia”, NO MORE SECRETS, and in this series he has done his best to share his vast knowledge and cover many secretive fish catching bait combinations.  Collect the entire set and store them in the file which will be available with volume 6 for easy reference. The Ray de Bruyn bait encyclopedia’ is available at R49.50 from The Kingfisher in Durban or ask your nearest tackle store to order one for you. Ray will be at The Kingfisher on Saturday the 3rd April from 9 – 12 noon, to sign your purchased copy.

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.
We will be open for trading on the 2nd April from 9:00am to 1:00pm but will be closed on Monday the 5Th April.

KZN fishing news
For the latest KZN fishing news presented by OJ, tune into East Coast Radio At 5.40am Monday – Friday. If you miss that then phone the Kingfisher’s KZN

Angling Hotline on 082-234 6362, this report is updated 7am daily.