The Kingfisher trading times for the festive season is as follows:
Monday to Friday 8 to 5pm.
Saturdays and Sundays 8 to 1pm.
All public holidays (including the 27th December) 8 to 1pm.
Sunday the 25th all of the branches will be closed.
NB Sunday the 1st of January 2023, all branches will be closed, except for the Salt Rock and Ballito stores, they will be open 8 to 1pm.
The end of the year is almost here! What a year of fishing and interesting events. Tight lines on your festive holidays.
Top tip – Bucktail jigs are one of the most versatile lures that you can own. They come in a variety of sizes from 1/16th on an ounce all the way up to 6oz (and more). Bucktails are essentially a lead head (hook with a sinker moulded to it) with some bucktail tied to the shank. They come in a variety of colours and all of them produce fish. For the surf and offshore, chartreuse/white, all white and pink/white are the three best colours. The key to success is allowing the bucktail to bounce up and down on the retrieve. Cast the lure out, allow it to sink and then work it back with a jigging action. The pace of the retrieve can be varied until you get a bite.
Offshore:
The offshore fishing is really picking up with a lot of decent tuna, dorado and couta being caught along the KZN coast.
North – The north coast has seen couta, snoek, dorado, kingfish, sailies and tuna to name the main culprits. Live bait has been the key to most of the gamefish captures. This can make for a difficult day if you can’t catch the livies. If this is the case, then rather spend your time with good quality dead bait in the water. Spend the time to make sure you are presenting the bait as naturally as possible.
The upper north coast to Sodwana has been the zone to fish with few launches being fruitless.
Central – The Durban coast has also seen plenty fish. There have been snoek off Umhlanga and blue lagoon. The early mornings are the times to target these fish.
The charters have been doing extremely well out of Durban. The tuna and dorado have been the main catches with very few boats returning without a full hatch. The dorado and tuna have been a mix of sizes so be prepared for that giant to jump on to your lure or bait.
Those who prefer bigger fish will be happy to know that the billfish are around and some proper units have been hooked. Pop in to one of your local fishing shops and ask what’s working for these beasts.
South – Much like the north and central coasts, the dorado should start arriving in big numbers soon. Look at trolling lipped and skirted lures around structure and keep an eye out for any floating debris.
The south coast has seen a lot more bottom fishing action than the rest of the coast. There have been some massive rockcod and daga caught. Most of the bigger fish have been caught dropping live bait to the depths. This method has also accounted for some big yellowtail and amberjack. If you hook one of these, hold on.
Rock and Surf:
The rock and surf scene has gone to summer mode. The fishing is picking up and the conditions are starting to settle enough that we can predict the better days.
North – The north coast has seen a lot of fish even though the fish have been patchy. Try to fish and move to find the fish. Bloody and fleshy baits are the way to go. The banks have produced diamonds recently, but you need to find them.
Most of the north coast has seen good fishing off the points with sandies and honeycombs being the main bigger fish being caught. There have also been plenty of grey sharks on the lighter tackle. There has been an influx in reports of edibles being caught recently so get your sea lice and smaller prawn/chokka baits out.
Central – The central coast has still been fishing very well with good edibles and inedibles being landed. The basin area has seen some of the best fishing along the coast this past week with a host of species being caught. The sandsharks have been the main draw with plenty of smaller specimens being caught. Smaller specimens are great fun on the lighter tackle and put up a very good fight. redeye sardine and mackerel are the baits of choice.
South – The south coast has seen some good garrick and kob fishing on live bait. These fish have not been too keen on the artificial lures but have been happy to eat a frisky live bait.
The scratching on the south coast has been the main attraction with any of the rockier areas being the place to try. Pink prawn and chokka are the baits of choice.
Freshwater:
The fishing has been good in most of the freshwater facets. There has been something for everyone so get out there and catch some fish!
Bass – The bass fishing is still keeping most of the freshwater lure anglers happy. The fish have been eager to eat a surface lure. If you are in heavier structure, consider throwing a hollow body frog. If you are in open water or the edge of a weed line, then a walking topwater will be the way to go. Braid has become the standard line for topwater lures. The lack of stretch translates to better action on the lure and a good casting distance.
Most of the dams have fished well with the smaller venues not being hit as hard by the inclement weather.
Carp – The carp fishermen have been a bit quiet of late. With the heavy rains having wrecked some of the specimen waters in KZN, most of the guys looking for the specimen carp have taken up travelling to fish.
The local waters are fishing well and most of the locals around Inanda have been catching decent size carp for the last few weeks. This time of year can be a bit difficult with a lot of pressure changes from the fronts. The key is patience and persistence. Pick your area, bait it and be confident in your approach.
Fruity flavours have been key with banana floaties producing the best reported results.
Trout – The trout fishing has continued on a high and even the hotter weather can’t dampen the fishing. With the hot days we are currently experiencing, try to fish early in the day and then again in the afternoon. The middle of the day is best left out as the excessive heat can lead to fish death.
With all the rain we have had recently, the inlets into the dams will be flowing well. These are great places to fish in most dams. Start your day of fishing around the inlet and then work your way around the dam. If the day is very warm, then focus on the deeper areas of the dam where the fish will seek the comfort of the depths.
In the rivers, with the increased flow, you will need heavier flies to get down to the strike zone. Try using flies with tungsten beads.
News from our Jan, The Kingfisher in PMB – “After the slight reprieve mentioned in last week’s report, the Weather Gods decided to take their revenge and throw some heavy stuff down – rainfall figures shot up through the roof, with e central Midlands getting thumped with 130mm+ over weekend. Both Albert Falls and Midmar Dams, that were brimming at around 98%, leapt over the top at the start of this week. A good place to be in, but even the farmers are saying enuf!
Seems like the bass anglers are back out of the woods, and there have been great fish reported recently. With water levels being where they are, the margins are flooded and bass are moving into the shallows chasing baitfish and also frogs, tilapia and carp are in full spawn, and Midmar is also fishing well.
Here are some tips from comp angler Jonni Wills, that he says attributed to his securing the season win in the KZN Small Craft Bass League :
* simple lure colour selection: dark, natural, bright or flashy … don’t overthink it!
* keep hooks sharp on the water … check constantly.
Bottom line is keep it simple … thanks Jonni.
It seems that the stormy weather and rain have kept the Natal Fly Fishers Club anglers off the waters, as there have been only a handful of returns from both stillwater and river. One of the stillwater reports notes that the water is warm at 20deg.C+, and another mentioned being chased off by a hailstorm.
With the Mooi and Bushman’s Rivers pretty much blown out, the river reports came from the Umngeni in The Dargle Valley. Fish of 11-13 inches / 28-30cm were reported being caught on a caddis dry fly … the river is also warm at 18deg.C.
Things have certainly been looking up at Sterkfontein, as reported last week from guide David Weaver … who writes this week “Big skies, Big Yellows and Big Smiles” after a successful weekend guiding local PMB angler Fecility Riley. As long as the weather stays stable, Sterkies is a World Class sigh fishing venue for small- and largemouth yellowfish on the dry fly.
Hope you are getting your Xmas tackle wishlist sorted for Santa – do pop into the Kingfisher-PMB for the BEST in tackle and advice”. Thanks Jan.
Tight lines and screaming reels.
Series 21 (can you believe it; this is Petri’s 21 series) of Hier Gaan Ons Alweer on kykNET, premieres are on Saturday evenings at 18:30 on kykNet, channel 144 and there are a number of repeats during the week. The repeats are on Sundays at 16:30, Mondays at 12:30, Tuesdays at 17:00 and Fridays at 22:00. Series 21 ends on the 24th December 2022.
As most of you know, Petri and his guests cover various angling styles (fresh and salt water) in and around Southern Africa.
The KZN Angler News audio fishing report is South Africa’s first fishing podcast series that focuses on the latest fishing reports of the East Coast, it delivers true and accurate content from the provinces most prominent anglers on a weekly basis on various facets of angling. This report is free and available on all major Podcast platforms including Apple Pods, Google Pods, Spotify and Deezer as well as SA’s most popular Facebook Pages.
https://ansapodcast.buzzsprout.com
The Kingfisher has opened their new store on the upper north coast. Situated in the Tiffany’s Shopping Centre in Salt Rock, this store is ideally positioned for our north coast anglers. For all your angling needs, (freshwater or saltwater) pop in and see them or give them a shout on 032 307 0041.
For the best in tackle and advice, pop into any of the seven Kingfisher stores, they are open 8am-5pm Mon-Fri, 8am-1pm on Saturdays and Sundays.
Please send any info about fishing or fish caught in your area to mike.pereira@kingfisher.co.za
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As always, remember to subscribe to our YouTube channel to stay up to date with all our new video releases and to brush up on your species knowledge, tactics and tips/tricks. https://www.youtube.com/c/TheKingfisherFishing