It is BLACK FRIDAY time again. This year we are going big with all our branches running the sale this Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday!
20% OFF everything in our stores excluding bait & items already on sale. Shimano rods & reels less 15%, while stocks last.
Pop into your nearest Kingfisher branch to make the most of the awesome deals. We have branches in Durban, (Hunter Street as well as at Tackle Centre), Warner Beach, Kloof, Pietermaritzburg, Ballito and Salt Rock.
The dates and times are Thursday the 23rd 8-5pm, Friday the 24th 8-5pm, Saturday the 25th 8-1pm and Sunday the 26th 8-1pm of November 2023.
The Durban heat is here, and the summer fish have followed. Most summer accounts have opened with a bang. Have you opened yours yet?
Top tip: Summer is here! The summer heat is starting to make air conditioning a necessity and the northeast wind is starting to blow more consistently. The north coast is where you want to be at this time of year. Make sure you have all your traces made up. Service your reels and make sure they are spooled with the best quality braid you can afford. Preparation goes a very long way when it comes to fishing and can be the difference between a good day fishing and a miserable day at the beach.
Offshore:
The offshore scene has been focussed on variety and gamefish. Dorado, sailfish, couta and tuna to name but a few exciting items on the menu!
North – The north coast has been throwing some spicy launches at the more shore break dominant launch sites. Guys always be careful and don’t launch if you have hesitations. The further north you go the better the fishing has been with plenty of different gamefish on the list. Closer to home, has been seeing a lot of snoek in the mornings. The fish have been on the deeper side with some proper size specimens being boasted. The fillets have out fished most lures with spoons performing when the bait balls show up. With regards to the spoons, make sure to use a spoon as small as possible while still having enough weight to cast. Have a look at the Kingfisher Anchovy spoons, they have accounted for many a snoek.
Central – The central coast has seen a lot of action. The dorries are around all the ships in the deep. These greedy fish will eat most lures/baits… on most days. When they are being finicky then they can be as frustrating as snoek. In large numbers one will eventually commit to a lure so keep persisting.
The central coast has also seen plenty of fish for those wanting to target the bottom fish. Mixed grill baits have been the most productive.
South – The south coast has seen a lot of bottom fish action over the last few weeks. The rockcods have been very greedy and as always, they have jumped on most baits dropped down to them. The tuna have been the only reliable gamefish to target down south with the rest of the bunch being hit or miss. The tuna has been taken on everything from small live baits to large skirted Konas.
Rock and surf:
Summer is here and the drags are screaming already. Keep hydrated and get ready for some fun.
North – Spinning along the north coast has accounted for some very good fish recently. Throwing spoons at first light and into the morning off deeper points and bays like Christmas Bay will produce kingies, snoek and some surprises. Distance is very important so make sure your tackle is balanced and your technique is good.
The far north has seen the first of the summer flatfish/sharks. The beaches along the Zululand coast have seen some big raggies as well as a few honeycombs and sandies. Big fleshy baits and a throw into the deeper water is required.
Central – The central zone has seen plenty of fish in the basin area as well as the beaches. Fishing has been good and definitely worth the trip.
These summer fish are amazing fun to catch and are pretty greedy when it comes to bait selection. Fleshy baits and circle hooks are the way forward.
South – The south coast has seen some very good fishing in the Margate to Port Edward area. The reefs of Trafalgar have been the place to be if you are looking for bigger bream and various other edibles. Pink and red prawn have been the baits of choice for these fish.
The south coast has also seen some very big blue rays. Soft sardine baits are the ones to use for these fish. 6/0 to 8/0 circle hooks are the order of the day for these bigger blues.
Freshwater:
The freshwater fishing has been alive this past week. The bass have been dominant with plenty of big fish being caught.
Bass – Wow! What a season we are having with the bass. All of the KZN venues are producing some slabs! Albert Falls and Inanda have been on fire for the boat anglers while Hazlemere continues to impress with regular catches of fish over the 3kg mark (some over 4kgs). To suggest that the success is down to a single bait or method would be foolish. The repeated success by some anglers has got to do with reading the situation, using their electronics (watch YouTube tutorials), and fishing their chosen bait properly. What can be said is that the bank anglers have done particularly well with whacky-rigged worms. This method gives the worms a lot more action and seems to irritate the bass. The boat anglers have seen success with multiple methods but the guys using search baits have seen good fish while those targeting the fish on the beds have seen good results with creature baits.
Carp – The reports from the carp fishing (both specimen and conventional) have been outstanding! The size and health of the fish coming out of our KZN venues is something to be proud of. The summer weather is almost here, and the carp are responding. The smaller fish have gotten tired of the winter cold and are feeding on anything sweet. Honey and fruity flavoured floaties have been the most successful of all the baits for the conventional anglers. The specimen anglers have done well at Albert Falls and Midmar further inland while Inanda remains the pick of the big fish waters close to Durban. The sweeter (fruitier) flavours have done well for the specimen anglers using boilies and popups. Those preferring particles have done well with tigernuts fished over various mixes of feed. Accuracy of the cast in relation to the feeding area has been the most important aspect.
Trout – The heat has made the trout fishing a bit dangerous for the fish. These cold weather species do not handle heat and warm water well, so please try to focus on other species while the high temperatures persist.
There have still been plenty of scalies to be caught and they put up a fantastic fight. Nymphing with tungsten nymphs through the flowing water will often see good results.
News in from Jan Korrubel, The Kingfisher in PMB – “The crazy heat of the last week has left us with really not much to report on this this week, oh wait, Xmas has come early with our crazy Black Friday Sale this weekend Thursday through to Sunday! Get in, or miss out!
On the fishing front, the fish seem just as excited as there have been some great reports coming in across a spectrum of species, trout, yellows, bass, and carp. With not to speak of in the rain forecast, time to get out and make hay while the sun shines. Top Tip : don’t forget your sunblock otherwise you gonna know all about it.
Reports indicate that The Midlands received anywhere between 14-42mm (average ~20mm) last weekend, which has left some rivers raging and other high and dry. Some fishing returns from the Natal Fly Fishers Club anglers noted that the river(s) were low and while no water temperatures were reported, “warm” was noted in one of the returns (not surprising in this heat). A local author and angler reported 24 degrees on a recent outing, that’s a tad warm for cool water trout. The Mooi River received the most attention, with The Bushman’s and uMngeni also being visited, and the returns indicate that a good number of the respective brown trout population showed up and played along. Fish were predominantly in the 9-13 inch / 23-33 cm bracket, with some bigger specimens in the 13-15 inch / 33-38 cm and 17-19 inch / 43-48 cm class. No flies mentioned, but if water temperatures are already up, fish will be holding in the deeper cool water, so nymphing will be the name of the game.
With only two returns over the last week, trudging a naked stillwater bank, or even bobbing about in a float tube, in the current blistering heat is clearly not everybody’s cup of tea. Fish reported were in the 11-13 inch / 28-33 cm and 13-15 inch / 33-38 cm bracket, of interest is that the larger fish were reportedly brown trout, usually scarce in stillwater. Again, no water temperatures reported, and with no 16-20 inch / 40-50 cm fish in listed in the returns, it appears that the bigger specimens managed to avoid the temptations of the fly, in all probability by staying deep in cooler water. As water temperature rises, restrict fishing activities to an early morning session to take advantage of fish foraging in the post-nighttime cooler waters, and be off the water by mid-morning.
The bass fishing is ON at both Albert Falls and Midmar, with some excellent fish coming out in the 3-5kg range. With the early morning flat calm conditions, the carp are on the surface at Albert Falls, getting stuck into rafts of midges. Great fun on fly, a small #16 dry fly pattern in black and white (on a good hook!), with nothing less than 8lb tippet and a gentle leading presentation so not to spook the fish, is required to get stuck into these tackle busters. Even then, a few lost fish and straightened hooks make them worthy quarry.
The weekend see’s the St John’s D.S.G P.A. annual fishing competition at the Baynesfield “BIG DAM”, Baynesfield estate – Tight Lines to all anglers taking part.
Albert Falls hippo update is that he / she is still wandering the lake shores; last seen in the Pelican Bay area. Word is that the hippo is due to be uplifted and returned to where it came from. In the meantime, all guests visiting Albert Falls are requested to be vigilant and inform the Reserve Manager of any sightings of the hippo.
With summer settling in, the yellowfish will be starting to get into gear. Word is that there have been some good scaly’s at the top of Midmar / Cascades. With the holiday season fast approaching, the Sterkfontein anglers are also getting into gear, before heading north, 2 or 3 days of sunshine weather is required and then it’s game on.
Tight lines everyone! And see y’all instore for this Black Friday Weekend”. Thanks Jan.
Series 22 of Hier Gaan Ons Alweer on kykNET with Petri de Wet premiers at 18:00 on Saturdays on kykNet, channel 144.
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 22 runs for three months, (There are 13 episodes over the three months) ending on the 6th January 2024.
As most of you know, Petri and his guests cover various angling styles in and around Southern Africa, fresh and saltwater.
Watch out for our very own Gilbert Foxcroft and Adriaan van der Merwe in the specimen sections, they join Petri and land some impressive carp.
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, Sundays and public holidays.
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
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. 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
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Please send any info about fishing or fish caught in your area to mike.pereira@kingfisher.co.za
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