Exciting news, it’s the Kingfisher’s Birthday Sale and to celebrate we are offering a massive discount of 25% off all products, (Shimano Rods and Reels less 15%), this does, however, exclude bait and any items that are already on sale. The Sale starts on the 27th June and runs to the 30th June 2024, there will be daily lucky draws, giveaways etc. This birthday sale will be at all seven of the Kingfisher branches and we will be open on Sunday the 30th until 1pm, so get in early.
The sardines have kept the action going along the coast. There has been plenty netting, even with the dodgy weather. Gamefish galore and plenty of big toothy critters!
Top tip: Handling inedibles. With all the big sharks about to be landed in the sardine fever, a few handling errors can easily be made while landing or releasing these beasties.
With sharks, the danger is all at the front. A few basic guidelines to follow: Never put your hand in a shark’s mouth. Removing hooks should be done with a T-bar if they are deep or pliers if they are shallow. Do not pull large sharks far from the water. This will put a lot of strain on the body (yours and the shark’s).
With rays/skates there are a few tips to follow: Much like the sharks you do not want to pull the rays far from the water. Ideally keep them in the wash zone. Keep your fingers far from the spiracles. Handle them by their mouth. Use a glove if you are scared. When pulling them, keep your body low to avoid stressing their spine. Never flip them on their back or lift them for photos.
Offshore:
There has been plenty of fish around, just a bit of a cheeky shore break to get through and you are set.
North – The north coast has seen some good snoek and couta for the smaller boats and skis. The deeper reefs and wrecks have seen some very good bottom fishing with big trawl soldiers and a host of other species being caught. Squid and sardines have been the baits of choice for the deeper fishing.
The tuna have been full up with some giants being hooked and breaking tackle. These are very powerful fish so allow them to fire themselves out before you try to horse them to the boat.
Central – Much like the north, the tuna have been around the central coast. Guys continue having great success with the surface lures and the poppers have been the winner. Splash and profile have been the most important factors when choosing the poppers. Colour has come down to personal preference.
Trolling lures off Durban has also been producing results with a mix of species being landed and a few dorado making it to the boat.
South – The south coast has seen a lot of bottom fish action over the last few weeks. The rockcods have been very greedy and always and 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 have been taken on everything from small live baits to large, skirted Konas.
Rock and surf:
The weather may be cold, but the fishing has been hot! Kob, garrick and even some inedibles!
North – The north coast has seen a couple of garrick for the guys fishing live bait. Targeting the areas of slightly deeper water close to a river mouth are your best bet for these fantastic gamefish. The tackle does not need to be too heavy as a garrick is one of the cleanest fighters you will ever hook. The north coast has also seen some very good shad coming out.
On the inedible front, there have been a couple of diamonds around, but the main fish caught have been blackfins and grey sharks. Mackerel has been the bait of choice for all of these. Targeting both of the sharks mentioned sometimes necessitates a decent cast so make sure you have the correct braid and sinker weight for your rod to maximise the distance of your bait.
Central – The beachfront has seen some good fishing since its opening. Most of the central zone fishermen have made the trip down south to follow the sardines instead.
The Blue Lagoon “pier” has seen the most productive fishing over the past couple of weeks. The stumpies have been feeding well for most of the day and night. Prawn, chokka and sardine heads have been the best baits. The shad fishing has been slow, but the persistent anglers have done well. The lure guys have seen less success but with some of the sardine action moving past, the fishing should pick up!
South – The sardine hotspots have all lived up to their reputation this year. Pennington, Rocky Bay, Pamula to name a few have all seen a lot of action. The gamefish action has not been amazing on the whole, but guys have managed good catches of kingies, garrick, shad and some snoek (with a prodigal son or three).
The main focus has been on the giant sharks. This is 80lb braid + territory and is not for the faint hearted! The anglers able to get big baits out deep have seen the most hookups but with the sheer number of fish in the water, swim offs are a constant problem no matter the thickness of your line. Trace wise, the 12/0 Mustad Demon Circle heavy hook has been the hook of choice for price and strength. This connected to 250lb+ carbon-coated steel makes for a more than heavy enough setup. If they bite through 250lb, they will bite through anything.
Freshwater:
The freshwater fishing has been good despite the cold. There have been fish to be caught for all facets.
Bass – The bass fishing has been going very well these past few weeks. The fish have been feeding strongly in most of the KZN venues. Most of the popular methods have had their moment in the spotlight this past week with reports of everything from finesse to power fishing producing the goods. The key has been to find what is working on the day and then figuring out the pattern. This is the big difference between catching a couple and slaying the fish.
If you are wanting to cover water, using a crankbait or bladed jig is a great way to locate the fish. Both of these methods require some special tackle to be properly fished. Softer rods allow for proper action and keep loaded on the fish during the fight.
Carp – The carp fishing has been on fire in the KZN waters. The frontal patterns have set in and fishing has been best before the fronts. Once the pressure gets too high, after the front sets in, the fish tend to lock their jaws and head for deeper waters.
Inanda has been the pick of the specimen venues with some proper fish being brought to the net. Most of the successful baits have been kept a secret, but boilies have been a firm favourite. The fruity additives have been producing good results for the past few weeks.
The conventional anglers have also seen good results with the sweeter/fruitier flavours. Midmar and Albert Falls have been fishing well for the conventional anglers.
Trout – The midlands have been cold! This has not put the trout off, on the other hand the fishing has been rather good. Most of the trips up to the many Stillwaters in trout country have yielded success for even the newcomers to the art of fly fishing.
Some of the venues have still reported good catches on orange-coloured flies so make sure you do have something in orange to use if nothing is working. The stockies have been feeding fairly heavily on bulkier flies with a black woolly bugger continuing to come out tops. The flexibility of this pattern in terms of retrieves is phenomenal! The larger fish have been a bit more selective with more realistic baitfish patterns producing some good results.
News in from Jan Korrubel, The Kingfisher in PMB – “Of course, as we reported last week that the weather had a had a lift out of the frosty doldrums, there was a solid couple of days of a proper cold spell. And now it’s kinda back out of the frost spell again … but maybe don’t hold your breath just yet as it does seem like the REAL winter is trying hard to get its toe in the door of what’s been forecast to be a mild and relatively dry winter season for South Africa this year. And if you think that’s confusing, we must wonder what the fish are contemplating : feed or, yes, that other f-word … because they ain’t doing much of either and to use a.n. other couple of f-words, they are being really finicky and fussy!
The early morning cold snaps appear to have kept the anglers indoors and under covers, as the returns from the Natal Fly Fishers Club are few for this time, generally considered to be prime stillwater season. Again – nothing ventured, nothing gained, and those hardy souls that made it out have the goods to show for their out ventures. Fish landed were primarily in the 13-15 inch / 23-38cm and 15-17 inch / 38-43cm brackets. With the fish now pretty much in spawn mode, there were some lunkers cruising around that pulled the tape into 17-19 inch / 44-48cm and 19-21 inch / 48-53 classes. Best fish of the week however, fell into the 21-23 inch / 53-58cm bracket. Water temperature was variously reported as COLD, starting at around 8deg and rising to 12deg during the day. After putting the thumbscrews on some of the anglers, we can report that orange, and small, are you defining parameters when choosing your fly to tempt a potential catch.
Some of the private waters have also been giving up some of their residents … Gary Maas from Troutbagger Farm in Nottingham Road had some visiting anglers, and Jeremy Rochester of Escape Fly Fishing guiding clients in The Dargle Valley, reported some good catches over the last week.
This weekend sees Leg 3 of the TOPS Corporate Challenge taking place, and we wish all anglers Tight Lines this weekend. The TOPS Finals take place on 1-4 August. Of special interest, is that the “Women in Waders” team – comprising local lady anglers Roxanne Stegen, Bridgettte Moores-Pitt, Sindi Beach and Felicity Riley – will be partaking in Leg3 this weekend, testing the waters for their inaugural WiW Ladies Fly Fishing Festival that takes place next month 11-13 July. We look forward to reporting on this event in due course.
If the socials are to be believed(?), there are some big bass around at Albert Falls Dam. Word from the water is that these fish are already showing signs / marks, and are about ready to spawn, earlier than expected this year. Top Tip for winter bass is a weightless soft plastic fished around the edge of deep weed patches.
The carp were on the surface at Albert Falls this past week. We were really fortunate with the weather – not a breath of wind and very little boat traffic to disturb the scum lines – reports local angler Scott Brown. An Elk Hair Caddis dry fly (with a bright post for visibility) did the business.
We Trust that you will have already seen the news in the social media – the most anticipated weekend of the year with Kingfisher’s Annual Birthday Sale taking place 27-30 June. 25% off and lucky draw prizes daily … do stop in for the best in tackle and advice!
Tight Lines all … opening hours are 8am-5pm Mon-Fri, and 8am-1pm on weekends and Public Holidays”. Thanks Jan.
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.
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