ROCK & SURF Angling

Improved conditions during last week saw shore anglers getting some time in on the beaches. Some good angling has been reported from the Umkomaas area where a nice variety of fish came out. Shad were on the bite during the early morning session but not too many were landed.

Grunter however provided much of the entertainment during the best part of last week and anglers fishing the north bank stretch landed quite a few fish. Sizes were not too big as the average fish came in at the 1, 5 kg region. Queen fish were also reported and these fish were a little bigger with one angler landing one of 5, 5 kg’s. Anglers persisting here at night have been catching some nice shoal kob. Anglers fishing off points on the South Coast have also started getting some bigger fish.

Diamond skates have been coming out at Umdoni and Bazley points and the odd brown skate has also provided some fun. The much awaited annual sand shark run has not materialized at all as to date only a handful of these fish have been reported. The first reports of garrick sighting was reported from the Pumula area where spear fishermen saw quite a substantial shoal of these fish moving north so anglers can now start preparing themselves.

On the middle South Coast, Chris Knotze managed to land a good couta of 13 kg’s in the Park Rynie area. When fish like this start being landed in this area the first thing that springs to mind is the ‘Sardine Run’ going to materialize? Well there have been no rumors circulating at present but looking at the quality and the scarcity of these little fish in tackle shops it would be hard for anyone to predict anything. There has to date been no movement or any substantial sightings in the traditional holding areas in the Cape but nature can be unpredictable.

Perfect weather conditions have not been hosting the best of fishing and reports of fish being caught in the Port Edward area have been few, according to Terry Nel Some hound sharks were taken off Splash Rock during the week and reports of shad are coming in from Palm Beach area and one of 4,1kg was caught near Southbroom. Small kingfish and snapper salmon are being caught in the Mtamvuna River (Terry got a small kingfish trolling there on Sunday morning).

SKI BOAT'S & FISHING SKI'S

Ski Boats are still having a very good season as far as game and bottom fishing is concerned. Couta are plentiful on both North and South Coasts and despite it being autumn there are still a few dorado around. Tunny have also made a welcome return and the bulk of these fish are being caught mainly on the Aliwal Shoal and Protea Banks. Wahoo and sailfish are also being caught at these venues. Bottom fishing is also producing some good catches. Nice red fish are being caught as well as some big rock cod.

News from the Mapelane Bill Fish Challenge is that on the first day a short bill spearfish was tagged and released and a black marlin was lost at the boat. A great yellow fin tunny of 79.9kg’s was landed by Philip Marx and a couta of 15.6kg’s was landed by Piet Celliers. On day two no marlin were landed but Philip’s brother Frans landed a yellow fin tunny of 79.8kg’s and Alex Mc Mullen boated a tunny of 77.6kg’s after a plus three hour battle. The third day not much happened because of bad weather and the fishing was called off early. On day four the weather improved considerably and some great catches were recorded. Two blue marlin were boated, one of 281.04kg’s landed by Willem van der Berg and one of 127.8kg’s by Andrew Prew.

There were nine marlin hook up’s altogether, three were tagged and released and a spear bill spearfish was also tagged and released. Four yellow tunny were boated, these great fighting fish weighed from 57kg’s to 78kg’s, four dorado as well as a small couta were landed. Ian Andrew from The Kingfisher boated a magnificent yellow fin tunny of 76.5kg’s on Friday, Ian boated this fish in forty five minutes using a Daiwa STP24KG rod, He must have been a happy chappie.
The Durban Ski –Boat Club are having a fishing festival on the 26 &27 April 2009. First prize for the biggest couta is a completely rigged 565 Sea Cat with trailer and 2 x 70HP Yamaha’s, the value is about R310, 000.00. There are R200, 000.00 worth of other prizes to be won and pre-entry is R200.00.
Next month 19th and 20th April the Winkle Fishing Ski Club and Eric’s canoes host the Annual Fishing Ski Team event run from the Winkle Lifesaving club. For further information phone Karel 083 679 0818 or Jaco 082 782 9114. A couple of great prizes are up for grabs, including trips to Mozambique.

HEER GAAN ONS ALWEER

Heer Gaan Ons Alweer is back on TV. This very interesting show is hosted by Petri de Wet and covers many different fishing spots, fresh and salt water in Southern Africa. This fishing show is on kyknet, channel 35, every Thursday at 18:00 with reruns during the week. Check your TV guide for details.

ESA - Extreme Sports Angling

The latest ESA magazine is out and on sale at The Kingfisher for R19.95. This issue it is jammed packed with great features like. The sailfish, xtreme species. Targeting bronzies in Namibia. Ten hot tips for paddle ski fishing. Chunking for tuna and cranking rods get put the test in the bass section. For the ESA show don’t forget to tune into SS1 on Tuesday at 19.00 for bass and Thursday at 19.30 for the salt water section, great viewing.

In the Bass section we join Xavier and Morne de Beer at Mokolo Dam where they catch a 2,7kg fish on the 5” WAVE WORM. Then they proceed to catch a number of smaller bass on crank baits. Then we cross over to the ESA Bass Pro Series that took place at Inanda Dam in KZN on the 5th of April 2008, where there were lots of prizes up for grabs for Kids; Ladies; Pro’s; and Teams. In LBSA, Raymond and Dean heads out to three different Angling hotspots, Spiro’s, Doc Wilson and Palm Beach where they scratch for edibles. They land a number of catface rockcod.

Drop Shot takes place off Tinley Manor where the diversity of fish species on the South African Coastline is once again exposed as they catch soldiers; catface rockcod; tomato rockcod; triggerfish; halfmoon rockcod and yellow belly rockcod.

Then we join the OSSA team on their exotic trip in Tanzania jigging away. They land a variety of kingfish; dog tooth tuna and rainbow runners.

FRESH WATER Angling

Bass Anglers, the 11th Inanda Bass Classic takes place at the Inanda Dam on the 26-27 April. Entries are limited to 300 boats and it is strongly recommended to register early. The past 2 years have seen entries turned away because of the popularity of this tournament.
Entry forms for all of these competitions are available at The Kingfisher, 53 Hunter St., Durban, of phone the sales guys on 031 368 3903.

For the latest KZN fishing news presented by O.J., tune into East Coast Radio at 5.40am Monday - Friday.