FISHING REPORT 17TH APRIL 2010

With continuing good weather, anglers seem to be getting some good results as far as the edible and inedible species are concerned.
Among the grunter a number of shoal kob have been landed. The inedible species however are keeping anglers busy as there are good reports of fish on both north and south coasts.
With just under one week to go for the 2010 Durban Ski Boat Festival to be held over the weekend 24th / 25th April, anglers are really sharpening their hooks
KZN Fly Fishing Association will host the next round of the KZN League this coming Sunday 18th April to be held on the BUSHMANS RIVER in the GIANTS CASTLE RESERVE.

Angling
With continuing good weather, anglers seem to be getting some good results as far as the edible and inedible species are concerned. Shad have been coming out at most known spots and the average size also seems to be getting better, these fish seem to be feeding well during the mornings with anglers getting their quotas fairly quickly at places like Toti and Winkle. Some very nice stumpie have been reported from the Isipingo, Doonside and Greenpoint areas. A good specimen of 6 kg was landed in the Park Rynie area recently. There are also reports of some good grunter fishing in the Umkomaas north bank and river mouth areas. Although generally on the small side a few very good fish in the 4 kg range have been landed recently.

Among the grunter a number of shoal kob have been landed. The inedible species however are keeping anglers busy as there are good reports of fish on both north and south coasts. A few nice size sand sharks have been caught in the Tinley, Ballito and Tongaat areas recently together with some brown rays. 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 have been reported from the Umdoni area.

The Transkei is also fishing well with favourable reports coming in from the Port St Johns and Hole in The Wall areas. Mostly hammerhead sharks are coming out but there have been some good size grey and spinner shark activity as well. Shad angling down here is as good as it can get with some very good reports of some nice size fish coming out in the Brazen Head and Poenskop areas. Zululand is still producing some good catches of flatfish and sharks particularly in the Tugella North bank and Mtinzini areas. There is some encouraging news from the Tugella area in that quite a few lobotes have come out here recently together with grunter and smaller kob. Small spinner sharks have also become a menace here for anglers targeting edible fish.

Finally, some good news for us anglers about the proposed fishing fee hikes. According to a report by The Mercury’s Melanie Gosling the proposed price hikes on recreational fishing permits were “way too high” and would be reduced to a more realistic amount, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Tina Joemat-Petterssen announced yesterday. She also said that Marine and Coastal Management (MCM) would be transferred in its entirety to her department, ending speculation that some sections would remain under the control of the Department of Water and Environment Affairs.

In a pre-budget briefing yesterday, Joemat-Petterssen said new “more realistic” levies for recreational fishing permits than those currently proposed would be announced soon, and would be based on the consumer price index. “The proposed schedule of levies is way too high and needs to be capped” she said. Some of the proposed price hikes were up to 500 percent higher, and caused an outcry among recreational fishermen. A crayfish permit had been set to increase from R85 to R500 and an angling licence from R60 to R200.

Ski Boats 
Ski Boats at the moment are having the best of both worlds as there are plenty of game fish and some good bottom fish around. Boats off Durban are still getting the odd dorado but there has been increased activity of couta and yellow fin tunny closer inshore particularly in the Bluff area. Apart from the Durban area couta seem to have suddenly appeared and are now being caught almost all along the KZN coastline.

The average size of these fish has been rather on the bigger size and numerous fish over the 20 kg mark have been reported. A good sign that we are going to probably have a better couta season than last year is that there has been a dramatic increase in the numbers of shoal couta that have been caught on both north and south coasts recently.

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.

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.
2010 Durban Ski Boat Festival

With just under one week to go for the 2010 Durban Ski Boat Festival to be held over the weekend 24th / 25th April, anglers are really sharpening their hooks, and fine tuning their fishing strategy to ensure they are in line to win the prize for the largest barracuda. The Sea Cat 565 Ski Boat ( Walk Thru), complete with 2 x 90 Yamaha 2 stroke engines, state of the art Garmin electronics, on a custom made break neck galvanised trailer, and finished off with 4 rod and reel combinations. Originally 70 hp were to be fitted, but to celebrate Natal Caravans and Marine’s 50 years in business, Yamaha, and Natal Caravans and Marine have agreed to add this “sweetener” to mark this grand occasion. A prize worth R450000. Certainly a chance not to be missed.

In order to ensure better logistical arrangements entries are being cut off at 400 ski boats. Hilton Kidger spokesperson for the Durban Ski Boat Club commented that “with 506 boats last year it proved to be just too much to handle with a short beach, and an incoming spring tide last year. Fortunately we will have a wide beach, and with extra tractors and Land Rovers we are confident things will go smoothly. We also have a neap tide which will be a big plus on the weekend.” When asked how the entries were doing he replied: “We have 350 boats, 1100 anglers and the balance of 50 boats will be quickly taken up” “With the entry fee at only R350 per angler, it is great value for money, the goodies bag is worth close on R300 alone.” Although goodies bags are guaranteed for the early entries, provision has been made for those that booked post 31st March. There will be outstanding entertainment throughout the weekend, and tasty fresh food.

The prize for the largest game fish other than a cuda is the Jurgens XT Off road trailer complete with Howling Moon tent sponsored by Natal Caravans and Marine, Jurgens, and Wesbank. This comes complete with 60 litre 220/12 volt fridge / freezer. Besides the impressive range of subsidiary prizes, anglers will enjoy the many lucky draw prizes on offer, including the Jurgens luggage trailer sponsored by, Jurgens, Natal Caravans and Marine, and Old Mutual.

In spite of a tough economy, sponsorship for the festival has increased with Old Mutual joining the impressive line up of Platinum sponsors --- Natal Caravans and Marine, Engen, Land Rover, Yamaha, and Wesbank. Coupled with our Gold sponsors, The Kingfisher, Rapala, Sibayo Casino, Bridgestone Tyres, Ski Boat magazine, Furuno, Garmin,  Lowrance, Hansa beer, and others, total sponsorship and prizes is in the order of R1500000.

Registration is from 8.00am on Friday the 23rd at the Durban Ski Boat Club. Kidger has also asked all anglers who are launching from the DSBC to bring their craft through on Friday. Tight security has been arranged for the weekend through to Monday morning.

KZN Fly Fishing Association KZN League

A bit on the fresh water side, KZN Fly Fishing Association will host the next round of the KZN League this coming Sunday 18th April to be held on the BUSHMANS RIVER in the GIANTS CASTLE RESERVE. Fishing will take place from 8am - 4pm on a continuous format of 2 hour fishing/marshalling sessions in marked beats. Junior anglers will be paired with seniors. Although entries to this round are now closed, any interested fly fishers are welcome to come and observe the league set-up and chat to the regular anglers while they are on their marshalling sessions. Open fishing is available on any of the unmarked sections of river and conditions are ideal at present. Costs are R25 per adult entry into the reserve and R45 fishing fee. There is a restaurant, beautiful picnic area and stunning hiking for non-angling family. For more information contact Linda Gorlei on 083 631 5301 or visit www.kznffa.org

”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. Buy online here http://www.fishingtackle.co.za/Books/Bait-Encyclopedia-volume-1-The-Sardine.html