KZN FISHING REPORT - 19 January 2008

ROCK & SURF - South Coast
The weather recently has been anything but kind to anglers as consistent wind and big seas have made angling a bit difficult. However those anglers that have persevered returned some good results. The Greenpoint area has eventually come to light and quite a few big sand sharks have recently been landed here. When conditions allow, anglers targeting these big fish have had some good fun as it seems that the sandies have arrived at most known spots.

Apart from the sand sharks anglers are also catching quite a few good size brown skates. Those anglers fishing along the Umkomaas stretch have recently had some excellent angling as quite a variety of fish have been caught at this venue during the course of last week. A big prodical son of 17 kg was caught in this area last week by Mark Davis. There has also been some good shad action here as well as some grunter, stumpie and now the odd pompano. The lower South Coast has for the past few weeks produced some good results by anglers fishing for bronze bream on the flat ledges along the Trafalgar stretch. Hammerhead sharks are also being caught at most deep water points down there.News from Port Edward’s Terry Nel, is that fish are back on the bite although the network of live bait fishermen haven’t had much success off the deep water points. bronze bream are being caught and some are of a fair size. Finesse angler Fred Seevers from Arniston in the Cape landed a big eyed king fish on his drops hot tackle and soon after released the 40cm beauty. The M'penjati River Mouth has been a great spot for estuary fishermen and a number of large grunter have been taken there on cracker shrimp as bait. Just a reminder though, don't pump for them in the reserve, rather somewhere else where it is allowed with a permit.

ROCK & SURF - North Coast
This week-end sees the start of the KZNCAU new season and if the long term forecast was anything to go by then most clubs should be heading north to the Zululand beaches looking for the annual diamond skates.(we have had reports of plenty diamonds landed in the Mtunzini area) There has also been some good shark action down in the Transkei. Areas such as Port St Johns and the Hole in the Wall could produce some good results.

ESA
The ESA boys, Ray, Abel and Lloyd are fishing down in the Cape for the next two weeks. We received a report from them that a total of seven sharks were caught and released on Monday, six bronze whalers and a raggie. Can ’t wait to see the footage in the next few weeks.
This report from Linda from High Tide Fishing Tackle in Warner Beach. “Well I was basically fishing with my spinning stick for shad and then I saw my 2nd rod becoming active. I picked my rod up and felt something was feeding and then the fish took off and then I set the hook and off it went to the deep blue sea! My hubby was coaching me as it was the first time for me to experience such a huge fish. The fish nearly stripped my reel to the spool. (Daiwa SL30 - Kingfisher Shock Leader - Kingfisher C/Coated 120lbs - Old Mackerel Head & Belly).I managed to fight the fish to the shore break and it took off again nearly stripping my spool. After 45 minutes I managed to land the taxed fish and my arms were finished! During the fight the fish managed to fight me to the ground were the fish was dragging me and my rod along the beach.” The sandy that Linda landed was attacked by a shark while she was fighting it, there was a large bite taken from the top of the sandy, (the dorsal fin was missing) and the tail and about twenty percent of the body was bitten off. It looks like part of the wing was also taken. This sandy must have been 50 to 60kg’s, a great fish to land on a small Daiwa SL30SHK reel, well done Linda.

SKI BOATS & FISHING SKIS
Ski Boats and Fishing Skis have all but been shore bound for the past week due to the bad weather but hopefully that changes soon as there is quite a good variety of game fish on both the north and south coasts.

UHTFC
On the fresh water side, fishing has been very good this week both in the rivers and dams. The rivers were discoloured for a short period on Thursday and Friday, but soon cleared. The higher reaches of the Umzimkulu were giving anglers good catches, but the lower reaches were going too fast for all but the most experienced to be successful. Anglers who fished the still waters in the early mornings caught the most fish. This report kindly supplied by Bill Simson from UHTFC. The 5th New Hanover Farm Dams Bass Competition is to be held on Saturday the 8th March 2008. The cost is R70.00 per angler and R50.00 per junior (13 and under). There are twelve well stocked dams to choose from and a variety of accommodation available in the area. For more info give Jurgen a call on 082 785 8166.

E.S.A. SCHEDULES on TV
The Extreme Sports Angling guys are at it again on SS1, Tuesday at 7pm (Bass) Thursdays at 7.30pm (Saltwater). This angling show is on DSTV’S Super Sports channel with reruns during the week; check your T V Guide for more details. In ESA BASS, we visit Florida Lake for a charity event with Ralf Bittkau. Then we take a look at the first ESA ESBA Pro Series Event in Gauteng where there were 79 boats and 153 anglers present on the day to compete in the nominated section of their choice, the Team Trail, the Pro Trail or the Pro/Team Trail. In ESA Saltwater the LBSA team consisting of Abel, Raymond and Lloyd pay Maphelane a visit where Raymond lands a giant guitar fish. In Drop Shot they target the Richard Bay Harbour waters and land spotted grunter, sea spike, a honeycomb and kingfish. Then Mark takes us to Cape Vidal where he lands some bonito and couta.

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