Fishing Report 6 March 2010

A subject that is on all anglers minds now is the issue of the dreaded Fishing License increase.
Fishing together with favourable weather and sea conditions has for the past week been quite productive along the coast.
Annual Babel Competition.
Ladies Division Nationals
Two Major Fishing Competitions Coming up for Fishing Ski and Jet Ski Anglers.

FISHING REPORT 06TH MARCH 2010.

Angling
A subject that is on all anglers minds now is the issue of the dreaded Fishing License increase. If we as the paying public lost our objections to the authorities I’m afraid anglers are going to be in for a hiding second to none and are going to have to pay the ridiculous increases laid out by the authorities, and in some cases we are going to have to fork out as much as 400 % .

The impact of these increases will impact heavily on the individual who loves to fish and dive. Competitive anglers and those who belong to bona fide angling clubs already pay quite hefty fees and levies to pursue their sport to the relevant Clubs, authorities and unions and are now being smacked with additional substantial increases. One only has to do the sums and realize that together with the recent petrol and electricity increases that angling could feature as an exclusive pastime. On the positive side the authorities have realized that angling is one of the country’s favorite pastimes and slapped the subsistence angler with a R1.00 (one rand) increase from R5.00 to R6.00 p.a.

Fishing together with favourable weather and sea conditions has for the past week been quite productive along the coast. Big flatfish are still on the bite on the Zululand beaches for those anglers that target these fish. The Cape Vidal area has also come to light recently with some good edible fish being reported. Those who are prepared to walk a fair distance are finding some good angling on the southern ledges at Vidal particularly at night.

Anglers here have landed a variety of fish lately which include some big kingfish, pompano, rock cod, grunter and even a few prodical son have come out here. This area fishes particularly well over the spring tide period as anglers can easily walk on the protruding ledges at night. Closer to home there is a mixed bag available as shad have started making their presence felt.

Although not in great numbers these fish are being caught at places such as the Durban Piers, Bluff, Toti and Winkle rocks during the early morning sessions. Anglers targeting bronze bream in and around rocky outcrops have also had a fair measure of success recently. Although sand sharks remain a bit elusive anglers are still catching their fair share of big skates on both north and south coasts.

In the Port Edward area fishing, according to Terry Nel has been much the same, very slow. But mainly the spoken about fish caught, bronze bream, are still around. Drop shot enthusiasts are getting their full and wave garrick are being caught and the estuaries here are producing good size pick handle couta and rock salmon on these plastics. Tacklenet's Christine landed a few pony fish using prawn as bait also in the estuary, but the shad are few in the Port Edward area, but around. The crayfish season opened on the 1st March and the hungry can now fetch some, provided they have the permit and stick to the bag limit.

Further down the coast, angler Jonathan Timm caught and released a monster kob of 66 kg near the Haga Haga area. This fish was caught on light tackle by Jonathan as he was fishing in quite heavy seas and targeting smaller rock species.

Ski Boats
Ski Boats, mainly on the Zululand and North coasts are finding some good couta fishing. A good number of fish have recently been accounted for in the Sodwana and Vidal areas as well as Zinkwazi and the Westbrook areas on the north coasts. Anglers targeting marlin have also not been let down as there are numerous reports of these fish being caught from Durban all the way up to Sodwana. The South Coast has been a little quiet lately and the only positive reports have come from the Aliwal shoal and Protea banks area where some good catches of yellow fin tunny have been made.

The Wartburg Angling Club`s Annual Babel Competition.

The Wartburg Angling Club is hosting their annual babel competition on the 20TH March 2010 at the Albert Falls Dam. There are lots of prizes up for grabs which include  Men’s, Ladies and Juniors with a first prize being R10,000 for the biggest fish (ladies are eligible for this prize over and above their first prize of R 1000). The junior section also has a first prize of R1200. For more information anglers can contact Gary 079 692 1478 or Edwin 082 971 2003.

Ladies Division Nationals held at Mosselbay on the 27th- 29th January 2010.

Report on the Ladies Division Nationals held at Mosselbay on the 27th- 29th January 2010. A successful tournament was held with 10 Associations represented by 53 anglers.
Day 1 fished at Boggomsbaai proved to be the most productive day, producing 249 fish.  Sharene Berry from KZN catching a diamond of 47.31kgs, Marianna Mostert from West Coast catching a diamond of 23kgs.  Other catches included good size guitar fish, blue stingrays, hound shark, and bull ray being caught.  Edibles included a couple of cob, white steenbras and grunter.

Day 2 was fished at Wilderness, but although the water looked nice, the wind had turned and fishing became quite difficult. Only 31 fish were landed on day 2. The biggest fish of the day was a smooth hound of 16.74kgs landed by Christelle Oosthuizen from Boland.  The rest of the catches included a ragged tooth pup caught by Heather Tiltmann from Zululand, guitar fish (lesser), bull rays and some blacktail and grunter.

Day 3 saw the anglers back at Boggomsbaai for a long haul.  The day was not as successful as day 1, but definitely belonged to Liezel Steenkamp from Zululand who landed a diamond of 48kgs.

Team Positions:
Team Zululand: Gold  
Team Southern Cape:  Silver
Team Kwa-Zulu Natal:  Bronze
 SASAA is proud to announce the selection of a Protea and President Ladies team.
The President Ladies team will be competing in the Gus Kollner tournament during October.  This is the first time that a mother (Carol Kurz) and son (Darren Kurz) will be competing for different teams in the history of the Gus Kollner tournament.

President Team
Manager: Ed Clur (Border)
Marianna Mostert (W/C)
Elzanne Cronje (S/C)
Louise Herisson (KZN)
Michelle vd Merwe (KZN)
Carol Kurz (Bor)
Liezel Steenkamp (Zul)
                      
Two Major Fishing Competitions Coming up for Fishing Ski and Jet Ski Anglers.