KZN Flooding: cancel all beach ideas for now – in video…
The storm came over us really early in the evening. As it got dark kinda thing. Proper lightning and thunder. But it moved north and started it’s relentless march to Durban. It was reported going over Banana Beach. Then Hibberdene.
Durban
Then Durban got hit hard. And all the areas inland of us simultaneously got pelted. So much so, that at 2 am this morning, the waters here in the Umzimkulu River, started to rise. By 3 am it come up an entire metre. By 4 am, even more.
The waters kept rising until about 8 am, at which point the extra-low tide started influencing the river. And by 10 am the river itself slowed down a tad…dropping a total of a metre or so.
The current situation is a fast-flowing river of rapids, carrying enormous amounts of flotsam and jetsam.
Other rivers
After that display from Mother Nature, every single river in KZN must be wide open now. I know that down here where we are that certainly is the case.
And aside from the flotsam and jetsom, this water has a dirty little secret. It carries all kinds of dangers within itself. Waste from hospitals. Raw sewage left untreated by the ANC. Oil and grime from the streets. Faeces from animals.
Sure, it is all going out to sea now…which is how the ANC get away with their abuse of the system. Even Harding just be clean after that deluge.
Catching Kob: Our fish – the kob – could be a more relevant national fish than the galjoen. We get kob right the way from Mozambique to Namibia.
And everybody loves to catch a kob!
Since kob can be found out deeper, where ski-boats have been targeting them in waters between 10 and 40 metres, and in the surf zone, and in our estuaries – we have divided this Catching Kob how-to into three seperate parts.
Deep-sea
Rock and surf.
And Estuary
But first, a quick kob gallery…
Kob Gallery
Sean Calitz 25kg Kob at Port St. Johns with MYDO and BruBaitsJust shoot them if you can!Gerrard-Powell-his-two-daughters-and-a-100lb-KobKoblet by Josh Herrison near Port St JohnsA fun little kobbie about to be released down on the Sandspit in Port ShepstoneThe TWO wise men -according to Bruce! You only need to catch one of these magnificent fish – in your whole life!And it’s Chris Lepan again with another Umzimkulu Estuary kob.Jos Jantjies with a tasty kob caught down at Kabeljauw’s, down the point, in Jeffreys Bay (c) artsurfer.nlSimon fish and his first cast MYDO caught kob in The Transkei
Deep-sea
Kob feed at odd times. And sometimes they don’t feed at all, even when you can see them clearly to be there. I have seen kob underwater – huge kob, lined up in tight formation, wallowing behind the surf zone. Baits all around them. And they won’t touch anything! And then other times, the kob could bite so hard, commercial boats of old would literally sink themselves loading too much fish. Luckily this heinous practise of hauling out fish for profit, is not really practised any more. And the stocks of kob have stabilised, albeit at a fraction of the numbers of before. Hopefully, the more stringent regulations governing the selling of kob might ease the population back to strength. Unfortunately, it’s up to the current political controls in charge of DAFF. Which does not paint a pretty picture at all.
Back to catching kob…launch anywhere up and down the South African coastline, and kob could be on your target list. They really are literally everywhere.
Live Bait
Some spots are blessed with a constant supply of liveys. Mackerel are by far the favourite. Although a little live shad is close behind. Really serious anglers are keeping live bait alive, in cages and tanks in the harbour. So that when they go fishing, no time is spent gambling on catching live bait. Not sure how legal this is, but it’s really effective. Especially for night fishing, since time is always limited.
IGFA allows two single hooks on a trace. Which is a tad risky when fishing with live bait, since a tangle might be in the offing. So, a nice metre length of soft leader, a good 9/0 hook, two swivels and a sinker – is all you need. Drop that rig rigged with a live mackerel onto a showing and hold on tight. Normally at a bit of depth, and the running trace on the sinker snoot, the fish hook themselves when fished with a live bait.
Frozen Bait
Fishing with frozen sardines or mackerel also works. But only when the fish are hungry. This is when advantage can be taken of the IGFA suggestion of two hooks per trace. But. Be aware you may end up with two big kob hanging onto your line!
Lures
Turns out that kob love a plastic bait. A paddletail. Colour not so important. But weight is. You will need a solid 2 or 3 ounces to get down there. Bounce it around on the bottom and hold on tight!
Rock n Surf
Circle hooks have really changed things for the better. The trace used is simple. A single 8/0 to 12/0 circle hook on a metre of soft leader. You can throw out a grapnel sinker and slide your bait if the conditions allow. You need a bit of height above the water for that. Or just tie it all up and throw into the channel between the shorebreak and the middle break. Kob hunt in the absolute shallows in the surf zone. You do not have to cast very far at all.
Live Bait
A live mullet or shad puts you square in the game to catch your trophy kob. Although, if you could get any other live baits, like mackerel, pinkies or mozzies, you would be in the same game.
If your live bait is going to be battling a current, you will need to rig him from the nose or top of the head. Two hooks can help but a single – preferably a circle hook, with the bait nicely fastened on, is the outright winner for successful hookups. Keeping a big needle and a roll of wax thread is a very good habit for live bait fishing. The fish last so much longer when carefully tied to the circle hook. About a centimetre away from the bait. Much like marlin fishing. If the water is calm and the sea is flat, with no current, then put the hook in at the tail area, so the bait can swim away from you.
Once again, sewing the hook on with wax thread is so much better all around for everything. And it is a good feeling to let your hard-working live bait go without injury, at the end of a slow session.
Frozen bait
Well you can fish a frozen bait much like a live bait. A whole sardine is the go-to bait and has caught shoals and shoals of kob.
Belly bait
A decent belly, freshly cut from a shad or mackerel, is a deadly kob bait. You might want to master the art of the pencil bait. Highy recommended.
Lures
Kob have been an enigma to many, for a very long time. What would they be thinking, taking a hard plastic clangy lure, in the middle of the night, cast out there from the beach? Sure, I understand the soft and silent paddle tail, relying on its tail vibrations to get the message out there – but those noisy lures – Eish, they work too!
Kob also take a spoon. A very slow spoon. Literally dragged along the bottom. The Sheppy Bomber spoon, an infamous design from down south, has been revered far and wide for catching kob. Similair S-Bend spoons with half bronze and half silver have been reliable over the years.
Estuary
Catching kob in our estuaries here in South Africa is over-the-top fun. Challenging for sure. But catching koblets (kob of up to about 5kgs or so) on light tackle and lures is insanely entertaining.
Check this video of my Dad catching 3 at the same time!
Flicking and trolling lures
Tie up a little tiny paddletail, and off you go. The smaller the better. The lighter the better.
Live bait
These little koblets love a live mullet. Its got to be small though, like 3 or 4 inches maximum. To make them perform properly, I thread my live baits under the skin with a needle. And then tie my circle hook to the thread. And then when the day is over, you can let that little soldier go without having done him harm to his vital bits like his mouth and nostrils.
Fresh bait
You need to master the construction of a pencil bait, to get these fish to take a hook inside. Pencil baits are designed especially for shy feeders. Like these little kob. And the spotted grunter that are found with them.
Use a MYDO Silver Bullet fillet trace made up with nylon to make a really interesting pencil bait. You could use a MYDO Shad Trace made with wire too. Especially if those teethy shad come into the scene. A good compromise would be to use wire between the hooks, adding some rigidity to your pencil bait. And then a nylon leader.
The fish approach the juicy long pencil bait, and start to feed from the sides. They don’t get much and soon enough they get greedy and move down to the end of the bait. Which is easily sucked in giving you chance to set the tiny hook hidden in the end of the bait.
Kob lures by MYDO
These are recommendations from MYDO lures for catching kob off the boat, the beach, or in the estuary…
If you stay with us here at the Umzimkulu Marina in Port Shepstone, you will be right in the middle of all the kob action. We have many secret rock and surf fishing spots in really close proximity. And the estuary right our front for all day fun and fishing. Kids love it here!
Also check out Umzimkulu Adrenalin, for lots of things to do in the Port Sheptone area.
Second Bluefin Tuna taken on a MYDO Baitswimmer: yip! It happened again. A slightly smaller fish, at 63kgs…but taken on 40lb braid! By none other than MYDO Mediterranean Agent David Kosta! Fishing ace out!
Bluefin One
Mark White of Port St. Frances got the first one. A bluefin tuna. The southern variety. Swim to New Zealand and back often!
This fish was caught some time ago…but we kept the MYDO part of this amazing double-whammy, a secret, until now. We wanted at least one more before we touted our lures as good for targeting Bluefin Tuna.
Mark White in a very happy place106kg bluefin tuna taken on a MYDO off Cape St FrancesUsing the MYDO Baitswimmer as a down rigger, Mark White got the first ever bluefin tuna on a MYDO
Double-whammy! Mark and his mate also caught a decent broadbill at about 100kgs too – on the same MYDO rig – on that same day.
The rig consisted of a big old MYDO Baitswimmer, with a nice long nylon leader, to a big old squid bait. In other words, the MYDO was deployed as a downrigger. Simple leads to organised and this rig does just that.
Bluefin Two
David Kosta strikes again! He fishes the MYDOs the regular way…over to David…this was very recently (yesterday), in the Mediterranean.
“I have a Solo skippers ticket. It means I can go by myself out to sea. That afternoon, I got some fresh bait in the form of couple of 500gr couta caught by one of the gill nets. I left the harbor at 3:30 knowing I have 2 hours before it’s completely dark. Once I rigged the couta on the 4.5 Mydo I was happy to see that it swam very well with 2 vmc 3/0 trebles. I was using 61 pound Malin wire as I was hoping for couta. 15 minutes later the port Rod had a big bite, taking about 100m of line. I tighten the drag to about 6kg and started working. There were a few 50m runs and I thought it was a big couta. After 20 minutes when I couldn’t even see the fish , I decided it was a shark… 5 minutes later I managed to see a silver flash so It went back to the “biggest couta I ever seen…” but secretly I started hoping It is something else that we’re reported jumping in that area 2 days earlier. I few minutes later, I saw it, got it close enough for my 100cm bamboo gaf and pulled it in. 40lb braid, 60lb fluorocarbon leader. 30 minutes.”
David Kosta doing all the work solo…and the gaff goes in to the 63kg bluefin tunaThe northern bluefin taken in the Mediterranean yesterday
This the 63kg Bluefin Tuna (two left pics). From the northern population – these guys swim across the Atlantic to North America and back every year.
Which is what ICCAT (International Convention for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna) refused to acknowledge when performing their assigned duty of making up conservation recommendations to lawmakers. In another case of gross corporate greed, the exact people who were being appointed to look out for the tuna populations, were being manipulated (paid) by the corporates. And crooked scientists who were happily being paid to sell the corporate narrative. That these fish were not the same population.
Beware the Tiger: I woke in the dark as you do in the deep bush. Surreal surroundings on the border between Angola and Namibia somewhere. No place for city slickers. Was a warzone for decades. No people for miles. I had permission to fish off the pontoon boat of the 5-star lodge we were at. Because it was a good metre up out of the water and away from the average reach of the bigger-than-average crocodiles that swim here. Never mind the hippos.
The lodge staff had just started work. I traversed the huge lodge lounge and restaurant past the pool. And took up the post overlooking the confluence. It was still dark and taking in that particular first light, out here in the wild, was mesmerising.
The coffee came, I drank it quickly, and ventured forth down the gangway to the boats. It took me a good few minutes to scan the bush to make sure nothing was lying somewhere close in the ambush position. Waiting for me! I had been in the bush for three months by now and my survival instincts were fully deployed at all times.
I had two rods with me. I stupidly chose the small guy.
Crocodiles
I do not have any confidence in crocodile-infested waters. Sharks I’m kinda okay with. But crocodiles, and their stupid friends, the hippos, are a permanent death threat to fisherfolk. Not to mention the cats. Huge lion. Cunning leopard. All over the damn place.
They know all about ignorant anglers and take a toll each-and-every year up here in these places.
Tigers
But the very toothy encounter that unfolded on my very first cast in this place, will haunt me for the rest of my life. I came under severe fire, from a fish!
The clear river was flowing foamy. There was a little waterfall at the far end of the pool in front of me. Perfect setup. It was obvious that the fish would be hunting just where the waterfall was spilling over – but on the top side. So as smallies were gonna get rolled, they would swim out of the current, and into the waiting tiger brigade.
My little tiny Mydo Spoon was rigged with 30lb fluoro, this had been working fine on the small fish in the Okavango system the last few weeks. I got many more strikes this way. After settling my nerves a while to the point that I could operate, and accepting this weird feeling that very clearly something mighty was going to happen this morning, I unclipped the spoon.
The spoon plopped exactly in the right place and I moved it away from the waterfall, and down into the pool. A couple of jerks and twitches, and my leader came into view. It’s a very slow fluttery spoon so you don’t have to crank fast. And in the current and in the current configuration, this thing was looking so good.
Explosion
This absolute slab of a golden red dragon-looking tiger fish exploded into my little tiny spoon. The little single hook grabbed onto something. But my heart knew one thing, this giant fish was never coming to this boat. Ever. Not even with my other power rig. It went straight down and the hook pulled. The lure shot up and out of the water into the air, and as it landed that fire-breathing reptilian tiger fish was there to meet it. They both flew into the air in front of me. The hook never held again luckily, and I got a full eye-balling as the fish came eye-level to me! It was massive. Like nothing I had ever seen, or imagined. It did a full 360 cartwheel in the air in front of me. Everything fell back into the water with a huge splash. The fish turned on a tick and hit the spoon AGAIN.
All of this happened within one or two seconds. Luckily the spoon never held one more time, and I got that lure to safety.
Then I got myself to safety!
And never went near that ferocious piece of river ever again.
Pongola
Tiger fishing is amazing fun, with many variations to the theme. Somehow, every few years, another tiger lure gets a cult following. But in Pongola in northern KZN, South Africa, they take sardine baits! That’s how I fished there and caught a few little guys, just to get acquainted.
What I never tried, and what Mydo Teamrider Bradley “Braid” Eliot is going to try on Pongola this December, is slow trolling strip baits. Just like for couta and snoek in the salt (just over the dunes). With a little Mydo Number One weighted at a quarter and a half ounce. Some very deep canyons must be hosting monsters so we are packing in some heavier models too. Even up to two ounces.
We are rigging with a tiny single up front, that just carries the load of the neat little fillet. The leader goes to the head, but the dropper to the main hook – a tiny 5x treble hook, does all the work – and is adorned with wire. Mean teeth. But if they are hooked in the scissors with that little treble…then the single hook up front, and the leader, are actually away from the fish as you pull. Well that’s the theory! But we will fish at strong drag so that we get the hookup immediately the strike happens.
Looking forward to the results Braid!
The following is kinda what Brad will be taking with him to Pongola…
Baby Great White Shark caught on Camera: the only way any great white should be captured is on camera. Enjoy a high-level presentation by the Malibu Artist. Watch to the very END!
Yes that is a baby great white shark top middle thumbnail…
Public indoctrination
The problem here in KZN is very similar to the problems that Africa’s beautiful snakes give rise to in the Transkei, right next door. A prevalent fear of being bitten. Plus, there is a lack of education. And ignorance. The people there burn every tree and bush throughout. For fear of snakes. This ash and topsoil is then blown away, and washed away, into all the rivers. This sediment wreaks havoc on the environment. Sandy rivers, became muddy. Clogged. The balance of the ecology in the benthic and estuarine zones are now upset completely.
Here in KZN, we have shark nets. And drum lines. Right near the surf zone. Designed to hinder, and capture, great white sharks. And other beautiful marine predators. For fear of being bitten. When nobody hardly goes swimming anyway (nets kill 24/7 – even at night and in bad weather when there isn’t a soul anywhere near the water).
The Malibu Artist
Is one of the very best channels on YouTube. This guy is so talented. And so well informed – his passion comes right through his lens and to your screen. His narration is calm and professional. Soothing almost.
He has drone footage of the many Californian great white sharks that frequent the shallows in his area. The interactions between the sharks and humans will leave you gobsmacked.
Please Like and Subscribe to encourage more of his brilliance. Visit his channel right here.
Interactions
It’s not just the humans that great whites run into at the beach. Dolphins interact with the sharks non-stop. Size plays a rather big part in who gets to dominate. And who flees the scene.
Seabirds also don’t escape the attention of the sharks. But the clean water and their wings give them a fair enough advantage.
Seeing a handful of California Yellowtail harassing a small great white and actually using its skin to rid themselves of parasites was incredibly cool! The sharks do not like this harassment at all, they are visibly annoyed in this scene.
Seaweed is surprisingly interesting to great whites?
But unfortunately, so is plastic. Those milar birthday balloons are a real problem and quite prolific too. Please stop putting plastic in the ocean!
No shark nets
But the big news here today on The Sardine News, is the fact that there is not a single shark net deployed in all of California. Not one. No drumlines either. Sure there is the odd attack. But this too can be avoided using modern technologies like sonar. And ancient technologies like exclusion nets. Neither of these systems kill sharks like the Kwazulu Natal Sharks Board does.
This is their thinking, by none other than professional shark killer Sheldon Dudley – “Although there were insufficient data for a quantitative comparison of catch rates between nets and drumlines, the results indicated that an optimal solution may be to deploy a combination of nets, using the existing 50.8 cm mesh, and drumlines, using 14/0 shark hooks.”
These guys kill like this…
“Sharks Board statistics suggest that about 500 sharks are killed in the KZN bather protection nets every year, including about 22 great whites as well as 50 ragged-tooth, 30 tiger, 12 Zambezi, 115 dusky, 70 blacktip and more than 150 hammerhead sharks.” – Wiki
This is abhorrent behaviour by a rogue state organisation. That operates like a fishery. And openly is proud of what they do – they even cut their victims up in front of school kids to keep the indoctrination flaming.
As of this moment, their website, which carries these statistics year-by-year, will not load. We absolutely trashed their Facebook page with the truth. They turned all comments off!
So I would like to ask any of you who see some truth in the work of the Malibu Artist as above, to reconsider your fear and hatred of the great white shark. And its cousins. Like the beautiful tiger shark. The bull shark. The mako…all such sleek and beautiful marine animals.
Killed for what?
I sure hope that cute little baby great white shark so well-documented by the Malibu Artist, never comes to South Africa to die with the other 20-odd white sharks that the Kwazulu Natal sharks board KILL every year.
