Video: Evan Phillips baby GT and Chelsea Dog Attack Behaviour
In this video shot on a morning fishing trip on the Umzimkulu River – young Evan Phillips gets his baby GT. And we catch Chelsea Dog Attack Behaviour red-handed on camera.
Again!
A few pics of the Umzimkulu Marina, in Port Shepstone, where we are based at the moment.
The river valley woke up freezing this very wintery but beautiful morning. The offshore was coming straight off the mountains and it sure felt like single figures. So when the sun showed itself, departure came about. A nice full boat of fisherfolk. David Phillips and his wife Robin. Evan. And little lady Jordan who took on camera duty all dressed in pink! We also had Arno from Fishin’s Cool Fishing School.
So with three guns firing off the bow, and three in ambush positions out the back, we followed the far channel to the top, and right over the big hole area.
This has been a great place to fish over these past few months. Rock salmon, kob, perch and kingfish of all species have been patrolling here.
Soon Evan was bending on his beautiful little baby GT. Who put up quite an argument or was just acting real good for the camera.
When the fish finally came to the boat, Chelsea Dog leapt out of her own ambush position! But Dave was too quick and she retreated in disgust. Dave got the hook out easily enough and Evan was soon posing. And then justly released the absolutely dashing young GT back into the wild. After a quick lecture about that Halco Sorcerer in Jelly Prawn outfit.
Enjoy the action…
You can buy that guy right here. Both Dave and Johan Wessels independently vouch for this particular model and colour. And I can attest to its effectiveness – we have lost all the ones Johan left for us on his last trip! Actually it was my Dad! He has been tangling with rock salmon and all sorts of bad mannered lure thieves that been lurking around here lately.
A very toothy barracuda eyes my dredge teaser in the Umzimkulu recently. This footage is shot with our new GoFish cameras. Get your own using the link at the top or bottom of this page.
The Umzimkulu Marina has a few open slots still. Weeks and weekends coming up. Please get in touch to arrange your dream estuary fishing experience. For you, your friends or you and your family – this place is great fun – safe – and there really are some good fish be caught. And released. We practice tag and release wherever possible and only take a fish for the pan, in extreme circumstances.
You can get me Sean on +27793269671 or on umzimkulu@gmail.com to get the ball rolling. We have boats for charter or for hire. Self-catering chalets right on the river.
And plenty fish to catch.
And release!
We are Facebook here and we run a kicker YouTube channel right here.
Duarte Jnr at 7 yrs old release his first Mozambique Marlin
Duarte Jnr at 7 yrs old release his first Mozambique Marlin: just please don’t ask if it’s black or a blue?!
Congratulations go out to young Duarte Rato Jnr, who, all on his own, and on his spinning outfit, caught and released his first Mozambique Marlin!
At age 7!
If a marlin can live to about 30. And a human say, 75. Then that marlin and Duarte Jnr would be about the same age! Cool stuff Duarte Jnr, I’ll start changing all the search terms to you instead of your Dad!
Yip, the FishBazaruto.com team took advantage fo a super-flat and calm day, to get out there and drag a bait or two around the inshore reefs and banks. And unbelievably, Duarte Jnr hooked up and fought the feisty little guy to the boat for a good few pics and a great release.
It’s been great watching these two kids growing up. Duarte Jnr has a little brother, Dario, who was just so amped about Duarte Jnr’s fish and was super-stoked to pose along with Duarte’s third kid, this one adopted – the ever-enthusiastic newbie angler – Diogo Martins (45 yrs young)! Otherwise knows as Diablo!
Anyway, it’s a helluva team that FishBazaruto.com present during the lockdown and other recreational times – or when customers are just simply not in existence!
That said…Mozambique’s absolute and outright victory at the Covid Competition might see people heading up to Bazaruto, correctly, as a safe-haven.
Just got to wonder when those borders are gonna be opened up?!
Get in touch if you like heading up thataway for a real escape sometime when it’s possible again. Sean on umzimkulu@gmail.com or WhatsApp +27793269671.
See you there!
We run a YouTube Channel jam-packed with as much video as we can make, and we are on FaceBook too.
Fishing family takes down proper perch on the ‘Kulu
Acanthopagrus berda Forsskål, 1775 (Goldsilk seabream) goldsilk seabream, sly bream or picnic seabream seems to be the fish we are talking about here. (if you know any better please let us know we have been experiencing some signal loss when identifying certain fish lately) We just call them river perch, or perch.
So the very next session after our fishing family caught that awesome flagtail down at the estuary mouth area (see that video here), the next early morning, literally in the dark, we set out on the river. Navigating north this time, up to the big hole and deeper waters under the cliff.
Along the way, stopping at a recently collapsed tree full of weaver birds. Making nests frantically. After trying for a good twenty minutes we moved on. We need to spend a lot more time at this particular spot. Those big rock salmon will be stopping by there on patrol for sure. Waiting for a chick or two to fall in!
Moored up against the rocks at the base of the cliff, this is real nature. Fish eagles said good morning their own jovial way. All sorts of birds were out and about. Herons. Hawks. We even had a tern fly by?!
But the fishing was slow and aside from a few bites it was almost too quiet for my liking. But then our fishing dad had a huge Mangrove aka Santola crab at the surface. And true to form, as we contemplated how to grab him before he grabbed us, he let go. I was already tasting the curry!
Another slow hour went by and all of a sardine – Bang! Momma fish was bending. In fact, the fish was now peeling line. And with a real tight drag, the fish was literally pulling her down the boat towards the back. The boys all jumped in to help, relieving Momma of her bending rod. All having a go at trying to tame this mean fish. Eventually, the rod made it to Dad. This is a true fishing family!
After a solid and prolonged fight on the light tackle, the tired but angry perch came to the boat and the tiny hook was visibly only holding on by a thread. Luck was on our side and the fish hit the deck with a solid thump!
Perch are superb gamefish. Aggressive and wily at the same time. Those times when you just get a solid thump of a bite, and let’s go immediately – that’s most likely him knocking at your door.
Most times with perch though, you don’t even have to feed to strike. Just hit him back as he bites and hopefully your hook is sharp enough and finds home. Smaller hooks are easier, but if you are releasing most fish, as we all do these days, sometimes the smaller hooks go right inside. Causing complications. I like to use a 3/0 circle hook in the river so that I don’t get tangled with too many smaller fish. And I hook up far better like this too.
Circle hooks are definitely the way to go, whatever size you choose to fish. If you are releasing fish, your survival rate will go right up if you use circles. Many anglers on our trips have not made this revelation out yet, and often the hook sets way down in the fish’s stomach. No good.
Noel Labuschagne and his cute little Umzimkulu perch, about to go back.
Baits for perch are very much the same as you would use for kob or rock salmon. The ever-reliable sardine head with guts hanging out, on a bigger 5/0 circle hook, put’s you in the game for all the trophies you can find in the Umzimkulu River. Fresh prawn. Squid. The fish in the video above was caught on a beautifully prepared bait – a juicy mixed grill lovingly put together by Shaun the fishing Dad, for his wife. Who hooked the fish almost immediately!
Live baiting for perch
Perch are actually aggressive enough to have produced many double and triple header strikes here in the river. They hang out in shoals and are pretty easy to locate and hunt. There are quite a few features in the river, that hold perch consistently. One place is a wall running down the middle of the river, that goes for about 200 meters, they can always be spotted here on the sounder. The other spot is close to Spiller’s, where the old bridge used to be. Some pieces of the old structure are still above the mud – perfect for ambushing perch.
Chuck in a live mullet at any of these spots, on a decent tide, and hold on tight! I like to fish without a sinker when I live bait – makes for thrilling one on one direct feel. But a small ball sinker in front of the swivel means a bit more control for you. Hook in the front somewhere. Ideally thread the circle hook Catalina style (just like for marlin) giving the live bait the most chance of finding a convincing a fish to eat.
Prawns are plentiful and right on the very top of all the predator fish favourite food list in this estuary. I have been lucky enough to fish a 6 inch long live tiger prawn, which became a trophy grunter in less than a few minutes, down at Spiller’s Wharf on the south bank too. There are quite a few species of prawn here in the Kulu. And don’t put your live mullet and live prawns in the same bucket – the prawns always win! I also like to fish the prawn without any sinker or float, but they can hide away in the mud/sand. So, A small sinker in front of the swivel, and a small float near the prawn keeps the prawn in the water column and not hiding out somewhere invisible. Place the circle hook right in the tip of the tail for best results when fishing a live prawn.
Then this nice fish, was caught right up at the top, in the deepest section that we can get to. It gets down to 12 metres after some good rains. But in this spot, up against the side, it’s about 4 metres deep – going deeper. This spot is also where I caught that little Zambezi Shark on a bass lure. For real! Luckily I have proof…
We are operating down on the Umzimkulu River right now, based back at the Umzimkulu Marina, and it’s on! The ocean has also settled and the colour line looks phenomenal these days as the current sweeps it along the coastline to the south.
We have been lucky with a good run of dorado so far. Check out some recent action on the Niteshift right here. And a double hit of dorado news from http://umzimkulu.co.za right here.
The Port Shepstone lighthouse. Great photo opportunities around here.
We are offering accommodation and fishing trips on the Umzimkulu River. And if conditions allow for safe launching, we can take a few lucky anglers out to sea. To chase dorado, striped marlin, sailfish and beeeeg ‘couta, as the hot season kicks in.
This is what you can expect…
If you want some of this KZN South Coast seasonal action, let’s goooooo!
Get in touch with Sean on umzimkulu@gmail.com or WhatsApp +27793269671, to chat about options, tides and dates.
Tiger fishing as I know it. 9 Strikes. One hookup. No fish landed. In Captain Duarte’s marlin speak… that is 9 for 1 for 0. Or 9-1-0!
This instalment is part one of a series The Sardine Team are doing – on tiger fishing up here in Botswana and Namibia waters.
The fish are here. That’s for sure. And the second long hookup was to a monster fish. They get 20lbs often here in the grand Chobe River, Botswana side, we are. But these fish are wily as all hell. Finickily ferocious, they dog my lures right to the edge. If I can count 9 strikes, I could count 20 solid chases. Sometimes by two or three fish at a time.
The strikes are hugely explosive, and how they miss my super shark single hook is beyond me. I mean, they literally slam into the spoon, mouth agape and teeth sticking out sharply. I can’t wait to deploy underwater and drone cameras to see how they get around that hook of mine. I was even this very morning thinking of changing to a 5x treble?! I might still.
It has been three absolutely delightful fishing sessions so far. Well, four actually, but that first attempt – we spent a night at Kazungula, just outside of Kasane but also right on the Chobe, ended quickly and fruitlessly as a territorial hippopotamus stalked my spot.
In Kasane, we are right on the river too, but I take the car, since my new favourite fishing spot – I am calling it Tiger Island after a cute little crocodile-infested island just off the point- is open on all sides. To what you may wonder? Well. From the right-hand side, and the water can come the elephants. My fishing spot is right on the edge of the elephant corridor. And it’s rather narrow and used often. Not that the elephants are the major problem. The major threats come from the water directly. And the bush on the water’s edge. Where crocodiles hide and hunt. And hippos get all uptight if you get in their way.
But this spot I had chosen, had no crocodile slides on the beach near me, and the hippo paths were a little away either side of me too. I had a clear patch of river frontage to my self. There was elephant dung everywhere though!
Tiger fishing can be risky. You have been warned.
Tiger fishing puts you right into nature
Yip! This photo, along with all the others and the video coming up, are shot on my phone
Wont ever do something so stupid again – I promise
The MYDO SS Moby 600 was purpose built to take on the ferociously finicky tiger fish.
Safe off road parking!
Another magnificent sunrise over Tiger Island, just past Crocodile Point
I’d been told to fish near and under trees, for Tigerfish. The water was clean and the bank gently sloped into the water. There were a few spots where I could perch up a metre or so and about 2m back from the edge. Seemingly feelingly safe! And the water was clean so I was sure I could see any threatening sized animal coming for me. But I still parked the car right close to my deemed safest fishing spot, so I had an escape if someone came around with any ill intent.
I found most of the action to be right at the edge. And the really big strike, well there were two of them actually, one hooked up for a second melting line off my spool, occurred about 5 metres from the edge. Spectacular to be able to get to these monsters without having to go by boat anywhere.
The bigger spoons had as much action as the tiny models. And at one point, this did happen…ha ha ha…thank you Cameron for the pic.
This poor guy must have been just swimming along when my spoon came out of the sky and pinned him right through the brain. He was still kicking in this pic. He never survived the huge hook extraction operation, however, and was useless as live bait.
The action came and went in sudden flurries of chaos. I was trying to film and fish at the same time – impossible trying to do it ace out, and some of the things I witnessed were proper mind-blowing. Huge fish chasing other big fish?! Dogfights of note. Then as fast as the action came, it went.
This is tiger fishing as I know it. I will never for the life of me be able to explain, the tiger I caught on the Okavango – with my first cast of the trip. The fish took one of my Mydo Luck Shots with a Gummy Baby Tiger plastic, on a cranked out little rod, and set the tone for that trip (follow this link to that story). We absolutely hammered the enthusiastic little tiger fish, especially on the tiny little Mydo SS Moby Spoon. At 60mm, and looking like a stealth fighter, this little lure is so much fun. I especially bought along on this trip, a tiny little outfit, with 15lb braid, to fish the Moby 60 effectively. I am getting 25 metres with a light flick, and even into the wind. The lateral line holes of the Moby allow air through increasing distance.
The retrieve I use is very erratic, and one of the reasons I saw so many fish charge and miss my lure completely. Right in front of my eyes, in the shallow clear water. But the gentle shad-like retrieve does not pique anyones interest at all, and so the variable speed pull, with a few erratic flicks will get the spoon looking and behaving like an injured, fleeing baitfish, is the one. I call this retrieve The Vibrator and if you get the timing and speed right, looks amazing. And produces the chases and strikes.
So…back to the water then…sequel to follow!
Tiger fishing the Chobe River: This is the cool little fishing spot I was at. Boat not necessary.
This article was sponsored by The Fishing Pro Shop. Check out their new website right here.
Sailfish in Madagascar and other stories by FishBazaruto.com
Captain Duarte Rato has a lot to tell us about the Sailfish in Madagascar. He got 105 releases in 10 days! His full report will be coming soon but in the meantime…
Back in Bazaruto waters the fishing has been really good for the usually slower winter months. Here is a video made recently by the boys at Big Blue, highlighting the sailfishing and the annual Sailfish Competition held each year.
Duarte has compiled his latest report and it is available right here…
The Sailfish in Madagascar are really prolific but luckily we also have a good run or two in Southern African waters. April is a good month, and then May through June. Then again in November and December, in Mozambique waters. This also applies to South African sailfish although you really could be surprised by jumping saily anytime really.
Catching Sailfish
We use the MYDO #1 Baitswimmer to make a really versatile and effective sailfish trace. We put a few metres of 300lb nylon trace through rigged on the Mydo. You might have to work the holes open a bit with a bait needle to get the heavy diameter line through. Just tie a uni knot. Then we have wire droppers to the hooks, making sure the back hook sits right in the tail. Use an elastic band to help keep it in place. Also use an elastic band to hold the bait onto the pin and baitswimmer for high speed trolling. You can fit any skirt over the #1 head. Or a duster. Even a small kona will look and swim super.
Then these are dropped from the inside rigger lines and kept real close like a few metres behind the motors. The baits skip wonderfully with a snake-like swimming action. Then when you get a strike and the boat slows, these baits drop in and become swimbaits. Multiple strikes!
Read all about the MYDO Baitswimmer range and it’s adaptability to many fishing situations – right here – https://thesardine.co.za/mydo/
And all about the #1 Baitswimmer which is on a special price promotion in our online shop right now…if you have any hassles with the shopping cart system, please let me know on umzimkulu@gmail.com.
