Category: Short Stories

Short fishing stories for when you have nothing better to do!

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Down to The Umdloti Beach with JP Bartholomew

Down to The Umdloti Beach

“Another incredible story and gallery of photos from our newest contributor, JP Batholomew…this time at Umdloti Beach, one opf JP’s favourite hangouts. Luckily JP advocates catch and release – luckily, or there would be far less fish left in the ocean!”

December, four days after Full Moon I hit Umdloti beach.The weather conditions were good and the sea was fairly calm and clean with the water temp at 19c – still nicely chilled. It was time to embark on My quest to catch those elusive Giant Blue Shad on fly. I was kitted out with my Xplorer 902 Pro Cast 8/9 Wt rod with an intermediate line and my favourite GT Deep Diver Flies in Pink, Orange, Chartreuse, tied on a 5/0 Mustard 34007 s/s hooks.

I started fishing my normal stretch around 04:45am on the incoming tide. I know from past experience that I have the best chance of catching these Giant Shad in the same spot at this time of the year. Making the longest casts as possible I began by probing the deeper channels and gullies, allowing the fly to sink for  about 10 seconds before I began a fast retrieve. I also tried casting the fly over rocky ledges where the waves break and create white water. The Shad love hunting in this water, using it as cover to ambush baitfish hiding behind or under structure.

Soon after I started, in the middle of a fast retrieve I went tight and I was into My first Blue Shad on an Orange GT fly. It put up a ferocious fight, jumping out of the water, trying to throw the hook. Big shad are fast ,powerful fish that will strip your line off your reel at an awesome pace and will fight to the very edge of its strength. I fished Umdloti Beach almost everyday that week and succeeded in catching and releasing four Gaint Shad  – two on fly and two on Rapala X-Raps.

The following week I returned to Umdloti again with my trusty 8/9Wt fly rod and this time tied a Pink GT Deep Diver. This time I started fishing as the sun started breaking through the clouds on the horizon. The water was still cold and sea conditions were still good.
On My third or fourth cast I managed to get good distance.  I started my retrieve and when the fly came into the shorebreak the line went tight. My line started peeling off my reel really fast and I used my hand to slow it down by holding in on the rim of the reel as I had no time to fiddle with the drag.
Eventually, I was able to start getting line back on my reel. I couldn’t get a good look at the fish, but it didn’t feel like a shad. I thought it might be a kingfish so I kept rod  up and applied  as much pressure on the line as I thought rather safe then sorry,retrieving line as quickly as possible and hoping not to get cut off on the rocks.
It was only when I got the fish closer and it broke the surface that I saw had hooked into a Dusky Kob – My first on fly. I have been fighting this area  stretch for seven years and I’ve never heard of a Kob coming out,never mind on fly at Umdloti. After a photo or two I successfully returned him back to the sea to fight another day.
That same week I flyfishing off Sensation Rock’s using a Flashy  Profile fly,I hooked into a Natal Stumpnose of about 1.3 kg which had  Me jumping and bouncing around on the rocks like a Penguin holding on for dear life. I was not ready to lose a Natal  Stumpnose on fly! The fish put a tremendous fight but I finally managed to bring it into the bay and beach it. I was so tired and sore from jumping all over the rocks but I had  landed My first Natal  Stumpnose on fly – what an adrenaline rush a beauty of a fish too.

I really enjoyed targeting the various species and loved it when all my planning – getting flies for specific Spiece’s, fishing the correct tides and area’s you know should hold the fish you are targeting – the success and results will follow. I always like to study tide’s, Moon phases and is always good to know your sea conditions of the stretch you going to be fishing. I prefer fishing early morning’s – long before most Anglers hit the waters. Your results are always worth it.

And another shad on a lure off Umdloti BeachVeru nice stumpnose on fly

Tight line’s, practice catch and release remember let go let grow let your fish roam free…..

Cheers JP.

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Footloose fishing lessons

Footloose fishing lessons

Spending some time in The Big Smoke, working The Mydo distribution run…and being land locked presents a host of problems.

But there are always bass.

And so, a chunk of the Von Biljon family and I set out on Sunday, to Footloose Trout Farm. Which is not a trout farm. It was. Remnants remain from the bygone days when hatcheries and race tanks spawned gaggles of trout and anglers.

Now, the handful of well-kept dams are stocked with bass in the summer…and replaced by trout in the winter.

An all round cool spot with lovely grass and trees, jungle gyms, a kiosk and licensed restaurant..kids and families everywhere.

Water moves down from the top dams trickling through sluits down through the bottom ones. And they are each nicely populated with fish.

The bass dams at the top are the most picturesque and popular. The ponds are just the right size and are well maintained. Benches and shady gazebos dot the fishing spots – it is all very cozy and good fun.

Even when it all goes bad.

Andrew von Biljon had brought the A- team. His sons Dustin and Tristan. Johnny von Biljon brought his girlfriend Ansie. And I was the sole outsider.

In preparation, I spooled my Okuma Ceymar 30 with 5kg braid, and attached it all to a Sensational Adventure stick – the lightest model. Very nice feeling rig. Leaders and all.

I was fishing Mydo Buck Shot #1. Pearl white. A deadly offering that looked so good on my rig.

My first cast bought a cackle on as I overshot the end of the dam and squared the bull rushes. Vas!
But this happens to me a lot and usually a few solid strikes drawn from slack line shocks the ultra sharp hook through the grass, and free.

Not today.

Snap, went my new braid. Guffaw, went the Von Biljons.

S&%£&!

Being so supremely confident meant that was my only leader, never mind my Buck Shot. And there was no way I could fight my way over those particular bull rushes. Steep bank. Perfect bass spot.

I quickly tied on a #1 Mydo Luck Shot rigged with a 4 inch plastic. A few casts and I was feeling great. In with a shot as the Von Biljon team occupied an entire quadrant with floats and worms. Their previous visit had produced so many fish that the kids were super amped. So were the adults.

Then I hit the bullrushes again. Exactly same result. Phwaaaar! Went the Von Biljons.

S%-++!

Extremely embarrassed I was disclaiming with the ultra light braid (is there such a thing?). But I could bite through it so I took off all the used braid and started again all fresh. As I was threading the last eye, I saw the problem. The tip had been smashed, probably against the roof of the tackle shop I got it from. Half of the super hard tip eye insert, was a blade. And I only had to touch my new braid on it lightly to cut it clean through.

So, once again and for the umpteenth time, I had to bypass my tip eye. I went off in search of fishing solitaire.

When I got to the farthest dam, in stealth mode ace out, there was nobody around. Skirting the bank, polaroids on, I could very clearly make out some huge fish, in the next bay between the bullrushes. Very slowly I stalked in and soon clearly made out the shoal of carp. Maybe 10 of them. They were burrowing under the bank, rolling about, tailing…but not quite spawning, barely a metre from my face. They were big enough. 3 to 5kg’s. I flicked my lure out behind them, dragged it slowly across a dik carp’s nose, and woosh, they were all gone.

I threw the Buck Shot a few times but had to accept, especially with the featureless bottom contour, that this was a carp dam.

But set up this video shot of the shoal when they had reassembled, a few minutes after I spooked them.

So back on up to the “bass” dam zone, where soon the recent rain, floods really, took the blame for the no-bite. But being extra determined I finally ended up at the place I started. After a couple of casts I got some pressure back?! A tiny strike and I was elated to see both sets of lost braid tangled in my luck shot. What a luck. And this was still new braid, only broken because of the smashed tip eye. So together, I jerked hard a few times and bingo! Both my lures and all the braid retrieved!

Dustin and Tristan, chose to fish for barbel in a lower dam. Gillie Andrew was hard at work keeping it all under control, when team Von Biljon went two sticks away!

I had cashed out, stoked to have my two lures back, and arrived on the scene for some pics, as this went down. The only fish of the entire day, from everyone there.

Well done Dustin and Tristan!

Lessons from the day:

1. Rod eyes, tips especially, are clearly a weak link. Braid and it’s odd characteristics exacerbate it all. Check every time.
2. Weather plays an enormous role in fish activity. It was a complete different story last visit to Footloose. They were jumping on every bait – exact same dam(n)s.
3. Never give up! Fish your life away!

Fishing lessons from the kids at Footloose Trout Farm
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Shipspotting with AIS

Shipspotting with AIS

If you are smart enough to run a smart phone, then you just can’t be dumb enough to get bored…ever again.

Take this ship for example…

Just buzz on over to marinetraffic.com, zone in on your carpark, and see the names and even missions, of all those hunks of metal cruising the horizons. Even yachts!

You may get bored after a while and have to switch on over to some other entertainment stream, but you will definitely find your self loading up all this cool ship data again and again – especially in that carpark with an afternoon onshore and a quart in your hand.

Even some some ski-boats are equipped with AIS transponders, but for the most part, its mainly large vessels travelling trade routes that use the system to obviously avoid collisions. There is the pirate drawback, but you can turn the transponder off of you like, but for the most part it AIS has become a valuable all-round source of cool data.

Wikipedia is gonna be much better at explaining it than me, this morning…

“The Automatic Identification System (AIS) is an automatic tracking system used on ships and by vessel traffic services (VTS) for identifying and locating vessels by electronically exchanging data with other nearby ships…”

Check out the full story right here…https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_Identification_System

Marine Traffic (http://marinetraffic.com) even have a really cool App that you can get for free from the Play Store or equivalent, on your phone. Or just access through a browser – any browser will do!

 

Big news today is the launch of Offshore Africa Port St. Johns’ Web 3.0 website. Rob Nettleton and co’s IN YOUR FACE photography will get you checking that your wetsuit is hanging nicely, and ready for next year.

Click on over to http://offshoreafricaportstjohns.com and look around, like and share…

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Clive Barber African Vibrations

Clive Barber African Vibrations

The first time i heard of Clive Barber was in the Godfreys house in Seal Point- they have a poster from his surf film ‘African Vibrations’ on their wall, the film itself has been lost in the ether, the reels lying somewhere between here and Australia. I have since seen, and surfed Clive Barber shapes all over South Africa, during the Rolling Retro event in 2009 a wave presented itself to me and im still not sure what happened: check the photo in the gallery below by Winston Kletter for more of his work click here…

I met Clive through Bruce Gold years later, he was fighting for his health, after a lifetime of surfboards and their associated health risks his body was packing in. He had a few surfboards left that he had made, Bruce described the one to me: he said it  was a surfboard- that looked nothing like one, and that i had to try ride it. I bought it on the spot and felt even better for it knowing the money was going toward hospital bills- but Clive was going to make it, originally it was going to remain unsurfed and hopefully on auction at a future Rolling Retro event. I was having all kinds of dreams like setting up a fund to help all the legends of South African surfing like Clive and Bruce Gold- to help look after their health needs after a lifetime dedicated to surfing and the lifestyle- wholly unrealistic but still a dream of mine none the less.

So i took the Barber for a ride…

…and she had so much glide- i cant help but keep riding on her…

When Clive finally ‘dropped his body’ as Bruce loves to say, The Barber had ridden all kinds of waves, and  even become a quad. His son Craig approached me online about buying it when i was in Norway a month ago. The sweetest irony being it now is actually the only board i have to ride!  There’s a lesson here somewhere but back to the story: Clive Barber not only made one of South Africa’s first surf movies, he was also an intrepid photographer and traveller who documented his journey around Australia as can be seen in the gallery below there are many iconic images from Byron bay to Mauritius, and all over South Africa my favorites are the one’s of old Seal Point and Jeffreys bay…

A few weeks ago i saw Angie Knight posted on Clive’s Facebook page  some notes she had printed out that were from a blog i wrote that has been since deleted- from my first surf on The Barber check it out below with a bunch of other images that tell their stories for themselves…

Miki Dora, his dog Skooter-boy, Bruce Gold, Clive and Eddie Godfrey holding court at The Fullstop

also check out Garth Robinson’s work Surf Art Jeffreys bay for more iconic imagery

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The most dangerous drive in the world

The most dangerous drive in the world

Driving down the coast from Durban on the southern freeway is a delight. It really must be one of the most beautiful drives on the planet as it skirts the coastline and weaves through indigenous thickets and over a stream of rivers and estuaries. And then it all ends. Abruptly. Just after Port Edward. The most dangerous road in my world unfolds as a snakes and ladders affair with huge potholes vying for attention with huge trucks and busses coming the other way. Pull this all together and you survive, but one mistake can cost you dearly. Add into the equation the overpopulated roads filled with kids, adults, dogs, goats, cows, sheep, horses, donkeys and mules! And then they even got the cheek to throw cops at you, with road blocks and all!

Basically, hit two or three of those potholes properly, and you lose one or two tyres. Every time!

Advice – embrace the situation, don’t overtake or get overtaken unnecessarily, give plenty space in front of you so you have a chance to see the potholes coming, and just take it easy up and through the hills of Bizana, Flagstaff and Lusikisiki, because the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, is just a few clicks away. The descent into the lush fruit bowl of the Wild Coast brings it altogether again as the now awesome stretch of road takes you down into the super cool town of Port St. Johns.

Port St. Johns is a most spectacular visit. There is just so much in and around that treasure trove that is the Umzimvubu River valley and it’s beaches. (c) Artsurfer.nl

There is so much to do in Port St. Johns you could get lost for weeks exploring its treasures. Leaving there south takes you basically along the coast but about 20kms inland. From this easily passable dirt road there are more dirt roads that lead to the many beaches, points and bays of the Wild Coast. Use a GPS and choose your spot. Keep heading south to find New Road that connects to Coffee Bay. In the old days we used to have to drive all the way up to Umtata and then back down to Coffee Bay, so this new connection really opens this stretch of coastline up. The GPS recognizes new road and navigates remarkably well out in the sticks.

But the road is torrid, the heaving rains washed away the dirt in between the rocks so it’s like driving on a pebble highway. Tyres get hammered and this road is where we started our troubles. We had decided to head up to Ngcwanguba Store for supplies and on the way back we got our first flat. Spare tyre out, and a speedy tyre change gets us back on the road. It’s dark, raining and 10kms from home, the next tyre goes?! No choice but to drive very slowly on the rim through the dirt, mud, puddles and dongas to our fleeting home at Mdumbi. Thank goodness for good people and the next day Warren from Cool Banana Spaza Shop at Mdumbi (they sell everything including fishing tackle), took it upon himself to drive the 50kms to Coffee Bay and repair our one reparable tyre. He was so considerate – made us breakfast and insisted that we spend the day walking to Umtata Mouth and back. We grabbed our rods and dogs and for a few hours, once again, got completely wrapped up and lost in the magic of the Kei. Thank you Warren and Noli!

The road up to Umtata…is slightly better than what you will have been accustomed to. You just get a few new ingredients to throw into the mix. The roads were not built with cambers in mind. No, they were just slapped down onto the hills willy nilly so cornering is best done very carefully. The goats and horses pose the next risk, the taxis not to be forgotten, potholes still vex…

Umtata to East London…is a pleasure, after what we have just been through. We got a new tyre in a small town on the way to Viedgesville, where we turned south again. Wide roads mean more time to avoid obstacles like cows and sheep, and the odd darting bush cat.

Having done our business in the Cape, heading home through Umtata, we left Spargs Superspar in Beacon Bay, at 11am. Except for the usual hazards, the trip was uneventful until…

30kms Outside Kokstad, a cop comes screaming up behind me, light and sirens blazing and blaring. I thought he was after me, so pulled over but he just sped on past, really fast. 2kms Further and there he is, stopping all traffic?!

A kilometer ahead are about 30 taxis, a huge crowd, a battalion of police officers. Turns out the taxi operators in the area wanted to put a stop to some impending competition, and as the luckless trio came round the bend ahead, the taxi operators opened fire with 9mm weapons and shot the three to death. Their car careened off the road and the crime scene allowed absolutely no traffic through. Either way.

After an hour, somebody in our queue researched and found a dirt track around the problem. That took an hour of sweat droplets each time we went over a sharp stone or through a pothole. The road was narrow and in places only one car at a time could navigate through. So into Kokstad for some much needed coffee and sustenance, back on the road, and safely home at 7:30pm. 2 Hours late?!

Eish! 2 Hours – the whole main road through the country is stopped in it’s tyre tracks! (c) Artsurfer.nl

 

 

 

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