Fishing Browntown
Fishing Browntown: the rod screamed, and I just couldn’t understand what could be in this absolutely dirty water?! What could be at the end of my light line? I was trolling a tiny blue balsa rapala (this was in 1983) past the old bridge pillar, in the Umzimkulu Estuary, on my tiny little telescopic bass rod. The water was browntown.
It turned out to be my first perch. A big guy at that, and he made it into the hatch of my little crocka-ski. And all the way to my mate Roger’s mom’s kitchen! This was the first inkling I had that fishing the estuary in brown waters may hold promise.
Browntown
It’s in about November, sometimes earlier, that the skies break open in southern Natal. With vengeance. The dry, stripped land holds no chance at slowing the deluge as it becomes a flash flood. The tepid dams that have been systematically filled with sewage and rubbish pollution break, and this terrifyingly dangerous water heads to the coast.
This is what makes holidaymakers to Natal sick. Right in December! Locals too. Anyone with a cut or scratch that goes into this water can lose a limb. Or die. Staf is not to be toyed with. It is a serious pathogen with a lethal lifestyle. And also in this water are all kinds of medications and drugs, excreted from human sewage. Anti-retrovirals. Oestrogen. Anti-biotics. And in this lethal mix, superbugs are born.
Respite
December can be quite pleasant in Natal, but it still rains. We experience some sort of protection from the Lesotho highlands as upper-level storms seem to get diverted away from us, and focus more on the Harding and Kokstad areas. Where deluges of biblical proportions have been recorded, even last week.
These monstrous downpours eventually flood all the bad stuff out to sea, just like a big human toilet does. With no thought as to what happens when that chain is flushed. What is left inland and in the rivers is brown still, but not that bad. Still, rule number one: do not ever swim in brown water. Because aside from what bad bugs are lurking suspended in the water, other lurkers actually like the brown. like Zambezi Sharks!
Night Vision
So, but what are these Zambies doing in the brown? How do they see? How do they not bump into rocks or get stranded on the shallow sandbanks? And how do they hunt? And what are they hunting? I can only answer the last question; the rest remains a permanent mystery to me.
Fish. There are enough fish in the brown estuarine water to get them inside, and way upriver, where there is no salt! And what are they eating? Anything that moves. Having lived on the Umzimkulu Estuary for a while, I can attest to finding half-barbel, half monitor lizard, half grunter, all taken by a zambezi. Check this monster half-barbel!
Full story here.
Dry-season
Eventually, as we get past April, the rains slow down. And the water in the river succumbs not to the flood pulse, but to the tide pulse. Brilliantly blue water from the Agulhas current makes its way into the estuary with every high tide. This water can ingress miles up the river, making for a fisherman’s dream.
GTs, greenspots, big eyes, and blacktip are among the kingfish species all vying for first position as they maraud up and down the channels. Ambushing mullet and prawn wherever they go. Big rock salmon lurk, waiting for your surface lure or deeper-fished bucktail. Kob come inside the estuary in huge shoals, also willing to take a lure. Garrick! We got them on camera. And huge grunter too! So many species enjoy the estuary and benthic zone. Even a spadefish I caught on camera. Just swimming into the river all mellow and peaceful.
Check out our YouTube Channel for all this underwater action HERE.
Prawns!
The prawns pop with the ecological influence of the tide pulse. As the salt wedge travels upriver underneath the murkier freshwater, it triggers off ecological processes, including the popping of Natal River Prawns, Gingers, Bananas and Capensis (endemic).
The Tiger Prawns actually live out at sea, and come into the estuary willy-nilly just like the fish do!
Back to the Brown
Fishing through the seasons has taught me one thing. There are always fish in this Umzimkulu Estuary! But where do they go when the river is really flooding is another mystery entirely.
What I do know is that I have caught kob on paddletail, in the absolute pitch dark of an overcast and moonless night. So the lateral theory holds true that these kob can hunt at night using electrical impulses. BUT, how these fish don’t swim into the reef or sand, boggles my mind completely. How do they know where they are going? How do they know where the channel is to get inside the river?
But it’s a non-argument, both fish and shark, can hunt in pitch darkness or in completely dirty water. They must have a 3D sonar-like system that paints the picture out in front of them. Or something.
What does this mean? Browntown is not all bad, check these perch by Paul of Umzimkulu River Cruises, taken in the pitch dirty water, of the Umzimkulu Estuary, at night, recently.
And here is Paul’s first night-time dirty-water rock salmon, caught just recently too…
If you want to try some browntown fishing, get in touch with me, Sean on +27793269671 (you can use the green WhatsApp button on this screen for a direct line to me), or use umzimkulu@gmail.com. And I can set you up with accommodation and fishing trips on the Umzimkulu or surrounding estuaries.
Sardines and Sighting Maps
Here are the links to existing and past Sardine Sighting Maps, with instructions on how to install The Sardine News right on your phone, tablet, or even desktop.
Channels
Brucifire Surf Retorts – highly entertaining surf reporting
Master Watermen – news from way down deep
The Sardine News – neva miss a single sardine
FishBazaruto – 1000 pounds plus
MYDO Tackle Talk – highly technical sport fishing
Surf Launching Southern Africa – getting out there safely
Water Woes – complain about your municipality here
Websites
umzimkulu.co.za – fishing, charters, accommodation
umzimkuluadrenalin.co.za – will get you right out and onto the edge
thesardine.co.za – never miss a single sardine
masterwatermen.co.za – news from under water
fishbazaruto.com – dreams are out there
brucifire.co.za – surf retorts
fishmad.co.za – destination Madagascar
andantelodge.co.za – Transit luxury in Pretoria
