Fishing the Umzimvubu

Some huge daga salmon get caught in the Umzimvubu

Fishing the Umzimvubu

Although we missed the good run that the Port St. Johns contingent just got through, we managed to raid local operator Rob Nettleton’s tackle box and hard drive, whilst on tour through the Transkei, fish testing the Wavejet powered Pau Hana SUP, last week.

The fishing tackle we got from Rob, we can’t reveal… but here is a gallery of the shots we found on his hard drive…

In the background... the most dangerous beach in the world?

Almost...

Where it all goes down...the mouth on the southern side, of Port St. John's River.

Sometimes, this stretch is lined with fishermen and dead fish of all sizes.

A small grunter

Daga Salmon, Kob...either way, nice fish!

About to be tagged and released

Some huge daga salmon get caught in the Umzimvubu

Vas...!

Almost...

Got him!

A big grunter

The annual grunter run is well attended by grunter and fishermen.

Rob Nettleton sticking a tag into this behemoth before releasing it live and healthy back into the Port St. Johns / Umzimvuvu River

Fishing for grunter up towards Cremorne

Although it may seem from the pictures, that fishing in Port St. Johns is incredible all the time – it’s not. Timing, as usual, counts for everything. But when it’s on, it’s madness!

Unfortunately, it turns out that the Ezimvelo guys are battling to cope with the sheer numbers of fishermen and fish to monitor, when the fishing turns so on. Evidently, some guys are absolutely murdering the fish… the rocks in the corner at the mouth being lined with dead fish. Big dead fish, hungry from the frenzy of spawning, which is what they come to do in these winter months. The stock is very fragile when in this state and so the bag limits should be strictly observed. But they are not.

Please refer to the bag limits, closed seasons and other laws to follow…here.

Many thanks to Rob Nettleton and Debbie Smith from Offshore Africa Dive Adventures at http://www.offshoreportstjohns.com/