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Snoek Fever by Christal Botes

Christal Botes with Snoek Fever in Durban

Snoek Fever by Christal Botes

SNOEK FEVER: Durban KZN – After months of no spearfishing and having had to move back to JHB in 2022, I thought my diving days are finally over. Until November of 2023 when me and my hubby decided it’s time to catch a break. And we also had the Umhlanga Spearfishing Club End Year Function that was coming up so this would be the perfect time to go to Durban.

Arriving in Durban the weather caught us by surprise, it was raining almost every day. It wasn’t the rain that kept us from diving but the big swells that came through with the rain. I kept thinking to myself was I even going to get a chance to get in the water or was it all for nothing? So we decided to wait for the weather to clear and hopefully see if there were any diveable water around. And then one morning when the sun came out my hubby said to me it’s time to pack our dive gear and drive up coast to go look for diveable water hopefully the swell would’ve dropped too.

As we drove up coast all you could see was rivers that had popped and dirty water pouring into the ocean. We drove past Tinley Manor and the water started looking a lot better. We then went to this one isolated beach and my hubby said to me this is it. It’s now or never. As we were gearing up the tide started rising and you could see some clean water about 2 kilometers from the beach pushing in. We swam out past backline and the reefs were quiet, just the local small reef fishies hanging around. We then drifted with the current to this one ledge where the water colour changed to a blue 7m. This was as clean as it could get. We reef hooked on the ledge and waited.

Then suddenly my eyes caught a flash coming in from the side, at first I thought it was my hubby’s fins or something and then I saw it. A big shoal of Natal Snoek (Queen Mackerel) came cruising past me. I dove down and was amazed to see such a healthy shoal of fish, lined up my gun as best as I could and took a shot. As I surfaced I thought I had missed and then my reel went crazy, adrenaline kicked in and I knew I had Snoek Fever.

I slowly pulled the line giving the fish enough slack to tire itself out. It quickly got tired and was easy to pull in towards me. When I grabbed him by the gills and was so stoked to have finally shot my first Natal Snoek. I then euthanized it and put it on the stringer. We drifted for a couple more hours and another shoal passed, at this point I was already exhausted and ready to get out.

My hubby also got a snoek and he could see that I was getting tired so we decided to swim back to the beach. I could feel that I was unfit from not being able to dive in such a long time but it was all worth it in the end, this fish had been on my bucketlist for so long and I was overly grateful for it. As we got to our guesthouse I immediately filleted my fish and put it in the freezer.

When we got back home in JHB I knew that my kids were going to be so happy to have some fresh fish for dinner, so I prepared some battered fish for them and they ate all of it. I can’t wait to get back in Durban again.

by Christal Botes

“Whoohooo Christal what a lekka article! Plus you can read it to your kids every night as their best bedtime story too!” – Xona

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DAFF removes illegal drive-by fish market at Hibberdene quickly and effectively

DAFF Contact Details

DAFF removes illegal drive-by fish market at Hibberdene quickly and effectively

It never took a day. Following procedure, we called the Senior Marine Inspector for DAFF, Mr. Bongani Pitoyi, to alert DAFF of the illegal (and dangerous) highway fish market in Hibberdene. There were literally a hundred of these poachers. Scattered all around the N2 and R102 interchange. Bunches of crayfish. And none of the shad were looking legal sized at all.

We had made a late call to Bongani, we were on our way home after a long day of sardine patrol. And so the very next morning we set out, nice on early, back on our beat. They were gone! None left. We verified this the next day. And the next.

But if we had not called Bongani up, they would still have been there. And this is the thing. DAFF are really understaffed. Spread thinly over hundreds of kilometres of coastline zones. They cannot afford, or do not have the means, to be everywhere at once. Even Ezimvelo could’nt do that.

But we can. In our individual capacities, all armed with cellphone cameras – we can form the network required for DAFF to do it’s job effectively.

In Umkomaas, the good guys there that patrol the Umkomaas Estuary system and surrounding rivers, (Emil Pirzenthal and George Snodey are ring leaders), work with DAFF and the police to continually fight the war on nets going on there right now. Nets are somehow getting down the KZN coast and wreaking untold havoc on our already maimed estuaries. Without these guys being activists, thousands upon thousands more fish would have been killed. For the angler in you, the Oxe-Eye Tarpon, a coveted and rare catch for any sportfisher, were discovered in the nets. Some were rescued, many not. But get on down to the Umkomaas with your fly-rod, and keep an eye out for suspicious activity at the same time.

This is the point. We are everywhere, all the time.

Just as Apple iPhones all have built in barometers, and can feed weather data back to a server for processing in real time – we can feed back poacher data to DAFF. They can then direct resources to the particular problem, as they did in Hibberdene, and sort the problem out.

Complaining and whining about how many shad were destroyed this year, carried off the beach in buckets, is not going to help.

If you witness such a travesty, call the team at DAFF!

DAFF Contact Details

  •  The DAFF vessel operating in our area – The Ruth First, is usually off the Transkei. Their number is 079 773 6514 and Inspector Teyise is on board right now. These are the crew to report suspicious fishing vessel activity to
  • Our contact, Senior Marine Conservation Inspector Mr. Bongani Pitoyi is on 071 765 2533, and is extremely helpful and effective on all matters big and small
  • Another number you can call is Deputy Director Mr Moshani on 076 780 5049

Read about Trawler Watch here.

As a tailend, we would just like to highlight the fact that not one person has called in a suspicious trawler, since Robbie van Wijk nailed one off Mdumbi two whole months ago. Perhaps the presence of the Ruth First and the Sarah Baardman has actually kept the foreign plunderers away. And that is why we are getting sardines through this year, all the way to Durban? Thanks to Robbie! Our devout and deep undercover sardine spy way down in Mdumbi. And DAFF of course.

Could be.

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27 July Sardine Report: Sardines are still moving north

27 July Sardine Report from Ifafa Beach on the KZN Lower South Coast

27 July Sardine Report: Sardines are still moving north

Spending some time on the beat between Scottburgh and Sheppy was an eye opener. Although we never encountered any solid shoals of sardines, we did encounter plenty action and tell-tale signs.

Off Ifafa, the gamefish were boiling on the backline. And whilst we were checking it all out, a brace of huge couta left the water one after the other, in gigantic parabolas. An amazing spectacle to anyone who has seen them breach like this. The story goes that when they can be seen so high in the air – 20 metres sometimes – the are hugging the bottom and hunting up into the light, which silhouettes prey perfectly against the surface. When they spot their target, they accelerate upwards off the bottom to huge speeds – slicing their hapless victims into pieces as their super sharp teeth do the work. And flying clear up towards space at blistering speed. Somehow the couta always get the parabola perfect and level their bodies out at the top of their inverted dive through the sky. And then disappear back into the blue with barely a splash.

Then it was the whales’ turn to perform. It’s odd to note that at this time of the year, many whales are just sitting tight, and not moving north or south. And this is what we did see. Whales swimming in circles, and staying in the same place for ages.

Then the birds turned on their act. Gannets and Terns wheeling and diving. Coming up every time with a wriggling sardine. The sardines were there, visible, but scattered all over the place – as if the predators were wreaking havoc with them and sending them into disarray.

And then unbelievably, we came across a DAFF vehicle, with two inspectors. Who duly requested our fishing licenses. We had a nice chat, and pledged our co-operation and assistance in the new job they have taken from the highly effective Ezimvelo. They are admittedly out of their depths, and have made some of the most basic mistakes and errors already – making it even more difficult to build beach credibility. We reassured them we would be there to help.

And so we headed south again, only to come across a fully fledged freshly poached seafood market – right on the highway. Drive-by shad and crayfish by the dozen! The Hibberdene interchange must have had 30 individuals on the hussle for ignorants to buy their illegal wares. And so we have sent DAFF a photo as evidence, and now to see how they handle this situation.

High speed drive by photograph taken just shy of the Hibberdene offramp coming from Durban,
High speed drive by photograph taken just shy of the Hibberdene off ramp coming from Durban – shad and crayfish for sale all over the area.

Remember to please report any suspicious activity to the newly ordained DAFF people.

Numbers:

  •  079 773 6514 for Inspector Teyise who is at sea most times, on trawler patrol
  • Senior Marine Conservation Inspector Mr. Bongani Pitoyi is on 071 765 2533, and is extremely helpful.
  • Deputy Director Mr Moshani on 076 780 5049

Read about trawler watch here.

The 2017 Sardine Report was brought to you by Pelagic Fishing Gear distributed online and in Pretoria by http://fishingsfinest.co.za

 

Sardine and Shad Report 2017 sponsored by Pelagic available at fishingsfinest.co.za
Sardine and Shad Report 2017 sponsored by Pelagic available at fishingsfinest.co.za

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Crayfish season closes down

Scelo Cwele of Hibberdene with a 1.2kg Crayfish. Delicious!

Crayfish season closes down

The 31 October sees the closing of the crayfish season:

Closed Season Crayfish – 1st Nov – 28th Feb

Anti Poaching Hotline – 083 380 6298 – 24hrs

Scelo Cwele of Hibberdene with a 1.2kg Crayfish. Delicious!
Scelo Cwele of Hibberdene with a 1.2kg Crayfish. Delicious!

Crayfish are also called rock lobsters or spiny lobsters. Ours in Natal and Mozambique – the red ones, are called East Coast Rock Lobster (Panulirus homarus) – they taste the best, but are non-commercial and cannot be bought, sold or traded. They are not the ones you get in restaurants. They are the West Coast Lobster (Panulirus lalandii) – similar red look, but with a bigger head and smaller tail, in comparison to the East Coast model.

Rock lobsters are crustaceans with a carapace, and a tail that fans out at the end. This carapace (the head), is how the lobster are measured for legal size requirements. The carapace – measured from the spot between the horns over the eyes, to the end of the head – must be a minimum of 65mm. Soft shell crayfish (they have just molted), and crays in berry (carrying eggs), are not allowed to be taken at all.

The reason for the closed season is that they breed in the warm summer months. A crayfish takes 3 years to reach sexual maturity, which is approximately the legal size for capture – 65mm.

 

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Crayfish competition by HUC

Crayfish competition by Hibiscus Underwater Club

Yip it’s that dangerous time of the year again…when the H.U.C. guys host their annual crayfishing competition on the KZN South Coast! But the danger ain’t in the water – no way, it’s afterwards at the crayfish braai! Batten down the hatches, this is really a fantastic event that provides fun and laughs for the whole family.

The event takes place on the 13 September, and is based at the Scottburgh Country Club. Call Johann Prinsloo on 082 510 5858 for more details.

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