fishing Archives - Page 14 of 24

Posted on June 2, 2017 by Sean Lange — 1 Comment

Sunscreen causes cancer and is made from petrol!

On every other day in Tofo, in the seasons, we get to do island trips in the Inhambane Bay. There are two main islands – Ilha do Porcos, and Ilha do Rato. These two are inhabited, and feature schools and churches and even roads. They are bustling with activities. Mainly catching a drying seafood. Prawns baking in the sun. Fish drying in the wind. The island life.

The huge Inhambane Bay. Whitesands to starboard, Linga Linga to port. Panzy Island dead ahead. Sunscreen causes cancer! Get your shade on instead!

Then there is Panzy Island. Or survivor island. Panzy features mild vegetation. But there are many more little sand islands, that people call Panzy Island, or Survivor Isand. Depends on what language your skipper speaks.

Anyhow, Panzy has the most beautiful little beach tucked into a bay on the Westward lee. Protected from the prevailing onshores. And skirted with a patch of seagrass – filled with all sorts of creatures. Wierd worm like things. Sea cucumbers. Starfish. Urchins. And even fiesty little octopii. Seahorses are the holy grail of snorkeling world wide, and can be encountered here on Panzy.

Invariably we would be hosting a bunch of touros, from all over the world. They stay at the backpackers or lodges in and around Tofo, and taking these peeps to the islands, and then on to lunch at Linga Linga, cruising the bay, dragging lures and catching fish, photographing flamingos – is a real fun job.

These touros would coat themselves in sunscreen. On and on. Over and over. And when they jumped into the clear cool waters of the Inhambane Bay, the oil slick could be seen and smelt for miles. A disgusting chemical film surrounded us wherever we went. And then they would get out of the water, and apply more, and more.

I have never really put on sunscreen. It gives me pimples! And I know that the petrol based derivatives used therein are explosively dangerous. Known carcinogenics and other poisonous ingredients. Sunscreen causes cancer!

I was so relieved when I saw the article as follows, backing up my claims as facts…

Sunscreen and the Lies We’ve Been Told About the Real Causes of Skin Cancer

Give it a read.

And there are many more sources on the net to back the claims up further.

So.

Trust me on the sunscreen!

As can be seen from the above article, the best way to prevent sunburn, is shade. So if you are fishing all day, wear protective gear. There are many options, and some of the kit is even given a rating similair to that of sunscreen. You can buy long sleeve super light weight shirts and all sorts – that are SPF 50 rated.

Follow the following link on over to Fishing’s Finest, who distribute the Pelagic brand of sun beating kit.

http://fishingsfinest.co.za

Posted on May 29, 2017October 24, 2017 by Sean Lange — Leave a comment

Garrick season with GT Adventures

Garrick season with GT Adventures

Garrick season with GT Adventures, based on the beaches of the fish fantastic KZN North Coast – is on right now! The garrick stick around right into November, with the main bite going on right now.

It’s been consistent and spread out this year, as in there were no real days so far, where the garrick all went mad at the same time! Whenever this happens, anyone with a mullet can get a garrick. Resulting in many, many fish being taken in one day.

That’s not garrick fishing!

Stalking the channels, gulleys, points, ledges and bays…on foot with your guide, who knows every crevice. Fly rod in hand. Or spinning stick if you prefer. Matched tackle. Hundreds of hours of preparation in the bank. Releasing your fish alive and well. Now that’s garrick fishing.

And that’s how JP Bartholomew does it.

Garrick season extends from winter through spring. April til November really. But they don't always obey the rules. Sometimes they do holidays out of season too.

Catching garrick with spinning or fly tackle with GT Adventures and JP Bartholomew

This garrick by JP from 2017 season too!

Juvenile garrick can be targeted in estuaries. So much fun and eager to please. Easily released - tough when young like this. Get in touch with GT Adventures for this kind of specialist fishing

With a tremendous knowledge of literally every garrick aimed lure on the market, JP fishes with a varied and wholesome approach to these smashing fish. His first choice is always gonna be the fly rod but sometimes the spinning rig is just better for the conditions. And so the two disciplines go together real nicely. A great way to fish for the wide variety of gamefish that haunt our beautiful KZN Coastline.

GT Adventures operate mainly on the northern part of this stretch of coast. Incredible reef, clean and warm water, long beaches, points and bays – it takes an eye to choose where to fish. Local knowledge. Or you will get nowhere. GT operate with a backup system and team, so you don’t have to leave your car parked anywhere at all. Totally safe and organised.

For extended trips to secret fishing destinations, or a destination of your choice, GT Adventures assists with the pre-arrangements, and other fishing related logistics. Tackle. Anything else that GT can help with, to plan out your dream fishing holiday.

To get in touch, pls fill out the form at this link.

Fish with GT Adventures and JP Bartholomew

Posted on May 29, 2017May 29, 2017 by Sean Lange — Leave a comment

Life in Pomene Fishing Village

Life in Pomene Fishing Village

The life lived in the Pomene Fishing Village – can be described as serenely simple. This piece of paradise is miles from the main EN1 road leading through Inhambane. It’s a dirt road that requires skilful driving, and at 54kms, keeps very many most people well away.

The village is about as big as a football field. Buildings of local reed and thatch material. All sprawled around Chief Sathane’s old concrete mansion – where he has presided for decades. Scattered around the village is the bakery (in a drum), fish drying racks, arts and craft shops, a bar with a fridge (generator power at night only) and many kids and dogs.

Sathane’s real name is Franz. He claims to have gotten his nickname by being such a good soccer player. He also claims to have shot the last elephant in Pomene too. With an Enfield rifle!

Franz was the skipper on the marlin cruiser that used to run out from Pomene Hotel on the point. It was dragged up and down the beach and launched through the surf with a giant winch and set of pulleys and cables.

I uncovered an account of someone who visited at the old hotel in the very early seventies – in a Datsun 120Y. Sathane reports that the now sandy and difficult road was beautiful and built strong with a layer of clay under the top surface (still evident). But then the tanks came and destroyed the road with their tracks.

Other war stories were of the new revolutionary government having their secret parties at the hotel, after they took over from the Portuguese in 1974. But when Admiral Woodie found out, he drove his submarine right up there, launched his stealth Ace crafts painted black, beached his commandos, and shot the place to pieces. More disturbing stories unfold over the fire and many 2M’s – as Sathane drops tidbits of information relating to the history of this sandy peninsula and the war. Sathane had to flee the war, and worked on the mines for a few decades before coming back and re-instating himself as Chief Sathane of Pomene. He has a property in Roodepoort.

But the Chief hardly ever leaves Pomene City any longer. He has the place working like clockwork – transport in and out of Massinga every day. Cold beer. ..what more could he want then?

Always take the red road. Kayaks are probably the best way to experience Pomene

If you have the beautiful Pomene on your bucket list, get in touch and let’s see what we can work out. We have camping facilities, and some nice little A-frames and the like, for options.

Email me on umzimkulu@gmail.com or click below for more adventure options by The Sardine Team.

https://thesardine.co.za/product-category/fishing-experiences/

Posted on February 8, 2017February 11, 2017 by Sean Lange — Leave a comment

The Umzimkulu River this morning

Down on the Umzimkulu River nice and early this morning…the rainy weather has moved along…and the river is flowing nicely.

The water may have been a bit too discoloured for my lures, but it certainly looked like the stuff grunted and snottie salmon love to bite in.

The wind is up again, so we will wait for the incoming tide to take our guests out for a fish in the river later. The incoming tide brings back the clear saltwater the kingfish and rockies like to hunt in.

Come and join us down here on the lower south coast of KZN Natal, to fish the rivers and estuaries, and the many rocky headlands that help get your bait right out deep. It’s a windy, but fishy time of the year around here. Many fish use our estuaries when the rains come pouring down, dragging nutrients and muck down into the ocean.

Aside from human pollution, the water that goes orange-brown in our rivers each year, is actually quite clean. The colouration comes from a pigment found way up in the catchment. It’s the same stuff that gave the Orange River it’s name!

BUT, I would not swim in it. The sharks we have seen as of late have been huge and plentiful – more over the last two years than ever before.

Click on over to http://umzimkulu.co.za to get in touch.

Posted on January 28, 2017January 30, 2017 by Sean Lange — Leave a comment

Diamond skate caught and released at The Block in Port Shepstone

The Block in Port Shepstone was wild this morning with a powerful and very fast moving SE swell hammering through. But the high tide meant that the the anglers fishing from The Block had their baits in the juicy water just behind the powerful breakers.

Next thing one of the trio’s rod bent double as a powerful sea creature headed for Umtentweni with his bait and hooks firmly inside his mouth. The angler held on tight with his reasonably heavy looking tackle and proceeded to do battle. Which lasted a good 20 exciting minutes – until the stalemate that The Block can present, came to be.

The wall that used be the harbour entrance has long since toppled leaving a formiddable barrier encased in sharpness that your line has to avoid at all costs. But the fish had found his spot, just behind the last standing, huge concrete brick. And there it stayed, any efforts to pull him back to the shallows where it was safer to land and release a fish. But no ways was this guy gonna move so when it surfaced identifying itself as a flat fish, pulling hard with a wave was his only chance.

A chance the guy took and the skate flipped over into the wild water gulleys between The Block and the old wall. Waves wash in here with dangerous force and the terrain is sharp and unrelenting. Old building material and rubble.

Which proved to be the skates undoing as a proper set pulled through and washed the flat fish right up into the bricks where his unusual form factor had him wedged in and in reach.

A great fight.

The fish measured 95cm and was caught by Franz Brand, somehow fishing for Toyota!?