Fishing News March 2024 featuring Mattski vs Blacktip Kingfish plus #Vilankulos #Northcoast #SouthCoast
Fishing News March 2024 featuring Mattski vs Blacktip Kingfish : Matt Wainright pushed his custom estuary killing machine out off the jetty and started drifting away as he prepared for a gamefish session in the Umzimkulu. He hadn’t even turned his camera on and the kingfish just came up all around him. Right in front of the guests staying at the Umzimkulu Marina lodge. His first two got away, but for the third, he was ready – Insta 360 camera and all.
First cast
Once Matt had upped his leader and tied on another plastic prawn, with the camera rolling, his very first cast produced the BANG he was ready for this time. Alas, it was a small fish, and after dodging the net once or twice, and clearly jumping right of the net once too, Matt brought it aboard for a lecture. And set it free.
3kgs
The next fish, was slightly upriver from the jetty, and once again, in full view of the growing crowd. Matt had cheerleaders!
But this fish was proper. And it took a full 10 minutes to be finally sent to detention for a minute or two. Get given it’s lecture about taking things with hooks on, and set free to avoid lures from now on.
Although we sped up up some sections, it was a long fight. And so, we decided to read the news during the epic battle. Vilankulos. Natal North Coast. Port Edward. Port Shepstone where we are at the moment…
Enjoy the picture show…and the Fishing News…Ides of March 2024…
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Rock Salmon: how far upriver do they swim?: In this quick study, we get a few numbers wrong…but you get the picture at the end.
This day, we were doing some 3D work at the very top of the Umzimkulu Estuary. We were on the St. Helens Rock stretch, and were returning to base after a few hours of scanning.
In the video I said 10 kms. Then 13 kms. But when I measured accurately, the fish was caught at about 9.7 kms upriver. That said, a fish can still swim a long way further. Right up to the steep rapids at the corner to the cement factory. Another 5 km more.
Flowing river
The river was flowing. It had been in full flood just before this trip. And now it was backing off just enough for us to scan. But trailering the boat was a challenge in the current. On my third and last attempt, as I killed the motors, here goes local subsistence fisherman Sandile, vas with a big fish.
Who could it be now?
On handline, I thought it must be a big carp. Sandile gets them quite often right here where he fishes plenty. Takes them to town and sells them in the rank. But this was no carp. As it came out of the water the unmistakable sheen of a rock salmon reflected in the sun. This was a good fish too, maybe even 3kgs or so.
How far?
I measured 10 km if you followed the river channel. But it could be slightly less. Either way…
the river was flowing with floodwater
the water was brown and fresh as can be
the fish took a live bait in that current and in that murk
Gallery
Jimmy with Rock Salmon lightie on the low-level bridge over the Umzimkulu RiverSean Lange releases all his rockies tooLiam van der Merwe releases all his rockies tooBens first Rock Salmon in the Umzimkulu EstuaryCaleb with his prize estuary gamefish the Rock Salmon aka Magrove JackChris Woodley Rock Salmon December 2020Chris and rock salmon MpenjatiThe MYDO Estuary Pack contains all you need to target estuary gamefishDejan Vujevic and his Umzimkulu Rock SalmonRock Salmon by Greg DefillipiRock Salmon Rory ReenSharene Rock Salmon SlayerA tiny cute baby rock salmon caught in my cast net and let go healthily. Great release!
Umzimkulu Adrenalin is standing by to take you hunting for these formidable fish. Use the big old WhatsApp button floating about somewhere or contact Sean on +27793269671 or on umzimkulu@gmail.com.
The two most effective estuary baits by far: live baits are sure to be the most fun on any estuary excursion. BUT. You got to catch ’em first! This article focuses on the two most effective ways of fishing in an estuary, with dead bait.
Recently I was teaching a guide some tricks in the Umzimkulu. The dude had caught himself a live mullet. And a live prawn. So he had one on each side of the fallen tree we were fishing against the steep bank. After a few minutes, something felt off. We needed that sardine head out there. Took me less than a few seconds, and the sard head was in position.
It wasn’t enough time for that sardine to defrost – and the rod went in the way that only a rock salmon knows how!
Bulelani’s first rock salmon release
The Sardine Head
Break a sardine in the middle. So that it’s guts hang out a bit. You are gonna use the tail section to make pencil baits in the next paragraph. But that sardine head – well, that’s the way to catch rock salmon. Just insert a 3/0 hook through the lips, bottom through to top. The sardine head needs to swing freely on the hook.
How it works is – that almost immediately, the smallies start. They chip away at the oftentimes frozen bait, creating a could of commotion and odour down there. This then attracts more smallies and before too long it’s a veritable bait ball down there.
Then out of the gloom come these big guys. To see what this commotion is all about. And it doesn’t take long for one of the gang to see your sardine head lying there and break the party up for good.
When you fish a sardine head, put your drag right up. Rock salmon don’t bite first. They are snappers and simply inhale and swallow anything that moves close to them. They lie perfectly still in ambush waiting for some hapless prawn to walk past. Bang! These are the explosions we hear at night time.
The Pencil Bait
This is something you learn the hard way. But when you get it right, can increase your hookup and catch ratio in estuaries, remarkably. Aside from the rock salmon, perch, shad and malabar, most other estuary fish, are highly timid eaters.
And the most difficult fish to hook by far, are grunter. Tiny mouths. Fussy nibblers. The best way to target grunter anywhere is with cracker shrimp. BUT. And it’s a big BUT, they are just so hard to find and catch.
So the pencil bait then…is your next best option. For the shy guys like – Koblets. Blacktail. Zebras. Grunter.
How? Fillet your sardine tail into 4 loins. Grab hold of a prawn tail. And some squid. Anything you got really. Take a thin stick (or a pencil), and start to arrange all this lekka bait you got, along its length. Small sharp hook on one end. A slightly heavier leader is totally advisable for pencil baits. Start to cotton as you go. Just keep adding strips of bait and cotton, making the bait as long as possible. When you have a juicy-looking pencil bait – remove the stick (or pencil) by sliding it out. Tension up with a little more cotton and off you go.
When a grunter comes along, and he is hungry, he will peck at your pencil bait. You will feel these baits and you cannot strike. Let ’em eat. Soon enough he will work out that if he grabs the one end, he can get that bait down. You might feel this happening. And then when it’s all right down, he will swim off to look for more food.
This is when you strike!
You gonna need to have long-nosed pliers with you when fishing with pencil baits. Or use a circle hook.
Summary
All you need to be dangerous in a KZN or Eastern Cape estuary, are two rods, and a few sardines. If you had a cast net you would be even more lethal. But that’s the point of this story. You don’t need live bait if you fish with these two estuary baits as presented here today for you.
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
MYDO Queen MackerelLooks like queen mackeral!
“Whoohooo Christal what a lekka article! Plus you can read it to your kids every night as their best bedtime story too!” – Xona
NO FLOOD Warning: things are looking up! -Yes ok the water is still mostly brown…but the tides are fighting back! And the east wind is drying everything out with gusto.
Yesterday’s delightfully cute little cold front painted the ocean into a perfect picture on the surface. Deep-sea fishing and possibly even surfing (check Umzumbe and Southbroom) will be on the cards today and this week coming up.
Secret spot near Banana Beach looking absolutely beautiful for bronzies and things
Tides and Time
Wait for nobody. And they are both hard at work flushing the pollution from out of the rivers. The sewage and sediment get washed away out to sea in the rainy season. And then in the dry season, the municipalities start the pollution cycle all over again.
This happens in every town and in every river in the country. And is how they get away with it. The cyclical nature of nature is what ALL our municipalities hide behind.
It is possible to run a town without a sewage system in place – by allowing the sewage to rather run in the street. Across the town. Into the stormwater drains. And into the Mzimkulwana RIver, in the case of Harding in UGU’s part of KZN.
The water in some bigger estuaries has started to clean up. With the slowing of the flood pulse from last week’s rain (and the rain before that). This weekend features a lovely high tide. And so loads of saltwater will make its way into the estuaries where it can perform its host of biological functions.
Free-flowing
Now that the rains have backed off, the predominant fresh water has done many of its duties. One of which is the balancing of the acidity of the ocean.
The other has been the conditioning of the rivers – to be able to handle the next rains (which are coming have no doubt). The strong waters clear out obstacles and scour out the channels. These defined edges and channels can handle a deluge of water far better as the wet season progresses. When it all dries out, the rivers clog up again. Sewage and sediment. Rinse. Repeat.
The week coming up
Tuesday sees some cold front action in KZN again…once again it does not look too bad but we might get some lightning and thunder. Inland up towards the Drakensberg is gonna get pelted. More brown coming down!
But mostly… it’s day after day of the prevailing Beasterly Easterly. And the sunshine that comes with it. Bathing is still dodgy at most places but you can definitely find some clean water if you try.
There are a few flashes on the cyclone radar way up north, but as of today, we are seemingly in the clear. But as you all know, this is a volatile time of the year…and yes…anything can happen. And fast. We will endeavour to let you all know again, but in the meantime enjoy the sunshine.
