FISHING EC BAIT DEMO
CATCH COMPETITION
TIDES
DECEMBER 2016
RASSPL Border Blacktips
KAYAK CORNER
Brett Armstrong
KWELERA SKI BOAT
Juniors Shine
E FRE Y COP ASE PLE ONE E TAK
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FEC | November 2016
CONTENT
Kwelera Ski Boat Club Juniors 04 Border Blacktips Hamburg
FEATURES Bait Demo
Top hook Chokka bait.
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06 Catch Competition 19
Kayak Corner
Send us your photos and you could win.
Tides
Check the tide tables to make sure you fishing the right times.
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16 Target Line
Freshwater competitions results.
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EDITORS
LETTER
MAGAZINE EDITOR Nigel Louw CONTRIBUTORS John Leuf Shane Smit Justin Du Preez Brett Armstrong Carl Henn CONTACT ADVERTISING: email: nigellouw@gmail.com Mobile: 073 690 2606 Website: www.fishingec.com
Find us on Facebook Search: Fishing The Eastern Cape No part of this magazine may be reproduced in any form without the written permission of Fishing The Eastern Cape. The magazine is published monthly and cannot be held responsible for inaccuracies in articles. The views expressed in the magazine are not necessarily those of the editor. Fishing The Eastern Cape does not accept responsibility for advertising content.
The lure season has arrived. In these warmer months it is time to bust out the spinning rods and lures. We will have Kob, Garrick, Kingfish and Skipjack on the bite now. Surface lures can take some time to get used to, lots of patience, but once you got the technique right you are set. Nothing better than a fish smashing a lure on the surface. Don’t forget to send in your catch photos for our Catch & Win page. You could be the next winner.
Nigel Louw Editor
ON THE COVER
Craig Tessendorf with a big Grunter he got recently when he went beyond the EC borders to visit the Breede River. FEC | November 2016
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Kwelera Ski Boat Club JUNIORS SHINE
Words: John Leuf
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welera Ski Boat Club has a hand full of good up and coming youngsters who are showing their fathers a thing or two when it comes to putting fish on the boat. In the first picture, young Mathew Johnson who is only 9 years old was fishing in a competition when he landed this lovely Copper of just over 20kg. What made this catch exceptional was that it was caught in shallow water and showed all indication that it was a “taxman�. On hooking the fish, young Mathew was excited but his dad showed no interest as a shark would inevitably pop up next to the boat shortly but Mathew continued fighting the fish with little support from the other anglers on the boat until 20 minutes later this lovely fish popped up 20 meters behind the boat and then chaos erupted as
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everyone realized what is was and eventually netted the fish. Well done to Mathew who apparently will never allow anyone on the boat to assist him with any part of fishing. Mathew will not take long to challenge for a spot in the BDSAA junior team. In the second photo, we also have a very enthusiastic junior, Joshua van Loggerenberg who landed this very fine Pignose grunter from the boat. Those of you who have caught one of these fine fish, will know the tremendous fight that they put up. Joshua who will not miss a KSBC competition, often lands nice fish and is also one of our future BDSAA contenders. Finally we have Jade Clarke who landed
this very nice Seventy Four, which was released shortly after a few pictures were taken, this fish was caught in 80 meters of water and gave Jade a very good fight. Jade is no stranger to catching nice fish and even at his young age has represented BDSAA at the junior nationals for the last two years already. Jade is also a very keen junior angler in all KSBC competitions.
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Border Blacktips Hamburg Results Words/pics: Shane Smit
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he Border Blacktips held our 5th league competition of the season on the 29th of October at Hamburg on the Ciskei coast. This was also the 3rd annual clash for the Challenge Shield Trophy between the Border Blacktips and our arch rivals and defending champions, the Kowie Crackers. We had a total of 84 anglers on the day including the two franchise Challenge Trophy teams of 14 anglers each. The Weather was quite good except for a bit of scattered showers from time to time and the sea was a tad colder and dirtier than we all wanted but with it being the Ciskei coastline, we still expected some great catches throughout the day and we weren’t disappointed! Masters angler and member, Roy Sansom took top spot in the edible fish category with a beautiful 6.9kg Kob with fellow Masters team mate and member, Colin Scheepers coming in 2nd with a 4.7kg black musselcracker. 3rd went to Kowie Crackers angler Andrew Coetzee for a Monster bronze bream of 3.7kg or 50cm! There are usually very good size shark and ray catches along this coast especially at Hamburg but none of the really big beasts FEC | November 2016
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showed up on the day with top shark catch going to member Julian Maastrecht with a respectable smooth hound of 16.4kg. Biggest ray was a healthy 11.7kg eagle ray caught by Dwaine Sansom. Most of the ladies and Juniors had a tough time on the day with some slow fishing, except for one lady in particular who ended the day in 6th place Overall with a very impressive 6 different species caught and a hard fought 612.21 points to take the Top Lady position. Ladies heaviest edible went to Mishan Sumption with a healthy kob of 3kg. Top junior overall went to young Kyle Crossley with a well managed blue stingray of 4.7kg. The true die hard anglers are the top 3 anglers that manage to achieve most points on the day as the amount of work and persistence needed to achieve this is no small task and so rightfully deserve the title of overall best Anglers of the day. 1st position 8
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went to an angler that amazed everyone on the day with a phenomenal individual total points tally of 913.15 points and that angler was none other than Border Blacktips’ own comedian and member, Greg Timm. 2nd place with 660.01 points was member angler Stuart Brill and rounding off 3rd with 642.52 total points was Craig Deavall. With these great performances by the Blacktips anglers, Border Blacktips won the coveted Challenge Shield Trophy for 2016 with a total team total of 5894 points with Kowie having to settle for 2nd best this year with a total of 4022 points. Great Effort by all! A total of 384 fish were caught and released on the day covering 24 different species with a total weight of 328kg. A BIG Thank you to all our sponsors for making these events such a roaring success! Without your continued support and kind sponsorships none of these
competitions would even be possible. For more information and membership queries drop me a mail at shane.rasspl@gmail. com or visit our website at www.rasspl. com .Remember that Anyone can enter any of our events and competitions!
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CORNER K A Y A K FISHING
Words/pics: Brett Armstrong
H
i all you crazy Kayak Fishing enthusiasts! It is hard to believe that its December already, where has the year gone? Well, after all the hard work we put in this year, its time for some relaxing time spent with family and friends, and why not let it be on a fishing kayak. Welcome Holiday Makers to East London With the Festive Season upon us and a huge influx of visitors to our beautiful region, I felt it fitting to once again just highlight some of the more popular kayak fishing
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areas in our beautiful surrounding areas. Just a word of encouragement to our visitors, our Kayak Fishing Club have approximately 120 members, so if you wish to be added to our whats app group during the duration of your stay in East London, we will gladly add you. This way you are bound to have some extra company on the water. Local knowledge is very important, weather it be of local fishing places, reserves and general fishing tips and advice. We are all to eager to assist and join in for some fun
and would be amazing to meet you all. Herewith some of the more popular kayak fishing areas:
Cintsa West Bay.
- Cintsa West Bay: This is an amazing little stretch of beach (approximately 25km from East London) with quite a few reefs, both shallow and deep. This launch is through a beach break, which can be very tricky and even dangerous depending on conditions. You will need to have a trolley for your kayak as it is quite a far walk from your car, so be prepared for this. This is definitely mostly for the experienced kayaker. - Gonubie Bay: This is a lovely bay and ocean area, with lots of great fishing areas, however, be very aware of the Reserve on the right side of the bay which stretches to Nahoon Reef. This is a no fishing zone and must be adhered to. Launching can be through the river mouth and waves or from the old slipway next to the roadside on the right. This is very tricky and you and your kayak can get very damaged here, so make sure you go with someone experienced and take care. - Kwelera Bay: This is about 20km outside of East London toward Cintsa West. This is a great fishing are with a relatively easy launch off the ski boat club slipway and through the waves. Again fishing is pretty good, but a word of advice, unload your kayak at the slipway and then park your vehicle at the top grassy parking area. This is a very busy slipway with a very narrow gravel road. As it is a registered launch site, boat fisherman have right of way, and they need a lot of room to park and offload etc, so rather avoid being parked it and park at the top section. A final note, the waves can get really good here and it is a great surf spot, so lookout for big waves and lots of surfers.
Gonubie Bay.
Kwelera Bay.
Nahoon Reef.
- Nahoon Reef (Mermaids Pool): This is a great little area to fish off your kayak, however, it is not for the faint hearted, the launch at low tide can be treacherous, but even more dangerous with a surging high tide. Once you get out beyond the launch FEC | November 2016
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area, you will need to stick right of the Nahoon Reef, as this is the boundary to the Reserve which runs to Gonubie Point (as I have mentioned above). Be sure to take a really wide line around Nahoon reef, the waves get really good here, but can pop up and through you on your head before you can count to three. So just be careful. - Orient Beach, Esplanade: This beach, with it’s entrance being below the Wimpy on the main esplanade area of East London, is a paying beach, so you will be expected to pay to launch her. This is a great little beach at the entrance to the harbor. The waves are normally always small and just a great area to kayak at. The harbor walls, does, more often than not produce some fish. Even Yellow Tail have been caught around the wall. Pulling a spoon or lure past the wall and back is quite enjoyable, but please take care, the wall has a tendency to pull you in and waves bounce off the wall, this can cause chaos if you are not wide awake. At the point of the main wall, be very careful and take a very wide line to avoid being trashed by the waves at the point. The waves just on the other side of the wall can get very big and very dangerous. If fishing off the bottom the other side of the wall, keep at least 300m from the wall, and keep your eyes open. The current is often very strong that side, so just be careful. Fishing in front of the esplanade along the roadside can also be good, but just take care not to get too shallow or you will be smashed and definitely get hurt. - Kwelera, Gonubie and Nahoon Rivers: These are three amazing rivers filled with lots of species and generally lots of fish. Early morning and late afternoon sessions often produce great catches, so if you are not up for an ocean session, these rivers
Nahoon River. 12
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Orient Beach.
will definitely put a smile on your face. Remember, it is illegal to fish without a fishing license, even if you are just on holiday for a few days, please ensure you get your license from the post office. They are cheap, but necessary. Lastly, please respect the bag limits and size limits of our fish. This is the only way we can secure our oceans and rivers for generations to come. For more information on Kayak Fishing in our area, please feel free to contact Mark Kimble of Kayak Fishing EC on 083 555 3741 or Nigel Louw of Wild Coast Kayaks on 073 690 2606. Please also feel free to email us at info@kayakfishingec.co.za or checkout and Like our Facebook page. We would be all too happy to help. It would be great to meet new visitors to our amazing little city, so let’s hook up and get on the water. Personal Floatation Device: In terms of the SAMSA Regulations, anyone kayak fishing in the ocean is required to wear a life jacket/ PFD (personal floatation device) However, choosing the right PFD for your application, is
may struggle to keep the PFD on especially in rough choppy conditions while trying to keep your head above water. - Try choosing a PFD with some form of pockets, preferably waterproof. These pockets will definitely come in handy. You should be able to store your cell phone (in a waterproof pouch), set of pencil flares, and perhaps a “valuable” chocolate and some sweets. - The PFD must be approved by SAMSA, there will be a stamp of approval on the jacket. - Some PFD’s have space for a dive knife. This is great as well, especially in emergency situations, for example while anchoring having to cut the line fast. - The PFD must have adjustable straps, this is also important for comfort, especially when spending a good few hours on the water. Essentially, the PFD must feel like part of your clothing, you must almost not even think about it, comfort and safety is key. For more information of Kayak PFD’s, and an extensive range of products contact Nigel Louw of Wild Coast Kayaks on 073 690 2606.
more important than most people think. Herewith some important things to remember when purchasing your PFD: - You must purchase a “kayak specific” PFD. You will not be comfortable and it certainly won’t be practical to where a Ski Boat PFD for kayaking. - You must ensure that it is the correct size, remembering that you will be paddling, therefore it has to be the correct size, other wise you will be extremely uncomfortable. - The correct size is also critical when it come to flotation. If your PFD is too big, in the case of an emergency you FEC | November 2016
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Project Thresher: Wilderness System Kayaks manufacture an amazing range of kayaks for virtually any application. I own a Tarpon 100, which is a 3.05m Fishing kayak, a dream kayak for sure. It is more than capable in both the river and the ocean. But understanding that pushing the envelope is what I love to do, I decided to start a new project, namely working with the latest top of the range offshore fishing kayak brought to you by Wilderness Systems, namely the Thresher. The Thresher comes in two models, the 140 and the 155. I opted for the 140. This is a machine! The Thresher series ushers in the next generation of high performance sit-on-top kayaks. The hull is efficient and quick, yet stable and predictable to handle ever-changing open water conditions. The deck is sleek and modern, with a thoughtful layout for the maximum gear storage, capacity and accessibility. Wilderness has a team of professional fisherman who assist with design and R&D work on new and existing models. The 140 is 4.3m long and optimizes every last bit of space on its deck. For me, the Thresher is going to be the ultimate offshore fishing kayaks. I plan on testing it in the worst conditions possible and the best conditions. In my preliminary tests, I was blown away. In calm conditions it feels awesome and fast and extremely strong, but it really comes into its own when conditions turn crazy. I was fortunately to have this on my first outing and what can I say, it lived up to everything, and more than I expected. The kayak really was an absolute pleasure in rough conditions. Some of the key features of this kayak, include: Phase 3Ž AirPro Sit-On-Top Seating System – unbelievable comfort Centre Hatch to Stow rods inside the 14
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hull for transport and storage. Integrated SlideTrax makes attaching accessories easy. - The Flex Pod OS Removable Console to Mount your fish finder, battery and transducer in a removable pod. It is also Helix MD Motor Drive compatibility. - Large rear tank well with Slide Trax and tie down bungee system. - Bow Storage for unlimited uses from storing your kayak transportation trolley, fish, dry bags and much more. I have done some initial rigging of the kayak, including my fish finder, Railblaza attachments and a few other accessories. All I can say is, watch this space. This kayak will blow your mind and take you places you never thought possible. For more information on the Wilderness System Kayak range, contact Nigel Louw of Wild Coast Kayaks on 073 690 2606. He is now the coastal Dealer for this amazing brand and I look forward to seeing more of these kayaks on the water. We will be doing a few demo days, so watch this space for more details.
My Last words…Catch and Release goes along way to securing the future of our estuaries and oceans for you and others to enjoy tomorrow. Respect the bag and size limits. Let’s help make the oceans more sustainable. For more information on kayak fishing and related aspects, please do not hesitate to contact me at info@kayakfishingec.co.za. Also checkout our website at www.kayakfishingec.co.za. To join our Whats app kayak fishing EL group, please email us and we will add you. It’s a great way to meet new guys and plan fishing trips and chat about our amazing sport. Remember: Safety first and always respect our environment. FEC | November 2016
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Target Line
6th Freshwater club results Words/pics: Carl Henn
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rom Friday 2016-10-28 16:00 to Sunday 2016-10-30 10:00 the Target Line Freshwater Angling Club, with main sponsor Target Line in Vincent East London, hosted the 40 hour Carp Bonanza at Wriggleswade Dam outside Stutterheim. This was a catch and release competition targeting carp only and we were expecting some big carps to be weighed as this dam is known for. The entries started off slowly, but by the Friday afternoon we had 113 registered anglers. Much more than we were expecting. The Saturday morning first weigh-in was gona tell us what impact the extreme forecasted weather would have on the fish. The weigh-in was disrupted ever so rudely by an outburst of the heavens. This saw plenty of anglers running for cover, including weigh-in officials. Luck-
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ily it cleared up later, but not before drenching all the clothes on their backs. During the course of the competition many beautiful fish was landed over five (5) kg. In total we weighed 396 carp with a total weight of 1 400kg. Not bad considering the average of 3.54kg . One of the best results were the fact ALL the weighed fish were released safely to grow for future events at this beautiful event.
Here are the results of the competition: Individual Fish: 1 Christopher Kay 2 Andre Opperman 3 Anton Bezuidenhout 4 Peet Coetzee 5 Bertus Vogel
8.400kg 7.668kg 7.134kg 6.980kg 6.450kg
Bag Sizes: 1 Ferdie Pieterse 2 David Campbell 3 Fanie Rademeyer 4 Pieter Viljoen 5 Charles Rither
87.170kg 85.690kg 74.293kg 53.815kg 52.090kg
Because of the involvement of our sponsors, we were able to give awesome prizes not just for the top five in each category, but right down from the 21st positions. In that breath, I want to thank our sponsors, in no particular order: Target Line cc, Nedbank, Vincent Super Spar, Huntshoek Resorts, Amalinda Super Spar, Super Cast, Coca Cola, Rapala VMC, Mitchell, Twizza, This event was so successful that we were asked to look at hosting another event like this next year‌and yes we will be looking at doing just that for all you freshwater angling fanatics. The next one hopes to be even bigger and better than this one. Thank you all for your support, to anglers and sponsors, as this would not have been possible without your support. And a special thanks to the committee of the Target Line Freshwater Angling Club as you guys really bent over backwards to get all the arrangements in order and this event on track with little or now complaints. FEC | November 2016
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X O B T I TIPS BA
THE
SPARGS MALL BEACON BAY 043 711 7700
TOP HOOK CHOKKA BAIT This is a bait I use on the top hook of a double hook rig.
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Words/pics: Justin Du Preez
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You need a 2/O hook with foam on, knife, Chokka, Chokka hammer and cotton.
Cut a piece with two tentacles and cotton on to foam on hook. Then cut a bigger piece to cotton on body section of hook.
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This is the end result, a very neat bait that is good for any species, but works well for Kob. Only beat the body section with the Chokka hammer, leave the tentacles a bit tougher. 18
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CATCH & WIN November Winner
Angler: Matthew Johnson Species: Silver Steenbras Location: Cefane Deep Sea Bait: Whole Pilchard Size: 9.4kg Noah wins an assortment of Triton lures, Sponsored by Bilimoria.
Angler: Joshua McKay Species: Spotted Grunter Location: Kei Bait: Squid Size: 34cm
Angler: James Rodden Species: Garrick/Leervis Location: Fish River Bait: Live Mullet Size: 65cm
Angler: Bernard Du Plessis Species: Kob Location: Kei Mouth Bait: Chokka Size: 8.12kg
Email your entry to nigellouw@gmail.com with the following details: Anglers full name | Species | Location caught | Bait used | Size/Weight Send us your best catch picture and you could win an awesome prize. (Photo must be of yourself holding the fish and preferably still alive. Photos of gutted fish do not qualify) FEC | November 2016
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TIDE CHART December 2016 Information supplied by the Hydrographer SA Navy The Hydrographer is not responsible for any transcription errors.
TO ADVERTISE WITH
CONTACT: NIGEL@FISHINGEC.COM 073 690 2606 20
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