fishing ec magazine november 2015

1FEC | November 2015

EC BAIT DEMO CATCH COMPETITION TIDES

FISHING

KAYAKCORNERBrett Armstrong

BORDERInterclubTriangular

CARPCLASSIC

Wriggleswade

FLY FISHSaltwaterRivers

RASSPL Border BlacktipsKaysersResults

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FEC | November 20152


Fly Fishing The Rivers 04

Bait Demo 24Lures that work in the upper reaches of our rivers.

Catch Competition 26Send us your photos and youcould win.

Tides 28Check the tide tables tomake sure you fishing theright times.

Target LineWriggleswade Carp Bonanza Results.

22

FEATURES

CONTENT

14

10

Border Interclub

Kayak Corner

Border RASSPL Kaysers

19


MAGAZINEEDITOR

Nigel Louw

CONTRIBUTORSGareth RoocroftJonathan Timm

Shane SmitBrett Armstrong

Carl Henn

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email: [email protected]

Mobile: 073 690 2606

Website: www.fishingec.com

Search: Fishing The Eastern Cape

Nigel LouwEditor

LETTEREDITORS

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.

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ON THE COVERJonathan Timm with a nice Kob he kanded in the Triangular competition.

Well so far the warmer season is proving to be very fruitful. Anglers have been landing some nice Kob. Some in the surf, others in rivers and a few from the kayaks.

We have also received reports of the Wild Coast estuaries doing very well in the upper reaches with Bream, Skip-jack, Barracuda and Kingfish catches.

This is the time now for you and your tackle to work hard and produce some great catches.

Don’t forget to send in your catch photos for our Catch & Win page. You could be the next winner.


Key To SuccessFly Fishing The Rivers

The Eastern Cape is one of the most diverse fishing areas in South Africa, and is just an amazing area to fly-fish.

Saltwater fly-fishing can be a veryintimidating prospect, and can befrustrating if you are not on the right path.

Words/pics: Gareth Roocroft & Scott Bester

I hope this article can shed some light onfly-fishing in the Eastern Cape, and can help you catch fish on a more regular basis.


Where To Start?

A lot of fly fishermen start off on the wrong foot, by using heavy rods and large flies. Before you can start targeting fish like Grunter, Leerie’s and Kob, you need to know the dynamics of the areas you are fishing, and what smaller species are around. If you think you can rock up with a 9 weight and catch a 4-kilogram Grunter in every session, you are wrong. Fly-fishing is a sport of patience, technique and understanding.

To start off, fish light, a 4 or 5 weight rod will be perfect. Arm yourself with a variety of small flies, such as Crazy Charlies, Fritz’s and Salty Buggers. Then it is time to start exploring. Go to familiar spots where you have caught on bait or artificial before, somewhere you are confident in. I believe confidence and having a positive mind influences you as a fisherman, and fly-fishing is no different.


What To Do?

Once you have found that confidence boosting spot, now you can fish. Make a mental note of the area you are fishing. What kind of bait is readily available in the immediate area? Are there prawn banks? Schools of mullet? Glassies, Swimming Prawns? And so on. This will help at a later stage. Now it is time to set up. If you are in very shallow water, a floating orintermediate will suffice. If it is a deeper area, or there is a nice drop off, use sinking line. The line should be matched to the setup you are fishing (For example a 4 weight rod should be matched with a 4 weight reel and a 4/5 weight line).

Now, based on what bait you noted in the immediate area, choose your fly.

• Lots of mullet = Clouser Minnow• Lots of mud/sand prawn = Crazy Charlie• Lots of glassies = Fritz• Lots of invertebrates/swimming prawn = Salty Bugger

The last part of the job is then tying on your leader and selecting the right colour fly. For ultra light fly-fishing with a 4 weight, I use between 4lb and 8lb fluorocarbon. The watercolour can influence the fly you choose but I have found that Chartreuse, Brown, White, Pink, Orange and Red are the go to colours in the Eastern Cape. And if they are all mixed together, it is a bonus.

Time To Cast

We can finally start casting. Saltwater fly-fishing can require some serious cast-ing and backbreaking work, so being a good caster is essential. Work the entire area you are in at least 3 times with one fly before you decide to change. With the smaller flies you should be getting knocks and takes if you are in the right area. So keep moving and cover lots of water, and when you find the fish, stay with them!


You should become familiar with the smaller species of fish and the areas, so move around and use the tackle you cur-rently have for a few sessions. If you do not catch fish, find new spots and try new things. But with the flies and tackle men-tioned above, you will catch fish when you find them. Species such as Stumpnose, Moony, Blacktail, Karanteen and small Leerie’s will be caught during this process.

Time To Step Up

Now you should be confident with the area you are fishing and you should know it well, as well as what is swimming around. Now you can turn to your larger setups such as a 6 or 7-weight (I would not go any bigger in the rivers). Bigger versions of the flies mentioned above will be successful, and now you can also start using larger flies such as Slammers, Flippers, Epoxy Mul-let, Woolhead Mullet, Baby Cray, Dog’s Breakfast, White Death and even the GRHE can all be used. If I had to choose 4 imita-tions however, they would be different sizes and colours of the Fritz, Salty Bug-ger, Crazy Charlie and Clouser Minnow.

Fishing for the bigger fish can be frustrating and time consuming, so make sure you work out the areas well in advance before you try and tackle them. Always look for struc-ture, drop-offs and holes. And you need to remember the saying “perseverance pays off”, it is just how fly-fishing is. Nothing matches the adrenaline rush and happi-ness once you get a saltwater fish to com-mit to a fly, so it is very rewarding. And just in case, always keep that 4-weight fly rod handy; lots of fun can be had while timingor waiting for the tides.

Clouser Minnow


Words/pics: Jonathan Timm

Every year, 3 of the top Border Rock and Surf clubs battle it out for top honours and the prestigious interclub trophy.

This competition has a lot of history and the yearly event has been fished for over 40 years between Cintsa Angling Club (Cint-sa), Western Wall Angling Club (WWAC) and East London Angling Club (ELA).

This year the competition was hosted by WWAC and was held on the 3rd Oc-tober along the Cefani, Cinsta East (Xa-nadu) and Cintsa West Coasts (which is where the comp has traditionally been fished over the years). The Border Rock and Surf league rules and regulations are adhered to at this interclub (i.e. scoring

system) with one exception, baits used, open baits were permitted but no slid-ing and no artificial lures were allowed.

The sea conditions were good and the wind did not blow as predicted, so the day was bound to have lots of fish caught. This time of the year the Blue Rays (aka Marble Ray) grace the East Coast with their presence to pup, and this year was no exception. Blue Rays were the predominant target species for the day - these fish can come gale and are a good scoring fish with the new border scoring system. A good number of these feisty rays were caught by the 44 anglers. A noteworthy catch amongst the Blue Rays, was a beautiful 70kg Duck Bill Ray, which

BORDER INTERCLUBTRIANGULAR


was landed by one of the social anglers fishing with one of the clubs - the ray was caught to the left of Xanadu at the steps. A couple of edibles were caught amongst the rays, with Jonathan Timm getting a good Kob of 12,23kg at the Xanadu mouth.

This year’s triangular was enjoyed by all participating anglers and the com-radery was excellent as always. Friend-ships between members of all three of these clubs are noteworthy and all an-glers are confident that these friend-ships will continue long into the future.

The day was concluded with a prize giving at Xanadu. A custom-ary braai and beers were supplied by the hosting club and enjoyed by all.


Prize Winners: Points / kgs Angler / Club

Seniors

Top Senior Angler 231,78 points Lorry Timmins (Cintsa)

Heaviest Edible Cob 12,23 kgs Jonathan Timm (WWAC)

Heaviest Non-edible Raggy 17,5 kgs Graham Kingley-Wilkens (ELA)

Juniors (u16 & u21)

Top Junior Angler 93,51 points Wade Botha (WWAC)

Heaviest Edible Cob 1,9 kgs Caden Louw (ELA)

Heaviest Non-edible Blue Ray 12,57 kgs Shaun Howlett (WWAC) / Callun

Kretzmann (Cintsa)

Ladies

Top Lady Angler 166,41 points Mishan Sumption (Cinsta)

Clubs

Top Club (Triangular Trophy) 1062,79 points WWAC

2nd Place 964,50 points Cintsa

3rd Place 683,88 points ELA


The Border Blacktips held our 3rd comp of the season at ever popular Kaysers Beach on the 3rd of October. Condi-

tions looked great and I think the general feeling between the anglers was that it was going to be a very productive day. Well it was and it wasn’t if that makes any sense, on the 1 side quite a few specimens and different species showed up but nothing big besides a cracker of a Baardman caught relatively early by member Stuart Brill. Boundaries for the comp stretched from the Chulumna river mouth all the way east up to Ncera river so some really good spots were available. 102 anglers in total regis-tered for the event making it our biggest field this season so there were definitely some good expectations relating to catches. Most were greeted by a grubby dirty sea with a colour line a few hundred meters out

Words/pics: Shane Smit

Border BlacktipsKaysers RASSPL Results


prompting most to have a first cast with a bigger bait looking for that pignose, kob or shark early on and it paid off for some. The guys that took the more conservative ap-proach stuck with their traditional smaller baits and tackle setups in search for the smaller gully/reef edible species just to get on the board with some quick points. At the end of the 1st couple of hours i think most had a few points on the board but from there it really become quite a battle for the less experienced anglers as bites slowed

right down as the day progressed and tide dropped. The clean water moved in on the lowtide and I think many of the anglers anticipated a renewed surge in bites but it was not to be and even with the cleaner water things still stayed quiet. None of us gave up though and fished hard right until the end, some being rewarded but most unfortunately not. Water temp stayed rela-tively warm throughout the day so even this could not be blamed for a change.Some notable catches for the day were, member Stuart Brill as mentioned already with a 3.6kg Baardman, member Wayne Gallow with a 3.5kg pignose grunter and Andries Rheeder with a fat 2.6kg bluefish. The ladies, masters and youngsters were out in full force as usual with Junior Tay-gon Mauer landing a very impressive 16kg blue ray which turned out to be the biggest


overall in all age catagories. Lady member Marie Lamprecht managed a 30cm Black-tail with Masters member Peter Jacoby landing a beautiful 13.9kg grey shark. Top honours in the hotly contested non edible senior category went to father and son duo of Theo Pienaar and Dwarren Pienaar with a 67kg Raggy and 15kg blueray respectively. Well done to all the anglers that attended and won prizes and thank you for your con-tinued support not only for attending but also supporting our 100% catch and re-lease system! 237 fish were caught and re-leased on the day totalling just over 509kg.Our next competition will be held at beautiful Haga Haga on the 7th of No-vember and as always promises to be an awesome event! Anglers wanting to enter or simply have a query can drop me a mail at [email protected] would just like to send out a huge thank you to Kaysers Beach Social Club for the use of their facilities and tasty food as-well as all our Sponsors for the awesome prizes received for this comp, without prizes of this calibre we would certainlynot achieve the turnout we did.


KAYAK CORNERFISHING

Words/pics: Brett Armstrong

Summer is definitely here guys and girls. The days are becoming longer and warmer and this gives us a lot

more time to enjoy ourselves with friends and family while kayak fishing at one of our many local fishing spots. There is nothing like launching at 05h00 and getting home around 09h00 to still have the whole day ahead of you. There is nothing quite like early morning fresh start out on the water.

Kayak Club for East LondonSo it’s official, we have formed a Kayak Fish-ing Club in East London, Kayak Fishing EC. We have setup an awesome website (with more updates to follow) at www.kayakfish-ingec.co.za and a Facebook page with the same name, Kayak Fishing EC, and would like to encourage you to go and checkout our site and to also Like us on Facebook and then share/spread the news. The club looks to formalize the amazing amount of kayak fishing enthusiasts in our area in order to best promote and manage our amazing sport. Our aim is to highlight and emphasize, amongst other aspects, safety, environmental awareness, promotional ac-tivities and kayaking events. This will be awesome for our sport and will allow it to grow in a more manageable and beneficial

way for all who enjoy this adventure sport. The club is focused on both ocean and riv-er kayak fishing, so there is something for everyone here. We have a host of informa-tion and galleries available on the website, so check it out and join us on the water.

Product ReviewOver the last few weeks I have had the privilege and opportunity to test a new seat for my river kayak. I was not happy with the low-back smaller seat, which came with my kayak, so with that in mind I have been look-ing at many different options over the last few months. A kayak seat, in particular for a river kayak, is really an important add on. It makes your kayak outing so much more comfortable, reduces backache and also re-duces the pressure on your butt and nerves. The result, a much more pleasurable expe-rience. I chatted to a member of our club and fishing mate, Kelly who spends a lot of time fishing off his kayak in both the river and ocean and his kayak actually came with a high back seat, he raved about it, so with the help of Nigel from Wild Coast Kayaks, we managed to hunt down the same seat for a fraction of the cost of the imported ones available on the internet from eBay and Amazon and the like. Anyway, Nigel got


one for himself and I bought one as well. He now also stocks this amazing product. So after the very easy fitment process, which took all of 2 minutes, I headed off to the water. What a difference, it was day and night. I have since been on the kayak twice for extended hours and all I can say is, you got to buy one. It will be one of the most important aspects and modifications to your kayak. It is worth every cent. For more information on this seat, contact Nigel at Wild Coast Kayaks at [email protected].

Transkei TripA group of us kayak fishing enthusiasts headed off in late September to the beau-tiful coastal villages of Coffee Bay and Hole in the Wall for a week of camping, fishing, fun times and braaiing. What can

I say, Mark Kimble, chairman of our newly formed club, Kayak Fishing EC, did an amaz-ing job at organizing the caravan park and related aspects and logistics of our trip. I think the caravan site at Coffee Bay has to be one of the nicest parks I have ever stayed in. Close to the beach, nice ablu-tions’, clean and really neat with plenty hot water. The actual campsite was unbe-lievable, with plenty of shade, grass and even 24-hour security. What a pleasure.Unfortunately, despite favorable ocean conditions, the actual catching of fish was not so good, with only a few edibles caught and released. However, the view, experi-ence and abundance of whales, dolphins, sharks and the most breathtaking scenery, and of course great company, was all that mattered. The clean and calm waters mes-merized us, especially when we visited Hole in the Wall. Being witness to schools of bait fish swimming past you and boil-ing up the water, just breathtaking. This trip, was one of the most enjoyable and relaxing trips I have been on and I will defi-nitely go back again next year. The time spent on the water was also extremely important, allowing us all the opportunity to gain more experience as kayakers and especially for the less experienced guys. We all returned to East London, better for the experience and extremely motivated and ready for more. What a great time!For more information and photo-graphs of this amazing trip, checkout www.kayakfishingec.co.za.


This month’s tip for AnchoringAn anchor trolley system (adjustable an-chor system along the side of your kayak) is a must for both river and ocean fishing. However, when setting up the main anchor trolley system, use 4mm rope/rip cord rath-er than bungee rope/cord for the main line running along the side of your kayak. This allows for a more direct and precise maneu-vering and adjusting method along the kay-ak for better directional anchoring out of the wind. In addition to this, ensure you actual anchor has 400-500mm chain attached to it. This will keep the anchor more stabilized in muddy riverbeds with its added weight.

For more information on kayak fish-ing and related aspects, please do not hesitate to contact me at [email protected]. Also check-out our website at www.kayakfishingec.co.za. To join our Whats app kayak fish-ing EL group, please message Brett on 0718838769 and request to be added to the list.

Remember: Safety first and always respect our environment.


Target Line Freshwater Angling Club hosted the Carp Bonanza at Wrig-gleswade Dam from 16-18 October

2015. The wind was pumping on the Fri-day and conditions looked tough before the start. We all know that the weather and be severe at Wriggleswade, but no storms were predicted this time around. Saturday morning came and a few good catches were presented. The big-gest bag weighed after the evening ses-sion was 26kg and the biggest fish 7kg. The weather played along nicely and a couple of anglers felt the sun’s rays.There was calmness over the water and fires were going on the night, as the an-glers were ready to support the Bokke against Wales. Not all relaxed as the nets showed many anglers producing fish over the night and next morning. The fish were mostly in the 4 to upper 5kg

TARGETLINE

Wriggleswade Carp BonanzaWords/pics: Carl Henn

range and full of fight. Besides the carp, two beautiful yellows came out. Ed Wewege, with a 3.945kg and Chris Botha with a 3.260kg specimen. On the weekend 57 anglers com-peted, 245 carp were caught and released with a total weight of 783.250kg (3.197kg average), R 14 600.00 in cash prizes were handed out and plenty of lucky draw prizes.


Heaviest Bag

1 Riley Kaschula 24 fish 92.145kg2 Fanie Rademeyer 21 fish 65.100kg3 Tiaan Smuts 22 fish 61.135kg4 Shaine Moodley 15 fish 60.010kg5 Shaun Pautz 20 fish 48.020kg6 Jacky Domoney 14 fish 43.075kg7 Ferdie Pieterse 8 fish 31.780kg8 Adriane Domoney 12 fish 33.245kg9 Chris Fritz 8 fish 31.780kg 10 Chris Engelbrecht 10 fish 30.220kg

Heaviest Fish

1 Chris Fritz 7.230kg2 Dwayne Rademeyer 6.070kg3 Theuns Holtzhausen 65.045kg4 Willie Fonche 5.980kg5 Chris Engelbrecht 5.945kg6 Riley Kaschula 5.900kg7 Jordan Barnard 5.885kg 8 Ferdie Pieterse 5.800kg9 Shaine Moodley 5.765kg10 Riska Domoney 5.720kg

This event would not have been possible if our fantastic sponsors did not come to the party. Thank you to Target Line, Nedbank, Distell, Buffs Scrap Metal, Spargs Beacon Bay, Twizza, Coca Cola, The Original Muti, Super Cast, Magic Baits, Vincent Super Spar, Novateur and Rivers Hotel Port Alfred.After all the positive feedback from this competition, there will definite-ly be another towards the end of next year. No dought bigger and better in an-glers and prizes. Watch this space……..If anyone would like to know more about joining a freshwater bank angling club in this part of the world, please con-tact me Carl Henn on 073 857 2209or e-mail [email protected] .

See you all reel soon on the banks


Words/pics: Nigel Louw

THE

BAIT BOXTIPS

ARTIFICIAL BAITS

Strike Pro Sprat Sticks

The upper rivers are wild with action this time of year and here are some of the types of lures that will work.


SPARGS MALLBEACON BAY043 711 7700

Sponsored by

Halco Roosta Popper

Storm Flutterstick

Rapala X-Rap Walk


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)Email your entry to [email protected] with the followingdetails: - Anglers full name - Species - Location caught- Bait used - Size/Weight

Angler: Thelma JonkerSpecies: ZebraLocation: Cape RecifeBait: Bloodworm/prawnSize: 38cm

Angler: Luke Siebert and Timothy du PlessisSpecies: BlacktailLocation: Cintsa WestBait: SardineSize: 26 & 31cm

Angler: Jordan LuckSpecies: Spotted GrunterLocation: EstuaryBait: Sand PrawnSize: 62cm

CATCH & WIN


October Winner

Angler: Theo PienaarSpecies: Silver SteenbrasLocation: Nahoon CornerBait: SardineSize: 14kg

Angler: Marc BeesleySpecies: KobLocation: Gamtoos RiverBait: 1/2oz BucktailSize: 1.7m

Marc wins himself an asortment of Triton lures. Sponsored by Bilimoria Fishing Tackle + an Alcock’s book.

Keep sending in your catches and stand a chance of winning a prize plus a copy of the new Alcock’s trolling and spinning book.


TIDE CHARTNovember 2015Information supplied by the Hydrographer SA Navy

The Hydrographer is not responsible for anytranscription errors.

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073 690 2606

fishing ec magazine november 2015

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