Monthly Spearfishing Report November 2010

Conditions

Starting off a lot more settled than October with the prospects of the start of the summer gamefish run in most spearos minds. Some very hot sticky days heralding the start of our peak summer months with April on the horizon for those hoping for the cooler days of autumn. Some big summer rain storms causing rivers to break out into the sea causing dirty inshore conditions along some areas of the coast.

Fish-wise

The return garrick run on the south coast producing a number of fish but as always with garrick hunting it is a hit or miss affair. Umzumbe Point a good spot but don’t spoil things for the shore anglers as there has been conflict here in the past between spearos and fishermen. The odd big queen mackerel being taken on the north coast but no news of any early season cuda as yet. Dorado being taken on the fads off Durban and some good bottoms being landed on the north coast.

SpearfishingSA

We now get over twenty thousand visitors a month to our site which equates to 650 people a day viewing the site from all over the world. Information is a valuable thing to have and being able to share it benefits all of us. That is why contributors like Basie and Mark are important to the sites continued growth and we value their input highly. We are hoping to get more relevant input from other parts of our coast from locals who know their areas well and are looking to include reports from further afield to make your visits more worthwhile.

Sodwana Bay

The place to be if you are into gamefish hunting with some good fish coming out. Craig Harper reports that a 45kg ignoblis kingfish was the fish of the trip with cuda, wahoo, sailfish, sea pike and kaakap making up catches.

Cape Vidal

Vidal has been affected by the Umfolozi river with a south north current moving the dirty water northwards and making for poor visibility. With an increase in shark activity as the water warms up it is advisable to look for reasonable visibility when hunting the summer gamefish run.

World Record Dogtooth Tuna

A possible new world record dogtooth tuna was recently landed on Latham Banks off Dar es salaam. The fish weighed-in at over a 100kg and was shot by Cameron Kirkconnell who holds the present record of 91kgs. A fantastic fish and one story I am looking forward to reading.

Safe diving, John Little