Angling Report

I had a couple of fishing friends around last Saturday to watch the rugby, ‘burn some meat’ on the coals and sink a few jugs. Around the braai we discussed several angling related topics such as the fishing in general, the proposed new marine reserve that will stretch from Salt Rock northwards, how this reserve will be policed and whether there will be a sardine run this year. The sardine run has been in decline during the past couple of years and last year the shoals were massing between East London and Port Elizabeth but then suddenly disappeared into thin air.
On Wednesday I opened the morning newspaper and I saw the headlines that read, “Fears of Chinese fishing ships targeting sardines”. The article said that residents and anglers along the Transkei and Eastern Cape coast noticed the appearance of eight Chinese fishing vessels which were identified by their Automatic Identification Systems or (AIS). The article even had the names and registrations numbers of the vessels. The people became suspicious of these vessels when the AIS systems were suddenly turned off in an area where it was known that large shoals of sardines were now gathering for their trip up North. This was on Monday night and the ships suddenly disappeared between 9pm and 3am. Apparently there were also vessels in the marine sanctuary area off the Kei mouth and they also disappeared off the tracking screens.
As expected a huge row ensued on Facebook and people were demanding an investigation plus the morning paper sent queries to the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry but as usual, there was no response. At the end of the week the Fisheries department announced that the vessels had no fishing equipment aboard and that the ships were in transit from China to Angola. One must ask then what the reason was for switching off the AIS systems at night whilst in sensitive areas. At the weekend the navy was at last asked to look for these vessels but I am afraid a few days too late.
When I read the article I thought to myself that the sardine run is known worldwide and has been called the greatest shoal on earth that has brought people from all over the world to see the spectacle and now, is this the end? I suppose we will know in the next couple of months. I am one of the lucky people that has seen the sardine run both from the shore and whilst at sea. I have great memories of fishing at thirty fathoms off Ballito during the sardine run. It was pretty quiet when suddenly the sea erupted around the boat and all around were millions of sardines suddenly surfacing and being attacked by dolphins, sharks and gamefish. It was spectacular watching these fish tearing into the sardines and from above the gannets began falling like rain to catch their share of the feast – and we had grandstand seats.
I have been talking to several club and deep sea anglers about the new marine reserve and what I can gather, there will be several popular angling spots that have been fished for generations, now lost to anglers. Some of the traditional deep sea reefs will also be out of bounds for recreational fishermen and in certain areas only pelagic fish can be caught. Apparently the whole story will be printed soon so those not belonging to clubs are advised to read the rules and regulations very carefully because the fines that are proposed are horrific and unaffordable to most. The North Coast angler’s world is really shrinking and I am so grateful that I experienced the golden years when angling was safe and productive.
Sea and surf conditions were pretty bad after the weekend storms so it was only towards the middle of last week that anglers began to visit the beaches again. Dirty water was the order of the day after the heavy rains and on Wednesday morning I spoke to a paddle ski angler that had launched at Westbrook Beach. He had two nice fish in his hatch, a couta of 15 to 18kg caught on a live mossie and a snoek of 7 to 8kg caught on a small rapie. The angler said that he had caught the fish on the edge of the dirty water line just South of Stud Rock
Sealice