Bass surprise at Shongweni

Fly Fishing - A very unproductive weekend for some in the KZN midlands, as the weather failed to play its part. The lucky anglers who did manage to land a few fish were making use of sinking and intermediate lines, mainly with Fluorocarbon leaders. The most popular colours seemed to be the Oranges, Whites and light Olives. Anglers fishing at the Trout Bagger managed to hook into a few fish by letting the line sink to the bottom, where they would strip aggressively in short 10cm sections and pause. In other waters, a dropper fly system was once again the day saver, producing good fish with either Egg pattern or DDD floating fly on the top, and a smaller work style fly on the bottom. On a whole, most of the dams had most of their action on White Boobies, Fritz Buggers, Orange Wooly Buggers and large Papa Roach patterns.

Bass - The weekend weather was a huge factor contributing to the fact that bass fishing was not the number one priority on many an angler's list. Strong winds and icy cold conditions meant that many of the anglers stayed off the waters and instead, spent time in their local tackle shops hiding from housework. Shongweni saw a few anglers on smaller boats and kick-boats, who did surprisingly well. A few fish over 1kg was seen close to the dam wall, as well as a respectable fish of around 2kg being caught on a Spinnerbait close to the river section. Inanda had anglers running for cover as the wind pulled through the valley, and had fair fishing in the coves. Pitching fairly bulky baits into thick cover worked wonders for the bass between 500g and 1.5kg all day long on certain days, with anglers using drop-shot fairly successfully on the days where the fish failed to feed aggressively. Smaller baits have been the key to successful drop-shot fishing, with baits such as finesse worms and tiny flukes sometimes landing the largest fish. When the going gets really tough, try tying a jig to the bottom of the drop-shot trace instead of a drop-shot sinker, this has been productive when all else fails.

On 1 August The Kingfisher started their annual Biggest Shad Competition. This year it will be run over a two-month period, August and September, with three prizes each month. The heaviest shad for each month will receive a Daiwa SL 50SHK Reel, valued at R1625, the second heaviest shad will receive a 13’6” Kingfisher Coastline Medium, three-piece, 4-6oz Graphite Rod, valued at R1145 and third heaviest shad will receive a Daiwa AG 6000 Reel valued at R598. Please note that all shad (fresh) must be weighed at either, The Kingfisher, 53 Hunter Street or Tackle Centre, Old Fort Road or The Fishing Tackle Shop, Warner Beach during trading hours.

Please remember there is a bag limit of four and the minimum size is 30cm and that the season closes 30 September and re-opens 1 December 2015.

(File Photo: Gallo Images)

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