ULTIMATE ANGLING - the Ultimate SA Fishing website
OFFSHORE ANGLING => Inshore Boating => Topic started by: Sumanth on October 02, 2014, 12:56:44 PM
-
Hi Guys,
i have recently joined the forum and i must say it has been very good reading thus far. I am first time owner of a small trim craft fishing boat. Purchased 2 months ago. I have since got all my certificates completed and boat motor upgraded from a Johnson 70 to a Suzuki 85. In order to launch the boat i have changed my car from a BMW x5 to a brand new toyota hilux double cab. ( so i have motor for sale and bakkie side step and back bumper for hilux)
So now i am ready to do some harbour or estuary fishing. Need some advise between Richards Bay or Umtamvuna river. Its a long haul from JHB so want to make sure i plan well before the trip. Any advise on locations and fishing tips would be appreciated.
-
Hi Sumanth, your best bet is going to be the harbours. Both Durban and Richards bay offer good fishing. The rivers on the KZN coast are not in good shape from a fishing/boating perspective. You should consider doing some trips to the Eastern Cape, which holds the most productive estuaries in the country.
-
:welc:
-
1. come in summer. from november to feb. youll have lots of fun.
2. go to durban harbour or richards bay harbour and stay close by.
3. watch windguru. best is to fish ahead of a cold front, as the barometer drops to its lowest and on the rise as the front hits.
4. bring lots of surface lures. small to medium poppers, stickbaits etc. 3-15cm
5. tell us youre coming.
6. dont come if its been raining very heavily.
durban harbour is very busy, and is heavily regulated. it would be wise to obtain a port disk, as chacks are done frequently at public slipway and on the water by police. you might also consider joining one of the clubs in the bay (RB or DBN). Some clubs will let you leave your boat at the club during your stay here.
-
1. come in summer. from november to feb. youll have lots of fun.
2. go to durban harbour or richards bay harbour and stay close by.
3. watch windguru. best is to fish ahead of a cold front, as the barometer drops to its lowest and on the rise as the front hits.
4. bring lots of surface lures. small to medium poppers, stickbaits etc. 3-15cm
5. tell us youre coming.
6. dont come if its been raining very heavily.
durban harbour is very busy, and is heavily regulated. it would be wise to obtain a port disk, as chacks are done frequently at public slipway and on the water by police. you might also consider joining one of the clubs in the bay (RB or DBN). Some clubs will let you leave your boat at the club during your stay here.
This is very good advice!
I would also get a selection of dropshot, around 1/4 oz heads to 1/2 oz and three to five inch tails. Some 1/2 oz bucktails, a Storm Flutterstick or two and some Rapala 's. Together with the surface lures that should see your options well covered.
-
thanks for the great feedback. Which boat club should i join ? any indication on costs or who to contact. I did try emailing e few clubs and not recieved any feedback.
-
Tackle - i intend to get the tackle suggested any suggestions where to buy. In JHB tackle shops are not cheap.
-
as Tommo added - dropshot also great. I personally prefer hard lures, but the dropshot is deadly for flatheads. when its quiet, or the sun is up, the flatheads are always around. lots of fun. fish on the shallow banks (where water is warm) right on the bottom or bouncing off the bottom. any colour works. i prefer chartreuse/white and orca.
another inexpensive and absolutely deadly lure in the bay is the small spanyid spoons. fish them slowly.
some clubs in dbn harbour:
http://www.kznltbaa.co.za/ (http://www.kznltbaa.co.za/)
bobbies
fynnlands
Bluff Yacht Club
Natal Rod and Reel
-
It's time to start prospecting in the Bay (Durban) for gamefish. Summer cant come soon enough....I'm getting bored! And that new Rapala really looks the business Tommo.
-
Sumanth, check this thread out http://www.ultimateangling.co.za/index.php?topic=17498.0 (http://www.ultimateangling.co.za/index.php?topic=17498.0)
Last summer's lures...
-
Great guys, i will contact one of the boat clubs and register.
Cant wait to get down to Durbs and fish.
:tkx: My son goes on school holidays now and cant stop asking when we going fishing.
-
Hi Guys,
I am finally bringing my boat down to Durban :happ: and will be parking it there so that i do not have to tow each time. I have not yet registered with a club in Durban but was hoping to do some fishing either this Saturday or Sunday. If Durban harbour is not an option due to not been a memeber of a boat club where else could i fish?
was thinking maybe estuary not far off from Durban. Any suggestions ? :fshn: as long as my son enjoys some fishing.
i only have one motor so restricted to harbours / estuaries.
-
Hi All, okay change of plans i am now considering Richards bay harbour.
Tips / suggestions please.
-
Durban harbour and Richardsbay harbour are managed by Transnet and have rules, unfortunately you cannot just launch and fish. You need to join a club and need to get a pink permit from Transnet. Durban Boat Owners is your cheapest option. Your only options up North are St Lucia and Mtunzini. If you have a low gunnel/dam boat forget about St Lucia. Mtunzini has some sand banks and rocks that you need to be aware of.
-
Hardfisher- thanks for the reply. I am aware that i can not lauch in Durban harbour as i am not a member of a boat club. Does the same apply to Richards bay ?
The pink permit from transnet where do i obtain this from. Does it take long ?
Durban Boat owners - i am trying to call them to get more details of prices and requirments. no one is answering the telephones.
-
Call me on 071 874 9903, will give you details.
-
Hardfisher, thanks i have sent all my documents to Boat owners association and they are busy processing my application. Hopefully tomorrow i will be able to do application with transnet.
Hoping all goes well.
-
They do it on your behalf, you pay DBOA and just go to Transnet to collect it. Remember DBOA are only there until 14h00 on weekdays.
-
DBOA is very helpfull.I just joined as well and got the pink disk sharp sharp at Transnet.They are close to the customs office.The lady their was very helpfull.She actually made a comment about us having to join clubs just to get the pink disk.It is nice to belong to a club and meet people so i did not mind too much.DBOA is very affordable,its just that initial join that hurts a bit.The slipway is cool and I think my bass fishing days are over for good.One days bass fishing pays for a years membership at the club.Its fun fishing in the bay and nobody shoots at you like Inanda dam.
-
The harbour is fun if the weather does not catch you like it got us on Saturday morning :the sHPLAT
-
The harbour is fun if the weather does not catch you like it got us on Saturday morning :the sHPLAT
were you out there at the time - I was......the wind changed so fast, It took me a few minutes to understand why my boat (on anchor) turned 180 degrees - and then the big wind hit.....about three hours before it was predicted by Windguru
-
It was a rough wet ride back to the launch site, then the wind didn't help much getting the boat trailered.
-
It was a rough wet ride back to the launch site, then the wind didn't help much getting the boat trailered.
Same issues! Fortunately I was close to the launch site
-
get wind guru on your phone.
and look around........
-
Hi, i am offically a memeber at DBOA and have my Transnet paper as well. :yipee:
Now the issue is where do i launch ? does DBOA have its own slip way ?
I dont have a fish finder as yet can anyone advise where i should be fishing in the harbour ? :fshn:
-
slipway is at the yacht mall.make sure to sign the register and chuck it in the water.The lady at the club should show you.It is right there at the cop office.I dont have a fish finder either but on our first day i tried a few places off the banks and coaught all over the place.One can see the channels and the drop offs with some poliroids.
-
Welcome.
Where you should be fishing depends on what you want to fish for. Durban harbor holds a vast variety of fish to target.
if you dont have any depth finding device, please learn the harbour first.
ALWAYS be aware of what the tides are doing.
NEVER get caught on or near the banks on a dropping tide unless you know precisely how much water you have around you, and your vessel's draft.
ALWAYS be aware of other vessels in the harbour. It is an extremely busy port and you can get into trouble quickly.
Keep out of the channels. Large vessels can often not see you and they certainly cannot stop for you. If youre in the way, youre going down.
NEVER anchor in any of the channels - its illegal. If you are anchored anywhere, be very careful of passing vessel wakes and your vessel's aspect. A relatively small looking wake becomes a significant wave when it reaches the banks. This has caught a number of people out already.
Be aware of the no-go areas in the bay.
Always have your documents with you as the police do check you on the water.
I would suggest launching on a low tide so that you can see where the prominent sandbanks are. Doind this and fishing a pushing tide is the safest way to learn the bay.
-
Welcome.
Where you should be fishing depends on what you want to fish for. Durban harbor holds a vast variety of fish to target.
if you dont have any depth finding device, please learn the harbour first.
ALWAYS be aware of what the tides are doing.
NEVER get caught on or near the banks on a dropping tide unless you know precisely how much water you have around you, and your vessel's draft.
ALWAYS be aware of other vessels in the harbour. It is an extremely busy port and you can get into trouble quickly.
Keep out of the channels. Large vessels can often not see you and they certainly cannot stop for you. If youre in the way, youre going down.
NEVER anchor in any of the channels - its illegal. If you are anchored anywhere, be very careful of passing vessel wakes and your vessel's aspect. A relatively small looking wake becomes a significant wave when it reaches the banks. This has caught a number of people out already.
Be aware of the no-go areas in the bay.
Always have your documents with you as the police do check you on the water.
I would suggest launching on a low tide so that you can see where the prominent sandbanks are. Doind this and fishing a pushing tide is the safest way to learn the bay.
make sure you have a fishing licence - Ezemvelo also patrol the harbour to check. You need to ensure that your licence includes fishing from a boat (only one person needs that addition to the licence) - and get a cracker licence if you are going to use cracker as bait
-
Guys thanks for the info really appreciate.
Will check the tide to ensure i launch at low tide.
-
one more thing.
Don't launch or return in the dark unless you're familiar with all the lights. it is very easy to get disorientated and land up on a bank somewhere.
come fish from december to march. excellent light tackle game fishing to be had.
-
Ok thanks for the heads up. My boat will be stored in Durban. So i will defnitley be making a few trips in Decmber.
:clwn
-
Hi Guys,
Sorry for the late feedback from my trip. After all the advise :tkx: i managed to become a member with DBOA. I arrived in Durban on the 22nd Nov and intended to launch at Durban harbour but once i arrived in Durban the post office was closed and i could not get my fishing license and craker license. Dissapointed i decided not to take a chance and decided to wait until the post office opened the next day (sunday -hypermarket by the sea post office).
Once obtained i mamanged to get my boat into the water which felt good after it took me 3 months of getting all my paper work and boat motor upgraded / finally towed to Durban.
I managed to find my way around centre bank /grunter gulley and coal terminal. We had some rain but not much wind. After all the effort i wass not willing to let the rain spoil the day of fishing.Spent the morning on centre bank trying for grunter. caught a few small sand sharks, grunter and mullets.
Mullets and sand shark caught with the attached pic. Did not think that mullets would chase it.
Anyway excellent day fishing most fish released besides one grunter that was for the pot and one mullet used for live bait which was bitten in half just a few meters away from where i was standing. My son had a blast fishing and could not wait to go out again. unfortunatley we where off the next day on the MSC cruise so i had to wait a week before using the boat again.
Got back on the 28th - fetched the boat and launched around noon. Weather changed in no ime and we had wind, rain and swells in the harbour. Still played around for one or two hours until we decided to call it a day. Conditions not good.
I had planned to rent a garage in durban to store my boat and was let down the last minute. So now strugling to find a place. The ones that are available are costly. Any suggestions places that are reasnoable ? My boat is standing outside in the sun.
Also considering a fish finder to start with and maybe a radio to go out the harbour to backline only when condistions are good.
-
you will not be able to venture out to sea unless your vessel is compliant (there are specific requirements for launching out of Durban harbour).
For this, you (or the skipper) will also have to have a DOC.
Contact one of the harbour based clubs for full details.
-
Okay thanks, i am a member of Durban boat owners will contact them for more details.