Author Topic: Saldanha (Tembe River) (Read 5816 times)

Manuel Junior · « **on:** November 03, 2012, 03:47:52 PM »

Saldanha is a small village located on the western bank of the Tember River about 25 km WSW of Maputo. The river flows continually from Swaziland to the Espirito Santo estuary within Maputo Bay.

This section of the river has an admixture of salt and freshwater although the water leans more towards the saline as it is closer to the sea. As such a great variety of marine/estuarine species can be found here:
Fish species:rockcod, grunter, bream, cob, kingfish, barracuda, thornfish, snappers, mullets, halfbeak, sillago, Moz tilapia, flatfish, goatfish, batfish, morey eels.
Crustaceans: Shrimps, mubcrab, fidler crabs.
Moluscs: Squid, snails.

The width decreases from the mouth and varies between 80-120 m in Saldanha. The depth varies from 2 to 12 m. There are several “branches” running perpendicular to the river with an approximate depth of 2 m and about 5-20 m wide. These are bordered by extensive mangroves. Certain areas have old logs and rock closer to the banks. During the spring tides the river overflows its banks and floods the mud flats, thus the larger predators feed on the little crabs in the flats.

The Fishing
Over the years we have found that the best tides are just before of after the neap tide (+/- 2 days) as the mud flat is dry (easier to walk on) and the river flow is not so strong. Several baits are used: snails, small crabs, shrimp, chicken guts, and sometimes live bait.But the overall winner here is shrimp.
I normally use shorter rods with spinning reels and small hooks (1/0-3/0) for bait and 5/0-8/0 hooks for live bait. Line is usually 0.50 mm mono and some of my own DIY sinkers. I’ve tried casting poppers but have not been successful.
Rockcods are caught in large numbers, especially closer to the bank (about 5 m) when using live bait.
Local fishermen usually fish in rocky areas where there are predators feeding on juvenile fish, shrimp and crabs. But they mainly fish with nets. The ones that use handlines, use heavy mono with 1/0-4/0 hooks and use as bait shrimps from the nets, crabs and snails.

Watch this space as I'll be updating!!!

John F · « **Reply #1 on:** November 03, 2012, 05:42:35 PM »

Great post bruder! This is your backyard so hope to see some great catches in the near future...

Manuel Junior · « **Reply #2 on:** November 03, 2012, 07:38:16 PM »

L Hooker · « **Reply #3 on:** November 05, 2012, 07:41:04 AM »

Nice informative post Manual, althou i have seen this area whilst looking over google maps never actually thought of the fishing potential. Post some pics if you fish the area.

SAfish · « **Reply #4 on:** November 05, 2012, 09:17:38 AM »

Great post. It looks like a good place to visit some day.

Homie · « **Reply #5 on:** November 05, 2012, 09:27:41 AM »

AWESOME POST !!!!

Manuel Junior · « **Reply #6 on:** November 05, 2012, 07:24:48 PM »

Guys!

Manuel Junior · « **Reply #7 on:** February 05, 2013, 07:51:23 PM »

Day 2 and 3 of February

Day 2

We left home at 6 am and arrived at Saldanha at 7:30 am.
The fishing began around 8am, in the morning session I used only hand lines, small hooks with prawns.