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General Angling Topics => Rock and Surf Fishing Reports => Topic started by: REEFMAN on April 07, 2017, 08:42:25 AM
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So the big day arrived for my boys and I to go on our annual Maphelane trip.
It rained all the way down and a normal 8 hour trip became a very tiring 10hr slog through mud and fallen trees. The recent rains have filled the Umfolozi mangrove swamps up to the brim, overflowing in many places, making the road a bit of a quagmire. Water up to the doors in places traversing through stinky Stagnant sulphur water. On the way in we had to negotiate a fallen tree, which delayed us even further. When you stop alongside that swamp, you are engulfed by literally thousands of Mozzies... really unpleasant!
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But we finally got there, and after being swamped by more Mozzies unpacking in the rain, we were greeted by this magnificent site...
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After the last cyclone, the beach has been scoured right up to the dunes. I've never seen the bay so full. Marius Vermaak, a local farmer, had his farm graders and excavators out in force trying to shape access to the beach for Ski-boats to launch. They did this everyday... grading a launch road, only to have the High tide wash it away every day!
Must say that after seeing this beautiful site in the bay, we were max amped. The water and conditions looked the best I'd ever seen them. Unfortunately we were in for a nasty surprise... :-(
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Our first morning on the beach we were greeted by 60+ KZN league anglers who were having an Interclub Common venue Comp.... yipeee!! Bamboo forest at Maphelane!!
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Apparently the biggest fish caught amongst the group was an 800g Stonebream, after fishing for 12 hours!?!
The league anglers left on the Sunday night, so we were itching to go fish the High tide the next morning...
This was the site that greeted us... Most mornings. Depending on the strength of the wind.
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Mud, glorious mud! The South wind had changed to the NorthEaster, which blew tons of mud from the dredging operation up at St Lucia directly into the bay at Maphelane. This wind prevailed pretty much the rest of the week, when high tides were characterized by full-on muddy waters, trees, branches and roots floating everywhere in the water, making fishing practically impossible. If the North wind blew steadily for 2 days, the sludge would extend 2kms south past Crayfish point. So depending on the strength of the wind, we had to walk long distances trying to find gaps in the mud, in order to cast a line...
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I got burned off several times by floating debris...
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Nevertheless, we soldiered on and tried to make the best of a bad situation... my son Nick landed the first fish, a little Wave Garrick, which was the first of many.
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Doing the Sharks thing...! :hehe:
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Lots of walking, trying different things and just having a hoot together on the beach...
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What it's all about!
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What a privilege to spend time with these 2 champs!
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We took a walk up to St Lucia to check out the dredging operation. Wow! :shk This is one massive undertaking! Huge trucks, bulldozers, excavators... think we counted about 30 vehicles operating at one time.
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The sand gets laid up against the shore in huge piles, then at high tide gets washed way into the sea.
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An estimated 10 000 tons of sand and debris into the sea every day. Monday to Friday.
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It looks like they're creating a huge basin for the mouth of the Umfolozi just as it enters the corner towards the St Lucia Estuary, restoring the environment back to the way nature intended it about 60 years ago, before the Parksboard/govt stuffed the entire ecosystem up by closing off the Umfolozi from the estuary.
In a few years time, I think Maphelane/St Lucia will be back to it's glory days of providing the biggest Grunter and edible fish nursery on the North Coast... looking forward to that. I'm just a bit worried that the reefs at Maphelane are going to be ruined by all the sediment. Can't win them all I suppose...
Always great wildlife in these reserves...
What type of snake? Tree snake? Green water snake?
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Bushbaby
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Flying Bushbaby!!
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We continued to work hard on the fishing front, and we were rewarded with Blacktail, Stonebream, lot's of Wave Garrick, including a few buses measuring 50cm FL...! Some great fishing on Light tackle..
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Got a nice size Bigeye Kingfish at Crayfish Point.
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Jess got a Nice little Stumpy, also down at Crayfish point...
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And another...
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Even the Rock pools were a mess!
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I got lucky one morning fishing the mud, picked up a little Zambi.
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Time to go home, we were greeted by a massive tree which had fallen across the road. Used an axe, snatch strap and many blisters later, we managed to clear half of it before the Parksboard arrived with their chainsaw...
Mozzies had to give us one final farewell feast!
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There are lots of other photo's on the various cellphones, will add them as they arrive.
All in all, another great trip to my favourite place in the world. Despite being cruelly tested with the fishing conditions yet again, it was a great privilege spending time with my boyz! At my age, there aren't too many of these type of trips left, so I cherish the opportunities as they arise!
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Excellent report there Tony looks like a great bonding trip for you and the boys. That St Lucia operation looks very interesting I hope it comes right and restores that vital resource back to its original state. Cool pics too! :+ cred:
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Thanks for a lekker report and cool pics! Looks like it was a blast!
:envy
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Thanks for the report Tony... Let's all hope it's returned to it's former glory.
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You are right, family time is special and we should all take it and make the most of it while we can.
Thanks for the report, great pics.
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very nice report.
When I read the post subject line - I read it as if there was a march at Maphelane! My brain is fried from watching the news perhaps
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Superb report Reefz, at least you managed some nice fish! :+ cred:
I am 99% sure that is a Green Water Snake.
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Great report Tony. The trip down there seemed a bit hectic :shk . Not the fish you maybe wanted but still nice catches and more important the family time. BTW what do you mean at my age :hehe: .
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Hahah Willie... these trips are flippin hard work! Sometimes the body says eina! Often think I'm getting too old for these things. Need a holiday to recover!
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Nice report Reefz!
Such a pity that this spot will basically be a no go zone for the next 2 years :cry:
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Nice report with some excellent pic's - hope the eco system is restored to it's former glory though as commented above already.
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Very nice. Its great to bond with family even when things are not ideal and as expected.
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Nice report Tony and well done on keeping your spirits up during what looks like a really trying trip. I could learn a thing or two from you regarding this.
"At my age".... I think you need to put this phrase in the bottom drawer for quite a while yet. Still a few more personal bests outstanding.
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Nice report, nothing better than fishing at Mapelane with my boys. We deceided to cancel our annual shark fishing(only time we fish for sharks) Easter weekend at Mapelane this year,seems like we did the right thing. Going to the beach cottage instead won't be the same though Talking about getting older the last time we were there I noticed the climb to the view site had got a lot steeper, must be soil erosion.
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:tkx: Tony great read . '' @ my age '' :lolo: . Plenty fight in the old dog yet w;k . :toppie:
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(clap) great stuff Tony and sons , despite the conditions still got some fish and had fun doing so , bit of an adventure as well ... :Like: those Stumpies caught by Jess , awesome .. (clap) .
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(clap) Great report Tony. I am surprised that you even got fish in those conditions. At least you got to spend time with your boys and had a good adventure.
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I just hope and pray that Mapelane Bay, Crayfish Point and Ledges and all the amazing places I between recover from all this.
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Sounds like you had a great time despite some adverse conditions being thrown at you.
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Thanks for the great pics and report !
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Thanks for the great report !
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Top report...pity about the fish.
Its so good to see Jesse having a blast. Precious family time beats the fishing anyday.
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Thanks for the report, always good to spend some alone time with the family :happ:, pity about the fishing but hey that's how it goes.
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Great Report!
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Thanks for sharing (clap)