Port Edward Fishing Info

[wimter]

Hey Guys,

Ive got a family wedding on in Port Edward on the 01.03.14.
Needless   to say being from Hermanus its going to cost a small fortune(or a good   fishing holiday) for me and my family to go.But its got to be done!! So   decided to extend my time there to make it a wedding / fishing holiday    .Will have a couple of days to fish.Anyhow we are staying at Edenwild Self Catering   on the river.I have never been to this part of the coast and have no idea   what the fishing is like.My plan is to take 10ft Vengence and shimano   stradic 5000fj with 14lb fireline with and do some light tackle   spining/drop shotting lures with.

Can anyone please give me info on Where to fish,what type of species can i expect to catch on this tackle in that area and any other info that will help.

Thanks!!

P.S. Does anyone know what the airline regulations are for rods , reels and tackle[hooks and sharp STUFF] can it go in hand luggage?

[Half-Pint]

Firstly do NOT try to take any hooks, scissors, or any sharp items in your hand luggage. You WILL have to dump it. Rods can't be taken as hand luggage they are too long. Get yourself some PVC pipe and make a tube to store your rod in the hold. Reels should be taken as hand luggage BUT remove the spools. They get iffy about line on spools since you could maybe if you are Chuck Norris strangle the pilots with the line.

Port Edward river is one of the better rivers around do a search on the forum and you will find some info. It is called the Umtamvuna river. I have never fished it myself so can't help much with regards to where, when, how or species

[maganything]

are you keen to fish just in the river? or do you want to throw into the surf and sea?
 
i know the area decently well...
 
Im not sure of the place you are staying at, but by saying on the river i presume it must be on the Umtamvuna River which runs out between carribeen estates and the casino! If you head up this river to the rocky ledges where the river starts to narrow, you could expect to find, perch and rock snapper. target them on small skitter pops. Blue over orange and clear white work well. If you have some sard, toss some in in the hope of a nice snapper, there are some good ones up there!
 
If you dont mind a little walk and paying R20, drive to the casino, park down by the horseriding and take a walk south along the beach. (best to do it with someone) you can either spin in the surf or if you keep walking you will get to a small estury! here you can pick up anything, small kingys, perch and all type of juvinille fish growing big for the ocean! its great fun on light tackle..
 
if you do catch fish in the esturys, please practise catch and release, these rivers are great breeding grounds and arent fished very often!
 
hope this helps..

[wimter]

Thanks guys

Half pint , so if we cant take hooks etc in hand luggage do we put in our normal luggage in the hold?You say I shouldn't take spools  with hand luggage does that also  go in hold luggage?

Maganything I will be keen to fish the sea aswell.As I said I don' t know that coastline do guys know what species can be found in the sea that can be targeted with the tackle I plan to take up[,i also have a heavy spinning outfit if it would be needed], in that area or where to try for them?

[maganything]

Thanks guys

Half pint , so if we cant take hooks etc in hand luggage do we put in our normal luggage in the hold?You say I shouldn't take spools  with hand luggage does that also  go in hold luggage?

Maganything I will be keen to fish the sea aswell.As I said I don' t know that coastline do guys know what species can be found in the sea that can be targeted with the tackle I plan to take up[,i also have a heavy spinning outfit if it would be needed], in that area or where to try for them?

I would stick with the lighter setup, always fun to get a good rev...
You will find your normal surf fish, kingys, wave garrick, kob, shad.
 
if you park at Port edward main beach and then walk North, there are alot of rocks and gullys that you can also throw spoons and dropshot into.

[maganything]

definately put all your fishing tackle into the hold...
 
I have never had a problem with reels in my hand luggage... (maybe i was lucky) would rather take a chance then get them stuffed up in the hold!

[wimter]

Ya agree on the lighter tackle =BIGGER REv,Are there area for the surf that I need to find to fish or just walk along the beach looking for gulleys,dropoffs or sandbanks to fish in?Would think the mouth of the river would be a very good spot to fish in the see for cob,shad,kingies?

Would think the river will be good for drop shotting for cob at night?Is it safe to fish alone up there? To fish alone at night?

[maganything]

Ya agree on the lighter tackle =BIGGER REv,Are there area for the surf that I need to find to fish or just walk along the beach looking for gulleys,dropoffs or sandbanks to fish in?Would think the mouth of the river would be a very good spot to fish in the see for cob,shad,kingies?

Would think the river will be good for drop shotting for cob at night?Is it safe to fish alone up there? To fish alone at night?

ja, the conditions change so often, so best bet is to just walk along and look for spots that could hold a fish, working white water, channels etc..
 
I wouldnt advise fishing alone at night anywhere... just not worth the risk in my opinion!
I have heard of guys fishing the mouth, i havnt myself so cant really comment, but couldnt see a reason why it wouldnt work....

[Half-Pint]

Thanks guys

Half pint , so if we cant take hooks etc in hand luggage do we put in our normal luggage in the hold?You say I shouldn't take spools  with hand luggage does that also  go in hold luggage?

Maganything I will be keen to fish the sea aswell.As I said I don' t know that coastline do guys know what species can be found in the sea that can be targeted with the tackle I plan to take up[,i also have a heavy spinning outfit if it would be needed], in that area or where to try for them?

Yup put it in the hold. For your reels just remove the spools and pack them in the middle of your luggage. I HIGHLY doubt anything could happen to them packed inside a weeks worth of clothing. The hassle of trying to board with them isn't worth it. Imagine waiting to check through and one of those security guards wont let you board with your reels = missed flight or throwing spools away and biggest problem Mrs Wimter is going to  for the whole holiday

[jball7204]

We fished there this last Sunday and my mate caught 3 Rock Salmon (River Snapper). Small one on small Yozuri popper and two nice ones on an orange/gold Strike Pro Thai Stick. They hate that lure!! Fish it 1-2m parallel to rock faces, and especially the reeds along the river's edge. Walk it nicely and constantly along the edges and you should get a couple. I think it's the noise it makes. Keep an eye for prawns jumping out the water near the reeds. That means the fellas are there!!

[wimter]

Thanks Jbal7204 for the update.

So one can walk the river and fish from the side.As i said dont know KZN are there any crocs in the river?or taxman one should be concerned about.Have you heard of cob,leerfish,kingies or elf[shad] also been caught in this river and did you try for them?

Do you know if the mouth is open?Looks like spring high this weekend.So Looks promising. cant wait too get there and start fishing.Im also going to try the sea by the mouth on google earth there seems to be some good sandbanks and gullies in the area.

[jball7204]

No worries. It will be a bit hard from the side, especially when the skiers and jetskiers get going, so hit it early. I believe (although not 100% sure) that the place youre going to opens up onto a little beach (like 6m wide) on the river, with serious cliffs and drop-offs on the left. Apparently there are some nice fish there if you can get the angles right. There dont seem to be crocs around, but anything can happen. And the same for sharks, except I would be inclined to believe there are more of these around but it is a watersports area too and if its safe to swim then maybe its safe to wade. It does drop very quickly though and is mostly very deep straight off the side (except where the mini beaches are at the Old Pont Resort and other spots). I would make a quick manoevre to the guards at the gate of The Pont and ask them how to get to the jetty that is a little upstream from them.
 
Some guys did catch Kob nearer the mouth on sardine baits, and I believe it's good for Leeries in winter, not sure about now. There are Kingies around but we weren't sure where to get them, so although we were throwing surface lures we were hoping for Kingies and others like Rock Salmon and River Bream (Perch). There are Shad available off the beaches and points close-by but not sure about the river.
 
Like I say, speak to the guards at the Pont and go into Port Edward and go to the tackle shop in the center down towards the beach. The shop's name is TACKLENET and the owner's name is Terry, and he can give you more info on what is happening and where. Also how to get to spots that I have never been to because I'm also usually on very limited time when I do go down once or twice a year.

[wimter]

Hey Boys
,just a short report back on my trip to Port Edward and Umtamvana River.Shortly after arriving and settleing.i was off to the resort office to find out about getting a boat for the weekend for fishing unfortunately there was none they could not lend me one either.And after looking at the river and studying up on it,i realizedi was not going to be able to fish in the ideal looking spots without a boat.But fortunate for me i had booked a fishing guide[with boat] for Sunday.
I did some early morning late afternoon spinning and dropshoting of the jetty in the resort un succesfully.


Anyhow on Sunday at 15:00 i hooked up with clive my guide.He fishers with bait and not artificial which he did tell me before i booked.But hey im to fussed how i catch as long i catch fish!!We tried trawling lures behind the boat for a and hour with no luck.
Clive seggested we go get some livebait for the evening at the mouth.On arrival at the mouth there was a boat whose engine would not work.....So being the good guy clive is offered to tow the boat back up river to the launch site.[me thinking great there goes a waist of fishing time that im paying for] But saying that i would have done the same thing and given the guy a tow.I told clive i was going to stay and spin the mouth while he was gone.So with my strike pro stick bait i did just that and worked my way around the sandspit beach section towards the mouth.At this stage i was desperate for a kingie as i have never caught one.As i got to the inflow at the mouth i was saying to myself there must be fish here it just looks to good!Unfortunately after 30min of popping nothing happened.


But with the very next cast in the inflow of the mouth i saw something splash behind my popper but no hook  up.I was gutted to say the least .....but two more retrieves and i was ON!The fish took off at a spead in the stream first going with stream and against it out to sea.After which he decided to go with the stream and come in the river.Which i decided would be the the best thing to do as i didnt want really to pul himl out of the stream,being concerned of the hooks pulling.AND this been my first fish of the trip i really didnt want to loose it.So i fought it in the mouth and around big sandspit intside the mouth.[U can see in the background of the pic]By this time my good guide had reappered and to his joy and i think amazement saw i was hooked up.Now near the end of the fight i was getting really excited to see my first kingie cause as yet i had not seen the fish.As the fish came too the side and clive tailed it i saw it was beuatifull healthy +- 4kg LEERVIS/GARRICK ha, had to laugh!!!Firstly  i travel all the way from Western Cape, Hermanus planning on catching my first Kingie!!!and i end up with a LEERVIS that i can catch on my doorstep.Secondly the guides says he cant believe i caught one this time of the year in Natal its very strange!


Dont get me wrong boys i will catch that fish everyday all day with a smile on my face!And on my 8ft shimano vengence and light tackle spinning reel with 14lb fireline it was an utterly thrilling fight !!! BUT the story actually just once again proves the irony and unpredictable nature of fishing.....As for the rest of the guided trip we did not catch another fish....


What did strike me though.....if Clive was not kind enough to give that boat a tow i would not have been spinning the mouth while he was away, and would not have caught that fish!!! This the second time something like this situation eg: showing kindness and the other situation been honest has caught me fish.........The honest situation is another story but i ended up with 84kg Yellow fin tuna....What a man gives so shall he receive.......Something think about if want to?


Well it was a bit longer than a short story but i hope you enjoyed it for those of you that answered and gave me advise,much appreciated.. THANKS

[/me]

[wimter]

[PH]

Good to see you got a Leerie and thanks for the report!!
To display images see
http://www.ultimateangling.co.za/index.php?topic=823.0

[jball7204]

Nice one, I'm glad you got something there!!