Pongola Game Reserve Fishing Report

March 2011

General

Hi guys!

It's been a busy March fishing wise, and we been feeding the smaller tigers for next month, so by May we should have some 1kg's fish around. Ha Ha. The tiglets are out in full force, though a couple of nice fish have come out in between. The weather has probably been our biggest problem this month, with 3-4 day lulls in between pressure changes. We have had some impressive thunderstorms and many days without wind. The heat is still getting to us all, especially the humidity.

The reserve has hosted a lot of company year ends, so we have been pretty busy on the water. Besides from the smaller tigers around, a lot of fish between 1,5 and 3,5kg's have come out. A lot of nice tigers have been lost too, with Erlo's friends catching a "bus" of 6kg in the river area. Ernie, an Nkwazi local too, had some great fishing with Sunnyboy, catching a 5kg and 3,8kg on one morning in front of Nkwazi Lake Lodge.

Otherwise Wes bank, Auma Group and Secant Engineering had some busy fishing working hard for their 3kg plus fish. Sardines are still producing good results though one has to be sneaky when it comes to bait preparation. We are still starting with bigger baits (½ to full sardine) and when the tigers start coming on the bite, one has to reduce the size to literally just cover the hook. 2/0 seems to be the best size hook at the moment, with an odd occasional 2nd hook stuck in to improve strike ratio.

Drifting and throwing sardine or tiger fillets at the shallows is a must for the smaller boats, literally tossing it on the bank or between the grass and slowly retrieving it. Rapalas and spinners are working well again, fishing the above method especially over the Hydrilla banks opposite KZN campsite. Richard, from All Angling, was here for the weekend and had a 20 to 1 strike to landing ratio with rapalas, spinners and soft plastic. He had great fun with Jetro his guide and said definitely would be back with braided line next time. He changed hooks, tactics and still could not get his hook up ratio better. He was aware most were under a kg, though a couple bigger were lost.

Erlo Beneke had a mini competition at Mpalane with the German community in the middle of March. Ten boats went out with the biggest for the 3 days been a 4,7kg caught on live bait in the main dam area. Another one of 4,2kg came out around the campsite and a couple in the 3kg range. Remember this club does extremely well every year in the Tiger Bonanza so even they had it tough. There was also the annual "First Paper House" competition held at Kzn - 125 anglers - very well organized and a 8lb test line if not mistaken. A 620mm fish (4,5kg) tiger won the competition with a 4,2kg taking second. Most of the fish were release too. Well done guys, this competition is really going from strength to strength.

On the where to fish question? Again, anywhere! The bigger tiger s seemingly are coming either in the real shallows on nice size live bait or on the deep drop off’s with sardine. Kzn campsite area is a great area at the moment and the entrance to the main dam. The old river course running from Shayamanzi houseboat to the train bridge is also a must. I still think the best way to find bigger fish is to spend at least a day drifting these areas, remembering were the bigger strikes occurred, and then going to target these areas either bottom fishing or “doba doba” style.

On the fly side, it’s always good. Remember us fly fisherman always say that. Richard – mentioned above also did some fly and on the first morning landed 6 tigers on fly. Just shows one how the hook up ratio is better on fly. He used a variety of flies with orange been popular and our famous black/olive and black deceiver type patterns working. I also had a great month on fly, fishing every second day at least with one well over 3 kg’s coming out. I often fish off the Nkwazi jetty and there is very times when I don’t get a couple. Intermediate a must when bringing lines and a fast sink for later in the day. I must say the 5:15 to 7:00 in am and 18:00 till dark is a must for bigger fish on fly. Robbie Bezuidenhout, has started at Nkwazi Lodge, and is a all around fisherman. He is a keen fly fisherman and will be doing a lot of fly guiding.

Three new skippers have joined us at PGR, Robbie, Nordica and Nico. They are all in training but show a passion for fishing, so please guys give them a couple of pointers out their if they are taking you out. Thanks.

Got to go, please give me a call if anything would like to add. As mentioned, I don’t get as much time to go out fishing on our boats but where possible, I will give one as much info as possible and even go out after hours. Admin is catching up on me more and more these days.
  

 Again –“Please release your tiger’s guys”

Basic list of what to bring follows:

Conventional
1. Any bass rod – 6 to 7 ft ideal, rigged with coffee grinder or centre pin reel.
2. Line strength – 8 -14 lb. Braid also good if have fished with it before.
3. Hooks – chemically sharpened from 2/0 – 5/0 ( Mustad, Bass hooks, circular – best quality )
4. Steel trace – made up traces (35 cm) or roll of Stealth wire which you can make up own.
5. Bogo grip – or good set of pliers to take hook out.
6. Floats – to suspend bait
7. Ghost cotton to secure your bait
8. Leader line – 40 cm of thicker line as shock tippet (fluorocarbon not a must).
9. Sardines or any bait mentioned above
10. Sun cream/hat.
11. Competency certificate/ skippers ticket any other paper work needed.

Fly fishing
1. Anything from 5 -9 wght rod.
2. Intermediate and sinking line.
3. Leader line – definitely 8kg plus (take off the old trout tapered leaders).
4. Flies – selection of Clouser minnows/zonkers/whistler patterns. Bring couple of trout flies too.
5. Steel trace – No 1 piano wire ideal.
6. Bogo grip – long nose pliers.
7. Gloves for stripping – unless you have some calloused hands.
8. Sunglasses and hat – safety issues.
9. Camera.

Tight Lines till next time. I will put the pic of the 9 kg on the web site.

Captain Chris

P.S. I anyone has some photos of tigers caught here, please email Marietjie them at info@pongolagamereserve.co.za. . Oh, I am difficult to get hold of at times, so if you can’t, please try George for any info needed.

GPS Co ordinates:
Mvubu:     27 22’ 09.26” S by 31 50’ 42.16 E
Mpalane:   27 23’17.89” S by 31 53’ 20.21 E
Nkwazi:     27 22’ 46.58” S by 31 53’54.92 E