Pongola Game Reserve Fishing Report

August 2009

General

What a difference in the fishing, I was getting worried for a moment! It all started with 80 mm of rain and dirty water, but this started the tigers thinking about spawning time, and wow did it turn the fishing around. August has been a great month for guests and skippers alike. The average decent size tigers coming out ranges between 2.5 kg and 3.5 kg. We have managed to boat a couple in the 4 kg range with one of our clients, Llara Blesovsky, landing a beautiful 5.6 kg. One up or should I say two up for the ladies as our second biggest tiger of 4.5 kg was caught by Saranne Lourens. Most of the bigger tigers were caught on live bait, although sardines have also caught their fare share.

Trawling deep running rapalas, in a variety of colors has proved to be successful as well.  I have been targeting all depths of water, and have been surprised by big tigers feeding in a foot of water. On a training afternoon I landed a 3.5 kg and Simphiwe a 2.2 kg in these shallow waters (1 foot) specifically in the afternoon. Otherwise morning fishing trips seem to be more productive in the deeper waters ranging from 6-10 m. Fishing spots include the bridge, pump station , camp site and the old river course north of Nkwazi lodge. We were also very fortunate to have Jonathan Boulton, from Mavungana Flyfishing staying with us for 5 days. He taught our skippers the in’s and out’s about fly-fishing and guiding specifically on fly. It was a great success with on average landing more fish than the conventional boats. The biggest tiger landed was 3.5 kg’s, wow, and a couple in the 2 kg range. On average between 5- 7 were landed per session. The clients were mainly fishing with DI 7 sinking lines .A variety of weighted and unweighted flies seemed to work best in natural colors (green and black), while some brighter deceivers and clousers did their job too.

Otherwise we are expecting a great season of fishing, with the Tiger Bonanza around the corner. We will keep you up to date on any changes. I will ask you to keep a look out for illegal gill netting on the dam as we have already pulled out two this weekend. The one net stretched over a km long with an estimated 600 bream in it! They mainly target the shallow water with the nets submerged under the surface. The best would be to leave the nets untouched and give Kemp a call on 083 6805433 with the position and we will contact the relevant authorities. This will be the best way to catch the culprits involved in the illegal netting.  

Till next month.

Captain Chris