Kwambonambi Angling Club

2009-2010 season

2010-06-23T17:41:00.001+02:00

No excuses for not posting during the last season. I will try my best to keep you updated through the 2010-2011 season which kicks off on the 31 July 2010.

SUMMARY OF IMPORTANT ISSUES ARISING FROM THE SASAA AGM:

2009-08-17T14:54:00.001+02:00

2010 WORLD CHAMPS:
THE NEW LETTERHEAD WAS CIRCULATED AND DISCUSSED. ALL AGREED ON ITS USE AND AS SUCH IT WILL NOW BE USED FOR ALL FUTURE CORRESPONDENCE. ALL APPLICATIONS AS PER SASCOC HAVE BEEN SUBMITTED.A DELEGATION WILL BE GOING TO MONTENEGRO TO SEE HOW A WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP IS RUN – A PROPOSAL WAS SUBMITTED BY FRANS CLAASSENS AND APPROVAL WAS GIVEN BY THE SASAA AGM. ALL MONIES/ COSTS INCURRED TO BE RECOVERED BY THE HOSTING OF NEXT YEARS WORLD CHAMPS.

DEVELOPMENT:
THERE WILL NO LONGER BE SASAA CONTROLLED CHAMPIONSHIPS, AS THE FOCUS HAS NOW SHIFTED TOWARDS TRANSFORMATION. PROVINCES TO NOW ORGANIZE THEIR OWN COMPETITIONS IN HOUSE –EG. QUADRANGULAR OR TRIANGULAR TOURNAMENTS ETC.

LADIES INTERNATIONAL:
ITALY HAS ACCEPTED AND WILL BE COMING TO COMPETE, AS WELL AS A NAMIBIAN TEAM. TO BE FISHED IN LANGEBAAN IN NOVEMBER 2009.

ANNUAL AFFILIATION FEES:
TO REMAIN AS IS – R86.00 PER MEMBER.

ANNUAL YEARBOOK:
R4000.00 PER PROVINCE TO BE RAISED EACH TOWARDS THE ADVERTISING OF THE YEAR BOOK. AMOUNTS TO 4 PAGES, EACH.

SLIDE TRACES
THIS WAS DISCUSSED AT LENGTH AND IS NOW PART OF THE COMPETITION RULES OF SASAA, AND AS SUCH CANNOT BE REMOVED AT ANY OF THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS. NO CAPTAINS / MANAGER MEETING OR DIVISIONAL MEETING HAS THE POWER TO ALTER THIS RULE AND BAN THE USE OF SLIDES DURING COMPETITION.

TEAM MANAGERS:
THE MANAGERS OF THE INTERNATIONAL TEAMS WILL NOW BE APPOINTED BY THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE AFTER THE RESPECTIVE INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS. CAPTAINS AND COACHES WILL STILL BE SELECTED AT THE PROVINCIAL CHAMPIONSHIPS, BASED ON NOMINATIONS RECEIVED. MANAGERS FOR THESE TEAMS WILL STILL HAVE TO BE NOMINATED, BASED ON THEIR QUALIFICATION TO DO THESE JOBS.

2009 INTERNATIONAL:
THE GOLF SHIRTS HAVE BEEN SPONSORED BY MALCOLM PAUL (BRIDGE STONE), AND THE
SENIORS NATIONALS DVD:
NONE OF THE TV CHANNELS ARE INTERSTED IN AIRING A ONE PROGRAM COVERAGE OF THESE CHAMPIONSHIPS, AND SO IT HAS BEEN DECIDED THAT HENNIE PAPENFUSS CAN SELL THE DVD TO THE PUBLIC AND SASAA MEMBERS. A % OF THE PROCEEDS TO BE PAID BACK TO SASAA, AND THE BALANCE TO COVER HIS PRODUCTION COSTS OF THE DVD.

GENERAL:
THE RECORD APPLICATION FOR ANDRIES OOSTUIZEN’S TIGER SHARK WAS DISCUSSED AT LENGTH AND IT WAS DECIDED TO ALLOW THIS APPLICATION. CHRIS DE VRIES TO FINALIZE.
THE NEW SASAA BADGE, AS DESIGNED BY WALLY WATT AS WELL AS THE NEW LETTERHEAD WAS CIRCULATED ANDACCEPTED. THE COLOUR TO BE DISCUSSED AND DECIDED ON, BY THE NEW EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
A LIST OF ALL THE PAST SPRINGBOK TEAMS TO BE MADE UP AND SENT TO SASAA SECRETARY, SO THAT THE DATA BASE CAN BE UPDATED.
LIST OF OFFICE BEARERS:
PRESIDENT: DAVID GOLDBERG
VICE PRESIDENT: WALLY WATT
SECRETARY: PIERRE DU PREEZ
TREASURER: MARTIN DOWIE
RECORDS OFFICER: CHRIES DE VRIES
P/R OFFICER: WALLY WATT
CONSTITUTIONAL OFFICER: NOLS VAN ZYL
ENVIROMENTAL OFFICER: JOHAN MALHERBE
TOURNAMENT CO ORDINATOR: FRANS CLAASSENS
DEVELOPMENT OFFICER: NAZAAN HUMZA (WP)
ADDITIONAL MEMBERS: DIRK LUCAS
GRAHAM KINGSLEY WILKENS
HONORARIA: AN AMOUNT OF R2500.00 WAS AGREED UPON TO PAY TO THE TREASURER, MR MARTIN DOWIE.

Round 8 through 'til the End

2009-08-05T21:59:00.008+02:00

Okay so there has been a serious lack of updates this year on our blog and that was all down to the hectic pace set off trying to win the 2008/2009 season. With fantastic commitment from all the members and unwavering leadership from Claude D'offay, our captain, we went from strength to strength.

Round 8 a Common Venue, was fishing in sunny conditions in the Cape Vidal to Mission Rock area. Our A-team get 218.5points - 175 of them of a beautiful Ragged Tooth Shark landed by Claude.

Round 9 again a Common Venue had the league looking for this years elusive Diamond Skates at Port Durnford. A respectable 931.7 and 408.5 points was scored by the A and B team respectively.

April's round 10 was a memorable round for many of our members who caught personal bests and learnt that our captain feels nothing to send us 12 kilometres on foot to a "good spot". The long walk back to the vehicles was made easy by the quality of the catches; Some of the notable catches were a Giant King Fish 19.5 kg, a Honeycomb Ray of 77kg, a Ragged Tooth Shark of 199kg and a Thorntail Ray of 108cm (Disc Width). A new Zululand record by Max Donnoli.

With the season near the end we took a tactical decision to fish the Round 11 at Balito. Much to the dismay of the rest of league knowing that fish were scarce in the area we did our home work and established that a few Queen Mackerel were showing close to shore. Or at least close enough to reach with purpose built spinning gear. we targeted them which put a few crucial points on the board. This is a sign to all competitive anglers to keep up to date with technological developments in Rock and Surf Angling. Although not highly publicised there are continual developments being made available to those striving to improve at their sport. Also there (and this is a personal view not a club view) is a distinct culture of “big fishing” angling in our sport. This was clearly shown by our newest member who showed how easy it was to target Gar Fish. Yes I will get shouted down again about this view but surely we should be adaptable enough to change the game plan to suit conditions. Admittedly the call to go to Ballito put us well out of reach of most of the clubs going into the penultimate round.

Round 12 came and went and there was still no sign of the Spinner Sharks. With a potential of producing over a 1000 points this was our greatest worry for the round. Stalking the other clubs every move wasted precious time but ensured we would give any club a run for their money if the Spinner Sharks could be found. Late into the after noon we made the call to fish at the Pipe in Richards Bay and with in half an hour we were moving north to the Ledges to scratch out a few points.

The final round at Mapelane at the Southern end of iSimangeliso Wetland Park was a festive weekend with all the teams camping there from Friday afternoon. Again good preparation by Claude put us onto the fish on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning. Although fish were scare there was enough excitement to keep us guessing all the time who had taken Zululands Angler of the Year and exactly which team had won the Common Venue Trophy. A Honey Comb Ray caught by John Titlestad gave him biggest fish and biggest inedible of the competition. Thanks to Dougie Nel the members and their families were well feed with the finest that only Dougie can produce.

Round 7 - First and Second For KAC

2009-01-30T18:51:00.003+02:00

By Barry Tedder (ZSAA Records Officer)
Zululand shore angling association hosted their first postal competition for the year 2009 this past weekend. With weather predictions not being favourable forcing most of the club to get in early or to run north away from the bad weather. The Pompano and larger flat fish species that had been on the bite north of Richards Bay also made a disappearing act leaving those anglers having to scratch for other species. Max Killian of Richards Bay A took the biggest edible when he landed a fine Giant Kingfish of 33 kilo’s off small Dawsons. Fishing further north up at Banga nek Max Donnilli of Kwambo B hooked and landed a nice Honey comb ray of 91 kilo’s being the heaviest inedible for the competition. Top lady was Carol Roberts of St Lucia club on 4 points, top master was Max Donnilli on 109.2 pts and top junior went to Carl Nel of St Lucia on 12.6 pts. Top angler overall was Rob Kyle of Kwambo A on 112.6 pts and included in his catch was a Black tip shark of 77.2 kilo’s. Kwambonambi B team took top honours with 272.3 points, their second win todate.

Barry Tedder with a good Ragged Tooth Shark

On the social scene, anglers competing for the monthly star, being the heaviest edible and inedible for the month. November: Chris Haye a Kob of 26 kg and Trevor Stander a Dusky of 151kg.
December: Barry Tedder a Ragged Tooth shark of 202 kg.
Dean Reddy who landed a Giant Guitar fish – Sandy this month of 124 kg is a possible new Zululand and SA measured record.

Max's 91kg Honeycomb Ray

TOP 10 TEAMS

1. Kwambo B - 272.3 pts 5 fish
2. Kwambo A - 199.7 pts 12 fish
3. Blackfin A - 166 pts 9 fish
4. Richards Bay A - 102.9 pts 13 fish
5. St Lucia A - 68.8 pts 14 fish
6. Tugela A - 66.7 pts 7 fish
7. Richards Bay B - 44.6 pts 5 fish
8. Tugela B - 12.4 pts - 5 fish
9. Umzingazi A - 8.2 pts 2 fish
10.Umzingazi B - 7.2 pts 1 fish

December Catch

2009-01-30T18:25:00.004+02:00

With the summer holidays arrival most of thought we would on the beach 24/7 but a few weeks of unfavourable weather kept most indoors. After Christmas the sun came out, the wind blew in one direction and the fish started to show.

The Zambezi's were enjoying the chocolate water of the Mapelane Bay and were sight to behold when the water finally cleared. They could be seen swimming just metres from the shore.

Daryl caught this nice Tripple Tail while the rest of us put in long hours trying for a Zambezi.

A second Triple Tail of 9kgs was cught by Max a few days later!

Big fish were hooked and lost by holiday makers at Cape Vidal while the ski boaters enjoyed the bountiful catches of Dorado.

I was priveliged enough to get to the beach early one morning to find a few weary souls trying to keep a Whale Shark from beaching at Cape Vidal. After a marathon effort the shark was saved thanks to the persistance of all who helped. This success story made up for the lack of fish for me and I trust that many a big fish story are still being told by the youngsters that lent a hand.

Tidy up, better late than never

2009-01-30T18:14:00.003+02:00

Sorry for the recent drought of posts, been a bit of this and a bit of than stopping me from finding the time. Will try to catch up on our happenings over the December when I get back to office ful time.

For now I would like to post an old picture that I seemed to have missed after the event.

This is the "Clean our Beaches 2008" crew from Mission Rocks and Cape Vidal.

Dispite the heavy rain fun was had by all. Lets hope we see more Rock and Surf Clubs on the beaches in Septemeber 2009.

Piet van Rooyen 2009

2008-11-17T11:34:00.001+02:00

By Deon Hunter

Zululand shore angling association hosted the annual Piet van Rooyen quadrangular tournament at Mtunzini this past weekend from 1 to 2 November. Zululand-, North Coast-, South Coast- and Central Natal leagues each had eight anglers that represented their teams. The tournament was fished over two days Saturday and Sunday.

On Saturday the conditions were picture perfect, with Easterly winds in the early morning with flat seas that changed to moderate North Easterly winds in the late morning into the evening. The first session fished on Saturday morning from 7h00 to 12h00 was fished on Mtunzini banks and produced a couple of good fish. A Honeycomb ray of 21.8kg and a Giant guitarfish of 12.9kg were caught by Lloyd Laxton from South Coast league, a Giant Guitarfish of 31.7kg by G. Stclair-Mully and Honeycomb ray of 28.1 by D. Muller from Central Natal. A couple of Brown skates, Milk- and Spinner sharks dominated the rest of the morning session’s catches.

The guys had a well deserved lunch break, and commenced with the second fishing session at 15h00 to 20h00 on Saturday afternoon at Doggy beach, Mtunzini. Zululand that were already in the lead after the first fishing session in the morning, dominated this round with some magnificent fish caught; Deon Hunter - Giant Guitarfish of 12.3kg and a Diamond ray of 42.1kg, Clinton Woodley - Giant Guitarfish of 38.6kg and a Honeycomb skate of 20.6kg and Jan Liebenberg - Giant Guitarfish of 23.9kg. Another Diamond ray of 32.2kg was also caught by Dave Irvine of North Coast league.

On Sunday the conditions deteriorated after a thunderstorm late Saturday evening, but the teams were not discouraged and commenced with the third fishing session on early Sunday morning from 5h00 to 9h00. Milk- and Spinner sharks once again dominated this session fished at the Mtunzini banks, with the exception of a Duckbill of 20.4kg caught by G. Stclaire-Mully from North Coast league.

Zululand took the victory at the end of the tournament with a top score of 299 points. Top angler for the tournament went to Deon Hunter from Zululand, with 79.3 points as well as the trophy for the heaviest inedible for his Diamond of 42.1kg. C.S. Smith from North Coast received the trophy for the heaviest edible for a Kobe of 2kg.

The Zululand team that fished the annual Piet van Rooyen quadrangular tournament this year dedicated their “white wash” victory in memory to their friend and team mate Clive Hunter.

Team results:

1st Zululand - 299pts
2nd North Coast - 186.7
3rd Central Natal - 98.4
4th South Coast - 84.9

Top Anglers per Team:

Zululand: Deon Hunter - 79.3
North Coast: G. Stclaire-Mully – 74.4
Central Natal: D. Muller 36.6
South Coast: Lloyd Laxton – 49.6

Round five, Common Venue at Richards bay

2008-10-31T06:00:00.005+02:00

Where to start? Thats easy!! Well done B Team!! A fantastic win pushes the B team up the rankings to 4th place over all.

The teams selecting the venue opted for us fishing on Sunday from Five Mile in the South up to the Lone Tree at Hlabane River mouth. They had done their home work well with Umzingazi putting a respectable score of 154 points on the board made up mostly of Spinner Sharks in an area that historicly fishes badly at this time of the year.

Kwambo had three teams fishing the round and knew we had a difficult task ahead for the day. But never being a club to turn down a challenge we hit the beaches after a prep talk from our Captain with enthusiasm. Kwambo B was rewarded with a Diamond Skate minutes after lines in and could hardly believe our luck when hearing no reports of other skates being caught. The odd report of small sharks keeping the score board rolling was report hour after hour.

Then Daryl caught this.....also Kwambo B.

Well done on this personal best, Daryl!!

Amoungst the smaller fish caught Max and Rob landed a Sand Shark each bring respectability to the A team before lines up. The final team scores as follows:

Top Ten Teams:
1. Kwambo B. 172.1 pts (17 fish) Prelin Sambiah 76.2 pts (1 fish) Daryl Visser 39.7 pts (1 fish)
2. Umzingazi A. 145.5 pts (40 fish) Desmond Ngubane 47.3 pts (5 fish) Anand Naicker 42.9 pts (18 fish)
3. Blackfin A. 78.8 pts (6 fish). Tim Dunk 44.2 (3 fish). Mike Vleck 32.4 pts (2 fish)
4. Kwambo A. 78.7 pts (16 fish) R Kyle 54.6 pts (4 fish)
5. St Lucia A. 35.9 pts (15 fish) T Sims 14.1 pts (3 fish)
6. Richards Bay A. 24.4 pts (14 fish). J Pereira 6.5 pts (3 fish)
7. Tugela A. 24.3 pts (15 fish) J Pybus 8.2 pts (5 fish)
8. Richards Bay B. 22.4 pts. (7 fish). P Pereira 15.3 pts (3 fish)
9. St Lucia B. 18.3 pts (6 fish) Tiaan Nel 9.2 pts (2 fish)
10. Mtunzini A. 17.3 pts (7 fish) P Swift 9.4 pts (2 fish)

With the "Flat Fish" season fast approaching it is good to know that we have the depth in the club to take on any body. Well done ladies and gents!!

Round Four - Postal - Back to Mission Rocks

2008-10-07T16:40:00.000+02:00

The start of theis eason is looking like the start of last with a change in venue. Last year we slogged down to Ballito comp after comp chasing the ever elusive Grey Sharks. Thios year it looks like we are set to chase the elusive Ragged Tooth Shark rummored to be in abundance at Mission Rocks.

Not being the Captain its not my call but I think that serious thought must be given to tackling a species in a competition when not one of our anglers has landed on e on a social round in that specific area!! Taking nothing from our abilities but practice makes perfect. St Lucia Angling Club can attest to that with the fine catches they landed in the same areas we fished.

1. St Lucia A - 265.4 pts (14 fish) Top anglers Jan Liebenberg 162.2 (2 fish - Raggie 158.9) Neels Visagie 80.3 (4 fish Diamond 45.3 and Sandy 29.6)
2. Mtunzini A - 84.5 pts (31 fish) Top angler Jnr Carl-lyle Young 31.7 pts (12 fish)
3. Umzingazi A - 84.4 pts (26 fish) Johan van Ede 36.6 pts (8 fish) (Diamond 18.6)
4. Tugela A - 83.0 pts (15 fish) Clinton Woodley 21.0 pts (3 fish)
5. Richards Bay A - 80.4 pts (17 fish) John Pereira 25 pts (1 fish) Rock Salmon 10.4 kg
6. Blackfin A - 74.6 pts (8 fish) Tim Dunk 38 pts (2 fish)
7. Umzingazi B - 38.1 pts (9 fish) Heather Tiltmann (L) 27.8 pts (6 fish)
8. Kwambo A - 33.1 pts (10 fish) Deon Hunter 18.4 pts (5 fish)
9. Blackfin B - 25.7 pts (9 fish) Andrew Narainsamy 17 pts (4 fish)
10. Richards Bay B - 24.2 pts (4 fish) Kevin Freestone 14.9 pts (1 fish)
11. Tugela B - 22.8 pts (4 fish) Willie and Maryna Prinsloo 9.4 tie.
12. St Lucia B - 22.6 pts (11 fish) F Barnard 5.2 pts (2 fish)
13. Kwambo B - 6.2 pts (4 fish) Eardly Jee (M) 2 pts (1 fish)
14. Qalakabusha - did not fish.

Well done Deon!! Better luck to the team next time.

Round Three Common Venue

2008-10-07T16:30:00.001+02:00

Kwambo and Qalakabusha AC decided on the following competition details.

Date: Saturday 6th Sept
Times: 8h00 to 16h00
Area: Southern boundary - Mission rock main car park (*as far as you can walk south)
Northern boundary - Cape Vidal main car park (*as far as one can walk north)
(* as far as one can walk to be back in time before scales close 17h30 - no late entries will be accepted)

It was requested that all fish caught be realeased. Although not a rule of the Park authourity it will improve our chances of hosting similar competitions there in the future. In the interests of the public that visit the park, clubs where kindly asked to leave only two vehicles at the Mission Rocks car park.

Only use the access points mentioned above were used. Anglers did not use restricted roads (eg Cape Vidal light house and Rangers).

Captain meeting was at 5h45 sharp at the Croc Farm (Vidal gate)and Prize giving was held slightly later than 17h30 back at the Vidal Gate when R-Bay handed their scores in well after all other clubs had made a sterling effort to speed proceedings along.

Top Ten Teams were as follows:

1. Tugela A - 59.6 pts - 20 fish. Top angler (J Carroll 13.6 pts)
2. Umzingazi A - 53.2 pts - 22 fish. Top (A Naicker 16.5 pts)
3. Richards Bay A - 48.6 pts - 19 fish. (M Killian 12.5 pts)
4. Kwambo A - 38.6 pts - 18 fish. (B Moodley 12.3 pts)
5. St Lucia A - 36.5 pts - 16 fish. (N Visagie 15.4 pts)
6. Kwambo B - 28.9 pts - 11 fish. (A Pieters 10 pts)
7. Tugela B - 26.5 pts - 12 fish. (L Steenkamp 6.9 pts)
8. St Lucia B - 22.4 pts - 10 fish. (N Naumann 6.5 pts)
9. Mtunzini A - 21 pts - 8 fish. (E van der Walt 6.6 pts)
10.Richards Bay B - 15.5 pts. (N Pereira 8.6 pts)

Rule 5 - the battle continues

2008-09-08T11:58:00.002+02:00

Afer a heated executive meeting following the last competition a second Special General Meeting was called to vote on Rule 5. With much floor crossing happening at the beginning of what appears to be a very competitive season the vote was sure to swing. The details are not important now. The only important thing is that Rule 5 was changed back to what it was two months ago. 6 common venues, 6 postals and 1 AGM round.

A personal comment: I think it sad that an organisation should bother its self with politics and redtape to the detriment of the members. We are here to fish not slog it out in a board room. The rules in place are tried and tested and although there may be tiny glitches it is best to adapt your game plan to fit the rules than to try and adapt the rules to fit you game plan.

Safety was the justification used for the original rule change and while it had merit you as an angler must remember that no matter how many rules there are they will not replace vigilance. Let us rather tackle the safety problem by fishing in groups - while it will not ensure there will be no problems it will improve the social side of the league and offer strength in numbers.

Let us hope now that we as members of the most dynamic league in South Africa can concentrate on fishing and frienship.

Round 2 - Ballito

2008-09-08T11:36:00.002+02:00

Ballito's Black Fin Angling Club called the venue for the first Common Venue of the season. With heavy seas pounding the coast most "points" were unfishable, coupled with a cruel South Wester that sent most running for shelter, hopes of a "good" round were thrown out the window. Few anglers braved it to the end and with the conditions any body could have been excused from heading home early.

To win one must stick it out through good times and bad. Kwambo did and Kwambo won!

To those anglers who caught fish well done.

1. Kwambonambi A ~ 10.8 pts (Top angler Grewer van Huysteen 6.6 pts)
2. Kwambonambi B ~ 8.6 pts (Dougie Nel 8.6 pts)
3. Tugela A ~ 7.5 pts (Andre Botha 4.2 pts)
4. Umzingazi B ~ 7.0 pts (Nicholas Naidoo 7.0 pts)
5. Umzingazi A ~ 6.4 pts (Rowan Moodley 6.4 pts)
6. Tugela B ~ 3.4 pts (Francois Massyn 3.4 pts)
7. Richards Bay A B & C ~ ( 0 pts)
8. Blackfin SA A & B ~ (0 pts)
9. Mtunzini A ~ (0 pts)
10. Tugela C ~ (0 pts)
11. Qalakabusha - waiting for return.

St Lucia did not fish; still not happy with the rule changes allowing more Common Venues.

A New Season - Postal One

2008-08-07T06:01:00.004+02:00

A new season, a new format and a new rules. At the last Exco it was voted that the competition format be changed to 8 Common Venues and 4 Postals plus the Annual Meet. Some clubs did not mince words when the votes were counted, voicing their dis-pleasure. At the end of the day the rules apply to all so there should be no competitive advantage to one club over another. But it might affect another aspect of the league - lets leave this one over for later in the season and rather report back on how it did affect the league moral.

We are pleased to embrace the new rule of barb less hooks on "slide traces" but question SASAA's motivations and lost opportunity to change to barb less hooks across the board.

Here are the results from our 1st postal competition fished this past weekend.

1. Kwambo A ~ 410.7 pts (Top angler Wes Rapson 158.6 pts - Dusky Grey of 132.2 kg) - Transkei
2. St Lucia A ~ 93 pts (Top angler Philip Andrews 38.8 pts - 7 fish) - Mission Rocks
3. Tugela A ~ 77.7 pts (Top angler Barry Tedder 29.1 pts) - Transkei
4. Umzingazi A ~ 72.9 pts (Top angler Johan van Ede 27.5 pts) - Transkei
5. Kwambo B ~ 60.6 pts (Prelin Sambiah 21.5 pts) - Transkei
6. Blackfin A ~ 57.4 pts (Mahen Reddy 31.6 pts) - Transkei
7. Mtunzini A ~ 39.8 pts (Henk van Dyke 16.8 pts) Cape Vidal
8. St Lucia B ~ 34.1 pts (Chris Visagie Jnr 14.2 pts 5 fish) - Mission Rocks
9. Tugela B ~ 25.0 pts (Shaun Mathura 16.0 pts) - Transkei
10. Richards Bay B ~ 17.5 pts (Phillip van Vollenstee 9.6 pts) - Maphelone/St Lucia
11. Umzingazi B ~ 14.7 pts (Danesh Sew 14.7 pts) - Transkei
12. Richards Bay A ~ 13.6 pts (Chris Haye 8.6 pts) Maphelone/St Lucia
13. Qalakabusha A ~ 6.9 pts (S du Preez 3.5 pts) Mtunzini

Well done Kwambo AC!!!

Memorial service for Clive Hunter 13/07/08

2008-07-13T20:30:00.002+02:00

The memorial service for Clive Hunter was held today and with more than 300 people attending we can clearly see the impact Clive had on our community. Lets all Stand together and stop this sort of thing from happening again.

We will all miss you buddy.

ZSAA Mourns

2008-07-09T05:32:00.004+02:00

Zululand Shore Angling community mourns the loss of their 2008 Champion Angler.

Clive Hunter was shot dead on the evening of Tuesday 8th July 2008, while fishing with his wife Zelda, at the "Pipe" on Alkantstrand Beach at Richards Bay. Clive's unwavering commitment and contribution to our sport will be sorely missed. His achievements are reflected in him being the Champion Angler for the 2007/2008 season.

Our condolences to his wife, daughter, brother Deon, family and friends.

Trusting that this horrific incident will be used to publicise the absurd conditions under which we as sportswomen and sportsmen have to compete. In what other sport in South Africa do competitors have to practice and then participate in competitions under the treat of having your vehicles continuously broken into, having ambushes laid along accesses to and from our competition venues and now having to live with the real probability that you are going to get murdered?

Does our South African constitution not give us the right to life?
Does it not give us the right to participate in sport?
Does it not give us the right to a be treated equally?
If it does then why are we being victimised on the beaches?
Are we not equal to a soccer player or a golf pro?
Do our rights not differ from track athlete or a cricket player?

If Jimmy Tau, Erni Els, Josiah Thugwane, or Shaun Pollock were shot while competing in their chosen sport the world would hear about it. Will Rock and Surf Angling get the recognition it so desperately needs? When will we compete at a national level with financial assistance from Local Government? When will our efforts to develop anglers get support from the Corporates - or is their commitment to social empowerment focused solely on sporting disciplines that get them advertising?

When will another of our friends get killed?

Claude Joins the 100kg Club

2008-07-04T08:18:00.003+02:00

The picture says it all.............

Annual Meet ends the 2007/2008 Season

2008-07-04T06:54:00.003+02:00

The last competition of the season was fished at Ballito in the hope that there would be a few Grey Sharks around or the odd Diamond Skate. But it seemed as if the Sardine activity on the upper South Coast had taken the interst of every fish on the Zululand Coast. Fish were far and few between. Results were not spectacular with our A team finally making 34.3 points.

Max took top score for Kwambo with his bag including a 4kg rockcod while Vinesh in his final round as our sponsored junior showed us what he is made of landing two beautiful Rubberlips.

Unfortunatly the round was a fizzle and not a pop but I am happy to say that we are already looking forward to the 2008/2009 season.

The ZSAA Prize Giving was held the next weekend at Tusk Casino. Jeffrey won the "Most Improved Angler" trophy finishing 7th on the Zululand log. Kwambonambi is well represented in the various Zululand sides competing early next year in the South African Nationals:

A Team: Claude D'Offay
Norman van Blerk
Jeff Le Roux
Rob Kyle
Wesley Rapson
Bryan Rapson ( Coach )

B Team: Prelin Sambiah
Basil Moodley

Development: Mike Stratton ( Captain )

Junior: Vinesh Moodley

Masters: Max Donnoli
Grewar van Huyssteen ( Reserve )

Good luck to all those selected at the up coming nationals.

The Gamble at Mission Rocks

2008-07-04T06:19:00.004+02:00

Better late than never....

Round 13 was a gamble for the team after having caught up so many points with the Spinner smash. We had to go huge or stay at home and mow the lawn. With that as an option and all weather forecasts showing a south-easter for mid day Saturday we made a last minute call to head for Mission Rocks.

The previous week many of the ledges had been sanded up enough to allow anglers to land Ragged Toothed Sharks. With a rushed start and minimal ground work we were looking for trouble. The members targeting sharks were treated to a feeding frenzy with hook-up after hook-up but with the outer reef washed clean of the protective sand lines were cut off on the rocks time and time again. Rob got a respectable Black Tip Shark of 39.3kg.

A huge positive from the round was an awesome Potato Bass caught be Prelin on a large throw bait he had hoped to hook a Raggie!! With fish like this protected we should see more and more big edibles on the score cards. Prelin's fish was returned to the sea after measuring and a quick photo.

Now chaps this is why you should carry a camera, a real camera, with you!!!! ;o)

Spinner Smash at the "Pipe"

2008-05-22T06:42:00.005+02:00

Spinner Sharks! Who would have thought with three rounds to go and trailing Tugela Angling Club by 679.5 points we had a chance at gold!!! We have closed the gap to 159.8 points.

After much deliberation leading up to Round 12 we decided to tackle the Tunie Cup for most kilograms edible fish caught. So the plan was set to head for ledges and clearer water to fish for the edibles that have been prevalent over the last few weeks.

Sending a scout ahead on Friday to test waters for us probably saved the day. An urgent call from them early on Saturday morning to say there were no fish around probably because of the incredibly bright moon we had to regroup and discuss strategy for the weekend.

It was eventually decided, and not to enthusiastically, that we should fish for Spinner Sharks and use the Round to protect the three anglers we have in the top end of the Zululand Ladder. A call was made by our captain to start at 17h00, plenty time to get home repack, tie traces and have a sleep.

Luckily for us Grewar had gone to see what was happening at the "Pipe" at 09h30. And here happened one of those beautiful moments in competition angling that are remembered for years - he saw an opposition club testing!! Mtunzini cast out four baits and immediately hooked four fish.

With a quick phone call to the captain the stage was set for another helter skelter scramble and dash to get packed and meet at the "Pipe" by 13h00. We still had to wait for Claude and the lads to get back from up north! When we hit the beach Mtunzini had just finished waiting the prescribed 3 hour period between testing and fishing. While we were tackling up they started fishing and it was evident the fish were in abundance.

By 14h10 we were ready to start. And we never looked back. With the assistance of our top secret connection from another club and Rosalie Rapson, measuring and releasing of our catches was lightning fast. The score mounted and the lads kept the pressure up not realising we were doing the unimaginable - we were winning by a mile!!!

Hats off to those that took part in an eight hour spectacle I will never forget. Hats off to those that walked when they could not run anymore, or got cramps they can still feel and hats off to conservation - catching and releasing 828 Spinner Sharks in eight hours!

1. Kwambo A – 1304.1 pts (536 fish) Top Angler R Kyle 240.1 pts ( 98 fish)
2. Umzingazi A – 930.9 pts (388 fish) D Hunter 220.4 pts (91 fish)
3. Mtunzini A – 814.0 pts ( fish) P Swift 139.0 pts (61 fish)
4. Tugela A – 780.0 pts (314 fish) B Tedder 122.4 pts (51 fish)
5. Kwambo B – 712.1 pts (292 fish) D Visser 160.6 pts (65 fish)
6. St Lucia A – 701.4 pts (14 fish) P Blignaut 414.9 (Raggies 182.1 & 161.3 kg) (Result pending proof of team registration)
7. St Lucia B – 423.9 pts (19 fish) T Sims 379.7 (Raggies 174.1 & 142.3 kg) (Result pending proof of team registration)
8. Tugela B – 295.1 pts (120 fish) L Steenkamp (lady) 88.6 pts (35 fish)
9. Umzingazi B – 263.7 pts (110 fish) L van Duyker (lady) 107.7 pts (44 fish)
10. Blackfin A – 259.8 pts (30 fish) M Vclek 84.9 pts (10 fish)
111. Richards Bay A – 68.3 pts (11 fish) C Haye 40.1 pts (1 fish)
12. Qalakabusha A – 41.1 pts (7 fish) M Beukes 24.1 pts (5 fish)
13. Richards Bay B – 18.8 pts (7 fish) J Getkate 9.2 pts (3 fish)
14. Richards Bay C – 2.8 pts (2 fish) M Hughes 1.6 pts (1 fish

Total weight points for the weekend. 6,616 tons.

Prelin Smashes a Record

2008-04-10T10:36:00.002+02:00

Well done Prelin!!!

Fishing at Casaurina beach and having had some "bad luck" with his normal fishing tackle he resorted to using his Light Tackle rod and reel to slide out a bait. As a result he set a new Zululand record on Light Tackle for a Blackfin Shark of 165cm. That a whopping 68.4kg!!

With some luck he will give us a few pictures to post here. ;o)

Keep up the good work, Prelin.

Fantastic Win Marred by Opposititions Concerns

2008-04-10T05:25:00.004+02:00

March 14 th was one of the days that make you love and hate competition angling. Faced with the prospect of terrible wind and rain for Saturday and Sunday and monster swells, our Captain Max made the call to fish the Mission Rock to Bats Cave area in the newly named iSimangaliso Wetland Park. And the fish were wild!

On the advice of members who were able to walk the area earlier in the afternoon it was decided to move the start time forward from 22h00 to 18h30. With St. Lucia Angling Club fishing the same area, but at approx. our original time, it showed just how critical a few hours can make.

We beat them by miles.

1. Kwambo A - 176.8 pts
2. St Lucia A - 73.0 pts
3. Kwambo B - 71.4 pts
4. Umzingazi A - 63.1 pts
5. Tugela A - 42.2 pts
6. Richards Bay A - 40.1 pts
7. Blackfin A - 32.3 pts
8. Mtunzini A - 32.2 pts
9. Umzingazi B - 25.5 pts
10. St Lucia B - 16.8 pts

The first hour produced the fish for most members. With the cloud cover breaking up the moon put the fish down and turned the eels on. Later as the moon dropped behind the dunes the odd fish was caught. All fish caught were edibles caught close in-shore on small baits. The biggest was a cave bass of 4.2kg. Just goes to show - a lot of "little" can be big.

Sadly a "Letter of concern" was given to the Zululand league by St Lucia Angling Club. It read;

Our club fished in the Bats area this weekend, and we would like a raise a great concern.

Whilst our members were walking to fish the area, it was noted that two anglers from Kwambo Angling Club were fishing alone, and not together. One angler claimed to have caught ± 14 fish while the other angler claimed to have caught ± 16/17 fish. We would like to know whether these fish were caught and released, and if so – who witnessed the catches? Also if the fish were not released, it is a great concern to us that the fish were not returned alive to the sea.

Could the matter be investigated and feedback given to us as soon as possible.

We were asked by ZSAA to turn in our catch return cards, which we duly did. We were asked to make a written statement that our fish were caught, measured by a witness and returned alive to the sea, which we duly did. We have since then received no correspondence stating who was seen transgressing the ZSAA Competition Rules or correspondence to say the matter has been resolved with St. Lucia.

As the ladder was made public and an Executive Comittee Meeting has been held since (Not that St. Lucia was absent from the meeting) we must assume that the scores will stand.

Well done Members for fishing well!!

Milk Shark Feedback

2008-04-10T05:20:00.002+02:00

Thanks to the efforts of the members of our club we are pleased to anounce that Milk Sharks have been added to the Length to Weight Conversion Chart.

Brown Skates Plus Rats and Mice Save the Day

2008-02-21T06:09:00.004+02:00

Choosing the venue for the latest Common Venue was the responsibility of Umzingazi and Kwambonambi Angling Captains and it reflected on the score board.

Umzingazi A. – 104.3
Kwambo A. – 97.5
St Lucia A. - 70.4
Richards Bay B. – 34.3
Richards Bay A. – 30.1
Correctional A. – 26.7
Tugela A. – 25.9
St Lucia B. – 22.4
Umzingazi B. – 21.0
Blackfin A. – 18.3
Kwambo B. – 16.9
Tugela B. – 9.4
Mtunzini A. – 9.1
Richards Bay C. – 3.8
St Lucia C. – 1.4
Umzingazi C. – 0

Norman van Blerk got top points for us (21.6) followed closely by Jeffrey le Roux (20.6), both landing Brown Skates over 16kgs.

The bulk of the days catch was made up of Shad (Elf) and small Salmon. A comendibile Shad of 61cm (3kgs) was landed by Claude D'Offay.

The almost flat sea had good colour but cleared slowly through out the day. Wading banks were difficult to find and this left some anglers taking increadible risks, swimming out into Zambezi Shark territory, to the banks that could be found. Is the risk worth it? Umzingazi would say yes because that produced one Diamond skate for them and clinched a win.

Diamonds at Durnford

2008-01-16T05:32:00.000+02:00

After three days of wind from the North East churning up the silt along the beaches between Richards Bay and Amatikulu the search was on for Diamond skates for our first Postal round of 2008. An early start on Saturday 12th January had our team members split up along the coast watching and waiting.

With the skates being far and few between compared with other years it was critical that we found fish before we started fishing. Luckily there were anglers on the beach that we could watch and it wast long before we saw the first Diamond skate of the day at "2nd stream". With information that fish had been taken in the afternoon the previous day we regrouped at Durnford Beach, did our bait issue and split the teams up to cover various beaches.

One vehicle went south to the "Banks", two stayed at Durnford and one headed for "1st and 2nd stream". At 10 minutes to start the anglers at the "Banks" got information from one of the opposition teams that the water there was unfishable because of so much weed. So that vehicle lost 40 minutes racing back to join the rest of the team, splitting us into two groups.

We started fishing at 13h10 and the brown water looked better and better as the afternoon passed. Claude D'Offay landed the first skate for Kwambo. As the wind slowed, more and more fish were being caught around us. Mike Stratton landed the first of two Diamonds and Claude took another soon after. All fish were beached with out a gaff thanks to Prelin Sambiah. Norman van Blerk caught a Diamond and Max Donnoli a Long-tail Brown skate. Prelin used a 54cm shad as bait that had taken a whole mackerel, but that was left untouched. Mr. Jee stuck to "scratching" and came away with two Lesser Guitar fish and a small Kob.

South of this group Danie Faurie got a Long-tail Brown, Basil Moodley one Diamond and Grewar van Huysteen took the club honours with three Diamonds weighing a total of 163.5kg. And again these fish were all beached without a gaff, adding valuable points to our score.

The final scores were as follows:

Tugela A – 1431.6 Pts – Top angler Nigel Simmonds 441.0 pts (7 fish)
Richards Bay A – 636 Pts – Clinton Woodley 147.7 pts (2 fish)
Kwambo A – 552.5 Pts – Grewar van Huysteen 196.2 pts (3 fish)
Richards Bay B – 518.7 Pts – Janien Hughes 178.8 pts (3 fish)
Tugela B – 500 Pts – Joe Veker 253.2 pts (4 fish)
Richards Bay C – 391 Pts – D Barnard 146.6 pts (2 fish)
St Lucia A – 365 Pts – Jan Liebenberg 131.4 pts (2 fish)
Blackfin A – 343.6 Pts – Mahen Reddy 88.8 pts (4 fish)
St Lucia B – 147.9 Pts – Richard Cason 144 pts (2 fish)
Mtunzini A – 138.2 Pts – Dawie Steenkamp 70.2 pts (2 fish)
Blackfin B – 128.8 Pts – France Chretien 86.3 pts (2 fish)
Umzingazi A – 91.2 Pts – Clive Hunter 33.8 pts (3 fish)
Kwambo B – 56.5 Pts – Norman van Blerk 52.4 pts (1 fish)
Umzingazi B – 48 Pts – Hansie Neethling 46.1 pts ( 1 fish)
Correctional Services – 10 Pts – Riaan van Rooyen 5.2 pts (4 fish)

Turkey Trot 2007

2007-12-04T08:06:00.000+02:00

The 2007 Turkey Trot was fished on 2nd December from 06h00 to 12h00 between the Amatikulu and Umlalazi River mouths. Fantastic weather in the days leading up to the competition had us all believing we were going to be pulling big fish.

We had to settle for Milk Sharks and Shad(Elf), and very few of them. True to form the members of KAC stuck it out in the blazing sun while many others packed up early and headed for the Ski Boat Club to enjoy an ice cold beer and and a refreshing swim. Our perseverance put us in second place with 18.3 points.

More information on Milk Sharks was collected - thanks to those that helped.

Grewar took top weight in the club and was also the top master on the day. Interestingly our other master Mr. Jee took second place in the club. Might be that the younger generation needs a bit more practice in those conditions.

With the festive season upon us it is time for a few social outings to the beach and a bit of a rest before our next Postal Competition on the 12&13th January 2008.

Giant Guitarfish - Jaco van der Westhuyzen

2007-11-28T12:36:00.000+02:00

Caught at Casuarina on mackerel with Shimano Trinidad 30.

Milk Shark vs Spinner sharks

2007-11-28T11:23:00.000+02:00

Data captured during our Round 5 Competion regarding the Length to Weight conversition of Milk Sharks has travelled the length and bredth of SA and the it seems that once again we making a diffence in conservation of our fish species.

Already that data is being used to formulate PCL conversions for Milk Sharks. In the short term we need more information so sadly more specimens will need to be weighed. With our access to digital scales I am asking the members to weigh all Milk Sharks caught, noting their sex and PC length.

Our present information did not include sex and is being used to formulate a "general" L-W ratio.

In the long term we will be able to add another species to our conversion tables and have more accurate catch figures.