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Written by Calvin Govender and Cameron Johnston
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Wednesday, 24 August 2011 23:50 |
The Mtwalume league event begun with another grey East Coast sunrise with a bit of a chill in the air, but that did not deter the 30 odd members eager to get the days competition underway. The presence of the sardine spotters in the area added to the growing excitement amongst the KZN Fishing members, praying and wishing for the sardines to put in an appearance. After the 06:40 briefing and with most having paid the R20 entrance fee to Jan’s now traditional “Most Species Competition,” the guys had their tackle boxes on their backs and moved down to the waterfront to be ready for the 07:00 start.
Everyone was baited and ready for action in no time at all. As lines-in was called a number of anglers baits hit the water in quick succession. In what seemed like only a few short minutes anglers had their first fish out and their score cards at the ready for measurements to be filled in and signed off. The early run of Shad saw most guys get some points on the board and anglers could be seen all over the rocks jockeying for the best spots. The Shad however, went off the bite and with most of the competition still ahead many of the competitors, slightly disappointed, turned to their light tackle rigs.
It was not long before a few decent sized Blacktail and Karanteen were landed. This in turn, brought back the competitive frenzy. A few of the guys had opted to persevere with targeting Shad and these were rewarded with an occasional fish and most were of a decent size. A number of these Shad weighed in between 1kg and 2kg but these were only coming out in drips and drabs and, for the most part, for the guys who managed to put out a fairly deep shot.
At this point some of the guys decided to move closer to the bay area and try their luck by putting out a live Shad in search of the elusive Garrick. With the baits out, Jace, Joe Clavin, Dhirren, Selvan and many others had a chance to sit back, relax and chat while patiently waiting for the call of the screaming reel.
Around mid-morning the tide dropped making it difficult to land anything decent and even the likes of Avesh, Andy and Marcus were beginning to look disgruntled. Fortunately it did not take long before a mixed bag of fish were back on the bite.
This signaled the start of the second fishing frenzy of the morning and saw the unsuccessful Garrick anglers packing away their heavy tackle and returning to the rocks as all were now out to improve on their earlier catches.
Andy was in fine form, catching fish after small rock fish and every time you looked up he had different specie dangling from his hook. Raj was another angler fiercely intent on racking up the most fish for the day and had a string of Shad catches under his belt. Jan, with his super casts managed a few of the bigger Shad and it was an elated Joe who came, almost dancing, along the rocks, when finally, after an age long drought , he managed to get a decent Shad and get his first points on the board for this year. Joe wasn’t the only one to break the league point drought though, and plenty of the regular league participants were able to breathe a sigh of relief after they managed a fish or two at this event. Keeping true to form, young Emmanuel was in the thick of things all morning long and kept the older guys on their toes.
During the last few hours of the competition quite a few of the ladies had come down to bask in the sun and give their partners encouragement and as always Mandy was on hand to take photos.
As the competition drew to a close at 1pm everyone gathered around for the Most Species Competition prize presentation and it was Andy who had pipped David, Avesh and Marcus to win the day’s prize money, presented as usual, by the beaming Jan. After a short debrief and thank-you from Jace it was decide that those guys who were keen to spend some more time at the water could do so and the post-event braai would start a little later than usual because of the abundance of fish.
The mood change from competitive intensity to relaxed camaraderie and the first of the afternoon’s beers were cracked. It must be mentioned that even though the 30+ KZNF anglers were crowded onto the same rock together with all the locals, not once was there any sign of irritation or animosity as a result of crossed lines, lost traces etc., and one local angler was heard to say how nice it was to see a “club” angling event where everyone got along so well and where the regulars were not driven from their spot by them. Well done guys, you kept the KZN Fishing name shining.
As the majority of guys were beginning to relax there was still one more catch of note to bring them all back into focus. Cameron’s son Aston, ventured too close behind a casting angler on the rocks, and for his efforts, had his ear pierced by a number 4 hook. Bravely, he managed to hold back the tears, and after having had the wound inspected it was decided that we would leave the hook in place until a suitable cutter could be found to remove it. Joe was kind enough to repeatedly disinfect the site with liberal doses from his Johnny Walker hip flask. Aston was soon showing of his new earring to all the other kids and to anyone who was willing to pay attention. When the cutter was retrieved from the cars a short while later the hook was cleanly removed. This just goes to show how very careful we all need to be when we fish in crowds.
As the afternoon wore on, the tummies started to rumble, and more and more of the guys were seen packing away their tackle. Jackie took a van load of guys through to Hiberdeen and they soon returned with more beers, meat, bread rolls and a new braai stand. The usual “family” ambience settled over the crowd and soon everyone was sharing, chatting and laughing.
As the last of the meat was cooking, the KZN Fishing boys choir (including, but not limited to, David, Denzil, and Calvin, and led by a sterling alto performance from Ronald,) belted out some good old Bee Gee’s classics and this performance reached an almost spiritual crescendo with Islands in the Stream. Jace is currently in negotiations with Sony over a possible record deal.
With evening rapidly descending, handshakes and hugs were the order of the day as the guys loaded their cars and headed home from what was certainly the most productive league event this year so far in terms of number of fish caught. Once again the spirit of the KZN Fishing family had ensured another hugely successful event.
We would like to thank everyone for their patience in waiting for this report.
Written by Calvin Govender and Cameron Johnston.
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Last Updated on Thursday, 25 August 2011 07:31 |
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