Greeting all Jiggers & Poppers, we trust that you will all start to thaw out from a chilly winter now that Spring is making an appearance! We’re already into August, so time to get the gear prepared, and plans made so we’re ready to mix it with big fish.

A BIG reminder, Chris Wong and Richard Dobbinson will be travelling from New Zealand to participate at the National Boat Show with Jigstar Africa from 13-15th August. Please visit us at our Display at the Coca-Cola Dome – Jigstar Africa at Stand 76 in the main arena, and you can meet these Jigging legends first hand!

 

Hi Everyone

Registration is open for the 2010/2011 new and improved 25 Species Angling Competition.

All the rules, the species and the information can be found on the 25 species web site. Have a look and enter yourself for an exciting competition that will help you to become a better angler while having fun.

NEW FORMAT - Over 150 Species to fish for

The 25 Species Angling competition is a unique angling competition with a unique scoring system. The competition is open to all saltwater anglers from South Africa with the only qualifications being that an angler has to be a member of www.25species.co.za. The competition caters not only to the experienced anglers, but also to the juniors and ladies. Starting from 1 September 2010 and running till 31 July 2011 we will all fish for our respective top 25 species of fish.

The competition will be fished on a measure-and-weigh basis with a unique way of scoring. We also promote conservation, and to that effect the competion allows a 10% bonus for all fish released and a 5% bonus for fish tagged.

Hi Everyone

After a year the competion has finally ended. Thank you to everyone that has participated, and a big thank you to our sponsors that has made this competition possible. Congratulations also to all the winners - and those that tried real hard.

Here is a list of all the winners, as well as the prizes they will receive.

NB - All prize winners must send us via E Mail ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) their correct Postal Addresses to send their prizes to.

Rock and Surf Section

Overall Winner on Points

Congrats to Jackal who caught 17 different species for a total of 1188.35 points with 10 of the species released. He wins himself the following:

A Daiwa Saltist reel sponsored by Dudley from Overberg Angling
A trip aboard a 28ft Buttcat to the Alphard Banks or 45's for 2 anglers sponsored by Awesome Charters
Accomodation for 2 at a 5 star resort with Breakfast and Supper sponsored by Avalon Springs
Ultima Lines sponsored by Hooked
Leader Lines sponsored by T-Line
Bait voucher sponsored by Fish and More in Struisbaai

Die laaste 2 weke het dit maar moeilik gegaan vir baie hengelaars om vis in die hande te kry, maar tog het 'n paar manne mooi visse aan wal gebring. Daar net voor Spookdraai het al meer as een pragtige vet steenbras gehang, blykbaar vroeg oggende op die Plaat met eerste lig op wurms aangekeer.

Die uwe het self op die Plaat gaan gooi sonder enige sukses en amper begin dink daar is nie vis nie toe 'n ander hengelaar daar van die Rietjies se kant af aangestap kom en met trots sy vangs van 'n steenbras, kabeljou en belman kom wys het. Na 3 ure se probeer is al drie visse binne 30 minute gevang op bloedwurm. Die man het die volgende dag weer probeer, maar soos die hengelgode maar maak het hy toe 'n bloutjie geloop en sonder vis huis toe gekeer.

Dear Angler

ANGLINGSKINS – ZOETENDAL ACADEMY – L’AGULHAS!

We hereby invite all anglers, old and young to participate in our exciting skins competition!

A clearly marked angling area with enough space for both rock- and surf anglers.

Al juniors will be restricted to the harbour area.

Ø Date: Saturday 2 October 2010

Ø Time: Lines in 07h00 / Lines out 16h00

Ø Weigh in: Between 16h30 and 17h30 (only edible fish will be weighed in)

Durban - A shoal of sardines descended on Margate on Wednesday, the KwaZulu-Natal Sharks board said.

About 1 000 people were on the beach to see them, head of operations Mike Anderson-Reade said.

"People are having lots of fun.”

More sardines were expected at Pumula Beach on Thursday.

The annual sardine run is one of Durban's most popular events as families gather on various beachfronts in June and July waiting for the fish to reach the shore.

When the shoal arrives, parents and children pack baskets and crates full of the small fish and head home for a fresh and tasty meal.

Hi all Jiggers & Poppers. We trust that winter has provided you with the perfect opportunity to get all your gear ready for Spring and Summer, not long now until everyone is on the water again.

Andre, Greg and I returned from Hells Gate 2 weeks ago from a ‘recce’ trip prior to the August adventure with Chris Wong and Richard Dobbinson. Please note that final bookings for this trip close in 2 weeks time so if you are considering joining us, commitment is needed at soonest.

One can only say that Earl and Linda Strydom have created an amazingly luxurious and relaxed environment that is great in every way. The idyllic location, the magnificent appointment of the Lodge, the wonderful service and attention to detail shown by the staff, the excellent food, and of course the great fishing leave nothing to be desired! We were there into the last week of June, yup mid-winter. The water was cold, around 22Deg C and even then the fishing was good. Our main objective was to validate the “Jigging Spots” for the August trip , and this we did. We found the Tropical Yellowtail, the Greater Amberjack and other resident species such as Rosie and Green Jobs, King Mackerel (Couta) etc. The warmer waters, and hungry fish of August are calling....... there will be many bent rods and good fish, and an experience not to be missed.

South Africa's first competitive Rock and Surf Super Pro League series where anglers can take part in competitions and win big prize money fishing around the South African coastline Each province will run its own pro league run by ten franchise owners. They will be responsible for running 8 to 10 competitions per year in each franchise and the top 24 anglers from each franchise, based purely on the bonus point structure set up will be the team at the end of each year to fish in a national pro league against the other franchises.

I could tell you all that we have been so busy fishing, that I have
not had time to update the web site or do a fishing report. Truth of
it is, I have just been a bit "slapgat". (Slack arsed for those of you
who don't understand the mother tongue). I have finally decided that
the physical act of fishing is far, far better than sitting in front
of a computer and writing about it. Which brings me to a point, the
multitude of fishing web sites, blogs(whatever they are, still not
sure how the stuff works) and chat groups. It would seem that the
electronic age has well and truly made itself felt in the fishing
game. Gone are the days of a school of fish arriving at a place (any
place) and being caught there for a week or two by a few fishermen
that were fortunate enough to find them and catch them. Usually whilst
the rest of the fishing community were oblivious to their presence. In
these instances, the bulk of the fishermen out there only found out
about the presence of these fish a few weeks after they had made their
departure. Not so anymore. Now the news of these shoals of fish flies
out over the wired and wireless networks as fast as the electrons can
get to their intended destinations. One galjoen gets caught at Die
Damme and next day fifty thousand anglers know about it. This in
itself is not a problem, but when news of the white steenbras biting
at Melkbos or the belman at Broken Road gets out, the hordes of
anglers that converge on these spots is something to behold. At times
like these I am really glad I'm not a fish. Where am I going with
this? I am not sure really, but one thing is for sure, the less fish
we have in the sea, the more hell-bent we become on catching them, and
the more lethal our methods of doing so become. I appreciate that
anglers all over the world enjoy sharing their stories and
experiences. I am one of them, and though this may seem a case of pot
calling kettle black, (charter and commercial fishing is my business)
I strongly believe that we must be aware of how good we have become at
catching, hopefully not always killing, our finned friends from the
depths. And so I guess, the electronic communication network that has
become so much a part of our day to day lives, is yet another means of
making our fish catching endeavours so much more effective. Now for my
real point..........this is a fishing report, but because I was
"slapgat", it is old news and I suspect not one single fish will get
caught because of it! It is simply a report of some fish that WERE
caught, some nice big ones too.