Nature | Beaches | Lakes | Culture | Birdwatching | Diving | Dolphins | Horse Riding | Whalewatching | Elephants | Turtles | Fishing | Canoe | Hiking | 4x4 | Quads

Fishing

Kosi Bay and Maputaland is extremely popular fishing region. The traditional tourism to the region was fishermen coming to catch the big ones.

Kosi is known for the numerous Caranx (kingfish) species, especially the Giant Kingfish or Ignobilis Kingfish (GT’s). The period from January to April historically shows the greatest concentration of these fish at the mouth, when they arrive in huge numbers to feed on the Grunter. Many Giants in the 15kg to 25kg range have been hooked and landed at the mouth.

Kosi Bay is a fly fishers paradise and also offers pristine flyfishing on almost secluded beaches for the other plentiful sub-tropical species like Grunter, Springer, Salad Fish, Wave Garrick, River Snapper, Pickhandle Barracuda, and a host of other saltwater species.

Dedicated guides can be arranged beforehand to offer expert assistance and advice.

Fishing Permits can be obtained at any Post Office or at KZN Wildlife reception.

This picture says it all!

Some Fish Species

Seventy per cent of all fish caught by shore anglers in KwaZulu-Natal are shad (a popular eating fish). Shad can grow to be 120 cm long and a weight of 14 kg (10-15years old).

Slinger, an endemic to KZN and Mozambique, make up 30% of total commercial line fish catch by weight in KZN. This deep bodied pink fish with a steep forehead, a distinct blue bar under the eye and an orange tinge to their tail, is found in offshore reefs from 20m - 100m depth. Slinger reach a maximum length of about 600 mm.

Snapper kob are frequently caught by anglers, especially paddle-ski and light tackle enthusiasts. They have a distinctive elongated body are bronze red above and silvery to white below. They seldom reach more then 600mm or 1,6 kg.

Squaretail kob reach a maximum size of 1200 mm (13kg). Squaretail kob are found primarily from Salt Rock to Richards Bay (Tugela Banks).

The Dusky kob is the premier inshore angling species and is one of the largest members of the kob family. Dusky kob reach a maximum age of about 42 years and a maximum size of 75 kg.

The Geelbek is an important line fishing species.

Red Steenbrass are generally found in deeper water (> 50 m) often close to the continental shelf.

The Spotted grunter can attain a size of 80 cm and the SA record is 9,5 kg (greater than 15 years old). This is a fine table fish caught by surf fisherman and spear fishermen.

The King mackerel is one of the most important recreational game fish targeted by skiboat, spear and rock and surf anglers. It is a large fish and occurs in slightly deeper water off the continental shelf. It is a very fast growing fish reaching 80 cm at six months and 100 cm at 18 months. Adults can attain 220 cm. A 48,6 kg specimen was caught in 1975.


Abbreviated Fishing Report from Dr. Kyle

Kosi Bay Flyfishing Report – Scotty Kyle - 07/03/2007

Summer has come with a vengeance and there have been some spectacular fishes around though relatively few have been landed.

Surf temperatures have fluctuated markedly as has wind direction and speed and these have combined to make fishing results vary markedly from day to day and place to place.

There have been excellent catches of large spotted pompano and yet the next day the ocean has often seemed dead. Even on the same day much of the shore has been devoid of fish except for one or two small patches where, for some reason, the fish are feeding well.

Inconsistency has been the order of the day and the strong winds have often made for challenging conditions. There are many fish around Kosi Mouth including huge numbers of small bluefin and bigeye kingfish as well as good numbers of larger greenspot kingfish. Several greenspots of around three kilograms have been caught and they give an excellent fight on light tackle.

Giant kingfish have been quite evident but there have been no reports of them being caught on fly recently, although several have been hooked or chased flies. Inside Kosi Mouth there are quite a lot of greater barracuda but, unless you use a strong leader, the first you often know is when your fly has disappeared.

In all the bays down the coast there have been a few greenspot kingfish and some nice bluefins. Spotted pompano are abundant but some days they are all small ones and the next they are much larger. Some particularly large ones have been caught recently. Evidence from tagging just coming in is that this species may travel extensively along the coast in a short period of time and this may explain their sudden abundance or lack of it. Many of our close inshore fish show remarkable residency, even many giant kingfish.

The lakes sometimes seem full of fish but all too often they will not take the fly. There are extensive shoals of bigeye and greenspot kingfish in lake One and often they will mill around in the shadow of the boat. They will often follow a fly but just not take it properly and this also goes for shoals of queenfish. The larger giant kingfish which, were in lake One, appear to have moved to lake two where excellent fish of around five kilograms have been caught.

Lake Two has also produced very good greater barracuda and pickhandle seapike of up to four kilograms. Rock salmon are very numerous and obvious but catching them is not easy. Greenspot kingfish are the species most often caught in Lake Two just now with weights of about 1.5 to 2 kilograms being the norm. Springer have been all but completely absent in recent months despite being evident early in the season. None have been reported caught in the last three months although fish which look like springer have been seen chasing on the surface.

Lake Three contains many good fish but finding them is the problem. Occasionally terns can be seen diving but generally the fish are spread over large areas and drifting randomly is not productive. One rock salmon of over ten kilograms was caught, and killed, by a bait angler recently in lake three along with another 30 kilograms of rock salmon. This was from night fishing which is not easy using a fly, particularly as the hippo for some reason tend to favour the best fly fishing areas.

In general there are lots of fish around and many of them are of excellent size. The trick is to actually find them when they are feeding. Good catches have been made but generally the fly anglers have been having fun. You appreciate the good days all the more following a few less productive ones.

Kosi Bay – Scotty Kyle

7th May 2008

Just returned from Vilanculos in sunny Mozambique, amazing place, fantastic for a holiday but for living I prefer Kosi Bay. Here's the update.....

For over a month the fishing at Kosi Bay has been mostly pathetic. I received a desperate phone call from a visitor recently asking where and how he could catch a fish, as he hated to go home having caught nothing!

This is a challenging time of year generally for fishing and tempting them on the fly recently has been very difficult indeed. At times the waters, particularly in the ocean, have looked excellent but the fish have simply been absent. At other times the ocean has been in turmoil with huge waves coming out of nowhere and smashing the inattentive fly angler off or onto the rocks, ouch.

I think the waves were mostly caused by a series of cyclones far offshore but there is nothing more depressing than, on a sunny and glassy calm day, to climb over the dunes just to hear the crash of massive surf making normal fishing impossible. The only more irritating thing is for a pap throwing, foul smelling, bait angler to catch nice spotted pompano right beside you when more superior anglers cannot even spot any in the surf, never mind catch any.

Extra sandbars seem to have developed along very extensive areas of the coast and in many areas there seem to be very few fish, other than real tiddlers, inside it. The amount of sand moving is quite staggering and may be related to the massive tides in March last year removing much sand, probably to deeper water. Possibly this sand is now being redeposited. Whatever the situation many of the sandy and rocky areas from Lala Neck to Mozambique are either covered in sand or are shielded from deep water by a barrier of sand. The general upshot is that there have been very few reports of good fly fishing on the coast for several weeks.

This situation will probably persist for some time as the sandbanks are substantial and slow moving. The only light on the horizon is the much anticipated arrival of the shad, usually around 1 June. Last year I managed to land a grand total of two small shad but occasionally there are good years in which the kingfish and pompano are apparently whipped into action by the shoals of shad.

In the lakes the shallow water is now cold and the fish movement very slow. Very often the shallows seem completely devoid of fish and, from most of the catch returns, this is apparently the situation. The terns have been very quiet this year and have now virtually disappeared. As far a conventional fly fishing goes, the lakes are now officially almost dead until September or October, unless global warming intervenes.

Now is the time to go over your equipment, not just the fishing equipment, but the all important digital camera so that you can prove the one that got away was actually safely landed before you let it go.

Best wishes,

Scotty.

Navigate the top portal site to find information on Kosi Bay, also known as Maputaland, northern Elephant Coast, Isimangaliso Wetland Park, Manguzi, Kwangwanase, Thongaland, Tembeland, including such fabulous sites such as Kosi Lakes, Kosi Mouth, Bhanga Nek, Rocktail Bay, Black Rock, Lake Sibaya, Mabibi, in fact anything north of Sodwana and south of Ponta de Ouro, Ponta Malongane andf Ponta Mamoli in Mozambique.




 IMVUBU INFO LAPHA - Maputaland Tourism Information | +27 35 5929925 | +27 727273079 | mail@maputaland.net 

Copyright© W. Labuschagne 2008