Fishing report 25 Jan 2010 ( 2010/01/25 )
The river and see is still brownish in colour although a few salman have been landed. Not much to report on at the moment, but I will keep you updated.

Fishing Report 16/06/2009 ( 2009/06/16 )
Fishing has been very good over the last 2 weeks. There have been a few Kob reaching the 30kg mark as well as smaller ones in the region of 6-12kg.
Shad have been on the bite this morning and everybody got their full quota for the day. Visit our fishing gallery to take a look at a few catches we got on camera.
Weather has been almost perfect and the sea is calm. There are a lot of baitfish in the river.
The south bank is still getting a few Garrick,although they have not reached the north bank yet. We expect them any moment from now.

Fishing Update 20/05/2009 ( 2009/05/20 )
The past 6 weeks have proved to be good fishing. Lobotes have been caught daily along with Shad, Sharks and the odd Kob inbetween.
The bigger Kob seem to come on the bite late afternoon/early evening.
Sizes ranging from 3kg upwards are most common, but there has been two occasions where Kob in the region of 10kg+ were reported.

Dropshot has been successful in the mouth and river areas. Perch have been caught on the incoming tide and the undersize Kob have been biting in front of the carpark. The Storm Wildeye swimming shad and paddle-tail type lures have been working well in this area.

Fishing Report ( 2008/11/11 )
Fishing has been quiet over the past few weeks with heavy winds not making it easy, some Garrick and salmon have been landed by those who don't mind the weather conditions. Things have settled down nicely and water conditions have improved a lot. We will keep you posted as to what happens on our stretch of coastline.

Fishing Report ( 2008/06/13 )
Sea conditions look good for fishing. The river is producing some nice perch.
Some nice Salmon have been landed, one of 8.5kg and 10.5kg where landed by one of the holiday makers in the Resort. Garrick have also make an appearance with at least 4 that I know of landed on the south bank. Nothing to big but they where all around the 6 to 7kg mark. This is good news as its still very early for them. Shad are also around and a nice 2kg shad was landed right in front of the Resort.
Reports of a nice Zambezi of around 120kg was reported about 2 weeks ago. Seems like they are still around.

Fishing Report ( 2007/09/20 )
The sea is looking much better than over the past few weeks. A light North Easterly wind is blowing and the water is clean. Some nice catches have been reported. Two Garrick of 17kg and 16kg have been landed over the last two days. Shad and shoal salmon are still around as-well.

Fishing Report ( 2007/08/17 )
A beautiful 40kg Salmon was landed on Tuesday afternoon late by an angler fishing for Pearch in the river. He landed this massive Salmon using a small rod with koffie grinder and a 2/0 hook.
A lot of garrick chases have been seen at the river mouth and a few have been landed. Further up north past the poles big sharks have caused havoc with tackle.
Lobotes are still around as well with quite a few landed in the last few weeks.
All in all conditions are looking good and some good catches are expected in the next few days.

Fishing Report ( 2007/07/13 )
After the last few cold front's that have moved past the fishing is not to bad. A nice 7.3kg Lobotes was caught yesterday by David Deetliffs.
Grunter and Stumpnose are also been caught with quite a few shoal salmon and shad been landed.
All in all conditions are not perfect but there are still some nice fish been caught.

Fishing Report ( 2007/06/21 )
Not much has changed over the last week. There is a bit of rubbish washing down the river from the factories higher up. This was reported and some water samples sent to be tested, hopefully this will put a stop to the dumping.

Some nice Lobotes have been landed. Two where from holiday makers in the Resort, the biggest one weight in at 7.5kg after it was cleaned.
One angler landed 10 salmon in one morning at the mouth, three of witch where size. A shad of almost 2kg was also landed.
Water conditions are not he greatest but still fish-able.

Fishing report ( 2007/06/06 )
Well this week has proved to be a quiet week with regards to fishing. The weather has played a role in things becoming very slow.
Last week we had reports of some excellent catches which only led to us to believe that things would get a lot better. With the recent heavy winds and storms that we have had it has made the fish go into hiding. The weather report for the weekend looks good so I hope there is a lot more good news to report.

Further North has been much the same with little or no report of any fish coming out.
That’s all for this week folks.

Thanks TMR

Fishing report ( 2007/05/31 )
Conditions this week have been a bit rough, though this doesn’t seem to have had any effect on the fishing. There have been a few nice sized fish coming out.
A lobote of 11kg was landed in the mouth and this is one of the finer specimens that we have seen over the past few months. This fish was huge and gave the angler a lovely fight. The bait was as usual the deadly Red Eye Chokka mix which again proved to be the order of the day.

A beautiful KOB was taken as well but as yet have no picture from the angler. According to reports this monster was as big as the Gillie who carried it back to his vehical for him. This is some excellent news for us, as this goes to show that things are really heating up on the angling side of things.

Another encouraging report was that the first Garrick of the season have been landed. They were landed on the South Banks of the river, and here again this is the best news as these fish begin to work their way up the coast, things can only get better from here in out.

Anglers seem to be getting a lot more reward for their efforts lately and this is due to the better weather conditions that we have been having. The water temperature has also dropped slightly, thus the result being that the KOB are making a slow but welcome appearance.

That’s all for this week and I am sure that next week we will have even better news for you all. Until then tight lines and screaming reels.

TMR

Fishing report ( 2007/05/22 )
The sea at the moment is that characteristic ginger beer colour, which should result in some good catches of kob. With the cold front upon us things should be getting even better as the colder water would obviously suite the kob. At the moment the fish are there, but are in no hurry to take the bait. For the persistent angler there is definitely hope, as patience seems to be the key to success.

With the sea conditions having bettered slightly the result being that a few good fish have been landed. There have been confirmed reports of at least 4 lobote’s being landed over the weekend, these fish move around in big shoals so we expect some more to be landed in the next few days.

Some Kob all ranging between 2kg and 6kg. Most of these were taken near the mouth with a few also being landed just outside the resort itself. There have been a lot of Spinner Sharks landed throughout the shoreline as the sea conditions obviously suited these little guy’s. The spot that seems to be the most productive recently has been to the right of the Ski Boat Launch site. After the recent storms that our coast has had, it has left some rocky outcrops exposed, and thus creating a little gully, which has proved to be very productive for the anglers.

The mouth itself has also been producing a few fish, with some reports of good runs having been had by some of the anglers over the weekend. One angler did manage to land a small Malabar Rock Cod at the mouth. This is a good sign that the reef dwelling fish are slowly starting to move into the river system, which should mean that there are better days to come. These species of Rock Cod seem to thrive in the river system and this is encouraging as these fish are ferocious fighters on light tackle. This would be beneficial not only to the Rock and Surf angler, but also encouraging for the Drop Shot fanatic. This again shows the versatility of the Tugela Mouth System.

That’s all for this weeks report we will keep you posted as and when we have more good news.

Tight Lines
TMR

Fishing report ( 2007/05/16 )
Unfortunately we don't have much to report on as not much has changed since our last report.
Some smallish Cob are still around but the big one's seem to allude the fisherman at this stage.
Water conditions are a little on the rough side but still fish-able.

Fishing report ( 2007/05/05 )
Just a quick update on conditions at Tugela Mouth.
Some nice Salmon have been coming out at the mouth. One big Daga Salmon was lost by one of the locals but they managed to land 3 of around 6kg. There are a lot of bait fish in the river, mostly mullet. The weather seems to play its part and fishing should be good for the next while

Updates on fishing Report's. ( 2007/05/04 )
Fishing reports will be updated on a weekly basis as from next week.
Please watch this space.

Fishing Report 16 April 2007 ( 2007/04/16 )
There have been a few Lobotes caught here and there over March, with small sharks on the bite in between. Small grunter and kob as well as shad have been coming out lately, but nothing worth taking pictures of. The sea and mouth area have been fishing well. The sea is a greenish blue colour, excellent for shad.

Waves are small and after our little "tsunami" last month, a lot of rocks have washed open at the mouth which have been covered by sand for the past 20 years. It is interesting to see that various species of damsels, usually fish associated with rocky beaches, have moved in at Tugelas rock pools. I have never seen these fish at this beach unil now. That is at least 20 years.

The weather is pleasantly cooler during the days, and hopefully we will have very successfull winter winter fishing. Last year was the best it has been for the past 6 years. A lot more garrick and daga kob were caught. July and August were the peak fishing months.

Fishing Report 7 February 2007 ( 2007/02/07 )
Hello all. We are up and running again. We were surprised to recieve so many queries about our fishing reports. We didn`t realise how many people actually followed them.
Well, there hasn`t been a hell of a lot to tell since November !!!
The river came down in flood in the beginning of December. It was not a good start for the holidays, but, our die-hard anglers battled away and managed to catch a few little kob and snapper salmon here and there There was the odd shark in between but nothing to brag about.
In one of our thunder showers, we measured 70mm of rain that fell in 1 hour. The river didn`t let up, and often, all that was to be caught was a bunch of bamboo reeds. It wasn`t until about the 5th of January that the water really started looking better. It started turning green with blue stripes in between, perfect for the Lobotes which love the conditions after a flood.
Over the next 2 weeks there were about 8 -10 Lobotes caught.
Half were landed at the mouth, while the others were landed from in front of the car park up to 1km North. Most were caught on sardine and squid.
There were also quite a lot of snapper salmon on the bite. A lot of sharks were seen in the mouth and quite a few fins were seen behind the breakers in the early mornings while the sea was calm.
Around the 1st February, the river came down in flood again. There is a dead cow lying on the beach along with a few dead chickens. Still, only the sharks are around. There is a strong North Easterly blowing which is pushing the dirty water South and the water is turning green in some places.... However, the river is still full.

Fishing Report 26 November 2006 ( 2006/11/26 )
The Tugela River has come down in flood an the sea is pure mud. Fishing will only be possible if a Strong North Easter blows the dirty water to the South bank.
There have been a few reports that some sharks have been taking baits.
There is nothing much else at the moment.

Fishing Report 11 October 2006 ( 2006/10/11 )
The sea is very discoloured- not muddy, and there are a few small fish around. There were small kob and grunter caught.
It has been very rough, but the north easterly has calmed it down.
If the weather keeps stable, the fishing should be good, the dirty water could also attract the lobotes. There are a lot of mullet around as well. Besides that there has been nothng much caught over the last 2 weeks due to the 2 cold fronts and the river did come down with muddy water last week, but it has cleaned up a bit.

20 September 2006 ( 2006/09/20 )
Well it has been a "very quiet" past two weeks as there have been cold fronts one after the other. There was a 8,5kg Lobotes caught in front of the resort 2 weeks ago but only small peckers have been on the bite. The sea is still rough but the weather is expected to clear tomorrow with a strong North Easterly wind.

Fishing Report 12 August 2006 ( 2006/08/12 )
There was a daga kob of 28kg caught using a mix of chokka and sardine. It was caught at 9pm in front of the resort. There are still a lot of garrick being caught. They can be seen chasing the mullet. There is a strong south westerly blowing at the moment making fishing a little unpleasant. Small grunters and bream are being landed in the river. There are also some small kob around. Shad are scarce at the moment.

Fishing Report 27 July 2006 ( 2006/07/27 )
Garrick have been seen chasing mullet well up the river over the spring high tides.
The weather has been perfect for almost a month. The sea is clean and very calm, with a light north easterly blowing today. The shad were biting over the weekend and a lot of small kob have been caught. There have been a lot of 'peckers' around, as well as small grunters and bream.

Fishing Report 27 July 2006 ( 2006/07/27 )
Garrick have been seen chasing mullet well up the river over the spring high tides.
The weather has been perfect for almost a month. The sea is clean and very calm, with a light north easterly blowing today. The shad were biting over the weekend and a lot of small kob have been caught. There have been a lot of 'peckers' around, as well as small grunters and bream.

Fishing Report 10 July 2006 ( 2006/07/10 )
There have been quite a few garrick caught. The weather is perfect and the Daga kob are around. The presenters from the Extreme Saltwater Angling show were fishing here on Saturday night at the river at 10:30pm-to coincide with the high tides, and on their first throw with live mullet, landed a 32kg Daga Kob. uShaka Marine World were also there to collect specimens, and, lucky for them, can take that beauty back to the aquarium. Fishermen fishing at night have reported many runs by big kob, but have lost them due to being too hasty. When the kob takes the mullet, you need to allow it plenty of time to manouvre and scale the live mullet. Make sure your drag is very loose.

Fishing Report 30 June 2006 ( 2006/06/30 )
There have been quite a few kob landed late afternoon into the evening at the river mouth. Sizes are varying from 3-5kgs, there have been two 12kg and one which was seen caught on the south bank estimated at 18-20kg range. Favourite baits are small live mullet and a chokka and sard mix.
The garrick are seen chasing in the river over high tide. The garrick have been small so far, the biggest one weighing 12kgs. A lot of 6-8kg garrick landed.
Mullet are plentiful. There was a springer caught this week by one of our holiday makers, as seen in the picture on the left.

Fishing Report 01 June 2006 ( 2006/06/01 )
The sea is blue and a little rough. There have been a couple of garrick caught on the south bank. There has been no wind the last couple of days, although bad weather is expected this weekend. Fishing has been good in the mouth area. Early morning and evening have produced good results with quite a few 3-5kg range kob being caught. It has been reported that a lot of chasing of baitfish has been seen in the river. This could be the kob, garrick or lobotes. Over the past 3 weeks, 3 lobotes have been caught. I managed to land a nice size bream in the river on light tackle. May-July the river bream are quite abundant here. These are good fighting fish for their size, especially on light tackle and good for the table as well.

Fishing Report 13 April 2006 ( 2006/04/13 )
Shad, snapper salmon and small sharks have been on the bite over the last 2 days from the Tugela river up to Amatikulu beach. We have heard (from a reliable source) that a Lobotes of about 4,5kg was caught yesterday afternoon in front of the car park at about 5pm. Today was spring tides and the sea was a little rough over the high tide.
The sea is clean and the river is almost back to normal. Baitfish are plentiful and apparently the shad which were caught were spitting out bonies after they were landed.

We will try to get pictures because seeing is believing.

Fishing Report 7 April 2006 ( 2006/04/07 )
The Tugela River is not flooding so much anymore. The sea is perfect for kob at the moment. There have been a lot of undersize kob up to 50cm being caught as well as many small sharks. The odd 3kg or 4kg kob are also coming out at dusk.
There are a lot of small fish around "peckers" eating off the bait. The water is also looking good for Lobotes. A lot of bonies and razorbellies have been reported in the river. These are particulary abundant at this time of the year and sometimes you catch up to 100 in one throw of a castnet. In the past, Lobotes usually come on the bite at the same time, but due to seasonal changes and the pressures of overfishing, things might be changing. We will have to see if the Lobotes come on the bite as well as they did in years gone by.

The sea at the moment is calm, there is no wind and the water is discoloured.
Apparently there is another cold front on the way that should be here by tomorrow afternoon.

*BOOKINGS FOR OUR ANNUAL FISHING SEMINAR AND COMPETITION ARE
FLOODING IN: BOOK YOUR PLACE NOW : 082 412 8031

Fishing Report 6 March 2006 ( 2006/03/06 )
The river is still flowing hard and the mouth is now very wide. Bamboo and reeds lie all over the beach and no one has been fishing. Dead barbel and carp are washing up and the sea tastes like fresh water.
We will keep you updated as soon as the conditions change.

15 February 2006 ( 2006/02/15 )
The sea is again, very muddy and the river is still in flood. There are a lot of reeds and debri washing down the river including dead goats and barbel.
If one goes north towards the poles, one might find 'cleaner' dirty water, if a north easterly wind is blowing. There have not been many fishermen fishing but Amatikulu, Zinkwazi and Seola have been producing a few nice fish.

Ski boat fishing is a bit risky because the river is wild and there are massive stumps
floating down into the sea.

Fishing report. ( 2006/02/09 )
Conditions keep on improving with some nice fish landed although the sea is still quite brown from the floods. The last few days have seen improving conditions, although most of the action took place at Amatikulu.
The North Coast League took place over the weekend and some nice fish where landed. The biggest edible was a 45kg Salmon, and was landed on the Tugela south bank. The biggest non-edible that was landed was a sand shark of 93kg.
Yesterday JD took some of the campers to Amatikulu for some fishing and he landed a 7kg Salmon. A few shad, some milk sharks and smaller salmon where also caught.
All in all, some nice Salmon have already been landed this season. This could mean that we are in for a bumper of a year.

Fishing Report 18 January 2006. ( 2006/01/18 )
The sea is brown and the river is still flooding. There have been moderate north easterly winds blowing, and at least the waves are breaking white. There is a strong north to south sidewash and no decent fish catches have been reported, although if you had been fishing over the past couple of days I think you would have got sun stroke because temperatures here went up to 39,5*C over the weekend.

We will keep you informed should the conditions clear up.

Fishing report 4 January 2006 ( 2006/01/04 )
Happy new year to all you fishermen and fisherwomen out there. We hope you all had a good holiday.

The conditions at the moment are extremely good for fishing. The sea is that characteristic "gingerbeer" colour which can produce just about anything.
Over the high tides the sea is blue. There has been a light to moderate north easterly wind blowing everyday and the sea is very calm.

Some grunter, pompano, shad, kob, snapper salmon, rays and plenty of sharks and lobotes have been landed over this past week. However, our holiday makers have experienced some highs and lows of note....

There have been plenty of shad on the bite and, while some anglers seem to reel them in one after the other, one of our holiday makers, Dominee De Wet, was still trying to catch his share. Keeping the "faith", Dominee De Wet felt a bite on his line. He thought there may be a fish on when his rod suddenly pulled down and he was into something decent. He fought the fish for a while and when he got it out, found that he had not one, but two fish on the same hook!!??
The first bite he had was a shad which he hooked. The second fish was a lobotes which tried to take the shad and got hooked on the same hook. Aish!
"Its all about luck and a positive attitude".

And now for the lows......

It was a bad day in the life of Mr David Deetlefs today.

David is one of our "regular" holiday makers. In fact, he is almost a local.
While baking in the afternoon sun, David managed to catch a shad which he decided to swim in as live bait. He loves to play with the sharks but today, he found himself "in deep water"...

For a while, there were no bites, just a few peckers and nothing seemed to want the live shad. David's friends decided to head back to camp, leaving David by himself. While gazing at the horizon, dreaming about "the one that always got away", nothing could prepare him for what was about to happen next...
Out of nowhere, came a strong jerk on his line. He struck straight away and the powerful force on the other end of the line actually caused him to loose his balance and he was pulled over into the sand. The line was peeling off his reel at such a rate that he burnt his thumb in trying to slow it. As he was at the end of his spool, he found himself neck deep in the water, trying to stop the beast.
In one unforgettable moment, he felt the rod slip out of his hands, and watched it disappear into the blue.

This is David and his wife in this picture just before he went fishing.
Luckily we got a picture before he went fishing because you should see his
face now!

Fishing Report 19/11/05 ( 2005/11/19 )
The river is in flood at the moment and it has made the sea brown. There are a few kob and nondis about but not much has been happening over the past few weeks. Shad were biting before the river came down, however it is still closed season. There has been quite a lot of bad weather and the mouth has changed, leading north before it goes into the sea. There is a sidewash to the north at the moment and the wind is a strong south westerly. Big sharks have been seen close to shore.

10 October 2005 ( 2005/10/09 )
It has been raining now for 2 days. There have been a few garrick caught during the past week and apparently there have been one or two nice size grunter caught in the river. The sea is still rough and most anglers are fishing the mouth area. The swells have been too big for ski boat anglers.

Fishing Report 1 October 2005 ( 2005/10/01 )
The sea has been unsettled for most of the past two weeks due to unstable weather conditions. However, there was a 27,5 kg kob which was caught last weekend on a whole sardine and released. There have been the smaller kob of
2-4kg coming out late afternoon and after dark. Garrick are still being caught, the last ones I heard of weighing 8kg, 11kg and 15kg. There is a lot of mullet and I`ve heard that south of the Tugela, there have been a few garrick of over 20kg caught.
The best fishing spot is at the mouth at the moment.

Fishing Report 18 September 2005 ( 2005/09/18 )
There have been fairly strong southerly winds blowing over the past few days
making the sea rough and seaweed has also been reported. However, there was a garrick caught at the mouth yesterday and a good amount of baitfish are being netted in the river including mullet and razorbellies. The swell has been too big for ski boats, however, better weather conditions are expected tomorrow.

Fishing Report 10 September 2005 ( 2005/09/10 )
The sea is a little rough at the moment and a slight gingerbeer colour. There is a light north westerly wind blowing and the sea is looking very good for kob.
The mouth has been fishing well with garrick and a few kob around 3-4kgs being caught. The kob have been caught on sardine and even a 11kg garrick was caught on sardine. The rest of the garrick preferred live mullet.

I managed to land a 12,5kg garrick on Wednesday on live mullet as pictured here. The weather conditions werent so good as it was raining with a good south easterly wind but I must say, being positive is one of the most important ingredients of a successful fishing trip.

There is a lot of mullet in the river and the best time to catch them are 2-3hrs after low tide (coming in) and just at the turn of the tide as it starts to flow back out the river. The only problem are the rocks along the edges of the river in some places. I often go for a swim to get my cast net out. There have been more stonebream caught amongst the rocks.

Fishing Report 27 August 2005 ( 2005/08/27 )
The sea has been wild over the past 2 weeks with almost no catches being reported. Strong winds have been blowing from North and South causing a turbulent rough sea. There is a strong sidewash to the north at the moment after the gale force south easterly wind which came up last night.

There was a skate caught yesterday by one of our holiday fishermen and by accident, got spiked in the wrist with the spine above the skates tail. If you ever find yourself in this predicament, firstly start off by putting the wound in water as hot as you can stand. This will help to draw the poison out of the wound. Then seek medical attention. Some cases of flatfish stings can cause " week long" fevers with nausea. The easiest way to unhook a skate or ray is not to turn it over and cause extra stress for the animal, but to lift up its head and unhook it.

Fishing Report 6 August 2005 ( 2005/08/06 )
There is a strong North Easterly wind today. The sea is calm and discoloured. There are a lot of fishermen fishing and our holiday resort is fully booked over this long weekend. So far, there was a 12kg garrick caught yesterday morning and this morning it was reported to us by our holiday makers that a 2,4kg shad was caught along with smaller ones over the 1kg mark. A 3,2 kg river snapper was caught and last night, one group of fishermen had 8 massive shark runs. Their 90 lb wire traces were bitten off. Mullet are abundant in the river at the moment.

Fishing Report 25/07/2005 ( 2005/07/25 )
The fishing over the past week has been quiet. The sea has been a little rough with a bit of a sidewash to the north. The fishermen have still been catching quite a few shad. There was a garrick of 14kg caught on live mullet at the mouth on Saturday. The south bank of the mouth has been fishing well with a lot of garrick and shad caught. There was a 1,75kg shad caught up the river bank over the high spring tide. The sea is also quite turbulent at the moment with a lot of sand seen in the waves. There are a lot of 'peckers' around, mainly largespot pompano and thornfish. It is worth while fishing the river mouth area with live bait until after dark as the kob are mainly being caught during the night.

Fishing Report 14 July 2005 ( 2005/07/14 )
The sea is beautiful today, with no wind and perfectly calm conditions. There are plenty of shad around and our holiday makers are getting their full bag limilt every day. On Monday, there was a 6kg Queenfish caught in the river mouth by one of the locals on a whole small sardine. These are not common in our area. The garrick are around and a few have been "missed" by the anglers.
Amongst all the shad that have been around, there was a 7kg kob caught last night.
Apparently, there is a cold front on its way tomorrow, so tight lines until then.

Fishing Report 1 July 2005 ( 2005/07/01 )
There has been a strong north easterly wind blowing until yesterday when it changed south westerly. Five garrick have been landed in the mouth in the past 3 days so they are starting to come out. All caught in mullet. There have been plenty of shad in the mornings and they have been caught on fly, spoon, and drift baits. Smaller kob between 1,5kg and 4kg coming out at night.

Fishing Report 23 June 2005 ( 2005/06/23 )
We have had major computer problems again...Please bear with us.......

Right now, there is a good North Easterly blowing which is calming the sea as it has been rough for a while now. The mouth has been the most popular fishing spot at the moment and it is producing good results. Garrick have been seen chasing mullet and we have heard that shad and kob have been caught well up the river bank. The spring tides have pushed salt water far up the river and we heard yesterday that an indian man caught a 33kg kob up the river bank, and that shad have been caught up the river bank as well. A garrick was landed at the mouth using live mullet. There are plenty of mullet around and I netted some good size mullet on Tuesday. They are easiest to catch just at the turn of the tide as they are on their way out.

Fishing Report 11/06/2005 ( 2005/06/11 )
The garrick have been seen chasing mullet in the river and in a few places along the beach. The have been some nice daga kob landed in the mouth over the past 2 weeks. One of 27kg was caught on sardine.Then last Monday there was one of 14kg and we heard that one of 9kg was also caught. There have also been a few smaller ones of 2-5kgs caught.The sea is blue with a bit of a sidewash to the north. There have been light southerly winds blowing after the cold front we had a few days ago. Good size river bream and kob were caught up the river bank by the locals this afternoon, and mullet are plentiful at the moment. A nice size stone bream was also caught in the mouth this afternoon. I went down to throw a spoon, but, being a Saturday, the beach was full and unless you got there early, you battle to get a spot.
There have been a lot of shad landed on the south bank of the mouth, as well as grunter.

Fishing Report 22/05/2005 ( 2005/05/22 )
The Rock and Surf fishing Seminar was held this weekend here at Tugela Mouth Resort and I can definitely say it was a great success. There just weren`t enough hours in the day as fishermens' stories "as you all know" can go on for ever...
All aspects of rock and surf fishing were covered by top fishermen such as Barry Wareham, Brian and Wesley Rapson, Abel Alexander and Nigel Simmons. From knot tying, rigs and traces, reading water conditions to tackle, rods, reels and accessories, bait and bait presentation, casting techniques and then, so much more in between.

Then came the competition....
With breakfast quickly out of the way, our fishermen hurried off down to the beach ready to apply their knowledge. A few fish were caught under "not so perfect" conditions as the sidewash and seaweed gave the guys extra hassles.

All in all, it was nice to see people with a passion for fishing, learn so much from each other. If you missed this fishing seminar, you missed out. But don`t worry, keep watching the media as we will be planning more seminars in the future due to this one being such a success.
Friends were made and fun was had by all.

Fishing Report 19/05/2005 ( 2005/05/19 )
The weather has been perfect over the last week with a bit of a cold front which came up on Thursday. Last weekend, a 9,9kg kingfish was caught on a razorbelly at the mouth by one of the locals. Kingfish aren`t common in this area. There are plenty of razorbellies at the moment and this is attracting the shad and other fish into the river. I went down with a small rod and a spoon to the river this afternoon and to my surprise, caught a small kingfish on my third cast. There are a lot of rocks which are washing open in the mouth which might also attract other fish species. Some big stonebream have been caught in castnets but are reluctant to take a bait. There have been some small sharks, a lot of shad and some 2-5kg kob caught. Ski boats have been catching well.

Fishing Report 08/05/2005 ( 2005/05/08 )
There has been almost no wind this past week and the sea is calm and clean. Some big shad have been landed and shoals of fish have seen to be chasing smaller baitfish. Flocks of birds are diving around the mouth which is a sign that there is a lot of life around. Apparently we have heard that three lobotes were caught in the mouth yesterday morning, but on the South bank of the river.
One of the locals hooked into "jaws" at 1am on Saturday morning, and fought for over an hour before losing it. The ski boaters have reported massive sharks out at sea. There is a great white which follows the ski boats and one skipper even reported that the shark put its head between the engines while they were fishing and shook the boat. When he looked back, all the crew were at the front of the boat.

Fishing Report 27/04/2005 ( 2005/04/27 )
There was a sprinkle of rain last night and this morning, but no wind. The sea is calm and clean. Some shad were caught this morning and there were some nice "pulls" to be had at the river mouth this evening. Some kob were landed weighing around 2kgs. Apparently, during the competition last weekend there was also a kob of 9,5kgs landed. This was caught during the night and it seems the decent size kob are best fished for from early evening to about 9pm.
There are a lot of prawns and baitfish around so putting out a little live mullet or a prawn should bring good results.

Fishing Report 24/04/2005 ( 2005/04/24 )
The sea is blue and so flat that there are hardly any waves breaking. The only problem is the pulp in the water which is getting on your line and you battle to get it off. There was a competition on this weekend and some skates, kob of around 3-4kg and big shad, one of 2,8kg, were caught. Weather was perfect today with not a breath of wind, although there is rain predicted for tonight and tomorrow. There are some small sharks around but the big ones remain elusive, although they have been seen swimming around.

The river is full of life at the moment. Nondis and thornfish are a pest because they take the bait off before the ''big ones'' get to it. I put on a huge fillet of bonnito which lasted long enough for me to catch a decent kob before the bait was finished. There have also been grunter caught in the mouth. There is an abundance of bait fish in the river... bonies, snotties, glassies,razor bellies, mullet, small kingfish and prawns. The kob caught at the moment are reported to be full of prawns, which is a good bait at the moment.

Fishing 17/04/2005 ( 2005/04/17 )
Fishing has been good over the past week with kob up to 5kg being landed. Lobotes have been seen and a local fisherman landed one of 8kg in the mouth on Thursday.
The sea is clean with a side wash to the south. At the moment the beach is flat with wide sand banks. There were some pompano on the bite today. Sharks are still being spotted swimming in the mouth, although they are not wanting to take a bait. Some small sand sharks and grunter have been caught.

For those who haven`t heard.....Tugela Mouth in association with OutdoorPAGES are hosting a fishing clinic\seminar. For more information please see our "Current News" section.

Fishing Report 09/04/2005 ( 2005/04/09 )
The strong North Easterly wind over the past few days has made a bit of a sidewash to the south, although it has kept the sea calm. Some huge sharks have been seen entering the mouth and swimming up the river. We saw 4 sharks at the same time yesterday morning. The fishermen have caught some sandsharks and a few small kob. The North Easterly seems to have stirred up the sediment in the sea because it is brown, although it is still breaking white.

Fishing Report 04/04/2005 ( 2005/04/04 )
Shoal salmon are on the bite.
The river has stopped flooding and the sea is green, with a few patches of brown water here and there. Shoal salmon between 1kg and 5kgs have been landed, the larger ones landed just after dusk. They seem to be taking plain sardine and refusing the squid. Every one who has been fishing has caught something. One or two sharks have also been caught as well as spotted grunter. The manager had a good fight from a +/- 2,5 kg shad, just before losing it, when it bit his hook off and flapped back into the sea. The weather has been perfect over the past 2 days, and the water is calm except for a bit of seaweed here and there.
The early morning North Westerly (off shore) wind was blowing this morning which is a sign that winter is on its way.

Fishing Report 23/03/2005 ( 2005/03/23 )
Strong North Easterly winds have blown over the past 3 days, which has caused quite a sidewash to the south. I went down fishing over the high tide and although the water was a good colour (greenish brown) I found it very turbulent with huge waves at times-a bit on the rough side. There were a lot of small fish around and a few small kob were landed. Some of our holiday makers had a few hair-raising experiences with the sharks. Two of them almost lost their rods when good size sharks picked up their baits and pulled the rods straight out of the rod holders, down towards the sea.

There has been a bit of seaweed and debri in the water and some fishermen have landed some record size logs, taking them miles up the beach.
This is good practice for the "big one".

Fishing Report ( 2005/03/04 )
Unfortunately, not much has changed since our last report. The river is still in flood and rain has continued to fall up country, making conditions for fishing at the moment “not ideal”.
We had a fishing club stay with us last weekend and after two days fishing, only a few sharks, skates and some kob were landed, the largest being 2,4kg.
There have not been any strong north-easterly winds to blow the dirty water south, and fishermen have been fishing at Amatikulu beach where the water is a bit cleaner.
The river mouth is now a lot wider and deeper than it was previously and we`re certain that the fishing in the river will be very successful after the flooding has died down.
Kob, shad, grunter, and garrick should enter the estuary more freely, as the river has made a deep gully into the sea.

This is one of the times of the year where fishing can be at its best. As soon as the river stops flooding and the water begins turning that ginger-beer colour, you can expect to catch Lobotes, Shad, shoal salmon, snapper salmon and the odd grunter in between.
I have seen some good shad runs in March-April and shad seem to be most abundant here when the water is murky, and not when it is crystal clear.

Fishing Report ( 2005/02/03 )
Over the past two weeks, the Tugela river has been in flood and the water has been chocolate colour. No fish were caught although many sharks were landed. Large shark fins were seen patrolling the dirty water.

The North Easterly wind has been blasting over the past two days, pushing the dirty water to the south bank. Fishing improved yesterday as the sea cleaned up to a ginger-beer colour and there were a few kob around. I fished yesterday afternoon and caught a size kob after I had used up a whole box of sardines on the small ones. There are many small kob around which is nice to see.
One of our holiday-makers managed to catch a nice kob of +\- 4kgs yesterday morning.

The wind blew most of the fishermen off the beach this afternoon, although there were still some “die hards” trying their luck even though the water started washing to the south. Conditions are best in the early mornings, before the wind gets up and the sun gets hot. (It is quite amusing watching fishermen, who have forgotten their shoes, running home over the dunes before their feet burn to a crisp.)

Ski boats have not been going out as the sea has been a little rough and wavy at times.

Tugela Mouth Resort will keep you updated on all the action. Until then, TIGHT LINES

Fishing Report ( 2005/01/08 )
Over December month, our holiday makers caught shad, snapper salmon, kob, flatfish, and a lot of sharks. Sharks landed weighing up to 81kgs.
Unfortunately, the Tugela river came down in flood, creating very muddy conditions. Almost unfishable.

A lot of people went to fish at the next river mouth Amatikulu, where shad, snapper salmon and a few grunter were caught. There is shady parking at Amatikulu
and the sea and river is close. Although from experience, the fishing at Amatikulu is not as good as Tugela, it is a very accessable beach to fish and your vehicle is guarded for R5. It is ideal to take kids and to picnic.

There are a lot of turtles and sharks which are seen in the Tugela mouth at the moment. It is flowing quite hard and this is good because it will open the mouth and deepen it
creating good river fishing once the flooding is over.

Fishing Report ( 2005/01/08 )
Over December month, our holiday makers caught shad, snapper salmon, kob, flatfish, and a lot of sharks. Sharks landed weighing up to 81kgs.
Unfortunately, the Tugela river came down in flood, creating very muddy conditions. Almost unfishable.

A lot of people went to fish at the next river mouth Amatikulu, where shad, snapper salmon and a few grunter were caught. There is shady parking at Amatikulu
and the sea and river is close. Although from experience, the fishing at Amatikulu is not as good as Tugela, it is a very accessable beach to fish and your vehicle is guarded for R5. It is ideal to take kids and to picnic.

There are a lot of turtles and sharks which are seen in the Tugela mouth at the moment. It is flowing quite hard and this is good because it will open the mouth and deepen it
creating good river fishing once the flooding is over.

Fishing Report ( 2004/12/03 )
The African Angling Safari tour group was here two weeks ago and Richard de Winnaar, picture here, managed to catch a lovely 37kg daga kob. It was landed at about 7:30 pm and was caught on live mullet. During their 1 week stay, the group managed to land a Lobotes of about 7kg and smaller kob and snapper salmon. They also landed a 45kg Zambezi shark and many smaller sharks. Some big honeycomb rays where also landed.

Last weekend, a local angler landed a Lobotes of 7,5kg which he caught on shark fillet.

At the moment, the river is brown and very full from all the rain. The sea is brown at low tides but cleans up over the high tide.

Fishing Report ( 2004/10/14 )
Over the past few weeks there have been quite a few small salmon and grunter around that have been caught in the river mouth. The sea has been moderate over low tide but getting a little rough over the high tides. There is a lot of life in the river at the moment, with salmon, stumpnose, grunter, river bream and the odd eel being caught. The locals reported that a 3,5kg grunter was caught in a cast net a few days ago. The manager and I went down fishing in the river yesterday and he managed to catch a square tail kob. For those of you who are uncertain about the differences between square tail kob and dusky kob : a square tail kob has got scales on the inside of the pectoral lobe- that is the small bump you find behind the fin on the fishes sides. The dusky kob has just got skin and no scales. The edge of the square tail kob tail is a lot straighter where the dusky kob’s is more rounded. The minimum legal size of a square tail kob is 350mm while the dusky kob is 400mm.

Our local social fishing club hosted an open surf fishing competition for the holiday makers in Tugela and one of our holiday makers, Leon Herbst, won the competition with an unusual catch. He managed to land a 3,5kg Baardman on squid. Baardman have been caught here but are not very common.

At the moment the sea is clean and the river is discoloured. I managed to catch some bonies in the river with the cast net and I’ll see what takes them in the sea next week.

Tight lines to everyone

Fishing Report ( 2004/09/19 )
The sea has now settled down after the numerous cold fronts we’ve been having, and catches have been improving. The river has become discoloured after the rains and the mullet are extremely abundant, along with other baitfish such as bonies, razor-bellies and nondies. The sea is calm and a ginger-beer colour making ideal waters for kob, sharks and flat fish. The shad, being out of season, have been biting, some of them weighing around the 2-3kg mark. One of our holiday makers reported that he had gone fishing for sharks and managed to land five sharks between 30kg and 60kgs and, in between, was stripped of all his line a few times. He also caught sand sharks and 2 skates around 20-30kgs. Being an avid bait fisherman, I recently decided to try out the world of artificial lures. The manager and I went down to the river mouth in the late afternoon with our light tackle and our lures for the second time and, fishing with some of our local “experts”, managed to catch some nice shad, one of them on a fly gear, and two river bream, one of 1kg and one of 1,5kgs. The water was clean over the high tide. We realized that our beach, and the river, although not often fished with lures and flies, has a tremendous amount of potential.
A 2, 5 kg kob and an estimated 50kg diamond ray were caught opposite our holiday resort.

This morning at 11:30am-north of the resort-, the manager pictured here, caught a 14,5kg Garrick on live-bait using the Blade HMG (High modulous Graphite) rod and the Shimano Trinidad 30. Low tide was at 11:15am and even though a strong south westerly wind blew last night, the sea is still calm. He only fished for 2 and a half hours as he had to be back at the resort to take care of some business. He showed up with a long face.

Written by “Seagull”

Fishing Report ( 2004/07/25 )
The sea has been fairly unsettled over the past week with one or two calm days in between. Local fishermen have reported fairly good catches during the night. Daga salmon ranging between 3 and 6kg are being caught quite often with a few bigger ones around 12kg being caught amongst them. The men from the Explore Africa fishing safari have been staying here for a week. Amongst them, they managed to catch approximately 50 salmon, including a 12kg and a few between the 4 and 9 kg mark. A nice Cock grunter of 3,5 kg was also landed amongst the salmon. Once again, fishing throughout the night, especially at dusk and just before dawn, produced best results. Most successful baits used were live mullet, squid and sardine.

A few shad have been caught during the day, as well as salmon. A local fisherman reported that he had caught 1 garrick on the north bank and 10 garrick on the south bank of the river, so far. It is quite successful to fish on the other side of the river if one has a canoe, as it is extremely far to walk to the mouth from the access point on the south bank. If keen anglers wish to fish on the south bank, a canoe “lift” can be organized
by one of our locals “if all else fails”.

Fishing ( 2004/07/11 )
A fishing report has not been posted lately because of computer problems (AGAIN).
During the past three weeks some small daga salmon have been caught, ranging from 3-8kg, as well as a few grunter and shad. A cold front has seemed to arrive every week, making it difficult for anglers with rough seas and strong south westerly winds. Early morning and late evening fishing up till 11pm have provided best results. Garrick were being caught but have been scarce at the moment, probably due to the sardines.

Yesterday, there were some shoal salmon of around 1.5kg being caught and one or two shad in between.
Dion Kat, pictured here, landed this 25kg daga salmon at about 3:30pm yesterday afternoon using live mullet as bait. During last night, another 3 daga salmon of 5kg, 8kg and 10 kg were caught. Fishermen have been catching salmon on plain squid or small mullet.
Mullet have become more abundant lately with fishermen netting good catches.

Ski-boat fishermen have not been able to launch for a while as conditions have been a little bit unpredictable.

Fishing Report ( 2004/06/09 )
Water has been clean over the past few weeks with salmon and shad being caught.
Richard de Winnaar, owner of Explore Africa Fishing Safari's and writer for Stywe lyne spent a week here with a group of 7. They found fishing throughout the night more productive than through the day. Between them they caught 35 salmon, 15 shad, 1 nice pompano, 1 big-eye stumpnose, 1 5,5kg Lobotes and around 50 sharks, the biggest shark weighing around 70kg. They caught a lot of sand sharks as well. Although the group mainly came fishing for sharks, they soon found out that the size sharks swimming around here were not to be played with. Over the weekend a few small daga salmon of up to 6kg have been landed. The cold front that came through yesterday has unsettled the sea and will be a day or two before it is calm again.

Fishing ( 2004/05/03 )
The river has stopped coming down in flood and the sea is clean over the high tides becoming slightly discoloured over low tide. Over the past week, there were some shad landed along with salmon averaging 1-5 kg.
On the 23rd, Piet Calitz, pictured here, found this kob head which washed up on the beach. 2/3 of it was bitten off by sharks and the portion that was left weighed 24kg.

During the afternoon of the 24th, a 12kg Lobotes was landed in the mouth.

Competition anglers managed to get a 57kg Zambezi shark which was caught by swimming a live kob. They later swam in a live milk shark and picked up a giant shark which they eventually lost.

The cold front which came up on Sunday has caused big swells and a rough sea. People are fishing in the estuary and catching river bream, grunter and a few salmon entering the estuary have also been caught.

The river is crawling with prawns and quite a lot of mullet are around. This should encourage more fish to enter the estuary. Garrick are expected soon as we are moving closer towards the winter months.

Fishing ( 2004/04/11 )
On Friday morning, there numerous sharks around with the odd snapper salmon in between.
Richard Smidt, pictured here, landed this 3 ˝ kg salmon just before dusk on Friday afternoon. He caught it on plain squid. There were quite a few salmon landed ranging between 2 and 7kgs.
At about 11pm Friday night another cold front came through and the wind blew like crazy, creating a rough sea.
Luckily, the sea looks a lot calmer today and although I fished this afternoon and caught nothing, a local guy fishing at the rocks caught a 2kg salmon. There is a sidewash to the north and it will still be a day or two before the sea is calm again.

Fishing ( 2004/04/06 )
Shoal salmon have been on and off the bite over the past week with fish ranging between 1 and 3kgs. The weather has been perfect with very light North Easterly winds and fishermen have had best results over the afternoon high tides. Despite the small cold front which came up yesterday, Piet Calitz, pictured here, managed to catch his first salmon on a multiplying reel (which he has just learned to cast). He caught it on plain baby squid-a deadly bait at the moment. The management of Tugela Mouth Resort, all keen fishermen, are always ready and willing to advise and help amateur and professional fishermen on
local conditions, areas and bait.

At the moment, the water around the mouth is still quite muddy, but in front of our resort, the water does get cleaner and those who put the effort in can walk North for about 600m where there is a deep hole and greenish “ginger beer” colour water. I was fishing there 2 days ago from about 3pm and throw after throw, there were small sharks. Eventually, at about 5pm, the sharks disappeared and the fish came on the bite. We caught a 2kg shad, square tail salmon and snapper salmon.

Fishing ( 2004/03/22 )
GOOD RESULTS OVER EQUINOX TIDE

The fishing picked up yesterday over and after the high tide. The sea was a murky blue colour and there was a light north easterly wind blowing. Regular holiday makers of ours (Johan, Sean and two of their friends) fished from 4:30pm until early the next morning and came home with 4 snapper salmon, 11 shoal salmon and 2 square tail salmon- all the fish averaging between 1 ˝kg to 3 ˝ kg.
About 60% of the fish were caught before it got dark, the rest were caught through the night. They were caught directly in front of our resort, about 40m to the right.
All the fish were caught on red eye sardines and squid.

Shoals of Lobotes have again been spotted deep sea by local ski-boat fishermen and are expected to arrive on our shores shortly. We will keep you up to date regarding the Lobotes fishing.

Fishing ( 2004/03/18 )
The sea has been extremely calm over the past few days, and in the early mornings and late evenings, there have hardly been any waves breaking. The water is still dirty, becoming `ginger beer` colour over the high tides. One of our holiday makers went fishing yesterday afternoon and caught a few nice snapper salmon, a hammerhead shark and a blacktip shark. He said he was also broken up a lot by big sharks that were patrolling his fishing waters. A local angler fishing next to him landed a nice size kob of around 5kgs.

Ski boat fishermen doing well with some fine catches. A Couta of 16kgs and one of 34,4kgs was caught along with 3 Dorado averaging 4kgs. The bulk of the catch being salmon and rock cod.

Spring tide is on the 20th of March and Equinox tide is on the 21st. The equinox phenomenon is where the sun passes over the equator and day and night are equal all over the world. The tide is affected by the moons orbit which swings close to earth and in perfect alignment with the sun, creating a much higher high spring tide and a much lower low spring tide. This happens twice a year, the next one being on the 20-21 September.
Fishing over equinox is not bad, just a little more of a challenge.

Fishing ( 2004/03/03 )
The rains have continued to fall causing the river to flood for most of the past 2 weeks. More rain is expected until Friday. Although water conditions have not been perfect for fishing, we did hear that some salmon had been caught in the muddy water.

Ski boat fishermen are still reporting fairly good catches.

Generally, the fishing along the north coast has been quite poor, but as soon as rivers clean up and weather conditions clear, fishing should improve.

The river, being so full, is ideal for our annual Tugela Raft Race which is taking place in 2 weeks time on 20th March. Last year it was more of a “pushing race.” The river was so low, there was hardly any water for the homebuilt rafts to float in and they kept getting stuck on sandbanks.

Fishing ( 2004/02/20 )
Water in the Tugela River is still coming down dirty, however, strong North Easterly winds have kept the water on the North bank clean enough to fish. Some salmon, small grunter and kingfish have been caught over the high tides, with a couple of flat fish in between. A mixed grill of prawn and squid is excellent bait at the moment. There have been a lot of eels caught in the river by the locals at the moment.

From March to May, mud prawns are most abundant in the river. These are easily caught with a cast net, and besides being edible, they are good bait for most species of fish as well.

Ski-boat fishing has been excellent during the past week. Good catches have been reported and conditions have been near perfect.

Fishing ( 2004/02/12 )
The fishing has been quiet over the past week, due to the river that has been down in flood. The amount of water in the river has gone down over the last 2 days, so the sea has been getting cleaner although the waves are still quite rough.

Yesterday (11Feb), numerous turtles were seen in the estuary, along with 2 giant shark fins that were seen patrolling the entrance of the estuary. I was fishing with Dave Svendsen, who caught a couple of small salmon on prawn bait in the neck of the mouth as it goes into the river. I managed to catch some bonies with a cast net which we used as live bait. These were bitten off.

The first Lobotes for this year were caught 3 weeks ago, but has been quiet since due to the dirty water. Koos Lourens, a local fisherman, reported that a few Lobotes have been caught on the southern bank, which means they’ll be on the northern bank quite soon.

Conditions haven’t been ideal for deep sea fishing, as one of our locals found out the hard way, flipping his boat twice in one week.
Other than that, no reports have been received from the ski boat club.

Overall, conditions are improving.