Kosi Bay news

[mullet]

Anybody fished Kosi mouth, the lakes or Banga Nek recently?

Leaving next Thu for a quick 4 day trip and have been getting some very strange and conflicting reports from the bait and dropshot guys I have spoken to recently.

[Bruce]

My cousin lives there. He has had some fish (bigeye kingies) in the last few outings. Nothing spectacular. Lost a few springer at the mouth. Fishing is always quite tough, but can be rewarding...

[WazzyP]

When do the summer fish (kingies, springer, etc) leave the Kosi area? I'd like to do a trip there.

Once they've gone do the garrick/learvis move in? If so when?

I don't have a boat so would be fishing the surf and the river mouth.

On another note, I used to snorkel over the reefs in the mouth. I beleive these silted over? And how safe is this...saw a program on discovery where there were crocs and sharks in the mouth. They had a great shot taken for the bottom of a croc swimming on the surface with a shark passing under it. Apparently this was just at a certain time of year. Sadly I can't remember when. I hiked it a few years back and all the crocs were in lake 4.

Thanks
Warren

[mullet]

Thanks Bruce.

Must admit that up until my last trip in Dec I have always had brilliant fishing at Kosi, but in Dec I fished 10 days solid and probably caught about 50 fish but absolutely nothing to write home about size wise and only hooked 2 big kingies and lost them both.....

Considering that my whole trip was focused on landing the magical 100 cm one the results where not very satisfying.

[mullet]

Hi Warren

The summer fish are there the whole year. its just the quantity that varies and they develop lockjaw when it gets too cold.

Last June I caught 13 fish (7 species) in 2 1/2 hrs. Nothing big but was great fun on a 5 weight with no wind like in summer and being able to fish with shirt off without getting burnt to S&*t.

I have never seen Garrick there and never heard of them being caught but may be wrong.

There is more than enough to keep you busy without a boat.

Snorkeled the reef in Dec again and there is more silt but still plenty of fish.

As for the crocs I have never seen one closer to the mouth than lake 2.

Sharks there are plenty of especially Blackfin at high tide. Have had them bump my flashing ankles while wading in the mouth after dark, lost plenty fish to them but they are generally not over 1,5m. I reckon I have more chance dieing trying to cross the carpark at my office in Jhb than being chomped by a shark at Kosi!!!!!!!!

Realistically the biggest danger at Kosi is the Hippo's in the lakes and the mosquitoes.....

[WazzyP]

Thanks Mullet. Very useful information there. I appreciate it.

[HolyGT]

Anybody fished Kosi mouth, the lakes or Banga Nek recently?

Leaving next Thu for a quick 4 day trip and have been getting some very strange and conflicting reports from the bait and dropshot guys I have spoken to recently.

The fishing around Kosi has been on a downward slide for the last couple of years. The big slump came when a very clever local scientist took it upon himself to teach the locals the virtues of gill netting. Combined with that the commercial interest operating around Kosi Bay has seen to it that the magic of the big Kingfish "runs" have all but disappeared. At the odd time you might still get a shot at some 100cm plus fish but with a landing ratio of about 30% (my own) it is really a flook these days to get a big Kingie up there on fly. Around 70% of the biomass of fish gets removed form the lakes annually by "subsistence" fisherman. I don't see any change in fish availability after the ban on gill netting in mid 2007. How do you change behavior if there is no policing and no alternatives???

For other species like Snapper, Big eye Kingies, Grunter etc - they are still around in the lakes in late summer, but nowhere near in numbers as before.

So my view is Kosi is fine for rats and mice and maybe a shot at some nice fish if the moon, sun and planets align for you. Still a great place, but so sad if you understand the impact man has had on the place.

When do the summer fish (kingies, springer, etc) leave the Kosi area? I'd like to do a trip there.

Once they've gone do the garrick/learvis move in? If so when?

I don't have a boat so would be fishing the surf and the river mouth.

On another note, I used to snorkel over the reefs in the mouth. I beleive these silted over? And how safe is this...saw a program on discovery where there were crocs and sharks in the mouth. They had a great shot taken for the bottom of a croc swimming on the surface with a shark passing under it. Apparently this was just at a certain time of year. Sadly I can't remember when. I hiked it a few years back and all the crocs were in lake 4.

Thanks
Warren

The summer fish hang around until about April or when the lake temps start to drop. The last spot north where Garrick come out regularly from July up until Sept is Vidal.

Re the Discovery documentary - great bit of movie making and creating hype about a system that used to be wild. Lots of fabrication of content in my view. The so called mullet run that is the focus has become no more than a memory of the bygone times when blacktip shark would literally beach themselves chasing bait onto the beach. A bit of the "wild African safari" crap for the illiterate Americans...

20 years ago you would not dare swim the mouth area in the day, never mind at night. Today I would not think twice crossing the mouth in the dark, admittedly I have swum the area unvoluntarily at night - twice, after my kayaking skills got tested past the point of my competence, once ending up close to Ponta D'oura... But there a very few big predators around these days, so I still have both legs and arms, but had to throw my shorts away...

[WazzyP]

Thanks for the information HolyGT

[HolyGT]

BTW the "mullet run" used to happen April/May. Now the only Mullet Run that happens is the one that head accross the border with Jetski/Quads/... to Ponta...

[JNC]

My girlfriends dad grew up there so we still go there some times. Back in the day they caught loads of fish, but now its always hard. As far as I know it was a white game ranger who introduced the gillnets as he thought it wouldnt have an impact. Today he knows he was wrong but apperently he says to stop the netting will take years. I heard of a guy who came apon a gillnet in the channel between lake two and three. As he tried to remove it he heard and then saw a local coking a AK47 next to him. Obviously he left the net as it was and f***ed offf... They use the nets in the channels when its quiet (no tourists), and in this way they kill the movement and some breeding cycles of fish (like grunter). Apparently indians buy the fish in big load, probably for restaurants or whatever, I dont know.
These are all stories I have heard so I dont know how true they are, but one thing I do know is that the fishing in the lakes have all butt disappeard with regards to how it was.

I went to Banga neck in November last year. It was real cold and rainy so we couldnt realy fish, but we did manage a few Pompano and bonefish on bait. Banga neck at the right time should be fantastic, defenately going there again.