Kosi bay unseaworthy boats.

pork pie

Member
Having just returned from 8 days at Kosi I was astounded at the number of unregistered craft on the lakes!!! A lot of them were in a very poor state of repair.

I also noted that a lot of seaworthy craft had no details on trailers, this is supposed to be done on inspection.

Someone will get caught short on that water and we will all be penalised as a result!!!
 

rianc

Member
I have been going there for the last 4 years during the July holiday's and did not experience this. One is to buy your ticket at nature reserve offices when they check your skippers and COF an Buoyancy certificates. Do you want to tell us that this doesn't happen over December?
Regards
 

pork pie

Member
I have been going for 9 years every December and have noticed it before but this was especially bad! I have never been checked nor has my boat. One of these boats came loose in the wind and made a hole in the side of another boat. The police arrived and the owner laid charges against the guilty party, what charges I'm not sure. This incident was last year!
 

pork pie

Member
We had a LOT of wind but managed to land a good size grunter in lake 2 as well as being smashed up by something that broke my Daiwa reel, a large kingy me thinks. Everyone battled so I tried at night and had a hippo encounter in the channel between 3 and 2!!!!!!!!!
 

UmdlotiOnDad

New member
Nice one man.

I would like to go do a recon of the area and take my little duck. Whats the story with crusing across the lake to Bhanga nek? Would one just tie up on the other side and take a walk to the beach?
 

rianc

Member
The wind at Bhanga on Lake 3 can be quite a challenge with smaller craft in the waves. One day at had more airtime than water time for the 6km cross back to Kosi Lodge. Just go across and tie your boat and enjoy the day. It takes me 10min on flat lake and the drive is over 2 hours.
 

false bayer

New member
Pork Pie

I would not be at all surprised that the checks on the boats aren't done.

We just returned from a first time fishing trip at Kosi mouth. As we did not have a boat, we opted for some surf angling. The mouth was dead to say the least. It was only after we started going to the more remote beaches that we got some fish.

Let me get to the point of my post. I found all the so-called conservation efforts quite amusing. Here are a few great ones:

- No cast netting allowed in the lakes. Ironic when the entire lake system is overcrowded with fish kraals.
- On certain beaches, only subsistence fishing is allowed. How would this conserve any fish species.
- Then, conservation officials drive with a Cruiser on Bhanga Nek beach. I was under the impression that no vehicles are allowed on South African beaches, except for a few allowed areas. The tyre track of a conservation vehicle does the same damage as any other.

I also do not understand what the entry and permit fees are used for, as I could not see any service provided by the reserve.

I have read posts on the forum on how the fishing has deteriorated over the years in the lakes. After our visit, its blatantly obvious why this is the case.

So yes, vehicles driving on beaches, unregistered boats on the lakes,"justified" fish kraals and selective fishing practices is all part of conservation.

What a joke and waste of effort!
 

pork pie

Member
The state of that place is horrendous. We spent 8 days there in december and caught 3 fish. We were last there at easter and lake 2 has 4 new fish kraals since then. The tour operators are letting there customers buy fish out of the kraals from the locals. The camper next to me spent an hour retrieving gill nets in lake 3 that stopped his 90'S.

As for the boats, no control, christmas day one boat would not run, so 3 hours was spent with brandy "fixing" it. It went out sounding rough and that afternoon it never came back and we never saw it again. The rest of the party were frantically trying to get someone to rescue them at 17:00 in 60km/h winds.

The next day the trailer was taken and the boat was not seen again. When I asked staff about what happened they knew nothing about it despite having a launch register??????????????????

Very sad state of affairs all round. It is just a great for for all now, enjoy what little is left while you can.
 
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