November 2013 Newsletter
Promotion –October to December 2013
For every R 500 spent between now and the end of December you will get one entry into a lucky draw and will remain in the draw until the end of December. A prize will be drawn at the end of October, another at the end of November and the third at the end of December. Your entry will remain valid for the entire promotion. The more you spend, the more entries you will have in the draw. Prizes will be announced at the beginning of each month. The prizefor the November draw is a 14ft Max Rod valued at R950.00.
This promotion is only available to the members of our Basil Rewards programme, if you are not a member, you can register with our cashiers in store to join our Basil Rewards programme.
The prize winner for October 2013 is Donald McKenzie, who won an Assassin Jacket valued at R 699.95.The lucky ticket was drawn by Stelios Comninos.
Rock Surf & Deep Promotion –November 2013 to March 2014
A draw will take place at the end of November through to end of March 2014 from all customers who have spent in excess of R 10,000 in that particular month. The winner will receive one year’s free subscription to Rock Surf and Deep magazine.
Fishing Report
Locally in general the fishing has been extremely difficult due to big winds, big seas and big rain. The nice thing is that fishing often goes through the roof after periods like this. One of the main reasons is the amount of nutrient that comes down our rivers, which really puts a huge boost into the ecology at base level. As soon as this subsides and we start having a couple of good days, the fishing should be outstanding. Way south of us, some really good Kob were caught in the Eastern and Southern Cape and the fishing was really starting to hot up before the deluge. Bronze Bream and Blue Rays with a couple of Grey Sharks have made up the bulk of the rock and surf catches. On the bass side, some really big Bass have been coming out of smaller farm dams in particular and the Carp action has certainly been hotting up particularly at Albert Falls. On the offshore side I am sure the Snoek are going to go mad shortly, but in the deep there have been quite a few Tuna on sinking stick baits with some really good sized Couta, Dorado, etc., reported from southern Mozambique and Sodwana.
I recently did a trip to the Orange River just below Douglas. We were guided by Protea Fly Fisherman, Jacques Marais and it was certainly one of the most amazing fishing trips I have ever done. Having not fished Sterkfontein, a friend of mine, Peter Drake and I decided to stop in on our way to the Orange and check it out, although we were told it was a tad early with the water still being too cold. We only had a couple of hours in the afternoon to fish and really struggled to see any fish. When we eventually found a few fish it took a long time before we managed to raise a bite but then it was one of those fish of a lifetime experiences. I landed my first Large Mouth Yellowfish of 77 cm’s total length, which they say is around 7 kilos. It was the most magnificent golden slab of a fish I have ever seen in my life. On the first run it took 100 metres of my backing and by the time I landed it, my mouth was dry and my knees were shaking. Pete, who was on the net, was feeling the same, but having said that neither of us really realised what a magnificent fish it was until we spoke to some serious fly fishermen. What a beginning to the trip!
The Orange was mind-blowing. I got my first Mudfish, Small Mouth Yellow and River Large Mouth. The fishing was most definitely world-class. A good angler can easily catch well over 100 fish in a day and these Smallies will happily take ten to twenty metres of line up the river, downthe river and then back up again. Absolutely amazing. So much so, that we have booked the entire camp for 19 to 23 March 2014 exclusively for a Basil Manning group. There are a couple of spots left, so if anybody is interested please e-mail info@basilmanning.co.zaso that we can firm up on the last few bookings. The camp takes ten people for four nights, including three meals and three guides for R 4950.
See Barry’s Blog on http://www.basilmanning.co.za for a more detailed report and pictures of the trip to the Orange.
Tackle Talk
On the tackle side, some exciting products are starting to come in just before the Christmas Season.
The latest braid on the market from JDB, is extremely well-priced for the quality and comes in a 8 and a 4 weave. There is a backing braid, a multi-purpose top-shot braid and a rock and surf braid leader available in 80lb, 100lb, 120lb and 180lb.
A new rock and surf and game fishing line, from Berkley Trilene, called Trilene Max,offers exceptionally high breaking strains for the diameter as well as high abrasion resistance.
The Assassin EVO, Assassin’s latest rock and surf grinder rod model, is much lighter, much thinner and much stiffer than its predecessors.
From Halco, their latest surface bait, called the Skim Stick has already been catching fish and selling very well. Salmo’s new Sinking Slider is guaranteed to be a big hit and a top performer amongst sinking stick baits.
Assassin Casting Gloveshave also just arrived and a brand new range of high-performance ultra-affordable rock and surf rods by MAXROD, called RIPPA. These rods cover surf casting and surf spinning. They are light-weight, fast-action, 24-ton carbon rods that have been fitted with stainless steel framed guides and unbelievable value for money.
Till we talk again, have some awesome fishing!!!!
