For the guys in KZN who had a bumper year with marlin and small tuna then MAYBE theres more to come thats the good news. For the guys in the Western Cape it looks like we are going to have a repeat of last year ie lots of strong SE winds and a yellowtail and tuna season from hell thats the bad news. You cant blame Malema for this one the likely culprit is La Nina. During the early part of May a weakening of the system in the Pacific was detected and and it was forecast to moderate. However the last couple of weeks the Western Pacific cooling anomally has intensified and the scientists at NOAA are pretty adamant that the weather patterns will be more or less the same as last year. I have followed the recreational yellowtail and tuna seasons for years (bad yellow fever) and can almost put money on it. For a bumper season in the Cape we need a moderate El Nino ie lots of W and SW wind in Summer wifh the occasional SE to push the warm Agulhas Current into and around False Bay. I really hope I'm wrong. See you in Richards Bay
Good news and bad news!!!!!
- Thread starter vis blik
- Start date
benniejordaan
Sealiner
I too won't try to predict next season.
What are your thoughts about our season here being great because of the Pirates keeping the commercial fishing at bay North of Mozambique? Our fish generally moves down the coast for summer and with less pressure from commercial fishing we have better fish stocks?
What are your thoughts about our season here being great because of the Pirates keeping the commercial fishing at bay North of Mozambique? Our fish generally moves down the coast for summer and with less pressure from commercial fishing we have better fish stocks?
I think everyone who shared in the greatly improved marlin and tuna season early this year seemed to think that the pirates were to be thanked for their part. Only when we we can get hold of reliable stats as to how many vessels were avoiding the east coast can we be sure as to the impact they are having on our fisheries and thats not going to happen. It is my guess that the strong La Nina Phenomenon also played a part. In a nutshell La Nina is a worldwide weather cycle that manifests itself in the form of an upwelling of cooler water off the western Pacific El Nino is just the opposite. If you consider Spain Russia Korea Taiwan Japan have hundreds of vessels each in the Indian Ocean then any reduction must be welcomed, but I do not think these vessels were tied up, rather moved to safer grounds.
Have a look at you catches this time last year and where you fished, winter is traditionally west coast. The false bay season must go down as one of the worst since the fish were decimated by the purse seiners 40 years ago! I estimate that less than 100 fish were taken by all the shore anglers for the season. During a good year up to twenty fish are taken by individual anglers on a good day. During Feb 2010 after a strong SE I rounded Cape Point to be met by one shoal of YT from Bellows to SW reef to Anvil!!! We ran out of tags and fished hookless plugs till our cellphone videos ran dry. What I am trying to say is dont expect miracles on the False Bay side this coming season especially after Nov. when the SE is expected to return with a vengeance. I realise longterm forecasting is difficult at best but as technology improves accuracy does too. Farmers are using long term weather predictions with reasonable success and we can too. I hope I havent b'd up your year LOL. Dont sell that boat yet Now I've stuck my neck out I'll probably be wrong!!!!
benniejordaan
Sealiner
Re-rigged every lure I have. Now I don't know what to rig any. I'm even making conas... I need summer to come now!!!tackle whore
Senior Member
dont really care any more about what wind blows , there seems to be no fish any way so far tuna 200miles off shore , snoek min to say the least bit of fish at kleinbaai , yellowtail not viable as a commercial etc etc etc .