Latest Catch Report From Namibia

Hi All,

Here is my first fishing report from Namibia but first a weather report as something unusual happened!! We had a bit of rain on Sunday night. It must have been less than 1mm and about all we expect until at least February! The winter is almost over here now and I have attached a picture of the latest wreck to adorn the beaches of the Skeleton Coast - The Zeila, a old trawler being towed to India for scrap, broke a tow rope in rough seas and drifted aground just 20kms south of Henties Bay adding to the other wreaks.

As to the fishing, the shark (bronze whalers) fishing has been outstanding this winter. Usually, as the water temperature drops below 16degrees the bronzies become hard to catch but the water this year has stayed close (14degrees) and the sharks have stayed around in abundance.

The edible fishing has also been good with many days showing excellent results when the sea has been settled enough. Catches of plenty of small kabeljou (up to quota amounts) have been common and there are plenty of undersized fish being caught which bodes well for the future. Larger kabeljou (to 18kg) have shown well in the last few weeks.

A few good steenbras have also shown. Spotted gulley sharks and smoothounds have also shown in good numbers.

Kind regards and best fishes,

Simon

Hi Uwe,

It is the Skeleton Coast that we fish all be it we are only allowed to fish a small part. It is split into the Skeleton Coast National Park and the West Coast Recreation Area. We are only allowed to fish the Recreation Area, and two small places within the National Park The Recreational Area is 300kms long stretching from just north of Sandwich Harbour (South of Walvis Bay) to the Ugab River (126kms north of Henties Bay).

The name "Skeleton Coast" comes from the sun bleached seal and whale bones that adorn the beaches as well as the numerous wrecks along the coast. Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skeleton_Coast for more information.

There has been talk of salvaging the wreck as it lies only 200 meters from the shore but another trawler wreck, The Kolmanskop which ran aground 2 years ago has been left in place as a tourist attraction. Hopefully they will leave The Zeila where she is too as it is already bringing tourists to the area!

Kind regards and best fishes,

Simon