Hillcrest’s Johnno Grant was the winner of this year’s McCarthy Toyota (Ballito) Salt Rock Surfski fishing competition, held on a gloriously mild day – with equally mild sea conditions, on the KZN North Coast over the weekend.
Organised by Fishing Corner and sponsored by a variety of companies, including Pinnacle fishing ski’s, Hook Line And Sinker, Bidvest Insurance, Shimano and Hirsch Ballito, the competition is one of the biggest open water kayaking fishing competitions in the world. This year’s event saw 130 kayak enthusiasts head out to sea to hunt down the biggest fish!
The goal was to catch a barracuda (couta) weighing in at 28kg for the grand prize – a Toyota Hilux from McCarthy Toyota (Ballito). This is the fourth year that the competition has taken place in the area – and the third year running that the prize of the Hilux has been on offer for the winner. Once again this incredible prize stayed safely in the McCarthy showroom in Ballito as Johnno’s couta missed the mark by six kilo’s.
Coming second in the competition was Sean Huback who went out in a double Kayak with his brother, Gary – winner of last year’s competition. Both Johnno and the Hubach brothers – who both hail from KZN – hooked their 20kg couta off Westbrook / Zimbali. Local fisherman, John Shum came in third with an 18.2 kg couta. Launching took place off Blythedale, Tynley Manor and Salt Rock.
Organiser of the competition, Shaun Reid, who hosts the Fishing Corner website, said that he was extremely pleased with turnout at the competition which attracted kayakers from around the country. “We were concerned that Top Gear was going to clash badly with the competition, but fortunately it didn’t. We were really lucky with the conditions too and had no casualties.”
Although kayak fishing required an enormous amount of stamina – it pits the fisherman against the elements and leaves him vulnerable if something untoward happens, as he has no radio contact with the shore – it has its advantages. These include: the ability to position oneself close to the fish, both when targeting them and fighting them. The kayak can be launched almost anywhere and specialized casting tackle is not needed. Many shore anglers have moved to kayak fishing in the hopes of being able to target more species. Kayak fishing is also popular with competitive surfski paddlers because it is form of cross training – with the additional excitement of fishing.
For more information on other surfski fishing events visit www.fishingcorner.co.za