INFORMATION
Useful apps and websites for fishermen By Craig Thomassen
T
HE internet has opened the path to a whole world of information on any subject. Anybody with a smart device can check on weather, tides, tackle prices and see how the fishing has been at different locations — all at the push of a few buttons. There is no reason not to be informed these days. Some useful apps, Facebook pages and websites are available to all for free and make life so much easier for anglers, so I thought I would make a list of a few that I find useful. WEATHER There are a number of good weather sites and each has their own speciality. Knowing what the wind is going to be doing as well as what sea conditions are going to be like, can be a big help when it comes to planning a trip. I use a combination of weather services and cross reference the information to try and get a clear prediction. WindGuru, YR.NO, AccuWeather, Magic Seaweed and Wind Finder are all good Apps and weather pages. By using these you can get a good idea of what the wind is likely to do, what the barometric pressure is doing, whether it is going to rain and details such as swell size and time between swells. TIDES There’s no need to carry tide tables anymore as our smart devices allow us to check the tides for any place on any date. I use TideApp which gives all of the necessary tidal information including sunrise, sunset, moonrise and moonset as well as high and low tide times and tidal differences.
INFORMATION There are numerous fishing web pages and blogs that cover every aspect of fishing, and forums allow us to interact with other anglers, chat to them and ask them questions. These forums also have many archived threads on just about every fishing related subject. If you are able to navigate some of these sites without being drawn into pointless time wasting in the form of keyboard battles, then you will find a huge source of information to mine through. Some ver y good South African ones are Ultimate Angling, Sealine and Flytalk. Membership is free and there is daily chat on the fishing and conditions in all of our waters. YouTube is also packed with video tutorials on how to get the best out of tackle and all sorts of fishing tips as well, so it can be very enlightening to spend a bit of time searching for subjects of interest on there. FISHING TACKLE With the exchange rate as high as it is now, and with most fishing tackle being imported into South Africa, fishing is becoming an expensive hobby. It is worth going online to compare prices, especially for high-end items. One can save a lot of money by doing some comparisons and buying tackle online. I know that it is always best to physically feel rods and reels and compare them, and that will always be true, but if you already know what it is that you want, then you can save money by ordering it online and it will be shipped to you. South Africans are slowly getting used to the idea of shopping online from the comfort of their homes or offices, and are starting to trust the systems in place as they have good experi-
ences. Some of the good South African tackle stores such as Basil Manning have an online shop as well as a physical store. The Inside Angling and Wildfly shop in Nottingham Road, KwaZuluNatal, has also opened an online store at <www.insideangling.com>. There one can browse tackle, compare prices and place orders. When shopping online it is best to check what the minimum order is that will qualify you for free shipping. This often works out to be very cost effective and the courier services are quick and reliable. FACEBOOK PAGES There are some ver y informative Facebook pages that one can join and follow, which give real time information on the fishing, conditions, what is biting where etc. Depending on your personal speciality, some of the following pages are valuable resources: Salt Fishing South Africa, EC Rock and Surf Fishing, Lighttackle.co.za and Fishing Durban. These are all useful pages where guys exchange information, buy and sell tackle and share tips with each other. Basically our phones, tablets and computers have become additional fishing tools. The information that we can gather from them is significant and has changed the sport of fishing forever. There are obviously many more apps, websites and Facebook pages than those that I have listed here, but these are some of the ones that I find useful. When the wind is blowing and the sea is unfishable, use that time to find some more online fishing resources to make your life easier. Tight lines and happy hunting!