Big Fish. Bigger Prizes. It’s the Shelly Beach Tuna Bonanza 2024

Join the Shelly Beach Tuna Bonanza 2024 for thrilling fishing, big prizes, and unforgettable fun. It’s going down from the 27-29 June – and we’ve got all the important details

Get ready for the Shelly Beach Tuna Bonanza 2024! Held at the picturesque Shelly Beach Ski-Boat Club, this thrilling fishing competition promises big prizes, exciting catches, and unforgettable memories. 

The club also celebrates its 50th anniversary, so you don’t want to miss out on one of South Africa’s most beloved winter Gamefish tournaments!

Tuna Bonanza 2024 Prizes:

One Prize. One Angler. One Species.

Get ready to reel in the big one! With a grand prize of R50,000, the Tuna Bonanza 2024 offers plenty of other prize incentives to hit the water. 

The top 10 prizes are exclusively for Tuna, adding an extra layer of excitement for those targeting the big guns. There are also prizes for the heaviest couta, amberjack, jobfish, bonnie, and other tuna species. 

Plus, there’s a Tag & Release category for Billfish and Sailfish. Each prize is awarded to one angler per species – making every catch count in this epic competition.

Tuna Bonanza 2024 Dates & Times: 

The Tuna Bonanza runs from June 27th to June 29th, 2024. 

The tournament kicks off with a briefing on Wednesday, June 26th at 6 PM. 

Entries close on May 31st, 2024, but if you’re late, contact Lindy at 082 555 6666 to check availability. Just remember, late entries may not receive a competition shirt or goody bag.

Tuna Bonanza 2024 Info:

Launching from Umkomaas to Port Edward, the Tuna Bonanza is open to boats under 9 meters and jet skis (with 5 jet skis max per launch site). There’s a 115 nautical mile distance limit, and fishing in the reserve or the Protea Banks Restricted Zone is prohibited. 

With categories for Open, Juniors, and Ladies, everyone has a chance to join in the fun. This year also marks the club’s 50th anniversary, so expect live entertainment and a festive atmosphere across the 3 days.

Tuna Bonanza 2024 Contact Details:

For more details, contact the Shelly Beach Ski-Boat Club on 039 315 1476 or email shellyp@venturenet.co.za. Or head to the club: Albert Meyer Dr, Shelly Beach, Margate. 

Check out their website for more info about the club.

Fair weather and tight lines to all competing anglers (and of course the team organising the Shelly Beach Tuna Bonanza 2024) – it’s going to be an unforgettable fishing tournament.

Previous Year’s Tournaments

Four days of awesome game fishing, a new boat and cash prizes up for grabs and loads of entertainment at the Shelly Beach Ski-Boat Festival

NOTE: The 2022 tournament takes place at the Shelley Beach Tuna Bonanza from 30 June to 3 July 2022

Dorado, tuna, yellowfin and maybe some wahoo. You can expect loads of great game fishing and excitement at the scales for four days during the Shelly Beach Ski-Boat Festival, 30 June to 3 July 2022. As well as some awesome entertainment at the Shelly Beach Ski-Boat Club, with a cash bar and even cooking demonstrations. Not to mention great prizes up for grabs at this awesome annual fishing competition.

Here’s all the info and how you can still enter and be a part of the Shelly Beach Ski-Boat Festival 2022.

WATCH: PAST SHELLY BEACH SKI-BOAT FESTIVAL TO GET YOU IN THE MOOD

AWESOME PRIZES UP FOR GRABS

This year, the first prize, awarded for the heaviest game fish catch of any species, is a brand-new 5-metre powered cat ski-boat with two 60hp four-stroke outboards. Second prize is awarded for the heaviest game fish catch of any other species, and then there are loads more cash prizes for various categories, including ladies and junior angler prizes.

FISHING THE 2022 SHELLY BEACH SKI-BOAT FESTIVAL

It’s all about game fish. But note that only fish that can be weighed qualifies, which means you’re not looking at bill- and sailfish. “The most common fish species you’ll be looking for is dorado, tuna and yellowtail, maybe some wahoo, too,” says Shelly Beach Ski-Boat Club PRO Brenda Johnson.

“Fishing starts from first light, and then weigh-in is strictly at Shelly beach Ski-Boat Club from 2pm–5pm for the first three days of the competition, and 2pm–4pm on the final day.”

That said, you should know that you can launch to take part in this competition anywhere between Durban and Port Edward. The northern-most boundary for the Shelly Beach Ski-Boat Festival is the Tongaat River mouth, and you can fish all the way down to the Sikombe River mouth in the south, as long as you still come and weigh-in at Shelly Beach Ski-Boat Club.

Some more fish species to look out for are couta, bonito, Natal snoek, garrick, and prodigal son. Just note that no shark or ray species are allowed to be weighed in this comp.

HOW TO ENTER

To enter, contact Brenda on 039 315 1476, email shellyp@venturenet.co.za, visit the club’s website, find the forms in a recent issue of Ski-Boat Magazine or click here to download registration forms.

LIVE ENTERTAINMENT AND FAMILY FUN

The Ski-Boat Festival is not just for anglers either. Throughout the compeition, Shelly Beach Ski-Boat club welcomes the public to come and join the festivities at their clubhouse on the beach at Albert Meyer Drive, especially during the weigh-ins (very exciting for kids!) from 2pm in the afternoon onwards.

There will be live entertainment, a cash bar and the restaurant is serving delicious meals as per usual. But something extra special: The club has organised to have a pro chef who will be doing live cooking demonstrations on how to prepare locally caught fish for an awesome meal.

SHELLY BEACH SKI-BOAT FESTIVAL

At Shelly Beach Ski-Boat Club, Albert Meyer Dr, Shelly Beach
Club website
shellyp@venturenet.co.za
039 315 1476

Awesome images via Shelly Beach Ski-Boat Club taken by Justin Klusener

PLUS: SHELLY BEACH LIVE WEBCAM

If you ever want to know the conditions are like on the beach or at the club, you can get regular daily snapshots of the ocean and the slipway with this live webcam.

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Also discover Shelly Beach Ski-Boat Club. See all the ski-boat clubs in Natal.

For some more awesome yellowtail fishing in August further afield, check out the West Coast Yzerfontein Yellowtail Challenge at Yzerfontein Boat Angling Club.

Discover more winter fishing competitions in June and all the year’s big fishing tournaments.

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THE PURSUIT OF AWESOME

Legend also has it that CarryCats and every other boat runs better under Suzuki power. Discover it for yourself among these Suzuki outboards.

BUILT FOR FISHING

Legend has it that it’s more fun fishing in a CarryCat. So tell your friends who might not know yet to check out the little-big CarryCat 670, the next-level CarryCat 740 and the all-round great fisher CarryCat 760.

Discover more specs, options and configurations for bass boats, riverboats and ski boats under our section on new boats.

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