It’s September and we’re currently sitting with a cold front and low temperatures as we wait in anticipation for what is hopefully the last few cold fronts to pass Cape Town, and look forward to the arrival of the South Easterly wind and some warmer sea and air temperatures.
As the excitement builds towards summer more and more anglers in the shop who are interested in ‘spinning’ or lure fishing to be more specific.
In this article I would like to focus on fishing artificials and go through some of the different length rods, reel sizes, lures and braids which suit most of our applications here in the Cape.
Garrick
Garrick are often found inshore hunting shallow on sandy beaches or on the backline where they hunt mullet and other baitfish in the surfzone. Fishing for Garrick or leervis as it’s known in the Cape stands out as one of the most exciting an exhilarating fish species to target. Leervis can be highly aggressive and often chase and smash at one’s lure before committing, this really gets ones heart racing and makes targeting these fish an exciting challenge. Fishing for Garrick can be done in various ways but the most common method used to is by using a standard white plug, chisel nose and needle nose plugs as well as spoons. These days many anglers use soft plastics like paddle tails and flukes, bucktails, top water lures like the new rapala pencil in 107 as well skitter V and skitter walks, these are especially deadly for the smaller fish in the estuaries.
Many guys are now also fishing with slow pitch jigs which is a growing facet in South Africa. Slow pitch jigs mimic the smaller bait fish, prawns and squid species, they are absolute fish species catching machines, everything seems to grab onto a 20 g or 30 g slow pitch jig.
Garrick are very clean fighters so one does not need heavy tackle to target these fish. In areas like Strand we tend to fish very light for these fish, a 7 ft medium to heavy spinning rod, that can throw a 1,5 oz lure is perfect, pair that with a 4 000-size grinder and some 20 lb Braid and you have a perfect outfit for both estuary fishing and fishing in places like Strand where distance is not a factor.
If you target Garrick in areas like Struisbaai on a open beach then one would generally need to throw a plug or spoon a long distance, i would then look at a rod that’s minimum 11 ft in length, 12 ft being my personal favourite for beach spinning. The extra bit of length not only helps with distance but line management in the surf too.
A few metres can make all the difference when it comes to getting your lure in the strike zone. One always tends to imagine these perfect flat windless conditions before you go fishing, when you get there its normally the opposite, a wind into your face making the lure go nowhere, cold salty spray in your face, difficult conditions where most would give up, That’s where braided lines and modern rods come into there own allowing you to fish in the worst conditions and still get in the zone.
Kob
Fishing for kob on lure remains one of the biggest attractions to lure anglers a long our section of coast line. I guess it always sits in the back of your mind that maybe, just maybe that 100 lb kob will mistake your lure for a tasty mullet. Catching big kob on lure is truly an amazing experience.
There is nothing like being waist deep in the surf zone, brown mullet water all around you with jittery mullet coming up and feeding in big patches in the “skuim kolle”, when all of a sudden they scatter all once and you see what you thought was a big dark tail swirling between the mullet. Your heart sits in your throat in anticipation of that lure stopping dead in its tracks. Am I stuck on a rock? No man, there is only sand here! And then you feel that massive bump through your skinny 20 lb Braid, and then another bump before she realises something is wrong, the big aggressive headshakes followed by strong runs gives you cold shivers as you realise a big kob has engulfed your lure. Those who have experienced this will tell you that the 1 000 casts are worth every bite you get on the lure.
There are many ways to fish for kob and many lures that will do the job, but we don’t have the space to chat about it in this article. However, in future we will do a article on only lures and how to fish each one, under which conditions and area.
The best and most common ways to target kob on lures are to use soft plastics, lipped lured, spoons and my personal favourite and most successful lure is a stick bait.
For rocky areas I would suggest you fish with weedless paddle tails, floating lipped lures which run fairly shallow or slow sinking /suspending stick baits. Even then one needs to work the holes and gulleys carefully as not to get constantly stuck and loose expensive lures.
I would suggest a 11ft type rod that can throw 1 to 4oz and more importantly good braid tied to a solid braided leader of 80 or 100lbs. Braid for fishing the bricks should be very abrasion resistant. Using a soft, super thin braid just doesn’t work between the rocks. I would go no less than 30lb between the bricks with 50lb being necessary in very foul areas. It’s better to straighten a hook on a lure than break your main line and loose everything.
For the beach I once again prefer a 12ft 1-4oz type rod, a rod with a softer tip action really helps when throwing lighter lures into the wind, that extra flick and softness throws the lure “smoothly” which causes the lure to snake through the air and get distance instead of tumbling and fluttering because of trying to overthrow the lure.
For your beach work you can look at the various super soft, thin and subtle braids which are available on the market. Something like suffix G core13x is top of the range stuff and casts beautifully, if you don’t want to spend as much you can look at something like good old boss slick braid, very thin and casts well. There are however many braids out there which will suite your application so give us a call if you need some help deciding.
For those looking for a fun adrenaline rush and physical challenge, casting from the shore or wading into the surf is a great way to target garrick, kob, elf and yellowtail. It certainly is a fun, clean, economical way of fishing. You only need a small.bag of lures and 1 setup.
With the correct dedicated spinning outfits and the right rods, and lures one is already half way to winning the artificial battle.
Please remember that all of our fish species are under severe pressure, please release.most of your fish or at the very least stick to (outdated) catch limits, and release undersized fish back into the water to preserve the marine ecosystem for future generations.
Its up to us as anglers to preserve what we have left. No government or law or anyone else will do it for us its time we realise that.
Please get involved in Ori tagging program and tag as many fish as you can, we know very little about many of our fish species, every little contribution by us anglers towards nature and conservation is a good one in my opinion. Educate and Spread the word about how badly depleted our favourite fish species are, the facts are, if we carry on like we are we won’t have these fish to catch in the near future
If you enjoyed the article or need more information on tackle, tips or tactics please get in touch with us on 072 552 4400 or email Kegan@fishingrepublic.co.za.
