It’s that time of the year when anglers start defrosting themselves and their tackle from a cold and not-so-wet Cape winter.
It’s also when we start packing away our winter steenbras and galjoen set-ups, and bring out the “big dogs” in anticipation of the arrival of warm waters and easterly winds and, with that, the famous kabeljou which anglers target from September through to April and May.
It’s late September, but already we have seen some great catches of kob, especially in False Bay. The reefs have been producing good numbers of young fish, which are unfortunately being exploited by poachers, who take 20 to 30 of these baby harder-size kob home with them. More about that later.
There has been a good showing of good-quality and good-sized fish too. Ranging from 90 to 100 cm, these fish really give the angler a battle in the reefs that they will never forget. It’s amazing how strong a 10 kg kob is between the reefs.
There is a fine balance between pulling too hard and ripping the hook out of the fish’s mouth, or playing it too softly and getting cut off on the jagged rock structure under the water.
When fishing the reefs for kob, it is advisable to upscale your tackle slightly. A good 14 kg to 18 kg nylon or braid of 14 kg minimum up to 36 kg is sometimes necessary for fighting the ever-present hound sharks, which readily eat kob baits.
A good 6/0 to 10/0 hook with some floatation, a red running float, works best in Strand and on the reefs. A chokka bait is always at the top of my list, followed by sardine, mullet or any other fresh fish bait, “occi” leg can be deadly, but the sharks also love it.
Moving towards Cape Town, there have been some good-sized kob caught at Muizenberg. The guys taking the time to net their own bait have the best success.
A live bait presented properly is definitely the best bait when fishing this stretch of coast.
There have also been glimpses of the elf making a solid appearance this season, with some good-sized ones caught in Strand, Macassar and towards Strandfontein this past week.
Elf are a favourite snack for kob and leeries as well as the inedible species. Their arrival should bring good fishing heading into summer.
Guys fishing Strandfontein have also got stuck into some early-season kob and elf, with reports of a few big galjoen and steenbras also being caught when conditions are right.
We have not seen any solid south-easterly patters yet, but when there has been a south-east wind for a day or two we have definitely seen good catches of kob follow since early September. We should be heading into a solid kob elf and leerie season.
On the boating side, it has been fairly quiet and big cold fronts and high seas have meant very few fishing opportunities for those on boats.
When conditions have allowed, there have been guys catching the odd Roman and a few of the kob bakkies in Strand have caught kob and elf in the evening. They all eagerly await strong south-easterly winds and flat seas with lots of colour in the water – that’s when the kob really start to bite.
One thing I have to mention in this column is the disgusting behaviour of a few anglers among us . . . Coming off the reefs with 20 or 30 baby under-size kob, looking proud of yourself is not only unlawful but also small-minded and selfish.
We already know kob populations are in the red. How can we, as a community, sit back and congratulate these fools on catching and keeping under-size fish? What will be left for our children? Speak to any older generation anglers and they will all tell you how great the fishing used to be along our coast.
We now suffer the consequences of our fathers and grandfathers keeping everything they caught. Gone are the days of red steenbras, mussle cracker and big white steenbras in Strand. We struggle to catch fish, never mind a good-sized fish, yet we turn a blind eye to these individuals who exploit our fish species.
It’s time the fishing community stands up against those who poach and plunder the ocean, else your children and their children will have nothing left. Let’s put pressure on those who take advantage, practise more catch-and-release and tag more fish, so we may understand and figure out a plan to save our valuable fish species before it’s simply too late.
We need to take action. If you would like to learn more about ethical fishing and conservation, fish tagging or need any help with fishing, pop into Fishing Republic, situated in Strand.
V For more information, visit see @fishingrepublic on Facebook or @fishingrepublicstore on Instagram. Also phone 072 552 4400.
