South African Fishing

Yes its galjoen season again and there is new life in the galjoen fraternity of Hermanus.   The weather has not exactly played along, but the odd good sized fish has been taken at some of the more popular spots along our coast.  Rykmansklip had a few nice fish Just before the season opened, this I heard from a very reliable source, of the fish take were well over 3 kgs.  Now I have spoken to many of the fishermen about this but am afraid we will never be able to put a stop to it if the sea fisheries don’t hand out some stiff fines and hurt these few where it hurts most, in the pockets, they should also be on the front page of our local newspaper so that they may be embarrassed in the community for their stupidity.

Enough of that nonsense.   Penny Pincher’s held a galjoen derby for the second year running in our area that was a huge success for anglers from all over the Western Cape.   There were about 70 anglers taking part on the opening day of the season, the area was from Die Dam to Hangklip to help some of the anglers from our neighbouring towns that don’t know the spots in Hermanus and to give everyone a fair chance.

The weather played along with no rain or serious wind.   At weigh in time some very nice fish were weighed in, the heaviest galjoen weighed in at just below 2kg’s, a very nice fish that should have weighed in at 2.5 kg was it in top condition.  These female fish become very thin after the breading season and only really fatten up later in the season.   This fish was caught at Pearly Beach with another of nearly exactly the same size being caught in the same hole.

The heaviest other addable fish was a white steenbras of 13kg’s caught on bloodworm at die dam.   The guys also reported many young undersized fish taking the hook, this to me is always very exiting as it is a clear sign of younger fish moving into our fishing area, some fish being as small as 15 cm.

The cob are still around and good catches are still being made at Pearly beach and die Dam.  The odd steenbras is still being caught in the same area, mostly on prawn and bloodworm.

The Winter will hopefully be here early this year with strong seas opening up all our favourite galjoen holes, it is reported that most of the holes along the Hermanus plaat are still closed up tight with sand with only the odd fish being caught being nice and fat, a number of good sized steenbras have also been landed.

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Yes its summer again and the South Easter has brought with it the long awaited cob to our area again.  Some very nice cob have been landed in Hermanus from the gang and kraal rock.   Most of the cob as always have been caught from Franskraal up to the damme, holbaai has had its fair share of decent size cob as well as plaatjies kraal.  These areas produce mostly smaller cob that seem to love the kelp beds but some fish well above 10kg have been landed with many of the bigger cob running the guys off in the kelp beds.

It still amazes me how few of these cob fishermen who fish these areas where there are lots of kelp beds and rocky outcrops still have not learned to use thicker leader lines, by this I mean the first 8 meters of line to your hook and sinker should be up to 1mm thick?   This does not only give you better casting distance with a bigger bait but also comes in very handy when the odd bigger cob picks up your bait and runs you into the kelp or rocks, most other fishermen will lose that battle every time on the standard 35 pound line.   By just keeping the tension on the fish you will land up to 100% more fish, guaranteed.   Another good tip is to use much thinner line to your sinker trace, should your sinker get stuck the thinner line will part first thus giving you even more chance of landing your fish.

The cob baits to use are fresh sardine, mackerel, chocka(the chocka must always be pure white) and at times even white mussel.  Keep in mind to always have your hook very proud when baiting up, the hook sticking out does not affect the fish in any way but will increase your hookups drastically, do not use hooks smaller than 6/0 and go as high as 10/0, these fish have big mouths.   So this summer be on the lookout for some brown ginger beer coloured water, you never know what might be swimming around in there.

On the spur of the moment my friend Gert and I decided to go fishing at Pearly Beach early Saturday morning.  I picked him up at 6 o’clock and we were off. Is early in the mornings not just the best time of the day?

As we went through Stanford Gert suddenly remembered that he had left our bait at home, this was not a good start to the day at all, luckily I had put some old salted blood worms into my bait box so we were not totally without bait.

When we arrived at Pearly Beach just before 7 o’clock it was just starting to get light, we grabbed our tackle and headed off to the beach.  We were not very impressed with the water at all, it had picked up over night and had a mean side wash that was going to make fishing even more difficult.  The tide was high and we had driven all the way so we had to make the best of a bad situation.

Luckily for us the whole beach was covered with red bait pods, Gert decided to take a walk down the beach to cut some bait seeing he was the one that had forgotten to pack our bait.  Actually it was his bait and there had been no talk of sharing bait, but he still felt bad so I let him do his thing.

The water had been very nice and flat in Hermanus the previous day so I had only brought lite tackle for galjoen, you very seldom need to cast to far to get fish in this area.  Now I had the problem that my heaviest lead was a 5oz and I had only one left in my bag, needless to say it would have to do.

Gert was walking about 200 meters away when I sent my first cast in loaded with the salted bloodworm, was I glad I had remembered to bring it along, the stench that was coming from Gert’s direction was something else, it was much lighter now and I could see and smell that he was busy cutting gas heads(rotten red bait) the most foul smelling bait in the universe.

At least he had the grace to laugh at himself, this was really rotten bait very much liked by galjoen.  We made a few casts off the beach but the side wash was too strong, so we decided to find somewhere else to fish.  A quick stop at Pearly Beach Cafe to get a few bigger leads and off we were to Soetfontein.

The trip to Soetfontein was luckily a short one, the stench of the red bait in my Landrover was really overpowering and I could not wait to get it out of the car. We walked up and down the beach for a hour or so with no luck at all, the water was very cold and had no colour what so ever.

We decided to make a rock near the car our last stand for the day seeing that the tide was starting to come in quite strongly.  The wash was as bad if not worse than when we started, possibly due to the incoming tide but we kept at it.   By this time I had become quite desperate to get a pull that I was also using red bait but still no luck.

I started packing up when Gert had a pull and missed the fish, and was he impressed with himself.  He had another pull that he missed and was about to pack up when down went his rod, fish on.  He played it nicely to the rocks in front of his feet and quickly lifted it out, a very fat undersized steenbras of about 50cm, the hook just barely holding onto its lip.  The fish was released to grow the extra 10cm and be caught another day, always a nice feeling letting the odd fish go, well done Gert.

Gert made one or two more casts then decided to join me at the car for a nice cold Windhoek, another fishing day coming to an end.

At last the authorities that be have decided to give fishermen access to the Hermanus Plaat. The Overstrand municipality in conjunction with Cape Nature this week opened the Walker bay fishing trail giving the public access to popular angling sites along this stretch of coast.

The new trail will give anglers and all nature lovers access to popular fishing spots such as Diepolle, SopiesKlip, GrootDuifklip and KleinDuifklip. It begins at the reserve entrance next to Wortelgat, passing through the reserve to the first stop and parking area at the Polle. From here the route continues to SopiesKlip where beautiful rock formations make this an ideal picnic stop. Anglers still looking to hook ‘the big one’ can travel further along the route and try their luck at GrootDuifKlip or KleinDuifklip.

A variety of marine fish can be found along this coastline, including kabeljou,steenbras and the sought after galjoen. Popular bait options include red bait, white mussel, prawn and sea worm. In addition to fishing, visitors can enjoy day hikes along the coast, swimming, birding, whale watching and picnicking.

PLEASE NOTE

Only 4×4 vehicles can access the trail(no 2×4 vehicles, motorcycles or quad bikes are allowed)

It is strictly prohibited and illegal to drive on the beach, dunes or anywhere other than the demarcated roads. Vehicles may park only in demarcated areas.

Please make sure you have all the necessary permits for angling and bait collection. These permits are available at post offices and must be produced at the request of an official.

No dogs allowed, no fires allowed.

Gate times are strictly 07h00 to 19hoo

Please use the rubbish bags provided and make sure you leave with them.

The sea can be rough and dangerous at times. Small children must be supervised at all times.

Entrance fees are, R40.00 grownups R20.00 children

Wild Card holders will pay half the tariff.

Fishing has been very quiet in the Hermanus area for some time now with only the odd decent galjoen being caught off the rocks.  I must say that some very nice specimens have been landed from some of the old favourite spots, Rowweklip having been the spot with the most galjoen over 3 kg and even one or two over 4 kg.  Now this very seldomly happens in Hermanus, only very seldomly will a fisherman land such a nice fish.

The Hermanus plaat seems to have opened nicely over the last couple of weeks if what I hear from the locals and Gansbaai fisherman is true.  Mierkom and the rocks around Voorste klip have been producing many very fat galjoen, someone had even landed a galjoen of 4.5kg.  Unfortunately I have not been down the beach for quite some time so this is strictly hearsay from other anglers.

It is a known fact though that the galjoen caught along our plaat are always very fat and taste better than any galjoen caught in the Hermanus area.  The fish have been taking all baits with pudding worm being the favourite.

With the Kleinrivier lagoon having opened up a few smallish steenbras have been caught around the mouth and off the rocks.  Sorry guys I have not heard of any of our plaat steam-trains being caught, these bigger steenbras seem to be very scarce these days and are only very seldomly caught.  Bloodworm and prawn still seems to do the trick, and of course if you have access to moonshine worms you know you will have a good chance of getting a steenbras.

If you are planning a trip to Hermanus please be aware that the sea fisheries officers have suddenly decided to show up and do some work for a change.  They have issued many fines in the last month or so, under size fish,permits and beach driving being the main offences.  The two small beaches we all drive over to get to Voorsteklip, and have been using for as long as I can remember is where they are busting most of the guys.  So lets not give these officers of the law any more pleasure in writing fines.  I believe in up keeping the law at all times even if I don’t agree with many of them, this is just my small way of getting pleasure back from any little encounters I do have with these hard working officials.

Lets just be out there to enjoy ourselves and not have to worry every time we see a government vehicle.  Tight lines.

During April this year Gert Grove decided to do some fishing off Die Gang in Hermanus when he hooked into his personal best Cob.  The Cob weighed 11.3 kg and was caught using a pilchard and chokka mixed grill.

Very few of the Hermanus fishermen try for cob off our rocks these days with the catches having reduced to almost nil over the last few years.  There have been many discussions in the fishing fraternity over what has caused this drastic decline in catches in Hermanus when only a few kilometers away in Gansbaai and Pearly Beach very good catches are made every year.

Gert is once again proof that if you don’t have a line in the water your chances of getting anything on will be nil.  So next time the South Easter blows for at least 2 days and the water takes on that familiar ginger beer colour, take the trouble to get a bait in the water at one of Hermanus’s many cob fishing spots, you never know your luck!

Places to try would be Die Gang, Die Neus,Die draad, Kraal rock and don’t ever think of forgetting to try the Langbaai area, many good sized cob have been landed from these rocks.

Gert got lucky again, but the more he practices the luckier he seems to get.  This Bronzie was caught at another Boland competition day at the Struisbaai Mond. The Bronzie weighed 135kg and was caught on a whole squid slide that was left in the water for 2 hours, Gert managed to land the Bronzie in just 40 minutes.  This Bronzie is also the biggest ever caught off the beach in the Struisbaai area.

Gert caught this lovely Diamond ray on the Struisbaai plaat during a Boland competition fishing for the Hermanus shore angling clubs A team.  The fish weighed 62kg(measured) and was caught on a Mackeral slide.

Hot off the press, Pearly Beach is still cooking!  The galjoen and steenbras are still on the bite with some very large galjoen and steenbras being landed.  Keeping in mind that one may not catch steenbras anymore, I don’t know how many of these fish are being kept, most are under size in any case.

The Hermanus Shore Angling Club is having a competition on the 28th of July between Palmiet and Die Dam and I am sure many of the guys will be going to Pearly Beach to target the steenbras and galjoen, lets hope the weather plays along and lets the fishermen get close enough to get a line in the water.

The fish are being landed on mostly prawn and worm so be sure to have some in your bait box.  Castle Beach is the place to be, no kelp in the water and the gully that has opened within easy casting of the beach.  See you there.