South African Fishing

The weather has not been playing its part in the last 2 months or so, the storms  that we had been expecting have only now near the end of July started to do their thing.

The holes have started opening up and some very nice fat galjoen have been caught.  Most fish have been taken in the rough water spots in the immediate area of Hermanus eg. Die Wit Huis, Tamatie Bank and Blaasgat to name but a few of the areas that produced good sized fish.

My good friend Andre Lourens managed to land a very nice sized galjoen at die Wit Huis of over 4kgs, this fish was very fat and apparantly took off like a steenbras, Andre said he was very lucky to land this fish as he had to bring it up the side of the cliff at Die Wit Huis, the hook fell out of the fish’s mouth the moment it reached the top of the rocks.

These rough water spots all have the same problem.  They are all very high and very seldom is a big galjoen landed, light tackle is totally out of the question.

Pearly Beach area is still constantly producing nice fish, try die Polle, Steenbras Baai, Selfoon Klip and dont forget Soetfontein. Some very nice steenbras have also been taken at these spots while fishing for galjoen. The gate at Soetfontein has been open for a while now, this makes it much easier to get to the holes at Soetfontein, someone is constantly locking the gate though so be prepared to go the long way round through serious rooikrans bush that gives your car’s paintwork some serious scratches.

Unfortunately I have not been in contact with the guys fishing the Plaat area but I am sure there would be some galjoen around.

Redbait is one of the most popular baits in the Cape, where it is mostly used to catch reef fish like galjoen, wildeperd, blacktail and quite often steenbras as well.

Redbait is found mostly between the West Coast and the Transkei Coast, where it is mostly found at low tide on rocky outcrops, in the rocky crevices of gullies.

The bait is collected by cutting the pods off the rocks with a very sharp knife, then cutting through the tough outer pod to get to the flesh inside.

There are two types of redbait identified by anglers.  The first is the most common bait that is easily seen sticking out of the water at low tide. These are normally quite large and can be seen squirting water at intervals.  This bait often washes up after storms and can be picked up on beaches and inbetween rocky outcrops.

This bait is used by galjoen fishermen when the sea is too rough to get to any of the other prefered baits.  Galjoen will get taken on this bait especially in rough water where the bait will be grabbed very hard setting the hook itself.

The second and more preferred bait used by serious galjoen fishermen is referred to as Sand bait, this bait is found in deeper water and is best to collect on a spring low tide. Some galjoen fishermen use long gaffs with double hooks to gaff the pods out of the deeper water from under rocks where they grow in large colonies.

I prefer not to do this as the pods are very soft and get ripped to pieces by the gaff, most of the bait gets washed away before you get hold of it in any case.

The Sand bait is a brownish colour and has a softer pod that is easily opened by hand, the bait is a lighter shade of pink or a glassy black.  This bait is much preferred by galjoen and blacktail for its softer texture and stronger smell. With this bait being so soft it is better to not use any cotton when baiting up. 

Most fishermen prefer to “ripen” the red bait by either hanging it in a wicker basket or burying it in sand for a couple of days, the redbait is much better to handle and galjoen seem to prefer it.  Do try and cover the bait with a net if it is being “ripened” in a wicker basket hanging from a tree as the stench will soon attract flies that will ruin your bait by laying eggs.

The smell given off by matured red bait is not for the feint at heart, it really smells bad.  No amount of scrubbing with soap and water will get the smell off your hands and clothes.  To even consider putting some of it it in the wife’s deep freeze will get you into the dog box in record time, even sealed in a plastic container will not keep the smell from going into other food stuffs.

The only way is to have your own bait freezer in the garage out of mother’s way. I have found that the best way to keep red bait is to freeze it in a plastic container with sea water, when defrosted it is as fresh as the day you collected it.  Some galjoen fishermen salt their bait, each fisherman has his own secrets, so whatever works for you will do.

Sand prawns are found all along the South Western Cape in most Estuaries.  They are easily identified by their colour, pink and yellow and single large pincher.  The sand prawn is collected by using a prawn pump that may be bought at any fishing tackle shop.

The best time to collect sand prawn is at low tide when it is much easier to get to their holes, simply place the prawn pump over their holes and pump three or four times. The prawn should be pumped out, in shallow water they should be swimming about or trying to get back into the sand, grab them but be carefull not to damage the prawn as its very soft, also the pincher can give you quite a pinch.

Only 50 may be collected per person per day.  Keep them in a container with some seaweed or a wicker basket also with some moist seaweed, dead prawns should be removed as they will cause all the prawns to deteriorate very quickly. 

If the prawns have to be kept for a couple of days it is best to keep them moist and cool at all times removing any dead prawns from the container.  The prawns may even be kept in a beer box on moist newspaper in the bottom of the refrigerator for a couple of days.