South African Fishing

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.