Weekends Fishing

So, I managed to put in some time this weekend. I was very kindly given the day-off /standby on Friday by my business partner – so I sat from 5:30am till 7pm on Friday night with rods out the whole day with live Shad. (Best bait for KZN shore fishing)

I also threw a spoon for most of the day, but luck was not on my side. The only bit of action that I had was my Shad been bitten in half by a predator ,(shark / big shad ????) just after dark.

 

Ignore all the dates on the photos, they are wrong

 

Saturday Morning was absolutely stunning, with no wind and beautiful water. I caught my live bait and managed to get a rod out on the far left. There was weed on the right hand side, which sucked….. but alas, I had high hopes for the day.

There was some boiling in the water, which we thought were sardines, but could have been red-eye. We threw spoon into the shoal, but  no action.

Oom Piet was the first to land a big fish, bait was live Shad. This is this Master Anglers 4th Garrick of the season.

 

Willem was next with a run, but unfortunately it was not to be and there was no hook-up. Never mind, another bait in the water and we all waited.

My line on the far left, then Piet Gerber, then Fritz and then Willem. All lines on the left hand side.

The day continued with hordes of people, who can only be described as a combination of vultures, pigs and scum bags, descending on the rocks and poaching Shad way over the limit. These low-class, pathetic excuses for human beings have absolutely no respect for anything or anybody. They arrive there and just take over, throwing over everybody’s lines, swearing and just being anti-social and stuffing it up for everybody.

The mess they leave behind is another story all together. There is a bin, but it seems that it is too much effort to pick up their packets and bait scraps and it is easier to just leave them lying around for others to pick up.

This weekend, I have a plan for them and they will NOT get away with catching over the limit and they will NOT leave the rocks before cleaning up after themselves. We will be ready to protect our beautiful haven from these assholes. It is time that we stood up against this abuse of our positions as so-called intelligent beings, who only come here to rape the ocean.

Right, enough bitching.

 

So we sat most of the day, Piet went to watch Rugby and Fritz, Willem and myself sat it out.

Next thing, my rod went. ZZZZZZZZZZZ

The fish took my bait and started to take line very slowly. I have always known to wait until he runs before setting my hooks and I made the first of 2 mistakes, which resulted in me loosing my fish.

My first mistake was to let theory over-rule the practical realities of the situation. I was on the far left and my bait was sitting dangerously close to the crop of rocks next to pothole. I let the fish take too much line and I basically was outsmarted and out played by this magnificent hunter.

By the time he started to run and I set my hooks, it was already too late and he had the advantage of going down behind the rocks, so my line was pulled over the rocks. I sat with him for about ten minutes and then my line was cut off.

My second mistake was to try and turn him to the left, and thus giving him a clear line-of sight to swim between the rocks.

I should have instead gone onto the point and tried to turn him right, so he swam into open ocean where I could have played him into the gully on the right.

This is exactly what Fritz did, as his rod went the exact same time as mine. He was on the right of me, so he had first option to go right.

I should have instead locked earlier and held him there and then followed Fritz right. But alas….sob, sob, sob……

Next time !!

He landed this beautiful fish and was rewarded for many, many hours sitting and waiting over the last 2 months. A very patient and hard working angler deserved his reward.

 

I put out another bait and sat until dark again, but no luck. I intended to stay well into the night, as the water was perfect. But some person, part of the group mentioned above, stole my live bait out the pond I was using. So without bait, I went home.

Meanwhile, Hannes caught this Garrick off Margate Pier on live Shad.

 

Sunday was also a beautiful day, but unfortunately the weed had drifted over and there were big balls on every cast. There was some shad coming out, but nothing spectacular.

With it being almost impossible to put a live bait out, I went home at 9am to spend time with the family.

I planned to go back on the high tide, but the weed was thick and I have no desire to catch Shad for anything other than bait.

So I called the end of a fantastic weekends fishing. Great weather, some fish and spending time in the company of some really great guys.  Algy, Piet & Wayne, Oom Piet, Fritz, Willem, Haigh, Lucky, Micky, Martin – you guys rock !!

What a great weekend.

 

Want to know how to catch a Garrick ?  Read Here

 

BUT WHERE ARE THE SARDINES ?

 

Don’t forget to keep an eye on www.SouthCoastFishing.co.za for more photos.