The Christmas / New Year’s holiday was upon us. Although only a short, one week break, it was dearly needed. The idea of heading down to the Eastern Cape for a few days had me excited for weeks in advance. Cannon Rocks was calling and at 11.30am we hit the road from Somerset West.
It is a “mere” 880 km drive to reach my beloved fishing beaches, and I counted the kilometers down; Mossel Bay, Wilderness, Knysna, Port Elizabeth… As we passed the well-known Nanaga Farm Stall I knew we were getting close. Only about an hour to go now; I asked Charms to pour a last cup of coffee. She had been napping most of the way, but was now wide awake; probably my sheer anticipation and excitement rubbing off on her. We arrived at our destination a bit after nine. The smell of the ocean air, some nice Karoo chops on the fire, my dad, mom and brother was the perfect welcoming party.
After unpacking we kicked back with a cold one in hand, ready to discuss the fishing for the following couple of days. We decided that we would only fish for a couple of hours each day, weather permitting, leaving plenty of time for some of the other holiday activities and family time.
The first day was a total blow-out. The Westerly came pumping through, causing the brave to get sand-blasted on the beach; at least this would warm the water up a little. Late afternoon my brother and I went for a spin at Boknes. The wind had subsided and we were throwing some bucktail-jigs for elf and leeries just before sunset. We whipped the water to froth without much success. Working the section back to the parking area my lure finally got smashed ; the elf came bulleting out of the water and did an acrobatic back-flip before stripping some line from my reel. After the third or fourth bit of aerobic display, right near the side, the hook somehow managed to pull loose. Ugh, that sinking feeling when you try to work out what you did wrong, I kept enough pressure, not giving any slack, perhaps just a poor hook-up. None-the-less a good bit of excitement and Rush of Blue adrenaline to get the fishing started.
The following day the ocean was crystal clear. The Westerly had warmed the water up nicely, but to the detriment of the colour. We meandered around the rocky areas in search of some new formations. After witnessing a gentleman “hook’n cook” a good size white musselcracker, a story or two of musselcracker being caught in the area surfaced and got me thinking about their sustainability. A few years back (like 10 years +) the people were catching these fish on almost every occasion out there, but sadly no more. The white musselcracker must be a residential fish and I wonder when taken from its residence whether another would ever take its place? If not, they are going to be completely gone from the area very soon. I am going to do some research on this and post a bit of info on the white musselcracker in the coming weeks.
One of my highlights of the holiday was our visit to “Springs”, a part of the Addo National Park that stretches for a few kilometers along the beaches to the west of Cannon Rocks. You require a special permit (day or annual pass) to enter the area; this can be obtained in Alexandria.
We left Cannon Rocks early the morning and entered the “Golden Mile”; a beautiful (understatement) area of farmlands. The rolling green hills stretched as far as the eye could see; the cattle as fat and healthy as … well … pigs? I was awestruck by the surroundings as we entered the park and we followed the path toward the ocean. You must leave your vehicle about 2 kilometers from the beach. Once on the beach you have about 10km’s of fishable areas. Most people fish the first stretch, so if you are up for a bit of walking, you can fish spots that see very little fishing pressure.
My dad, brother and I spent the day on the rocks and beach exploring various spots. The area looks good to produce some big fish when conditions are right. The sea was still very clean and we were only catching small reef sharks and sand sharks on bait.
My brother and I decided to venture down the beach to find a place where the reefs ended; I wanted to fish some artificial lures and I was looking for a sandy bottom.
We were soon joined by my dad who was still fishing with bait, landing one sand-shark after the other. The sun was quite high by now and didn’t help our chances of a decent fish in the clear water. The predatory fish have no means of ambushing their pray, this makes lure fishing very difficult. The spot I chose had a channel running along a bank that seemed to be open to deeper water. The rolling waves would roll foamy water into the deeper channel; a perfect spot that might actually yield something on lure. You had to wait for the set of waves to pass before making a cast; the big waves in the set made the retrieval of the lure with any sort of effective action nearly impossible.
I was fishing a yellow and white bucktail-jig, 1.5 ounce, on my 10 foot Fenwick rod, Shimano Stradic 5000FJ reel and 14 pound Berkley fireline crystal braid. A couple of casts into the spot and I felt the familiar bump/stop zzzzzzz! Yeah ON! I exclaimed as my line started to go away.
The fight was good fun, with the familiar headshakes increasing the excitement.
The kob used the current well and the big wave surges had him in and out of the shallows. Eventually I managed to turn his head with a bigger wave and pulled him close enough to grab.
Yes man! Kob on artificial lures, just love it!
Dad was taking a few snaps, and after measuring the beauty (74cm) we set him free to live another day!
It is a uniquely satisfying feeling seeing your catch swim away after being successfully released.
The rest of the day didn’t yield anything spectacular, a few smallies and my brother landing a bus of a cape stumpnose; unfortunately the fish had a quick release when he went to rinse him off for the photo; probably camera shy.
Soon after lunch we started the trek back to the vehicle; the sun was baking down and the walk tiring. Dad had packed a surprise and left it at the vehicle in a cooler box on some ice for when we got back; BEST BEER EVER! We arrived home at about 5pm, filled with a new found love for the area, inspired by its beauty and ready for another cold one!
We didn’t fish Christmas day or the day after and just lazed around enjoying the holiday vibes. I managed to get some mountain biking done
while Dad managed sneak in a quick session and landed a nice little kobbie of 58cm, Mom took the photo… 😉
The morning of the 27th Jayson and I headed to the beach at 5am. This was low tide and we were excited at the prospect of exploring the exposed sandbanks. We marked a spot a few days ago and headed straight for it. Bucktails ready and rods rigged we started to work the drop-offs, after an hour of nothing we considered heading back for another snooze; the sun was now starting make the water much more transparent. The tide had started to push and after a quick discussion I persuaded Jays to walk a little further up the beach and try our hand at one final spot. I was again fishing my Fenwick and Shimano Stradic.
The water was pushing hard off the bank into a deep hole that was open to the ocean; the spot was all but perfect, but had potential. We casted onto the bank and retrieved the lure through the deeper water, but nothing. We fished our way towards the end of the bank, hoping for that familiar knock. Right on the edge, I put in a monster cast over the back of the bank. The waves washed my lure to the side, into the deep part of the hole and on the first twitch of my rod, my line went tight, ON! The kob took some line and after a minute or two of some serious headshakes I felt the hooks pull, UGH! What a sinking feeling! I retrieved my lure as quick as possible and sent another long cast over the back of the bank; same story, lure gets washed to the side, into the deep hole and boom, second twitch, ON! Line was stripped from my reel at a rate of knots. I asked Jays to grab my backpack from my back as I could feel this was a better fish and will require a lot of my energy; and perhaps some wading.
The fish swam straight into the deeper hole, clever; this was where the current was strongest. The tide was now pushing strong and the wave surges were telling. The kob continued to strip line from my reel aided by the current. The hole had a big drop-off (lip) where there were some serious shore-breakers that had me keep my distance. A great fight ensued and 20 minutes in a couple of spectators had gathered. I knew the fish was not a buss, but it was giving me such a hard time, using the currents to its advantage. I managed to nurse the fish over the lip and into the shallows, then to keep him there; nope, the backwash pulled him straight back into the hole. A heart stopping three of four attempts later a big wave helped me get the fish far enough away from the lip to start taking back control. I knew I almost had him now, but patience was still required as I had no idea how well he was hooked. Thankfully a couple of small waves helped me guide him along, onto the beach, eventually. High fives! Photo time! What a pleasure, what a privilege to be able to catch decent fish on light tackle!
My Shimano Stradic was finally stretched a bit and came out a winner! Thanks Jayson for the assistance and taking the photos while the shoal moved off, I owe you one! After a thorough interview by the onlookers we decided to call it a day. We love passing on some knowledge from the experience we have gained over the years. If we can motivate at least one other angler to respect their catch and perhaps release one extra fish it would be well worth the effort.
The next day or two there were some severe thunderstorms in the morning and we decided not to tempt fate and slept in. I refuse to go fishing while there is lighting around. There were a couple of cowboys on the beach but after the lightning flashed the same time as the thundered sounded they too darted for cover.
My dad and I were also trapped a couple of kilometers down the beach when one of these storms passed over; problem was that we had to walk through the storm to reach the safety of the vehicle. We quickly disassembled our lightning conductors and put foot. I think I probably prayed a protective bubble around us and after a few spine chilling flashes of light later we managed to get to safety; I was very relieved indeed!
Jays was having the worst luck with the fishing. He had now lost no less than 4 big fish due to his line parting or getting snagged on some random rock. He damaged his braid quite badly on a previous outing and this caused his braid to part on extra hard casts or when putting some additional pressure onto it; last time he will make that mistake! Charms also got into the action when I took her fishing one evening. She landed a couple of small sharks, some blacktail and a lovely little duckbill ray. The screams of excitement as the ray stripped line from her reel had us all in stitches.
A break in the weather one early morning had my dad and me heading for the beach again. Spinning rods in hand, we set a pace to find some holes. It was one day before spring tide (full moon) and the tide was dropping hard, still two hours before low. Spring tide generally brings on a more active feeding pattern from fish and the extra low will help to push the bait fish off the banks where they are holding into the deeper holes, ready to be ambushed by some predators. We fished the first stretch of beach without much success, but still feeling confident. It was overcast and the sun was hidden behind the clouds. We ventured forth until I hinted to my dad that this spot looks good. Off we went wading through the waves. We were fishing a shallow bank between two deeper holes. The spot seemed ideal for targeting steenbras and I am sure if we were fishing with bait we might have picked up a couple. On my second cast I felt a bump on my line, great, there are some fish here. I persisted with a couple of long casts, while my dad was throwing towards one of the holes. Suddenly I noticed out of the corner of my eye my dad’s rod getting bent. On! Came the familiar cry, I was super excited, as this would be my dad’s first fish on a bucktail-jig. He fought the fish closer while I ran to put my gear down to lend a hand. Soon enough the kob was in the shallows and my dad was able to grab him for a pose.
Yes please! I was super chuffed and I am sure my dad was as well, measuring 61cm. High five!
We tried the spot for another cast or two, but as it now became a bit too shallow we decided to move further down the beach. The sun was starting to break through the clouds and we knew our time was limited. I spotted another good area and in we went. After a few odd feeling bumps on my lure, I noticed a big rock on the side of the bank, just where the bank dropped into the deeper hole. This explained the odd bumps; my lure hitting the rock. Dad mentioned that the kob might be hanging near the rock and true to his word, second cast and my dad was ON! This time a better fish and it gave him a bit more of a workout. We were far from the beach and there was quite a bit of water to cover. Using the bend of the rod and the waves to guide the fish through the shallows, my dad fought the kob like a pro. A few minutes later and my dad was striking a pose with his 67cm kob, all smiles.
Nice one dad!! Before I knew it he was off again heading to the spot, one cast, next cast, ON! I was watching some serious TV!
Finally it was my turn, I hooked a small one that came easily; still great fun when you feel the headshakes and the little darting runs. After a quick photo I was back to the spot.
Next cast, twitch, twitch, ON! again! A little better one and a better fight. Unhooking the kob and watching him swim off I knew this would be the last of the day as the sun now came shining down brightly and the water was still very clear.
Dad managed a total of 4 on the day and me only 2. A great time spent along the water with my dad, and a pretty successful day at that!
The holiday was now drawing to a close and we spent the last day swimming and lazing on the beach. It is times like these that just make me realise again how super blessed we are, living in a beautiful country with some great fishing to be had.
It was sad leaving the Eastern Cape, but at least it is summer time now and the Western/Southern Cape holds some good lure fishing this time of the year. Off to the next adventure!
Kob in the surf … Must be my favourite place to target them. Well done on some great fish!
Great post and some nice fish that came out. Still a place I would love to fish.
Hi Ian: Boknes/Cannon Rocks is an absolute must visit! If you are willing to do some hard yards and make one more cast than the person beside you, success is guaranteed! If you happen to take a trip down please let us know, would love to hear about your experience.