I remember clearly the feeling of the last day of a primary school term. You could hardly wait for the bell to announce the end of the school day. Your bags and fishing kit had been packed and repacked all week.
As you run out the front doors your eyes search for that familiar 4×4 “bakkie” loaded to the brim with all but the kitchen sink. You run as fast as you can to get there, perhaps you could still get to the sea early enough to go for a throw before dark.
A Boknes fishing adventure lay ahead. I was now at that age that I could go fishing with the men and not just stay home with the moms, girls and younger kids. In order to qualify for that right you had to be able to rig up your own tackle, put on your own bait, cast for yourself and reel in your own fish; but most importantly, when the elf (shad) were on the bite, never get in the way.
I have always loved fishing; I love the feeling of the sand between my toes, the waves rolling over my feet. The uncertainty of the patience game, the feeling of success whether you have caught your dream fish or just spent hours waiting for the bite that never came. It was there that I nurtured my passion, my love for the ocean and all that abides in it. A mere two and a half hours away from the town I grew up in lay the coastal town of Boknes.
An odd name indeed and I am to this day not sure where it yields from. Directly translated into English it means “goats nest”, perhaps “fish nest” would have been more appropriate. Boknes lies next to Cannon Rocks in the west and Kenton on Sea in the east, a beautiful unspoilt coastline which will cater for all facets of fishing alike.
We were fortunate enough to have explored the entire coastline. This was aided by the fact that we were allowed to drive on the beaches and having a very competent beach driver at our disposal (aka Dad). We would pack up the 4×4 with all the necessary tackle, bait and food for the day and head out as a whole family, spending the entire day targeting that elusive catch of the holiday.
Boknes and its surrounds had always been good to us. My post-holiday stories had my friends green with envy, leaving them begging for an invite on the next trip. I will forever be grateful for these memories and cherish the opportunities we still get to relive and even build some new ones along the coastline of this hidden paradise.
The fish we predominantly target there are kob, elf (shad), steenbras (pignose grunter) and the white musselcracker. Some of the by-catch includes black musselcracker, spotted grunter, leeries (garrick), blacktail (dassie) and an array of sharks and skates.
The long stretched out sandy beaches serves as the perfect hunting grounds to target the kob, elf and steenbras, whilst the many reef and rocky areas are home to the musselcracker.
When targeting kob we mainly use sardine and chokka baits, but have recently had great success targeting them on artificial lures. Good advice in order to catch a kob in that area would be to scout for newly formed sand banks and holes and fish those on a turning tide or to mark a nice spot during the day and return to it at night. Many catches of kob are made after dark and you are pretty much assured of catching one if you exercise the right amount of patience.
The steenbras or pignose grunter is found on the shallower areas along the sandy beaches. Sand-prawn can be pumped from the Boknes lagoon and is a favourite snack for these steam-trains. Once hooked up you are in for a great fight. Beware of the last few runs when the fish gets close to the side* Many an angler has seen his fish swim away after his line parted on one of these sudden darts. The steenbras is still very agile in even the shallowest water, so the fight isn’t over until he is on dry land.
Elf (shad) are mainly caught on fist light or last light right in front of the parking area at the Boknes lagoon. Sardine bait should work the best and it is not strange to see a couple of guys on with fish at the same time as these shoals come on the bite. Bigger elf are also caught during the day around the reef areas, but these are none shoaling elf and generally you would only catch one at a given spot.
The white musselcracker (brusher) is caught all along the coastline where you would find some rocky structure. They are specifically targeted and the bait of choice would be a saddle back or a de-shelled alikreukel. Patience is the name of the game here and your bait is sometimes left in the water for hours without so much as a hint of a pull. The upside though, is that if you do get a pull, it can only be one species. Hold on tight, as these dirty fighters tend to run for the safety of the reef. Hooking and landing a nice sized specimen is a true accomplishment and these fish are unfortunately often kept by anglers feeling the effort spent will be wasted if the musselcracker is set free. These are territorial fish and I believe that without the necessary assistance from my fellow anglers, they will be lost to us in certain areas.
With a little bit of extra effort most fishing areas can be very successful, but as Boknes is to me, I am sure every angler has his own piece of paradise he enjoys to frequent. The feeling of it being your “local” hunting ground, even though I now live 900km’s away. Each time I am fortunate enough to step foot onto that beach in front of the Boknes lagoon, all the past memories come flooding back and it feels like I never left. Let’s respect the coastlines we fish, ensuring that others may also experience the joy we have received. Long may it continue…
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Boknes comes from the “Bokreiers se nes” as many Bokreiers bought property there. So I am told.
Thanks Leon, quite interesting. I always thought it derived its name from the Bakanas River there, but then where did the river get its name from. Perhaps someone can confirm?