Cannon Rocks fishing trip! The early winter season jitters had firmly taken hold of me. This is a feeling I have grown accustomed to while living down in the Western Cape. Here winter spells bad news for artificial-lure angling and a road-trip down to the Eastern Cape was required to suppress the looming feelings of insanity.
The familiar road between Somerset West and Cradock ticked by kilometre by kilometre and before we knew it we crossed the Great Fish River that flows through the town. The drive was made to feel so much quicker having Charmaine along for the ride. We discussed the ins and outs of Rush of Blue and so many new ideas were birthed. I spent the night at my parents’ house in Cradock and was spoilt with some home cooking like only a mother can…
Golden Boy and I left the next morning for Cannon Rocks and we were soon greeted by a windy Boknes beach. With the tide being low we decided to make an exploratory mission to find some newly formed structure and holes along the beach towards Diaz Cross.
Not much had changed since December, but we decided that we will do a kob mission the first day the wind starts to subdue. We spent the rest of the day planning our strategy.
Day two was a write-off. The waves were in excess of 5 meters and the winds in excess of 50 kilometers per hour. We passed the time by visiting Port Alfred and enjoying some pizza and beers from Guido’s on the beach front while staring longingly at the huge crashing waves. On the drive from Cannon Rocks to Port Alfred you cross some great looking river/estuaries. First it’s the Boesmans river, then the Kariega, the Kasouga and finally the Kowie river. These offer many sheltered areas when the sea is up and winds are bad. We however weren’t here for river fishing and our thoughts were fixed on the big steenies, poensies and elf that roam the cannon rocks area.
The next morning we awoke to a slight westerly wind and the days prospects looked good. Golden Boy and I were out as soon as the shop opened. We grabbed some frozen pilchards and headed for the Diaz beach in search of lost elf. We threw baits all morning and persisted with some bucktails in-between. Nothing but a whole bunch of sandsharks and barbel were caught.
Mom, Dad and Charms joined us a little later bringing with them some very much appreciated sustenance. After a couple of cold ones and some sarmies we were ready for the afternoon session. Sandsharks and barbel… what a disappointment, the conditions seemed good, although there was quite a high pressure system. Golden boy and I decided to call it a day and we headed back down the beach with our tails between the legs. With the beach session being a dud, we decided to go hunting for some steenies and poensies the next day.
The best bait for the steenies in this area is cracker shrimp, or sand prawns as we call them. After scouting the whole flooded Boknes lagoon for prawn holes we eventually gave up on that idea.
Bags packed and rods in hand Golden boy and I walked side by side down the Cannon beach to Poensie Hole Number 1. We threw sardine baits for the steenies that are normally caught here, but without their preferred bait we were pestered by the small gully sharks and shy sharks that were onto the bait in minutes.
We fished this area for the rest of the day and were later again joined by Mom, Dad and Charmaine. The fished were just not playing along. Dad eventually hooked into a big shark that kept him busy for quite some time. After a good fight the shark, now in the shore break, eventually bit through the hook trace before I could get a hand on it. I joined Dad at Poensie Hole Number 2 and suddenly got flattened with a good pull. The fish came easily but put up a good fight. Could this be the poensie I had been targeting the whole afternoon? As the last wave pushed the big black figure onto the wet sand I had to double check at what lay in front of me. Being sure it was the lesser spotted figure of a black musselcracker I was quite surprise to behold a catface rockcod staring back at me with black eyes. I placed the fish into a shallow rocky pool and ran to get my tagging kit. The fish was measured, tagged and then safely released back on the same spot I had caught it. These fish are residential and will return to their hole, it will therefor help to release them at the same spot you caught them.
Happy with my 60 cm rockcod, I re-baited and returned to Hole 1. With darkness descending we all decided to make one last cast. Golden boy pulled another shy shark, and called it a night. Dad came through with a small poensie which was also quickly released.
I got another good pull and was sure this was my poensie. A good fight later and another catface rockcod was lying on the beach. I couldn’t believe it. I had to make sure that I hadn’t just caught the same one again. Feeling a little disappointed that I didn’t get my poensie or steenie today the rockcod served for some condolences. I will be back soon…
Even though we didn’t get the quality of fish we wanted, a visit with the folks and at one of my favourite places in the whole world made for a very successful weekend. Our next visit will be in December, and then it is kob time on artificial lures… we are counting the days.
