fishing ec magazine february 2015

1FEC | February 2015

EC BAIT DEMO CATCH COMPETITION TIDES

FISHING

A RARE CATCH Silver Musselcracker

1.5km Up River

KAYAKCORNER

Brett Armstrong

RAGGEDFinding A

Monster

COPPERSTEENBRAS

TROPHY FISH

FREE

COPY

ISSUE: 14

FEBRUARY 2015

FEC | February 20152


Copper Steenbras, Trophy Fish 04

Bait Demo 24Sandprawn bait.

Catch Competition 26Send us your photos and youcould win.

Tides 28Check the tide tables tomake sure you fishing theright times.

Target LineTarget Line club competition outing and points standings.

20

FEATURES

CONTENT

14

08

Ragged

A Rare Catch

Kayak Corner

18


MAGAZINEEDITOR

Nigel Louw

CONTRIBUTORSClint Lentz

Kelly Janse Van RensburgNathan Broedelet

Carl HennBrett Armstrong

CONTACT

ADVERTISING:

email: [email protected]

Mobile: 073 690 2606

Website: www.fishingec.com

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Nigel LouwEditor

LETTEREDITORS

No part of this magazine may be reproduced in any form without the written permission of Fishing The Eastern Cape. The magazine

is published monthly and cannot be held responsible for inaccuracies in articles. The

views expressed in the magazine are not necessarily those of the editor. Fishing The Eastern Cape does not accept responsibility

for advertising content.

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ON THE COVERClint Lentz with his personal best Copper Steenbras weighing in at 33.9kg.

Summer time is so much better than winter. I love the early morning fishing sessions. Pack the drop-shot kit in the car the night before and wake up at 4am and head out to a good Kob spot. Have a few casts and maybe get a Kob. Then back home by 8am.

Check out this months Copper Steenbras ar-ticle as well as the very rare catch of a Sil-ver Musselcracker caught 1.5km up river.

Don’t forget to send in your catch photo and details to stand a chance of winning a monthly prize in our Catch & Win gallery.


COPPERSTEENBRASA Trophy FishWords/pics: Clint Lentz

The Red (Copper) Steenbras is a true icon and trophy species of Border wa-ters. Although many may disagree with

the recent court ruling overturning the mor-atorium on the catching of this species, the species has been de-commercialised and Border Deep Sea Angling Association Clubs are imposing self-regulatory measures

which exceed those of the current laws. In the December Christmas Competition, Cintsa SBC imposed a limit of a minimum size of 10kg to be kept whereas the legal limit of 600mm is closer to 4.5kg’s! Release is recommended as well as limiting the catch to under quota of 1 pp/day as these fish are quite prolific on the deeper reefs

Matthew Lentz with a 31.1kg Red (Copper) Steenbras.


extending to beyond 100m. Even when this fish was still open, I preferred to target But-terfish out deep with small hooks as they make excellent eating. Our boat has tagged many Coppers for research. Thus, after not catching a Copper for over 5 years and with the current very slow over late December, we decided to venture out to our deeper

Clint Lentz with a 33.9kg Red (Copper) Steenbras.


grounds off the Kei area and try our luck. As luck would have it and without specifically targeting Coppers, we found fish on the feed over a huge area and didn’t boat many other species. Reports from other areas over this time confirmed similar circumstances and which is good news for the species. Using 80 – 100 lb braid and some guys with mono leaders joined with a French knot, we man-aged to land many Coppers in various size classes over a few outings, not all of which were kept. Those that were kept were meas-ured, weighed, sexed, photographed and other, the info of which will be sent to ORI for their research into future management strategies for this species. Using a whole sardine as bait, my son, Matthew, aged 16 managed to land his second ever only Cop-

per of 31.1kg and what a fight this fish gave him. A truly magnificent specimen deserv-ing of icon and trophy status and a fish he will never forget! Whilst trying for a Miss Lucy on a 6’O hook baited with a squid and sardine head, I bumped into a big fish of 33.9kg which far bettered my previous PB of 26kg’s from 20 years back. We don’t actively target Coppers but this is one fish that will forever remain my trophy fish and I have no desire to better it. Just managing to turn such a fish’s head and bring it to the surface in the current is an achievement in itself and we can be thankful for our nor-mally strong currents which protect this fish. The most important protection we can offer this species though is self-restraint.

If you have ever wondered how the Copper got its name,

then this smaller fish which Matthew caught gives the

name true meaning.


Searching for a Monster!Words/pics: Kelly Janse Van Rensburg

RAGGED


Five foot of IM6 carbon bends to the re-lentless strain of the formidable spot-ted grunter, powerful darting, short

runs that seem to synchronize with every accelerated heart beat. Its been a long day, launch the boat, pump prawns, ana-lyze the weather and tides and begin the sequence of drifts based on the culmina-tion of all this information that you have been able to splice together using all your years of stockpiled experiences and knowl-edge. And all this is just to get the real bait.What does this have to do with catch-ing a “Raggy”? You may ask. It’s a sim-ple yet invaluable link in the chain of events that you will need to follow in order to find regular success when tar-geting big “bags” along our coastline.No bought bait in the world could compare to the effectiveness of using fresh bait caught the same day and that never cuddled in the chill of you trusty old deep freeze.

The ragged tooth shark is as we all know, a migratory species and though it’s claimed to sacrifice its elders to the rod and reel only at certain times of the year, I have ef-fectively targeted this beast all year round with equal success. Geographically East London has a distinct advantage for the an-gler hunting the “rag bag”. As little as two days of wind could be the deciding factor. A couple of days of east and the water tem-perature will take a distinctive dive and if you happen to be sliding that spotty head on the first day of west wind you will proba-bly go tight! It has become a known fact that the ‘Raggy’ will feed more aggressively in water that hovers below 19 degrees and the


The heavier the tackle, the

quicker the fight and the

easier the release.“ “

other advantage of fishing the colder water is that its higher oxygen levels will make for a stronger fighting adversary. There are a few other fac-tors you may want to take into account, when fishing in daylight hours you will be looking for water with color, bearing in mind that it can never be too dirty for a Raggy. However, putting bloody bait into any water, particularly at night will certainly attract the right sort of toothy attention.

I find myself getting particu-larly excited after a good jug of rain, followed by three days of light East wind that just so happens to co-incide with a 9pm low tide. The reasons for this are simple once you analyze the facts. East wind brings the cooler water, the rain discolors the rivers and the dropping tide for an evening throw sees the dirty water flowing out to sea bringing with it mullet and other fish into the surf zone, and this my fishy friends creates the perfect am-bush environment for our target species.

Now that we know when the conditions are right, we need to ensure we are prepared and armed for battle. I love light tackle fishing, so don’t get me wrong when I say that the heavier the tackle the better. This I say for two reasons, the first being that although we are targeting Raggys, we of-ten hook the steam trains, Greys, Blackfins, Bronzies and even Whites. These fish are fa-mous for leaving anglers with reels desert-ed of line and chests with heavy hearts. The second reason is one that I hope will ap-peal to your conscience. Raggys are not the easiest beasts to release, and I have seen

on a number of occasions, anglers having to dismember dead Raggys the next morn-ing in order to ensure that its not left rot-ting on the rocks. The heavier the tackle, the quicker the fight and the easier the release.Your mono should be no lighter than .50mm and a rod classed 7oz and up will suffice. I fish a lever drag reel that holds 1200m of 60lb backing and 200m of .58 on top. This


tackle ensures I stand the best chance of landing a once in lifetime monster as well as ensuring a short fight when hooked into a Raggy. You should always use a strong leader, no less than 1mm and as thick as 2mm. I also tag in about 1m of 150lb steel above my stopper ring and 200lb wire about 1.2m from the non-return slide to the 20/0 circle hook or one 12/0 “J” hook.I used to use two hooks in the past but I found that I would often have hooks bent open and the reason for this is that more often than not, both hooks will imbed them selves and with the shark twisting and flexing you will have one or even both of the hooks open up. The secret to using one hook is all about presentation; don’t make the common mis-take of wanting to present the bait with the hook at the bottom of the bait. Having the hook at the top of the bait will ensure that the first thing trying to exit the pearly gates of death is a razor sharp hook with nothing obstructing its path towards a bony gum.Lets do a little perfect world check list:

Its rained for three days this week, the two day east is settling and the low tide is at 8:30pm, you have a fresh 2kg Spotty in the fridge.....Pack your heavy kit boys, were gonna go tight!


A RARE CATCHSILVER MUSSELCRACKER1.5km UP RIVERWords/pics: Nathan Broedelet


What an evening to go for a throw. We were coming off a high from the morning session, which was a

highly successful one. We headed out for the same spot where the river had made a beautiful formation. We were fishing a shal-low part of the river where the water was flowing quite rapidly towards a drop off from 0.6m to 3.4m over a short distance. Not being able to really fish the spot much during the festive season due to all the holi-day makers and all their 200hp+ outboards


Nathan with the 9.3kg Musselcracker caught in the Bushmans River.


and big speed boats, we were going to stick out the “vaalie” traffic and give the evening a shot. With a fresh bucket of sand prawn and boat anchored in a good position we all started to bait up and have a throw. First hour was slightly slow with some surpris-ingly big cape stumpnose(stompies) which gave us fun on the light tackle. My dad and I started to talk about how nice it was to have to lift anchor and chase a fish earlier that day and how it had not happened to us in a few years. Our words were not cold when my reel screamed off. I set the hook and sig-naled straight away to lift the anchor after seeing the pace the fish was taking off at. Nervously the boat had to go forward be-fore going in the direction of the fish. After idling with the strong tide I gained most my line back and followed the fish for close to 300m. The fish then decided to turn against the tide, but not at a great speed. We an-chored the boat once the fish was staying relatively calm. This is where the patience and the long battle started. After 40min into the fight and the fish almost running around a few buoys and parked boats, we eventually got a proper glimmer of the fish, with a great surprise when we identified it as a Musselcracker. Now the pressure was on, about 6 full boats watching, my moms and girlfriends cameras clicking away and my dad looking a lot more nervous than I even was. My 8lb leader, size 1 hook and 3lb braid on my 1000 Shimano Salstice was no match for this fish on a vertical level and the decision was made to take it to the sand bank now that we could coach it there easier. Once at the sand bank the fish tiredly came to the side within a few minutes and my dad

Fighting the fish from the boat.

Netting the fish from the bank.

Released to fight another day.

After 40min into the fight

and the fish almost running

around a few buoys and

parked boats, we eventually

got a proper glimmer of the

fish.

“ “

took a small wade in and netted the fish per-fectly first time (thanks for not hacking that dad). After a good high five and celebration with everyone and some good photos, the fish was safely released after an hour fight.


KAYAK CORNER

FISHING

With: Brett Armstrong

Hi again everyone, we have again been blessed with some great weather and lovely conditions. It was great to

see all the photos and hear all the stories of some fantastic catch and release expe-riences most of you have been enjoying of late in both the rivers and ocean. Keep sending us those stories and photos guys.

Over the last few weeks it has been great to see the interest in kayak fishing grow-ing, not only the enthusiasm of the exist-ing kayakers, but also in potential newbies to the sport. With this comes lots of ques-tions and interesting ideas on what makes a certain brand of model of fishing kayak ideal for what you want to use it for. So, understanding this, I would again like to offer some basic advice which you should consider when getting ready to outlay some

hard earned cash on the kayak you choose.

Firstly, you need to decide where most of your fishing will happen, will it be in the river or the ocean, this is critical. If the ocean is not an option, this basically opens a world of different plastic molded kayak options for you, some really basic and oth-ers like the Fluid Bamba, especially built for the river fishing enthusiast. However, if ocean fishing is really important for you, then a fiberglass kayak is basically the best option. There is a large variety on the mar-ket, like Stealth, Clarkeski, Eric’s Canoes to name but a few. They are all great fishing kayaks, with lots on offer. However, it mere-ly comes down to your personal favorite.

Essentially when choosing the brand and model for yourself, just remember, the more

Face mask/Climate Scarf/

Buff. A must have when

you out on the water.


space and ease of use of the kayak for you, the better your experience will be. For me, I chose the Stealth Supalite, it’s only 4m long, has a great size hatch, is very light, not superfast, but fast enough and great in the waves for my needs, has great options for storage and rod management and allows me the opportunity to create a more organ-ized platform for your fishing experience. It’s not limiting in its ability to personal-ize your kayak. No matter what kayak you buy, you will always need to personalize it in terms of creating a better management system for your experience. Weather it be fitting a few more rod holders and saddles, or getting serious and fitting a fish finder.

Another important point is speed vs stabil-ity of the kayak, certainly when you need to obtain higher paddling speeds in order to optimize your trawling efficiency, you will need to go for the longer, less sta-ble craft, like the Pro Fisha from Stealth or even the Clarkeski PRO560. These craft are very popular, especially in KZN where game fishing is the most popular and successful form of kayak fishing due to the water temperature and conditions.

Anyway, essentially remember kayak fish-ing is more about the overall experience with friends and even family. I recently went out for a gentle paddle and some bot-

tom fishing with a friend, and before we new it we were paddling along the most amazing coastline, which I had never re-ally noticed before. The conditions were perfect, and 5 hours later returned to the launch site, we hardly fished, we were tired, but having had a great experience with dol-phins around us some of the way and just a wonderful day out on the water. This is what life’s about, experiences with friends and exploring water, never before seen.

I would also like to take this opportunity to highlight two products of choice in this arti-cle for you to consider when next going out fishing on your kayak. Firstly, the face mask which protects you from the sun’s harmful rays for both your neck and face. There are multiple ways to use the mask, including as a beanie for those wishing to protect their full head. They are really cheap and worth every cent. The second option for those wishing to land some baitfish as live bait, it the live bait bag, refer photo of my setup on my Stealth Supalite. It’s compact in size, easy to fit and store just enough for my needs. They inexpensive and can be purchased from Nigel at Wild Coast Kayaks in East London.

In closing please remember, go safe, enjoy yourself and respect the ocean. Please continue to send your photos and questions to [email protected].

Live Bait torpeedo. Custom layout with Garmin Fish Finder and GPS.


On the 10/01/2015, Target Line Freshwater Angling Club had their 10th outing for the sea-

son. This time at Nahoon dam, just out-side East London on the N2 – KWT road.25 of the members came to compete on a day where the wind and heat was going to be a factor. The 07:30 horn screamed and mielieboms went fly-ing. We all knew that this dam would only start producing fish after 11:00, but

Seniors: Masters:1 Martin Piek 179pts 1 Andy Warren 144pts 2 Carl Henn 168pts 2 Chris Koch 129pts3 JJ Koch 121pts 3 Stephen Hugo 128pts

Ladies: Juniors:1 Petra Piek 127pts 1 Liane Husselmann 55pts2 Wilma Hugo 78pts 2 Lyle Skinner 54pts3 Elzane Blom 27pts 3 Ryan Delport 28pts

TARGET LINEFRESHWATER CLUB OUTING

hoped it would be friendly and start early.About 10min into the day, Liane Hus-selmann, a junior, landed the first fish of the day. This 1.887kg Carp helped her to take the junior division on the day. As the day went on, odds and sods came out with far more barbel and paling than carp. One beautiful carp of 4.609kg was caught by Adriane Domoney, which secured him a 2nd place in the seniors division. Carl Henn managed to scrape together 2 barbell

Words/pics: Carl Henn


and 2 eels that got a 3rd place, but Martin Piek managed to do it better. He got gold for the seniors with 4 barbel and an eel.The masters also had it tough with Chris Koch coming in 3rd with a barbel and eel. Richard Ackerman managed a 2nd place with 2 Carp, but Andy Warren pulled of 3 barbell that secured a 1st place.The ladies battled, and only Petra Piek managed to land fish. Her barbel and moggel did it for her and landed gold.The tough fishing on the day really made the logs of the club very interesting with some close battles as everyone is trying to secure positions. With only 2 comps left in this season, no spots are set in stone. Last year has been a tremendous busy year for our club and hopefully this year will be one to. For any enquiries on how to join our club, feel free to call me on 073 857 2209, e-mail [email protected] or join on face book @ Target Line FAC.See you all reel soon on the banks.

1st Senior, Martin Piek.

1st Junior, Liane Husselmann.


TACKLE TALK

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dyna baitDynabait offers anglers a unique opportu-nity to always have bait at their disposal, because it doesn’t need to be chilled or frozen. It can be kept in your car, boat or tackle box and is ready to use within minutes.

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Words/pics: Nigel Louw

Use a Bronze Bream trace with a orange float bead. This attracts the fish. I’ve had teeth marks in the bead as well.

Thread one large sandprawn onto the hook, starting at the tail end.

Push the prawn around the hook. Push the point out under the head of the prawn.

1

3 4

2

THE

BAIT BOXTIPS

SANDPRAWN A VERSATILE BAITSandprawn can be prepared and mixed with other baits to target a vari-ety of species. Below is a simple sandprawn bait for Bronze Bream, but could also be picked up by any other species in the gullies.


Pull the prawn straight so the hook issitting proud.

Once all cottoned on wrap them up neatly and cotton the heads together a little bit.

The final bait consists of four neatly presented

Sandprawns. Tie this same bait in with a strip of Chokka , bigger hook

and you will have a Pignose or Kob bait.

Cotton another prawn on the left, one on the right and one on the back of the hook.

5

76

8

SPARGS MALLBEACON BAY043 711 7700

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Send us your best catch picture and you could win an awesome prize. (Photo must be of yourself holding the fish and preferably still alive. Photos of gutted fish do not qualify)

Angler: Gerhard Janse van RensburgSpecies: Ragged Tooth SharkLocation: GonubieBait: Kob headSize: 185cm

Angler: Matt HollSpecies: BassLocation: Farm DamBait: WormSize: ?

Angler: Warrick WilkinSpecies: KobLocation: East LondonBait: PilchardSize: 9.28kg

CATCH & WIN


Email your entry to [email protected] with the followingdetails: - Anglers full name - Species - Location caught- Bait used - Size/Weight - Released (yes/no)

January WinnerAngler: Jared WilkeSpecies: Bronze BreamLocation: East LondonBait: PinkprawnSize: 3kg

Angler: Caitlin DelportSpecies: Pignose GrunterLocation: KiwaneBait: PilchardSize: 51cm

Angler: Joseph WeyersSpecies: KobLocation: Swartkops RiverBait: Storm FlutterstickSize: +50cm

Jared wins himself a fishing cap and a spool of Suffix line.


TIDE CHARTFebruary 2015Information supplied by the Hydrographer SA Navy

The Hydrographer is not responsible for any tran-scription errors.

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CONTACT:[email protected]

073 690 2606

fishing ec magazine february 2015

Documents

catch win

catch photo

personal best copper

christmas competition

deeper clint lentz

sandprawn bait

coverclint lentz

early morning fishing