Teeming waters offering a feast for Bay’s anglers
THERE is fish in abundance all over our coastal zone and estuaries at the moment.
This is most probably attributable to the post-spawning feeding frenzy that occurs at this time of year.
There is also much anticipation among the tuna angling fraternity.
The water temperatures out at the current are being closely monitored ahead of looming competitions.
Water temperatures of about 21°C are ideal to find game fish, and the closer to the coast, the better, naturally.
Today’s photograph is of a kob tagged and released by Willa Bothma at Wilderness Beach on Mother’s Day in the afternoon.
Viewing her Facebook page photographs shows she can surely stand among the best in the surf.
There is a growing interest in angling among women at present, which basically means: “If you can’t sit at home and wait for them, join them.”
Bothma has quite an impressive collection of quality photographs of fish she has released.
She has only been tagging for nine months now and says she is looking towards a tally of 100 tagged fish shortly.
This is quite a mean feat in such a short space of time.
I am pleased to see that additional appointments are being made for Fishery Control Officers (FCOs) to patrol the Tsitsikamma National Park that has been opened to subsistence anglers.
The opening of the coastal zone (certain sections) to subsistence anglers has been met with much criticism. Only time will tell what the impact will be.
This park falls under the jurisdiction of SANParks and is the oldest park of its kind on the continent. What troubles me is this should have been in place before the opening of this zone.
There has been the odd report of unusual fish being landed and the latest of them is a big eye kingfish caught by Chris Schoultz, the art-lure angler who has such a close feel for the Swartkops.
I can remember back in 2005 we caught several of these fish in the canyon at the Kromme over a about a two-week period.
These are fighters on light tackle and usually arrive in the estuaries in a shoal.
Once located, they can occupy your time with a little experimentation using the different lure selections in your arsenal.
This phenomenon is usually a product of the east wind that produces colder water that traps warm water in pockets, ending up in the rivers.
These fish are held “captive” for a period until conditions normalise.
This weekend’s weather will see the wind turning easterly at sunrise today and then turning westerly at midnight. It will again turn easterly at sunrise on Sunday.
There is no significant wind strength predicted. The tide is a neap low tide (today is absolute neap) at 5.02am tomorrow, with a rising barometer increasing prospects for the day.
We then progress towards a spring tide, where the new moon is next Friday, May 26.
I predict tomorrow as the better choice of the two days ahead; however the prevailing conditions should lend towards some productive angling wherever you choose to try out.