We need anglers’ help with tagged kob catches
EVEN though you may prefer to fish between the windy periods, however, the fish are being caught just about anywhere where effort is ploughed in at the moment.
There are good catches being made and many tagged fish have been released.
Most of the sandy shores are producing kob of around the 70cm to 1m slot with grunter around the 65cm mark being landed. There are also reports of good catches at Cape Recife of pig-nosed grunter and bellman among the other reef- dwellers.
Today’s photograph shows a tagged kob of 93cm being released by Adriaan Rossouw at St Francis Bay. Note the yellow tag just below the dorsal fin – there is a unique number on the tag and I can assist you to get the relevant information about the history of the tagging should you catch one or witness its catching.
To do this e-mail me on this address: wlrudman@mweb.co.za with the following information.
Take a piece of line (or use a tape measure if you have one to hand) and carefully measure the fish from the middle of the tail to the snout of the fish. When it comes to fork length – note kob have no fork and is referred as full-length.
When you get home, measure the length of the line and provide me with that measurement, the species and the location of the catch. I also need to know who you are so also provide a cell number, address or e-mail and if the fish was kept.
It is best, for the programme, to return the fish but that is your choice. There is no ownership of the fish in the programme at the time of re-capture but to capture a fish periodically is most valuable for the termination of growth rates.
I also need the date and approximate time of the catch, as it is good to know whether the fish was caught at night or during the day and I also can reference the tide by that info.
The Oceanic Research Institute (PO Box 736, Durban) keeps the records and are the custodians of this programme. I can liaise with them on your behalf or you can, should you prefer, contact them directly. Their contact info is on the tag and they have an easily accessible website too. For the weekend it is predicted that mostly southerly winds will prevail with afternoon wind speeds of around 25km and sunny skies and air temperatures of 26°C expected. This is typical summer weather where the nights are also very angling conducive .
Low tide is at 7.17am tomorrow with 18.2°C water temperature in the bay and on the Wild Side it is expected to top the 20-degree mark. We enter that golden period of opportunity of three days or so before the full moon.
However, the spring tidal conditions ask for caution where strong currents can be expected around the river mouths and rocky shore areas.
WE have to contend at the moment with windy conditions but this does not mean that protection against the sun should be ignored as the breeze often does not make you aware that you are exposed to the sun. Don’t forget to put on that sunscreen!