Try these tips to catch geelbek

SNOEK on the spoon, sharks and rays on bait. August has been all over the place in terms of weather, but some anglers have managed a fish or seven.

Ray’s tip: Geelbek. Geelbek traces and tricks are often a closely guarded secret. These fish can come in their thousands and gather at one spot. They are ferocious predators and will eat most baits.

The trick with geelbek is to get them out past the sharks. Finding the bek is the first problem and there is no secret to this. Fishing with a double (or more) hook trace will get you more fish but it also makes lifting them much slower and thus you end up losing fish to sharks. When the sharks are a problem and you cannot move, the only chance is to change to stronger tackle and a single hook. Circle hooks are the best for all bottom fish.

Offshore the geelbek and daga have been keeping the KPs spinning while the amberjacks have made some interesting sounds come out of the guys attempting to wrestle them from the depths. The north coast has seen bottom fish in the form of daga and geelbek. The deeper areas off Sheffield have been a hotspot with plenty of boats shooting up to find the bek.

Snoek and tuna have been the only gamefish coming out. The snoek have been the early morning fish with the tuna keeping the guys busy for the rest of the day. The snoek have been best targeted with fillet baits and Clarke spoons. Troll these on the backline at first light.

The Durban coast has seen much the same as the north with the exception of some red steenbras. The geelbek are best targeted using 9/0 circle hooks with sardine baits. The daga and steenbras are best targeted using the same hooks but with live bait.

The tuna that have been coming out have mainly come out on the trapstick while fishing for bottoms. The guys preferring to target them with a more active method have gone for the popper approach. The medium to large size poppers are the ones to use. Keep an eye out for any activity and throw the poppers around the action.

Amberjacks have been coming out on the south coast. The Long john jigs have been the way to go to get the lures to the fish. The heavier options are the best bet to get down to the fish.

Geelbek have been coming out off Park Rynie. Use much the same methods as the north and central coast. Bait has been more prominent down south than north. Add pieces of sardine to spice up the presentation.

The rock and surf scene has seen the arrival of some summer brutes. These are early season fish so look for the north east wind and throw a bait.

On the north the banks and Port Durnford are already seeing some diamond action. The rest of the summer spots up north is much the same, with a few honeycombs and sandies starting to peel drag off reels.

Success is split between guys casting baits and those choosing to drone their baits. Bonito, mackerel and redeye sardine have been the deadly trio.

The north has also seen some edible action in the form of snoek on lures and scratching fish in amongst the reefs and ledges. The central and upper south has seen quite a bit of gamefish action for the spinning guys. Queenfish, kingfish and snoek have been the primary targets, with shad being a bycatch. Small spoons that you can throw far enough to get over the back sandbank are the ones to throw.

Mix up the retrieve speeds until you find what they want. Keep your eyes open as the snoek love showing themselves in the form of splashes or jumping. Far south has seen plenty of shad action. Places like splash rock have seen the bulk of this frenzy with plenty shad being used as live bait for kob and garrick.

Some of these have been picked up but no big catches have been reported. Remember that these areas can be very dangerous in a big sea and to take every precaution when fishing these spots. If the locals aren’t there, there may be a reason why.

The south coast, much like further north, has seen a fair amount of summer inedibles landed. Honeycombs and sandies have been the bulk of these with fish being caught on drones and cast baits. Bonito and mackerel have been the pick of the baits.