Other names: Kabeljou; Dagga salmon
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Argyrosomus thorpei2)
COMMON NAMES: Squaretail kob, half kob
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Umbrina canariensis)
COMMON NAMES: Baardman, belman, tasselfish
Kob grows to a massive size. Fish of between 30 and 40 kilograms are still being regularly caught. Kob is very good eating and its abundance has made it one of the top angling fish in the country.
1.84cm kob caught at Jeffrey’s Bay (2009)- Successfully released.
Capture
Kob (this family includes baardman and geelbek) are believed to be summer angling fish in the South Eastern Cape and it is believed that the best months for kob fishing in this specific area is the time between October and April.They can be caught from beaches, estuaries, rivers and rocks. Wire trace is not recommended for targeting of kob; however the hook trace shall be at least 0.75mm, if you are hoping to be able to land a fair size kob. The kob has large mouth and use of hooks of sizes from 6/0 to 8/0 is recommended. Very often a second hook is used in order to improve your hook up rate.
Best catches during day time are made when the water is discolored to a light brown (ginger beer water). Strong onshore winds such as the South-Easter causes disturbance of the sea bed and suspends sand in the water. Kob make use of their dorsal line and excellent sense of smell to truck their pray under these conditions. Sandy dirty water will not be a deterrent for a feeding kob as they have very strong gills and are perfectly suited for these conditions. Some experienced anglers believe that the dark colored water gives the kob a place to hide from the sun light.
River water colors the sea at the mouth of most of the tidal estuaries on an outgoing tide and especially after or during rain. Many anglers will fish with live bait, preferably mullet, karanteen under these conditions. A well presented chokka bait or a combination of chokka and sardine are known also to produce good results. Many anglers believe in the saying: “Bigger bait = bigger kob”.
The darkness of night is believed to be the most productive time for targeting kob by the surf anglers. Some of the most productive times are during early morning hours (before sunrise) and early evening (hours after sundown) to about 22h00. Some anglers believe that the time at about midnight is unproductive.
Off The Beach...
Under certain conditions you may be surprised with a kob during day time, but in general it is a waste of time to fish in clear water, with bright sun shining during the day. Presence of color in the water is extremely important required ingredient for daytime fishing. If you are fishing during the day, target spots where the waves create constantly foamy water. Such spots are sandbanks. The waves braking onto the sand banks will push constantly white foamy water onto the drop-of of the gully. One needs to be careful and observe that the wave action is not too strong on the sandbank, which will result in excessive amount of sand to be suspended in the water, which generally will put off fish like white steenbras from feeding in such conditions. It is very important to “read” the sea correctly.
In general the surf anglers look for the following formations in the sea, when selecting their fishing spots:
• gullies and;
• sandbanks;
• drop-offs;
These are the formations where most of the fish is to be found.
The sea with its wave action and currents is capable of moving enormous amount of sand over a relatively short period of time and as a result of this the gullies and sandbanks are consistently changed even at the favorite spots that are well known to you. This constant change renders google earth useless, as tool that one can use in many cases, due to the fact that the aerial photographs are not updated with the required frequency and requires from the angler the ability to be able to “read” correctly the sea. There is no doubt, that with the fast improvements in the IT environment, very soon we will be able to use google earth or similar programs as a useful tool, to read the sea from the comfort of our homes.
Sandbanks:
Sandbanks are often found at the back of deep gullies.
As the waves break on the sand bank, white foamy water is created on the sand bank and pushed into a portion of the gully. Crabs and prawns are exposed from the action of the waves on the sand banks and this will definitely attract bottom feeders, such as white steenbras. Other type of fish as mullet and karanteen will be attracted by the presence of plankton and other food morsels on the sand bank. Based on this it is recommended and widely accepted by the most anglers to target the sandbanks with bait such as prawn, sand crab, blood worm or chokka for white stenbras.
Drop-off:
Immediately after the sand bank, at the spot, where the water becomes deeper, is referred to by many anglers as the drop-off. Very often food morsels loosened by the waves braking onto the sand bank will be pushed together with the white foamy water into the drop – off, where they will be followed by the bottom feeders and other type of bait fish. Those are the spots where kob is very often found.
Many anglers believe that the kob is a “lazy” swimmer and very often you will hear that they recommend that if there is slight presence of a current, one shall allow for the sinker and bait to drift along with the current and you should follow them from the beach, until you hit a hole. I suspect that there may be other reasons than the kob being “lazy” swimmer for its behavior. Large group of anglers believe that depending on the weather conditions, but especially during the day, the kob will be found at the drop-off of gullies, where he will attempt to stalk the feeding bottom feeders or other bait fish such as mullet or karanteen, feeding on the adjacent sand bank.
A sandbank can be clearly seen at about 78 meters from shore on the photograph above (marked with blue line). You have open sea on your left and right with a gully between the shore and the sandbank.
If you are fishing during day time and in clear water conditions with bright sun shining, the spot to focus on is the sandbank (marked with blue line). On the sandbank during the above described conditions you may find a white steenbras.
The back part of the parallel gully next to the sand bank is a good spot for white steenbras and also for kob.
You are most likely to find some kob on the sandbank or on the drop-off of the sandbank. Sometimes you will find kob in the gully.
During night time the kob a known to enter the channel as seen on the photograph above and chase the bait fish in very close proximity to the shore. Casting over the sand bank in most cases will guarantee you a good size fish, but some wading is required for this to be achieved (Marked as No 3 red line).
Also very productive spots can be the end of the sand banks (Marked as No 2 and 4) the choice of option 2 or 4 will depend on the presence of any side current, choose direction of the current for your casting spot, which will push your sinker towards the sand bank.
Casting in the channel (marked with No1) during day time is a waste of time, but it is the ideal casting spot during night time.
The other factor that you must keep in mind is the color of the sea. Kob are very shy when the sea color is clear. Some prominent anglers believe that if the sea water is clear and the sun is shining, you are wasting your time trying to fish for kob during the day. I tend to agree with this statements.
A channel can be clearly seen on the photograph above (marked with a black dash line No4). This channel is open to the sea.
Two spots are marked as "A" and "B".
At spot "A" one can cast close to the sand plate (Marked as option 1 and 3), or during night time in the middle of the channel (Marked as option 2). The same will be applicable for spot "B". During night time one can have success, by casting anywhere in the channel.
Sandy beaches are very good places to target Kob and my favorite rig would have to be:
• The Pulley rig (used on sand bottom).
Extremely good rig for delivery of variety of baits for kob, allows you to clip your bait securely to the sinker when casting, and also will enable you to keep your hook trace long, with reduced possibility of tangling.
The advantage offered by the pulley rig is that tangling of the hook trace is not a common occurrence as it may be the case with many other rigs.
The use of circle hook is a preferred option on this specific rig. One shall remember that fishing with a circle hooks is slightly different from fishing with a “J” hooks
12.5kg kob caught at Nature's Valley with pulley rig (2009)
Use of sliding sinker:
This is also a very good option for kob fishing from on a sandy bottom.
• Use of DVice
The Dvice is designed as a “Hookbait delivery capsule” with its primary purpose to deliver delicate baits in a good condition at long range. The DVice has a home made feel and is constructed using a plastic tube that contains a self fashioned weight at the base, with a screw thread for attaching Gemini Lead Fittings. Attached to the weight is a piece of stainless steel wire that is fixed into the weight and through the tube at two points, making a rigid construction that is tough to break. It is designed to replace your conventional lead on your rigs.
The product works by protecting the baits inside a plastic cylinder during the cast, Once the Dvice enters the water; the water floods the plastic chamber in a controlled fashion thus ejecting the bait at a speed that is unlikely to damage it.
• Use of none return sliding clip:
Attach a grapnel sinker (5oz - 8oz) to your mainline shock leader with 18" of line at least the same diameter as your shock leader (0.60mm - 0.90mm diameter) to the ring supplied with the bait clip. On to the swivel attached to this ring tie your mainline shock leader. Now cast the sinker out as far as you wish and anchor the sinker. Place the rod in a rod holder. Attach your trace with bait (live or dead) to the swivel on the bait clip. Now attach the bait clip to the main line. With the "Non-return" Bait Clip, make sure the long end of the clip with the swivel points away from the rod tip and towards the sea when attaching the clip to the mainline. Keep the mainline tight, lift the rod tip and slide the bait slowly over the shore break surf into the water. "Work" the bait by shaking the rod tip up and down in constant fashion until the bait slides down to the sinker.
When the bait (livebait or dead bait) is attached to the mainline, the natural wave action and swells carry the bait out into deeper water. The simple, but unique design of the clip enables it to "lock" onto the line (without damaging the line) during the period when the water is "pushing" to shore, yet enables the clip to slide when the water "sucks" back with the backwash. The bait therefore moves out further with every wave cycle until it reaches the sinker or the bait is picked up.
Keep the line fairly tight even if the rod is in a rod holder. Engage ratchet or thumb the spool. Give line during a "pick-up" (don't rush, count at least to 10) and then strike (not if you're using circle hooks!) and wind to connect with sinker and fish. The ring and swivel above the sinker stops the bait clip and prevents any abrasion to the rig.
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