Where to fish? Keurboomstrand.

There has been, and there are raging debates amongst anglers on the subject of productive/popular fishing spots:

• Do these spots consistently produce catches of the same fish species, during certain seasons and/or climate conditions, or not?

The answer to this question, as everything else related to rock and surf angling, is not simple and straight forward, in my opinion.
As it is generally accepted amongst experienced anglers, one of the secrets for success in rock and surf angling is the ability of the angler to “read” the ocean and identify different underwater formations such as: sandbanks, “holes”, channels, sand plates etc., in order for him or her to be able to select the most appropriate area in which, he or she can cast the carefully prepared bait, when targeting specific species of fish.
It is also established that certain fish species visit consistently specific areas year after year, during specific months. Not only the seasoned anglers, but any person understands that the ocean moves enormous quantities of sand in the tidal zone consistently, therefore: holes, channels and sandbanks at specific fishing spot may quickly disappear or move, which will require from the angler fishing the spot to be able to “read” the ocean and select the most likely areas for his/her cast.
This article is not going to deal with the subject of “reading” the ocean, but rather attempt to point out to any newcomer, or beginner anglers, which are the most popular fishing spot in the area, based on accounts received from local anglers (in some cases my modest personal experience) and the fish species caught at  these spots.
Keurboomstrand is a small community situated east of Plettenberg Bay (approximately 12-13km).

Vehicles are not allowed on the beaches, but there are number of places fairly close to fishing spots where one can park. I would like to commend the local communities in the area, in their effort to position armed response vehicles at some of the parking’s in close proximity to the fishing spots during the holiday season . This will go a long way to ensure the security of the parked vehicles and anglers and will allow the anglers to enjoy fishing during some of the most productive hours of the night. Excellent initiative!!!
Tackle and good quality bait can be purchased from Plettenberg Sport Shop the guys running the place will provide you willingly with information where some catches were made.
Robberg Seafood offers some good quality bait, too.  The best bait at the best price in the area can be obtained from “The Bait Master”.
And of course, the best bait by far, that you do not buy, is the one that you collect in the Keurbooms river – sand prawns, mud prawns and blood worms.
East of Keurboomstrand series of large rock formations can be observed on the coastline:

• Arch Rock – is a well known landmark which attracts many tourists. One can expect good catches of galjoen during winter.

• Bloubankies – well known for good catches of white mussel cracker. Also one can expect to land some kob at this spot.

• Picnic Rocks – has produced some good catches of kob and white mussel cracker.

• One can expect to catch white steenbras, black tails from the sandy beech in front of the resort.

The main beach of the resort have lost considerable amount of sand during the last few years and does not have the same look as before, but the combination of isolated rocks and sandy bottom remains attractive spot for the anglers.

The long sandy beach extending from Picnic Rocks to the Keurbooms river is known to produce good catches of kob, white steenbras, white mussel cracker, shad and garrick.

• The spot in line with the bridge before the first parking area (sea photo below) is known to produce very good catches of kob.

In general, for the entire area, the following summary for likely catches may be drawn:

• During Winter and Spring : One will most likely catch galjoen, shad, white steenbras, black tail.
• During Summer and Autumn: One will most likely catch kob, white steenbras, musselcracker, grunter, shad.

Note: With the invent of the Global Warming, many anglers in the area are starting to believe that somehow the catches associated with November/December months have moved to March/April, and many inconsistencies with the above summary were observed.

Target species: Galjoen, damba

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Dichistius capensis (Smith No. 187.1)
COMMON NAMES: Galjoen, damba

DISTRIBUTION OF SPECIES: Endemic to southern Africa occurring from southern Angola to Durban (Smith and Heemstra 1986)
DISTRIBUTION OF STOCK: As above
HABITAT
ADULTS & JUVENILES: Adults and juveniles occupy the same habitat: exposed surf-zone and shallow sub-tidal reefs, including kelp beds. They are most abundant at the interface of sand and reefs. Galjoen never enter estuaries
EGGS & LARVAE: Little known about distribution, eggs are known to float and have been described by Leis and van der Lingen (1997). Larvae are particularly vulnerable to starvation during very early life (van der Lingen 1994)
MIGRATION: A complex pattern that includes resident and dispersive behaviour has emerged from tagging studies. The majority of tag returns (>75%) suggest resident behaviour, with ranges smaller than 500m, while others are known to migrate vast distances, throughout the range of the population. The disparity is not correlated with season, size or sex. Although larger individuals show a greater propensity for dispersal, the trend is not consistent as some small fish have moved large distances and some large fish were recovered at their release area after several years (Attwood and Bennett 1994)
FISHERY: The vast majority of galjoen are taken by the recreational shore-fishery and spear-fishery. A net-fishery that once operated has been banned, but illegal catches are still common on the WC. Galjoen are occasionally taken by light tackle boat anglers. The sale of galjoen is illegal
BIOLOGY AND POPULATION DYNAMICS
GROWTH CURVE: Males Lt = 472mm TL(1-e-0.252/yr(t-0.694yrs)) SWC (Bennett and Griffiths 1986)
Females Lt = 677mm TL(1-e-0.142/yr (t-0.282yrs)) SWC (Bennett and Griffiths 1986)
LENGTH-WEIGHT: Wt(g) = 9.03 x 10-6 TL(mm)3.12 SWC (Bennett and Griffiths 1986)
LENGTH RELATIONSHIP: FL(mm) = 0.91 TL + 2.71 SWC (Bennett and Griffiths 1986)
LENGTH AT 50% MATURITY: Males 31cm TL, Females 34cm TL (Bennett and Griffiths 1986)
AGE AT 50% MATURITY: Males and females reach maturity in their sixth year (Bennett and Griffiths 1986)
REPRODUCTIVE STYLE: Gonochoristic (Bennett and Griffiths 1986)
M:F SEX RATIO: Samples are always biased towards females, as they grow faster and enter the fishery earlier but no reason to suspect that the ratio differs from 1:1 (Bennett and Griffiths 1986)
SPAWNING SEASON: October to March (Bennett and Griffiths 1986)
SPAWNING LOCALITY: Throughout range
MAXIMUM LENGTH: 670mm TL
MAXIMUM WEIGHT: 6.5kg (SASAA record)
MAXIMUM AGE: Oldest aged fish in Bennett and Griffiths’ (1986) sample was 13 years, but fish over 600mm TL have not been reliably aged. M. Kerstan (MCM) examined an otolith of a 640mm TL fish in 1988, and suggested an age of over 20 years
LENGTH AT FIRST CAPTURE: 350mm TL (minimum legal size)
AGE AT FIRST CAPTURE: Males 6 years, Females 5 years
NATURAL MORTALITY: Not reliably estimated. Males M = 0.38 year-1, females M = 0.32 year-1 (Bennett 1988)
FISHING MORTALITY: Males F = 0.53 year-1, females F = 1.08 year-1 (Bennett 1988)
RESEARCH PRIORITIES
Continuation of study on fish movement patterns. Continuation of monitoring of catch per unit effort and age structure in MPAs at Goukamma, De Hoop, Cape Point, Tsitsikamma, and in exploited areas at Cape Point and Still Bay. More areas need to be covered
MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS
Careful monitoring of the fishery by means of shore patrols (roving creel surveys) should be undertaken throughout the distribution of this species on a regular basis. Improved law enforcement is required on the WC to reduce illegal netting for galjoen.
The above information obtained from SOUTHERN AFRICAN MARINE LINEFISH STATUS REPORTS.
In 1992 galjoen was listed as the national marine emblem of RSA. The Galjoen was arguably the first endemic fish to be recognized in South African waters.
Can you imagine, if all the sport teams like Sharks, Dolphins etc. are instructed to change their names to galjoen or damba?
Galjoen is regarded by many as an excellent fish to eat. Extremely good for braai.
Many of the “Macho” anglers, and there are quite a few of them around for my liking, will refer to anglers which fish for edible fish only, as “galjoen fisherman”. I will take a catch of any fussy  edible fish any time with real satisfaction and get really upset, when a “vacuum cleaner” of any sort picks up my bait.
Bait:
Many anglers believe that the best bait for galjoen is redbait, and many fish are caught on redbait.
I strongly believe that when fishing for galjoen from the rocks the No1 bait of choice for me will be mussel worm. These type of worms are usually found in the colonies of black mussels and in my opinion are worth the effort of collecting and using as a bait for galjoen. All that said, one shall keep in mind that the galjoen can be very fussy and if you had a success on one day with specific bait, that may not be the case on the following day. If you are targeting galjoen using redbait and the angler next to you keep pulling them out using mussel worm or blood worm, there are two things you can do:

• get yourself mussel worm or blood worm;
• move to another spot;

Other baits that can be used with success for galjoen are:

• black mussels;
• limpets;
• sand mussels;
• pink prawns;
• sand crabs;

Very often one will hear experienced anglers to say that it looks like that the galjoen feeds the best when conditions appear to be at their worst. I will agree with this statement. One can expect best results when fishing in rough water.  They can be caught during the day or night on any tides; however incoming or high tide works best for me.
Traces:
Rock bottom:

The use of small hook is extremely important if you target galjoen.
In general, when constructing traces for rock bottom one shall use line with considerable lesser braking strength for the sinker, than the one used for the hook. This will give you a better chance to land a fish if your sinker gets stuck in the “bricks”, as braking the line holding the sinker will still allow you to bring in the fish. Make sure that the braking strength of the line still allows you to properly cast, without loosing the sinker during the cast.
It is also, generally accepted that the best sinkers to be used for rocky bottom are the teardrop sinkers, as they don’t get stuck as much as the cone, pyramid etc.. Some anglers also believe in making the length of the line used for the sinker snoot much shorter than the line used for the hook.
When galjoen takes the bait, in general, they move with good speed with the bait.You can expect a tremendous fight, for the size of the fish you are fighting.

Target species: Shad

South African record: 10.3kg
DISTRIBUTION OF SPECIES: World-wide in warm temperate-shelf waters (van der Elst 1976)
DISTRIBUTION OF STOCK: SA coastline, primarily from Cape Point to southern MOZ (van der Elst 1976)
South African record: 10.3kg
DISTRIBUTION OF SPECIES: World-wide in warm temperate-shelf waters (van der Elst 1976)
DISTRIBUTION OF STOCK: SA coastline, primarily from Cape Point to southern MOZ (van der Elst 1976)
HABITAT
ADULTS: Sandy and rocky substrata from shore down to 100m (van der Elst 1976)
JUVENILES: Shallow subtidal waters (< 20m deep) primarily in larger embayments in the SEC and SWC (van der Elst 1976, Smale 1984, Wallace et al. 1984a, Wallace et al. 1984b)
MIGRATION: Adults and 0+ juveniles migrate seasonally between the SWC and KZN passing through the SEC and TKI. It is both an alimental and gametic migration with shad feeding largely on sardines (Sardinops sagax) and spawning occurring in warmer KZN waters. Adults are common during the summer and autumn months in Cape waters and during winter and spring in KZN (van der Elst 1976). The migration of 0+ juveniles precedes the migration of larger adults
FISHERY: Elf is the most important shore angling species caught in SWC, SEC, TKI and KZN (Brouwer et al.1997). It is important to recreational skiboat fishers in the SWC, SEC, TKI and KZN, but primarily used for bait by this sector. Elf are important to commercial skiboat fishers primarily in the SWC, especially in False Bay and Struis Bay (NMLS commercial data). Prior to new regulations promulgated in September 1998, elf were not allowed to be commercially exploited in KZN. Elf are also caught by the False Bay trek netters and are caught as a by-catch by the Vetch’s Pier seine netters in Durban (Lamberth et al. 1995a,b, Beckley and Fennessy 1996). SA lands about 0.2% of the global elf catch of 20 000 mt (FAO 1999)
CURRENT REGULATIONS
CATEGORY: Restricted List
BAG LIMIT: 5 person-1 day-1 (recreationals only)
MINIMUM SIZE: 30cm TL
CLOSED SEASON: 1st September to 30th November, both dates inclusive (applies to all fishers)
MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS
Under the new regulations (September 1998) elf can be commercially exploited in KZN. This is almost certainly going to increase F on this species. Consideration should be given to de-commercialising elf throughout its distribution as this is primarily a recreational species.
The above information obtained from: www.ori.org.za

The shad is a predator and is equipped with a razor sharp teeth. It is believed that they do not grow much bigger than 10kg. Excellent eating, but do not freeze. Shad is most often caught on:
- sardines;
- fresh fillets;
- mackerel;
- chokka;
- live bait (karanteen);
- spoons;

Depending on the size of the fish in the area, wire traces on the hooks are recommended, although if 0.75mm line is used, you may land most of the Juvenal fish, provided that a long shank hooks are used. It is advisable for one to use long baits when fishing for shad.
It is recommended that hooks from 4/0 to 8/0 are used. The use of shad bung is one of the most popular traces used in South Africa.

Total trace length of from the hook to the 3 way swivel = 50cm.
Piano wire = 10-15 cm.
Total trace length for the sinker = 60cm.

Blue marlin introduced a new spinning rods – Trueflex at very good price. Combined with relatively inexpensive Shimano Alivio one can get very good and reliable set up.
Depending on where the fish is feeding (on the surface or on the bottom), when fish is feeding on the surface, the use of drift sardine bait is very effective and popular. A whole sardine is used for bait, as shown on the drawing.

The advantages of using the drift bait method are:

• Relatively less messy (if there is such thing when angling);
• The top hook is hooked through the mouth of the sardine and takes all the strain from the casting action, therefore there is no need for use of cotton;
• The bottom hook is inserted in the general area of the sardine in which the shad will usually strike the bait;
• No cutting of bait required;

When using the drift bait method, make sure that:

• wire is used for the second (bottom) hook;
• your bottom hook is needle point sharp;

Very often one will hear some anglers to refer to “green” shad and “blue” shad, I may be wrong, but I think that we are referring to one and the same specie in different stages of maturity.

In my opinion, the Juvenal shad is the fish specie that is caught by unscrupulous fisherman in huge numbers, despite the set bag limits. The behavior of most of the  law reinforcement officials, tasked with the monitoring of the existing regulations is despicable, when it comes to monitoring and enforcing the declared bag limit for shad. It is very easy to know when and where the shad is running and then make sure that officials are present to enforce the existing legislation.

3 or 5 section surf rod stuck?

As more and more anglers use the 3 or 5 pieces surf rods, I decided to share some useful tips on:

- how to prevent/minimize different sections of the 3 or 5 piece rod getting stuck so badly that you can not take them apart and;

- how to take them apart once they seem to be “welded” together.

Very often an angler will arrive at his favorite spot and feverishly start assembling his/her fishing gear, the assembly of the 3 or 5 piece surf rod very often is done in a great hurry, as every wasted minute or second increases the anxiety of the angler.

During the assembly of the rod the anglers simply take the “male” section of the rod and stick it into the “female” section, as much as it can go in and tighter as possible without using any lubrication. Very often this will result in the two parts getting stuck nice and solid, and with the inevitable moisture on the rod after the fishing session one can hear a lot of “strong” words used by the angler while attempting to separate the two parts, but very little result. It seems that the parts of the rod are stuck together and there is no chance for anyone to take them apart. Familiar situation??? I bet.

I have a friend who had the tip section of a five piece rod stuck into the middle section for 3 years, preventing him to use the medium and heavy tips of the rod and he believed that there was no way to separate the two pieces without braking them. After 15 minutes spend with him in his garage he was able himself to easily separate the two stuck parts and he could not believe how simple and easy was to achieve.

Preventing the section of the rod getting stuck:

Tip 1: When assembling your rod, run the tips of your fingers along your forehead, sides of your nose. 9 times out of 10 you will feel that there will be oily substance stuck to your finger tips after you are finished. Take the “male” section of the rod and lubricate the end of the section (which is intended to fit into the female part of the other section) before insertion.

Tip 2: Do not insert the sections too deep, even if you insert them just after the halfway they will not come loose during casting and will definitely not affect negatively your casting action.

Separating stuck sections of a surf rod:

Tip 1: Dry the sections of the rod on which you can have good non slip grip and twist the sections in opposite directions. If that fails:

Tip 2: Submerge the sections in warm/hot water (not sea water) and twist the sections in opposite directions. If that fails:

Tip 3: Take 3 x approx 10cm wooden blocks and using electrical tape, tape the blocks on the one section of the rod in such way that they can form a comfortable handle. Use similar wooden blocks and tape to form identical handle on the other section of the rod. Using the created handles twist in opposite directions. This method works 100%.
As more and more anglers use the 3 or 5 pieces surf rods, I decided to share some useful tips on:

- how to prevent/minimize different sections of the 3 or 5 piece rod getting stuck so badly that you can not take them apart and;

- how to take them apart once they seem to be “welded” together.

Very often an angler will arrive at his favorite spot and feverishly start assembling his/her fishing gear, the assembly of the 3 or 5 piece surf rod very often is done in a great hurry, as every wasted minute or second increases the anxiety of the angler.

During the assembly of the rod the anglers simply take the “male” section of the rod and stick it into the “female” section, as much as it can go in and tighter as possible without using any lubrication. Very often this will result in the two parts getting stuck nice and solid, and with the inevitable moisture on the rod after the fishing session one can hear a lot of “strong” words used by the angler while attempting to separate the two parts, but very little result. It seems that the parts of the rod are stuck together and there is no chance for anyone to take them apart. Familiar situation??? I bet.

I have a friend who had the tip section of a five piece rod stuck into the middle section for 3 years, preventing him to use the medium and heavy tips of the rod and he believed that there was no way to separate the two pieces without braking them. After 15 minutes spend with him in his garage he was able himself to easily separate the two stuck parts and he could not believe how simple and easy was to achieve.

Preventing the section of the rod getting stuck:

Tip 1: When assembling your rod, run the tips of your fingers along your forehead, sides of your nose. 9 times out of 10 you will feel that there will be oily substance stuck to your finger tips after you are finished. Take the “male” section of the rod and lubricate the end of the section (which is intended to fit into the female part of the other section) before insertion.

Tip 2: Do not insert the sections too deep, even if you insert them just after the halfway they will not come loose during casting and will definitely not affect negatively your casting action.

Separating stuck sections of a surf rod:

Tip 1: Dry the sections of the rod on which you can have good non slip grip and twist the sections in opposite directions. If that fails:

Tip 2: Submerge the sections in warm/hot water (not sea water) and twist the sections in opposite directions. If that fails:

Tip 3: Take 3 x approx 10cm wooden blocks and using electrical tape, tape the blocks on the one section of the rod in such way that they can form a comfortable handle. Use similar wooden blocks and tape to form identical handle on the other section of the rod. Using the created handles twist in opposite directions. This method works 100%.