Chokka bait for white steenbras

For the preparation of the bait one will need the following items:

1. Good filleting knife;
2. Cotton (I prefer Latex cotton);

3. Tenderising hammer; 

4. Cutting board;

Trace; hooks and swivel:

When fishing for white steenbras my preferred trace is a sliding sinker, 2/0 to 3/0 long shank "J" hook, with a smaller size trailing hook. I always "snail" my hooks.

Chokka:

Use only good quality chokka, if you notice any pinkish coloring on the chokka do not buy it, as it is definitely not going to be as effective as you would like it to be.

Cut a piece of chokka as illustrated on the photograph below:

Tenderise the upper section, always tenderise the softer side of the chokka, not the side from which you have removed the skin. Hook a 3/0 hook through the piece of chokka just above the end of the cut and secure with cotton, as illustrated on the photograph below:

Make sure that the softer/tenderised side of the chokka is on the outside of the hook and the hard side is wrapped around the shank of the hook. In order to fold the chokka properly around the shank of the hook, one may cut half way through the flesh of the chokka and prepare a groove for the shank of the hook.

Insert the small trailing hook, pointing in the same direction as the main hook, as illustrated on the photograph above.

Although this bait is intended for targeting white steenbras, a kob will not think twice of taking it and the question is: what diameter line one shall use for the construction of the free running sinker trace?

• If you go "light", you risk being bitten off, if a kob takes the bait. You risk not being able to land the kob.
• If you go heavy, the fastidious feeding white steenbras may not bite.

 Combination of chokka with white mussel bait for white steenbras:

Use the prepared chokka bait as described above and attach as illustrated on the photograph white mussel with cotton. Excellent bait for kob too.

Sand crab bait for white steenbras:

Get yourself a sand crab. They can be caught in different ways. My favorite method is to use onion mesh bag, which is filled with sardines' offcuts and placed in knee deep water in the ocean. Attache the bag with a piece of fishing line to your rod holder. After 30 minutes to an hour, retrieve the  bag and you will find some of the sand crabs holding to the mesh, as they can not resist the juicy sent of the sardine offcuts.

Some anglers prefer to secure with cotton the legs of the crab to the line above the hook, in order to prevent the line from tangling. I prefer to hook the crab in the way illustrated on the photograph.

Some anglers use supper glue to glue their hooks to the shell of the crab and in this way allow the crab to stay alive in the water.


If the fish is not baiting, one can cut off the top shell cover of the crab and expose some of the meat. In some cases this helps.