365 days of fishing

Now yusuf had warned me to be at the wall early morning, but i only managed it by 8 am, feeling very tired still, waiting for holiday to kick in. Was greeted by the sight of a monster Kob of 8 kg lying underneath the light house, wow what a fish, should of been mine. Well done to the fisherman who managed to get that to the edge, luckily a gaff was available. Plenty other very decent fish lying around in the 4 to 6 kg range. Ja i wanted to sleep in now these are the fruits. Still i was here, rigged up and cast in with great expectation. You guessed it, I was still using the harders and maasbankers and yet again i would get a bit to the others 5 takes. Man i just gotta get some pillie. I did manage to get rid of my Mombak with two decent Kob, 50 cm or maybe 50.5, just sizer thankyou Lord. Man i gotta get some pilly.

Not unusually the fishing quietened down after an hour or two, there were still fish coming in at 11 though, water was perfect, sjy initially a bit overcast cleared up and heated thing considerably. Decided to take the precious fish home before they fried in the sun.

Deep under the spell of the viskoors i headed back in the evening, by now the word had definitely got out and with tomorrow being a holiday the world and wife at the harbour evening, same faces from the morning and more, every fisherman who i had ever met at Kalkbay was there trying his luck for the Silver Gold.

A forest gump of Bamboo

And yes, after careful consideration i acquiesced and purchased some pilchards, now I would get them!  Pleasant evening and Wilma had agreed to join us for dinner on the wall. Snoek and Chips from Kalkies.

Settled down closer to the beach away from the forest at the end. Although that said i have always found the fisherman especially the regulars very accommodating, making way for you to cast not giving attitude, acknowledging that there is plenty of room in the sea. Of course it is wise to learn to cast straight as you don’t make too many friends if you constantly cast over others lines.

Funny thing happened on way to greens side filled my bait box with water to defrost the overly expensive pilchards R30 kg, only realising as the water sloshed over my shoes that i had shoes and socks not waders. So wet shoed and sandy i continued.

Met up with Gilly, Junaid, Boete Achmat and of course Jusuf, James and crew fishing nearer the beach to avoid the crowds and catch the Kob that made it past the barrage of Lines further up, far more mellow. Hooked one of those that was heading to the beach about 7:30 pm  and this time managed to get it over the Bricks, pose for smiley photo, and discover that due to underuse the battery had failed, fail.

Good supper, as usual, beautiful sunset, couple of glasses of wine and i was feeling pretty mellow, wish i could of caught more fish.

About 8:30 Yusuf comes past and says that the fish are coming out on the other side, so off i trek, meeting up with Junaid and fished until 12 but no more silvery goodness. Another strange thing Yusuf and some were catching near the light where we normally fish for chokka, first time i have seen fish out that side, we were stationed about 20 m from them and we didn’t even have a decent bite. Strange mighty strange.

Big day fishing and it is going to get bigger.

Got an SMS to say the the Kob were on the bite at the harbour, made it there  by 4 pm with water coming over Red side at low tide, a sure sign that high tide would be spectacular, and indeed it was. High tide made everything wet with huge rollers crashing on the normally dry green side the fish fever kept us all going as whilst not abundant there were enough Kob coming in to give us all hope.

Now here is a strange story, I had manged to net some small harders and catch some maasbankers yesterday, fresh as a whistle, whatever that means they went on the hook. Whilst everyone was getting many bites or pulls as they say with the odd elf coming out, i only had the occasional inquiry. A frustrating business to put it mildly, everyone else catching the fish and me with my mombak on. ( a delightful expression to describe the expression of someone who has not yet caught a fish).

My trace was the same i was fishing in the same spot but nothing liked my bait. Surely i reasoned, Harders and Maasbankers are the fish that are swimming around, the natural bait, yet the fish remained hooked on Pilchard. Strange.

Anyway persevered as is my nature, moving down a bit towards the beach, sitting on my paint drum slowly going to sleep when some idiot cast over my line and pulled it away. No, but wait that is a fish, i had unwittingly hooked into what would of been my personal best Kob, got it right to the bricks where the sinker got stuck and bye bye fish. Another bliksem fishing story of the one that got away.

Packed up in disgust with my mombak firmly in place.

With the catches of elf the last night, though i should try my hand at spinning. Went down to the green side again, the red side was doable but still some water coming over  and i did not have my wets on.

One thing about spinning, is that there is not the need to take all the tackle and bait, with the result that i felt  much lighter, as i am normally dragging the kitchen sink around, there was this strange nagging feeling that i had left something behind.

The wind still doing the southerly thing, but strange and true the water had turned blue, well not crystal but definitely blue compared to the previous days. Where had the colour gone, spoke to some of the regulars, their, idea was that too much wind for too long and the colour turns off, not scientific but it is the bes explanation i have at the moment.

Anyway i am there now and spinning away with a 4 oz silver spoon with good action in the water, spin, spin, spin, the reel and rod casting well getting some fair distance, but nothing, no nibbles no takes no nothing. Then all of a sardine the spinner just stops the rods bends and i think i am stuck, but their is movement and the weight edges forward, seaweed maybe, but that would just be a solid mass, this whatever on the end gives and pulls ever so slightly. Definitely feels organic, organic and alive. An octopus i surmise, constant pressure and it would give suddenly just to stick fast a second later. Too much pressure and pop went the line, breaking off at the swivel, now we will never know. Yet a another mystery of the sea.

Now i discovered what that nagging feeling was, i had forgotten another bloody spinner. Oh well things were too quiet anyway, no one else was feeling anything and besides i felt overcome by a lethargic lassitude, feeling the year behind me piling up.

Left as others were just walking down, greeted by choruses of ” going already?”

Good thing the next day i found that no-on had had much luck otherwise i would of felt really peeved.

Feeling bored, can’t fish try some of these. This is Josh’s favourite selection of online fishing games. http://www.onlinefishinggames.net/

Offline at the sea, the wind that had welcomed me home continued to blow, asking around i found that it had been blowing for two weeks. Wonderful. Well wonderful for some, the others should take note that the wind in Gauteng is far more mild,  there is lots of money to be made, houses are cheap and you the wind hater should consider a move.

Water coming over the red side at the harbour, the colour was superb, a murky green brown, ideal. Lots of regulars already at the end and a forest of rods, too impenetrable for a Dad with  a 7 year old in tow. Settled further down, near the bricks, the name for the gigantic South African invented dollosses. Some guys were on at the end with shouts of “Kabbel-Joe” , and ” Bring Hom, Bring Hom” . Rigged up Josh’s rod with a light ball sinker and red float and some maasbanker, cast in for him, the little Jarvis Walker he uses casting a fair distance with the light trace. he holds it whilst i set up my rod, also going for the light approach with my new “Sensation” stick.

Pluck-Pluck diddy Pluck pluck goes my boys rod, ” I’ve got one!” he shouts, looking slightly nervous as he reels in fast, quite hard, the light tip doing crazy dances as the fish darts and dives, he is soon at the side and I help him to lift it over. Yay my son has caught his first elf, and it is a sizer.

The rock star look.

Pops on the other hand manages a small elf that gets fed to another small elf caught by Josh again. No Kob though and it is reluctantly time to go home.

Yay, back to my beloved, my beloved and my beloved house, bed, dog, son, beloved South Easter.

Up at 7, wow, after all the north-ing still manage to get up early, excited to go and see my Josh, missed the little blighter something awful. Happy reunion, coffee, then on to my favourite shop, “Tuckers”. My Grandwave had another service as was making a bit of a noise, just 2 weeks after the last service, turns out there is a bit of a burr on the pinion gear, but it runs plenty smooth now, no noise at all in the cast, almost too quiet. Also picked up my oscillating slider for the BG 60.

Also fed my tackle demon by getting a sensation 12 foot, spinning rod to match my Fin-Nor Coffee Grinder, the Kingfisher spinning stick has a too soft tip for my liking, and only casts up to 3 oz.

Had a great chat at Tuckers as well discovered what the various numbers on the rods mean and set myself up to do some sliding which will be a first for me, not of course to catch sharks but that big Kob I am hunting, on my purchase they presented me with a good bottle of 05 red, going to save that for the big Kob. Great shop, good service, friendly people and fair prices.

Left suitably rewarded, home to give Josh his lego and me a little power nap. The dogs also needed a walk so the afternoon saw us getting sand blasted at the beach, got a few white mussels though, amazing how they seem to occur in groups and if you find one there are sure to be others about. The water was warm and a great colour, excited to take my new baby out.

That had to wait for the evening, Josh and Wilma watched “How to train your dragon” and i went to St James. Ahh the sea, lovely feeling of peace enveloped me as I stood ready to cast into the foamy surf. Mmmm maybe not such a good idea to try a new rod in such a rocky place, wasn’t getting much distance and lost 4 sinkers in quick succession. Knotting the sinker leader worked well though and i kept my hook trace throughout. Running out of sinkers, no bites and a promise to come home and have dinner with the family found me leaving after sunset, fishless but happy.

Interesting supper, Wilma working at Bargain books in Tokai, had met a woman, got talking and the woman mentioned that her husband was a refrigeration engineer for a Japanese trawler. She also said that they had been given some fish, and she would bring some in for Wilma. Turns out the fish was Patagonian Toothfish, aka, Chilean Sea bass, a fish that has been badly overexploited, so much so that is has been fished to commercial extinction in places like Marion Island, it is also on the don’t eat list of Greenpeace.

Now obviously Wilma didn’t know this, and gratefully accepted the offer of fish. Whether the wife of the refrigeration engineer knew, or whether the fish had actually been caught legally, are question that have to be answered. it does show the power of education though, if Wilma had know about the endangered status she would of been able to have a meaningful conversation with the woman.

Anyway it was quite unique and delicious, oily and rich, buttery and tasty. Next on my list is probably Whale.

One Time flight t115, Joburg to Cape Town, landed one hour late at 9:30  on Friday  the 10, I climbed out exhausted into my beloved South Easter, it felt like the wind blew into my very soul, filling my lungs with the essence of Cape Town, just in time to prevent me drowning. Ahh how i love this place, more than that it seems attached to me as a limb or an extra sense, only understanding it’s value when it is not there.

I have just spent the last week,  53 hours, marking 1200 math exam scripts, staying in the City lodge Morningside, waking up 5:40 am in order to have time to get some breakfast and then catch the 6:20 bus traveling to St Stithians every day, returning with the 5 pm bus in the afternoon. Sjoe!

It was actually one incredible experience, meeting hundreds of fellow math teachers, getting detailed about some finer points of algebra, philosophising about education in general, and sharing many laughs with awesome individuals from all around South Africa. Man what an incredible country we live in.

The only downside was the serious lack of sea. It wouldn’t of been too bad if i had had a car. Joburg is decidedly not walking friendly, walls and electric fences prevent access to all but the main roads. Sandton also has a noticeable lack of nearby dams or fishable rivers, this coupled with the exhausting task of marking for 9 hours a day made fishing rather problematic. Luckily the dams i had seen on Google earth at St Stithians had a good population of bass, carp, tilapia and barbel. So every lunch i would rush over to the Boys school where lunch was served, wolf down some food and rush over 500m back to the girls side, where i would pick up my rod and head to the dam for 15 minutes of casting a rapala. After marking i had 45 minutes before the late bus came so once again up the hill and cast cast cast.

Fishing in Joeys

I wasn’t really set up for bass with a limited number of lures and plastic, no friendly tackle shop nearby to replenish my stock, so wasn’t able to find a working pattern. The first day at lunch i had a few takes from cruising baby bass, almost hooked one, but it was the one that got away. The other definite bite ended up turning my curly tail grub into just a grub, probably a catfish.

As if to challenge me further were the storms, complete with thunder and lightening that stopped play on the Thursday afternoon, drenching us as we ran 3 m to the waiting bus. The lightening was magnificent, but given as the dam was situated on a high point and i was fishing with a graphite lightening conductor, i gave fishing in the rain a miss. Had no wet weather gear either, in packing for the heat I forgot about the Joburg afternoon showers.

Took a long walk to Nelson Mandela square and Sandton city in the vain hope of finding a tackle shop, no luck but i did find the quintessential monument to capitalism and consumer culture. Felt nauseous at the consistent display of stuff i had no hope of buying. Kind of ironic that this whole edifice of three interconnected malls and stuff  is presided over by a gigantic bronze of our great leader himself.

Finally Friday arrived, we finished a bit early and i decided to take my assassin out and practice casting on the fantastic fields, three casts later the lightening siren went off and the thunder heads rolled in, me on a field with a 14 foot lightening conductor playing at being Benjamin Franklin. Did manage one 70m gooi with not much effort, gives me hope for the holidays.

4 hours later we were on the plane after a number of delays, should be called “sometime”, not “onetime”. A remarkable adventure with no fish to report but the holidays are here and i intend catching up on all the time i missed, planning to put in a few 24 hour missions, see you on the beach.

Boo hoo, boo hoo, sob sob. I am off to Joe Burg tomorrow to mark matric exams, i am leaving my beloved sea behind to make a bit of cash and become a better math teacher. Oh well, i have google earthed St Stithians College where we are marking and there seems to be a small pond in the one corner, will have to wait and sea.

Farewell dinner at Kalkies, of course, Josh and I went early, armed with fresh white mussel to tempt a stumpnose or two. Willie was to join us later. Water quite clear, but given the blow of the last few days i was optimistic. Started getting bites from the beginning, good solid tugs that i swore were Kob bites, not the stumpnose style of suck suck suck. One of the other regulars agreed with my prognosis, but it remained a prognosis until another regular arrived and promptly pulled out a Kob on his first cast. By now Willy had arrived and gone off to order with Josh in tow, and Josh was already back to say that dinner was getting cold. Time flies when you are having fun. I bowed to responsibility and selflessness and trundled along to dinner.

At least i went with a happy heart having at least learnt one thing ,that one can gets Kob bites on mussel, now all i have to do is to catch the elusive fish.

Woke up this morning 4:45, dreaming of catching elf. It remained a dream, hit the wall by 5:30 using mussel and fresh bloodworm a kind fisherman had given me the previous evening, not even a bit for One and a half hours not even a ” hello, catch me if you can!”

The water looked good, a fair bit of colour, warm, some terns diving and  white breasted cormorants catching fish. The water was pretty low, but every now and then a huge wave would slam into the wall spraying all over the place and waking my heart up with nervous adrenaline. No bloody fish it is the end of the line.

Saw that the other night, quite an eye opener, now i know that there is dispute about the statistics but that is so not the point, we are fishing out the oceans and that is the truth. I propose a movement that you are can only eat fish if you have caught yourself!!!!.

Thought about kayaking again, but only got home after 5, walk dogs etc. Got some good casting practice in at the Vlei, finally taking Mark’s advice, just went there with a sinker and let rip, hammering the rod and punching it forward, had some super epic casts, including one of over 400m. Unfortunately the line was no longer attached at the time. Good thing it was at the vlei  otherwise would of done some serious damage. Gotta get a leader, gotta get a leader. Oh and more line for the reel. Using the shimano now as the bloody Daiwa is not sounding too good and this is only two weeks after the service, it has to go back to Tuckers to whoever didn’t fix it last time.

Dogs and me home, tied some traces for tonight, hitting the beach for a change, but first joining Willy and Rose at Kalk bay books to hear Riaan Manser talk about Kayaking around Madagascar, free wine and a good adventure story. Death defying stuff, his account of the big waves he had to negotiate made my hands sweat. Don’t think i will emulate him, but just intensify this fishing thing. In a way it is my own Madagascar Kayak trip, and hey who knows maybe next year Riaan might be at the launch of my book. Bought a copy, couldn’t wait in the silly que to get it signed, and went off to join Rosmary and Wilma for what i thought would be a quick Curry, turns out to be a long curry, delicious though. Bombay on beach.

Only wet my first line behind the Civic about 9 30 pm. Surprised to see 8 other rods there and a few other headlight glinting near the river. Four good casts with mussel= four barbel. I have decided that i am going to fillet them from now on, and use them as they do look like a good eating fish if you can discount their poisonous spines, and after all, i catch a lot of them.  Left 10:30, the tide almost high the water warm and the wind Southerly.

Valiant attempts to get up in the morning came to nothing, but despite sleeping a bit later, wandered around the whole day dog tired. Ears and tail down, had an appointment with      ” Annie ” the musical later, so had to squeeze fishing in somewhere.  Serendipitously there was a large traffic jam on the way home , forcing me to pull off to Kalk Bay before the fishmobile steamed. Thought i would experiment to see if chokka bit in the day, maybe catch an Occie or something.

Result of the experiment, Chokka dont bite Jigs during the day at Kalk bay, and you better be very quick otherwise the Occie will take your lure and never let go. As happened to me. Bye bye beautiful pink and white lure.

That was it for the fishing, napped and went theatreing, a bit cynical as i don’t like musicals, i mean why do they always have to sing. Anyway it was thoroughly enjoyable and i suspended my cynicism for a while.