Arniston

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tacklecrazee

New member
hi Guys

the wife and I are heading to Arniston next Friday and I am keen to wet a line , so where could one purchase decent fresh bait and also what could one expect this time of year ?

any info would be appreciated .

thanx guys
 
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RotsRot

New member
Bredasdorp a waste of time - the only two options either always out of stock, or the stuff looks like it was frozen ten years ago.

Fish n More in Struisbaai is best place to buy bait - pillies, chokka (pricey but generally fresh /good quality, but that's the larger / individually wrapped ones. They often have packs of smaller loligos which is cheaper per kg, but don't take that, it's old), white mussel. They usually also have frozen red bait / small packs of pink prawn. And mackerel / yellow tail heads sporadically, if targeting sharks is your thing.
Anything else you'd have to pump / collect yourself.

Depending on conditions you could get kob, galjoen, maybe steenie / bellman. Not too sure about elf anymore. And plenty other bankfish in the right places - blacktail, zebra, bronze bream...
 
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Dr halibut hoffman

Moderator
Bait I get at low tide..some at high tide :) some I chum with bread and anchovie oil..some get stuck with a dollie..otherwise at worst case I raid one of the 5kg boxes of pilles out of the freezer..or defrost some of that radioactive redbait buried in there.. Oh I had the best bait last trip..mussel worm, moonshine, chokka, pillies, redbait old and fresh, crabs..and then I go take myself out pulling black mussels off the rocks..and don't get to wet a line.. :)

Ja just stirring, hope you find the fresh stuff..but ja good idea to maybe take the best you can find in Ct frozen properly with you? Half the fun in baitfishing for me is catching bait or scratching around in rock pools..I'd say all my best fish on bait came on fresh bait I'd caught or collected.
 
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RotsRot

New member
tacklecrazee wrote:
Thanx Rotsrot , I am definitely pumping worm here by us and bringing it with as well
Click to expand...

You are welcome :)
Definitely a good call re. the worm (blood I presume?). We have them around here, but few/far between so can't really count on getting any most outings, can also be very time consuming.
Sand prawn also a very good bait here, common knowledge that you can pump in struis harbour - population taken a knock as a result, but can still get them, just got to work in the water with a net.
If you have those two baits you couldn't be better prepared for steenies.
If you have a cast net take it along in case you can find some mullet - livies the ultimate for kob.
 
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Fishbait

Senior Member
Thanx for the info gents, much appreciated. I will be targeting the Struisbaai plaat area and de Mond estuary for some catch and release there.

Bait collecting is not allowed in the De Mond area.

I know that natural baits from the area always work well therefore I am prepared to pump and scratch myself, Question is where though?

If the species are not spoilt by now with exotic baits then the good old fashioned pillie and chokka combos should work???

Any more info would be appreciated.
 
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RotsRot

New member
Howzit Fishbait
For Kob pilchard / chokka will work, but live mullet best hands down. You need a cast net of course, finding them is the trick and very dependent on conditions. preferably you want to get some before the time, but the logistics get complicated with keeping alive / transporting far down the plaat, if you have a battery-pump and beach cart then you're sorted. otherwise take frozen bait, get your lines in, then scan the waves to find a school and catch some with net...
prawns in the harbour as mentioned.
bloodworm too scarce to count on. easier going to uilenskraalmond but heck of a drive just for that.
wonderworm you need a good spring low and just have to go roll some boulders / dig.
redbait a big sea gives most, and beat the locals - they clean up quick and go sit by the OK to sell it.
octopus go poke around in some holes on low.
that's about it...
 
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Fishbait

Senior Member
@ Rotsrots

Thank you for sharing your local knowledge, I will bring enough purchasable bait, and try to collect some local bait. Just hope the weather plays along, see a massive cold front for next week though.
_seal1_
 
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Odysseus2016

Senior Member
If I had to select just one bait to take it would be wonder worm. I've caught Elf, Kob, Blacktail, Steenbras, Belman, Wildeperd, Strepie, Galjoen and white stump on wonder worm. Can't say that for any other bait!!. I often only take salted wonder worm and a throw net on many of my trips :)
 
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Fishbait

Senior Member
So we've been to Struisbaai and i'm away with work again. That truly is a magic piece of coast the Struisbaai Plaat. A good almost untouched fishing spot should conditions be fishable.
Unfortunately the long weekend did not play along weather wise. The walk from de Mond Reserve is close to 2km but feels further though.

The beach is breath taking unfortunately the water was rather strong washing out the sinker, a grab and bae been stripped by peckers in the process.

what a dissapointment, nayways the kids enjoyed themselves inside de Mond and entertained themselves with mullet, Steenies, and leervis activities.

Will making another visit to that side soon, magic piece of coast and the De Mond Reserve as a backup for the kids.
 
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Fishbait

Senior Member
So we've been to Struisbaai and i'm away with work again. That truly is a magic piece of coast the Struisbaai Plaat. A good almost untouched fishing spot should conditions be fishable.
Unfortunately the long weekend did not play along weather wise. The walk from de Mond Reserve is close to 2km but feels further though.

The beach is breath taking unfortunately the water was rather strong washing out the sinker, a grab and bae been stripped by peckers in the process.

what a dissapointment, nayways the kids enjoyed themselves inside de Mond and entertained themselves with mullet, Steenies, and leervis activities.

Will making another visit to that side soon, magic piece of coast and the De Mond Reserve as a backup for the kids.
 
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RotsRot

New member
Hi Fishbait

Thanks for the feedback - was wondering the other day how it went for you. Sorry to hear not so great... That's the plaat though - some days amazing fishing-wise, some quite the opposite. At least always beautiful...
That side wash can be a real problem, especially at the mond around spring tide. There are usually phases of the tide where it is not so bad, or if one can / is up for it and you move a lot / walk far you can find a spot where it is less bad, but ja, usually if it's that strong the fishing is very poor.
But I can relate - was in Port Alfred area over the long weekend and really poor luck with the conditions - wind all over the place, cold water and mostly strong seas, all meaning very poor results fishing-wise. But so it goes, still very grateful for the experience - AMAZING part of our coast - breathtaking. And I'll take a bad day's fishing over most anything else any day!
 
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Fishbait

Senior Member
That Plaat has plenty of promise in it. Most importantly we had a good time with the kids and good time exploring.

_seal1_
 
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