Going to Sedgefield

Fly-aholic

New member
Good afternoon all,

I am taking my family from the 7th for a week to Sedgefield.
I have tried contacting Hookers in town, but to no avail as the landline does not exist and the mobile goes onto voice mail.

I will primarily be doing lure fishing in the lagoon as we are staying close to the lagoon. Target species would be grunter and leeries.
Is the mouth still closed, and due to no tidal movement, where is the best and safest places to fish?

I would dearly appreciate your input.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all.

Kind regards,
Pierre
 

Fly-aholic

New member
Thanks DJP,

Not sure whether it is good or bad? Now the fish will be moving with the tide.

Should be better though, will just have to find the fish.

Is it open to the extend that there is tidal movement?
 

DJP

Sealiner
Looked pretty strong, but this is second hand news, you can let us know when you arrive tomorrow.
Mouth open is always good IMO. Fish for leeries on the dropping to low tide and grunters on the push to high. It pays to fish around first light and the again around sunset, so you will have to decide whether having a braai in the evening or getting up early is more of a priority, good luck!!!
 

Fly-aholic

New member
Hi DJP,

So visited Sedgefiled from the 7th to the 14th of December. I am originally from the Eastern Cape and with Knysna just around the corner, was again pleasantly surprised at the beauty of the area.

The mouth was opened 2 weeks prior to my arrival and most anglers are of the opinion that it is a good decision. Although no one could confirm that fishing actually improved.

Being mostly a fly and lure angler, I only went there with artificials, mostly hard baits.

Little leeries were prolific and some good fun on topwater lures when the elf came through in their shoals.

The fish caught were small, so no pictures taken.

You were spot on regarding the times to fish as from 4 in the morning to about 6 and then it died down. With the rising tide the grunter were quite busy on the opposite bank and even using a canoe to target them, I was unsuccessful.

I visited the train bridge a few mornings with a few guys arriving later, but is was very quite and mostly bull head mullets eating shrimp.

Will definitely be going back there in the near future.

Thanks for the input, most appreciated

Kind regards,
Pierre
 

DJP

Sealiner
Cheers mate and thanks for the feedback, glad you got some fish and enjoyed the area, it is truly an amazing place catching a fish there is just a bonus.
Those bull mullet are an excellent species to target on fly, small chartreuse flies seem to work best, and it's easier if you chum some pilchard and bread for them to get them feeding... they are insane when hooked, and jump all over the place... something to try next time you visit.
 

Eva Diva

New member
I was there 27 Dec to 6 Jan. We stayed at Swartvlei, so mainly fished the vlei.

Could not for the life of me get a grunter on topwater or with prawn. Had a few small ones follow the skitter, but just would not bite. Suspect it may have been a bit big as they were small fish.

The Leeries on the other hand could not help themselves. I caught 7 - 2 on a pink skitter V and the rest on live bait (small streepies/stump). Most in the 40-50cm range, managed one just over 60cm. All good fun and my kids had a ball catching them.

Got two elf as well. One just over 40cm and one just under 60cm, which was the only fish I kept all holiday.

Had not been there for 20 years and we had an awesome time. Will definitely be back. For what it is worth the one local Oom I spoke to told me when the mouth opens you will get big job off the beach, but I did not give it a go as did not have any surf tackle with me.
 

Fly-aholic

New member
Hi DJP,
Will most definitely try the fly option next time. Where is the best for this as I assume higher up in the river, especially now that it is tidal.

Have had some special moments at Sandvlei with bull mullets after chumming. White hackle spun around a number 8 hook. Serious dry fly fishing, ha-ha.Also met my match on my 6 weight, with a the 4x tippet I could not turn the fish.

I agree, very special place and well maintained. The entire river seemed clean and rid of rubbish. Will definitely go back there end of the year.

Thank you for all the info.

Kind regards,
Pierre
 

Fly-aholic

New member
Hi Eva Diva,

Yes, the leeries are wild. Very easy to catch on live bait. I target them with circles and as a minimum, only use mullets larger than 200mm. For the boy I'll load a small stumpie or kurper high-up in the river where the water is much fresher.

I am all out of practice with my throw net, so had to catch mullet on pilchard. Took me much longer than anticipated.

Yes, the grunter is absolutely an art on surface lure. Lure size and retrieve is paramount and it differs from area to area.
While in East London (after Sedgefiled), I caught grunter on a pink Skitter V with an extremely fast retrieve. All other retrieves and the trusty old 90mm Xrap Walk did not deliver. When I realised that there were swimming prawn in the river (early this year), I tried a Xrap subwalk, but no joy. I fished for 2 weeks and had very little success. The bait guys caught nice grunters though.
I then started taking water temperatures and realised that the SE wind is pushing the colder water to the shore and pushing all the fish upriver.
Too late, holiday was over then.

Cheers and Happy New Year.

kind regards,
Pierre
 

Sidd

Senior Member
Was there from the 28th Dec to the 4th of Jan.
I fished at Cola and pilipili beaches. caught some small spotted sharks as well a few small sand sharks. Oh not forgetting a number of sea barbers.
Only managed 1 grunter on my last day.
Didn't get a chance to try the old train bridge nor Swartvlei.
I'll be back though...
 
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