So a few weeks ago my cousin sends me a message saying he is coming up to JHB for a couple of days in the week due to work and whether I thought the cats would be active as yet. Needless to say the weather was looking bleak at that moment in time, but it’s always worth a shot and things are bound to change in the weeks to come. Well here we are and boy oh boy did the weather turn out nice!
Tuesday afternoon:
We headed to the venue close to home and saw plenty of cat activity in the shallows. I thought things looked up but we actually struggled with the skittish cats. After numerous casts, I managed to land a decent cat with a solid hookup in the top lip. I was fishing my usual setup: Calcutta 400 with 8ft6 Fenwick Eagle GT armed with a 1/2oz jig and Berkley Havoc 5" paddletail.
Many a cast later we were approached by a couple of young guys asking if we fancied another but “private†venue with a decent head of cats, so we gladly accepted their offer!
At the new venue it was apparent that this is a prime location for the roepstok but unfortunately I did not have it with me. I dipped all along the edges with my paddletail and manage to get a lot of enquiries but none that stuck...
Wednesday afternoon:
We headed back to our first venue we targeted on the Tuesday and managed to land another cat on the paddletail but then it all went dead. Decided to take a chance on phoning the other gents we met the day before to see if we could fish the same venue we were so kindly invited to the previous day. There was one difference though...I packed my roepstok!!! Well needles to say, we were given the go ahead and met the gents at the venue. Arriving at the spot it was evident that the cats are not as active as the previous evening... Long story short I missed 3 or 4 fish where the hook didn't set. Just before we headed home, in the dark, I managed to find a single cruising cat. I dipped the vibolure pumpkin seed (courtesy of Slimy Salamander) in front of the cat and it leaped forth and slammed it but missed... I just kept the lure hanging there and the fish turned back for seconds and slammed it hard!!! It wasn't the biggest fish but it was a welcomed one and a great start to a new season of hunting cats!
Pics are bad as my phone is rubbish!!!
Tuesday afternoon:
We headed to the venue close to home and saw plenty of cat activity in the shallows. I thought things looked up but we actually struggled with the skittish cats. After numerous casts, I managed to land a decent cat with a solid hookup in the top lip. I was fishing my usual setup: Calcutta 400 with 8ft6 Fenwick Eagle GT armed with a 1/2oz jig and Berkley Havoc 5" paddletail.
Many a cast later we were approached by a couple of young guys asking if we fancied another but “private†venue with a decent head of cats, so we gladly accepted their offer!
At the new venue it was apparent that this is a prime location for the roepstok but unfortunately I did not have it with me. I dipped all along the edges with my paddletail and manage to get a lot of enquiries but none that stuck...
Wednesday afternoon:
We headed back to our first venue we targeted on the Tuesday and managed to land another cat on the paddletail but then it all went dead. Decided to take a chance on phoning the other gents we met the day before to see if we could fish the same venue we were so kindly invited to the previous day. There was one difference though...I packed my roepstok!!! Well needles to say, we were given the go ahead and met the gents at the venue. Arriving at the spot it was evident that the cats are not as active as the previous evening... Long story short I missed 3 or 4 fish where the hook didn't set. Just before we headed home, in the dark, I managed to find a single cruising cat. I dipped the vibolure pumpkin seed (courtesy of Slimy Salamander) in front of the cat and it leaped forth and slammed it but missed... I just kept the lure hanging there and the fish turned back for seconds and slammed it hard!!! It wasn't the biggest fish but it was a welcomed one and a great start to a new season of hunting cats!
Pics are bad as my phone is rubbish!!!
