Gordon (G6) and I fished the Slip from 5 am till just after 8 am yesterday (Sunday) morning. there were already two chaps fishing right at the Slip when we got there. Dunno what they been drinking or smoking but especially the one chap had a seriously far-out impression in his eyes when you spoke to them. They apparently arrived at about 3 am but didn't catch anything. Another five anglers (not together and not at the same time) arrived after light. So all in all we were about 8 or 9 anglers on the beach.
Gordon caught a fairly large striped Shyshark (about a meter long) and a 49 cm Kob. I caught a 69 cm St Joseph (Elephant fish). I initially thought it was a nice sized Kob, especially when I saw the silver skin flash in the waves. Was a bit disappointed when I saw it wasn't. We also got a lot of nibbles that cleaned our hooks. All in all we had a fun morning while it lasted. Then the NSRI arrived in all their glory and with some commotion. Launched both their smaller rubber-duck and the larger rescue boat. In the process they dragged all over our lines and broke off Gordon's braid. Then they started teaching some rookies to drive and reverse with a trailer on the beach. By then I felt like dishing out a couple of educational "klappe"!
Anyway, all fishing activities stopped with the arrival of our heroes in yellow and red with their boats, trailers and bakkies mucking about in the water and on the beach. And when the cowboys with their jet-skis arrived soon after 8 am we decided that it was our cue to pack up and go home.
Initially when we arrived, the water was nice and warm and had a very nice green-brown colour. The wind dropped totally after a while and by the time we packed up the water temp had dropped substantially. Was almost as if a cold stream had suddenly moved in closer to the beach.Â
But again, I must confess that for Melkbos, the fishing was above the norm. All the fish we caught and missed simply took the bait and took off. No mucking around with tentative nibbles. It was great fun.
