South Coast Scratching (Report)

sven

New member
So 2 mates and myself left last week Thursday for the South Coast to go do some Dropshoting off the bricks and the boat. Leaving that morning the weather wasw shyte  and the driving down till Van Reenens was not so lekker as we left here at 04h00 and had rain and PLENTY trucks around that time.

But we got down in one piece and as the weather was awesome we unpacked and rigged up our dropshoting set-up's and headed out to go do some scratching from Uvongo down to Port Edward.

At Uvongo it is very busy the whole day, one just has to push in to get a good fishing spot, LOL do this while some dude goes to bait up when he gets back you in his spot so he is forced to share the fishing spot as otherwise you will be sitting with fishing in an area that holds no fish.  Now this isn't really a problem as most fishermen and women!! are a friendly bunch most of the time....

Now it didn't take more than 10min and my one mate was on with a Blacktail, decent enough size and as there is always that competetive spirit amongst us he immediatly starts to celebrate LOL Fish ooonnnn DAD ::S. Not long after that i was on and jumped into the lead with 3 Fish to his 1.

Having now found a good spot to scratch around we decided to go find other places that might produce some fish(as we could always come back) . So off we went to Splashrock and produce no fish. We headed back up to Uvongo to fish the last hour off sun. I caught another 3 fish (1 Pinky and 2 Stonebream) and my mate blancked for the rest of the day.

The Next day having been out the night before we where all nursing some hang overs but still went to explore other areas till the wind came up and turned the dqay into casting with 1/8 ounce jigheads impossible.

Day 3 was the day we where booked to go out on a charter to go do some dropshot off the boat. This satrted by the skipper telling us that we going to have a wet launch. Now this could of turned out very bad as the skipper had only one gilly to help with the launch and one that cant swim!!! so the skipper launched the boat into the surf and my mates and me plus the gilly had to hold the boat into the waves, now since the gilly was scared of the water didn't go to the front to push the nos einto the waves and the boat turned into a wave that hit it's side knocking my mate down and under the boat, this could of spelled real disaster had my mate not been quick enough to get the ...... out from underneath it before the boat was hit by another wave pinning him to the sand. With adrenaline now pumping we headed out to a close reef so we would be able to get our 3 ounce jigheads with 7" minnows down. 1st down and my mate was onto a rockcod. At first we droped our jigheads down and retrieved them with a jigging action. My mate caught 2 and i caught 1 doing this. It then went quiet so we moved around and also stoped retrieving and just let the jighead bounce around the bottom, this way my mate managed to catch another 2 rockcod and me 3. We had great fun, as this is what we been wanting to do for a long time (deepsea dropshot).

The last 2 days where spent scratching around Uvongo pier and i caught 2 Shad the one day and on our last day in the 1 hour session before we drove back another 3 shad all on 1/8 ounce jighead using the long cammoworm. The other fishermen that saw me throwing back the first shad had a look of disgust on there faces LOL. I also had 2 guys coming up to me asking for the shad for live bait but i told them i only fish for fun and on a purley catch and release basis, needless to say they weren't impressed. Now the goings on, on that pier are actually very sad as the amount of undersize fish that where either kept or just thrown on to the rocks to be kept for bait is shocking. Now i would approach these sort of people on the matter but i am not clued up enough on all the sizes of the various fish etc. so i would of looked like a fool but i made sure these same people heard me when i voiced my disgust.

It is really sad and i reckon a true fisherman would have more sense than that as this exact practise that is going to cause him to not be able to fish or catch any in the NOT so distant future. This is the reason i release evrything i catch as it is a sport for me that i still want to be able to do for a very long time!!!!!!!!

Anyways we had loads of fun and a real good fishing holiday and will be back there in October.
 

Rods

Sealiner
Excellent report.  Glad you guys had an awesome time.  Pity the negatives but there'l always be such people around.

I cant wait to go on holiday coz I was also planning on going down to the South Coast for a day or two.
 

sven

New member
New2Fish wrote:
If you don't mind me asking which charter did you go with...doesn't sound to well run

@new2fish,

  LOL thats an understatement. They where called Pannevis. The Skip was a good skipper but could of taken us to more productive reefs. He should of just had more help to launch and not expect us Vallies that go fishing maybe 3-4 times a year to help launch the boat LOL.

I will just stick to Shelly Beach  (Dry Launch hehe). There is only one charter i go out with there and they are great.

But one has to also try different reefs etc. so i put it down to experiance. And when i am there again wont fish the Port Edward side. (where we launched)

 

 
 

Must-Byte

Senior Member
Sorry thought you had launched from shelly! Most of the charters operating there are decent until december when every guy with a boat suddenly becomes a charter captain
 

Pokeroo

New member
You guys will be happy to know that there are now strict permits regarding fishing charter operators, which have always been in place but not heavily enforced as they are now. This is due to a few very serious accidents that have happened at Shelly beach in the last year where there are far more 'cowboys' operating than at Port Edward.

Unfortunately Port Edward is a surf launch site but without a ramp like at Shelly, but most of the charters dont mind getting a little bit wet cos it adds to the exitement and experience. Generally ladies, kids and elderly passengers get on the boat before the launch, the 'manne' get to show their muscles in the surf, but im sure you could request special treatment if you dont want your brooks getting wet. 

Just kidding!!!

On the plus side there are only 5 operators in P.Edward as apposed to shelly where there are about 30 or more, so its nowhere near as crowded.

I am suprised by your post because my family fish with Pannevis Charters every year for the last 14 years, they are one of the oldest licensed and most experienced operators around. Maybe you should let them know that you had a bad experience with them before and maybe they can make a plan to set things right with you and your mate.
 
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