My cousin Steve and I were hoping to pick up some Steenbras one fine holiday in Fish Hoek, Captown. We had white mussels on the line, and after a few insignificant nibbles, my rod bent and reel screamed. Obviously very taken aback on light tackle, I had visions of a stray Kob on the end...
It became apparent by the way this fish sluggishly fought that it was something else. After 10 minutes or so we finally got the fish onto the rocks - A nice sized juvenile Pygama Catshark of around 3 Kg's. Needless to say, I was more than surprised to pick up a nocturnal fish in bright dayligt.
Unfortunately the shark had taken the hook a little too deep to remove bare-handed (didn't have pliers), so I figured that it was better to give the guy a chance with a hook in it's mouth... So I cut the line as close to the hook as possible, and we released the fish.
After what must have been another quiet hour, another similar pull, and I even commented to Stevie that I reckoned it felt like another shark of about the same size. I could not believe my eyes as I landed the 2nd shark - There was my hook neatly in the top lip, right next to the one I had forsaken in the shark an hour before... The very same fish!!
Amazed and perplexed we re-released the fish - Happy, if nothing else that the bugger was obviously well enough to feed with a hook already in his mouth!
Greig
It became apparent by the way this fish sluggishly fought that it was something else. After 10 minutes or so we finally got the fish onto the rocks - A nice sized juvenile Pygama Catshark of around 3 Kg's. Needless to say, I was more than surprised to pick up a nocturnal fish in bright dayligt.
Unfortunately the shark had taken the hook a little too deep to remove bare-handed (didn't have pliers), so I figured that it was better to give the guy a chance with a hook in it's mouth... So I cut the line as close to the hook as possible, and we released the fish.
After what must have been another quiet hour, another similar pull, and I even commented to Stevie that I reckoned it felt like another shark of about the same size. I could not believe my eyes as I landed the 2nd shark - There was my hook neatly in the top lip, right next to the one I had forsaken in the shark an hour before... The very same fish!!
Amazed and perplexed we re-released the fish - Happy, if nothing else that the bugger was obviously well enough to feed with a hook already in his mouth!
Greig
