Went on holiday with the family over the Dec period to Sedgefield . As you know it’s not always possible to get maximum fishing time especially when the family is with.
The 2[sup]nd[/sup] morning after I arrived I went out to the Swartvlei beach ... That’s the one near the caravan park. I caught a few small sand sharks but that was it for the morning.
The next day was just a few bait strippers cleaning my hooks .... On my way back i stopped at the tackle shop (Hookers bait and tackle)... They’re situated in the same complex of the SPAR.
I got chatting to George the manager and he offered to take me out on the lagoon for an evening of fishing off his kayak / canoe.
We confirmed a date and time which was set for 6PM the following day. I was all excited as I’ve always wanted to fish off the kayak in the Swartvlei lagoon.
6PM on the day and we load up the kit and launch from the Island. First we go look for mud prawn and after we’ve enough for an evening’s fishing we start throwing plugs for Garrick. As the sun was setting we headed off to the main part of the lagoon. Rowing under the N2 bridge and through the pillars of the old train bridge we could see a number of people already casting their lines in.
George being very knowledgeable about the area was very determined to get me into some nice Swartvlei grunter.
He prefers the drift method where we rig prawn on to the hook link and without any sinker you cast it cast out , row about 20 meters while releasing line then drift along the drop-off.
Within the first few minutes I was already into a beautiful grunter. At first I thought the hook might have snagged some grass at the bottom but the sweet sound of the line stripping off the reel confirmed a take. The fish gave a good fight and using light tackle it was awesome playing the fish until it was finally landed. It was already getting dark but just sitting and enjoying the fading light over the beautiful lagoon made me wish I could do this more often. We fished on into the dark with a few more takes from smaller grunter. I also tried for kob but no luck.
As the saying goes †time flies when you’re having funâ€, and before long it was time for lines up and a hard row back to the Island as the tide was coming in.
Being in this magnificent part of the country made me realise how fortunate I am, even if it was just for a few days.
George was a great host and I would certainly go wet a line with him again.
I learnt a new technique of fishing and I hope to be back there again one day.
For now it’s back to work in concrete JHB but hopefully off to Kosi Bay in 6 weeks time (that’s another story and hopefully a good report as well....)
The 2[sup]nd[/sup] morning after I arrived I went out to the Swartvlei beach ... That’s the one near the caravan park. I caught a few small sand sharks but that was it for the morning.
The next day was just a few bait strippers cleaning my hooks .... On my way back i stopped at the tackle shop (Hookers bait and tackle)... They’re situated in the same complex of the SPAR.
I got chatting to George the manager and he offered to take me out on the lagoon for an evening of fishing off his kayak / canoe.
We confirmed a date and time which was set for 6PM the following day. I was all excited as I’ve always wanted to fish off the kayak in the Swartvlei lagoon.
6PM on the day and we load up the kit and launch from the Island. First we go look for mud prawn and after we’ve enough for an evening’s fishing we start throwing plugs for Garrick. As the sun was setting we headed off to the main part of the lagoon. Rowing under the N2 bridge and through the pillars of the old train bridge we could see a number of people already casting their lines in.
George being very knowledgeable about the area was very determined to get me into some nice Swartvlei grunter.
He prefers the drift method where we rig prawn on to the hook link and without any sinker you cast it cast out , row about 20 meters while releasing line then drift along the drop-off.
Within the first few minutes I was already into a beautiful grunter. At first I thought the hook might have snagged some grass at the bottom but the sweet sound of the line stripping off the reel confirmed a take. The fish gave a good fight and using light tackle it was awesome playing the fish until it was finally landed. It was already getting dark but just sitting and enjoying the fading light over the beautiful lagoon made me wish I could do this more often. We fished on into the dark with a few more takes from smaller grunter. I also tried for kob but no luck.
As the saying goes †time flies when you’re having funâ€, and before long it was time for lines up and a hard row back to the Island as the tide was coming in.
Being in this magnificent part of the country made me realise how fortunate I am, even if it was just for a few days.
George was a great host and I would certainly go wet a line with him again.
I learnt a new technique of fishing and I hope to be back there again one day.
For now it’s back to work in concrete JHB but hopefully off to Kosi Bay in 6 weeks time (that’s another story and hopefully a good report as well....)
