Drop in on some Transkei Kob

 The Transkei is known for its Kob, and although we don’t consistently get the size fish that our friends in other parts of the Eastern or Southern Cape get, the experience of catching a Kob on lure in the Transkei is hard to beat. The quest generally starts long before sunrise when that all too familiar electronic beep rips you from your peaceful night’s sleep. ‘WTF!!!’ is generally the first reaction, followed by the slow realisation that it’s time to get up, and then a few seconds after that a wry smile appears as you realise it’s time to go fishing!

It’s around this time that most people would be heading straight for the coffee pot, but not me. The way I see it is if I am going to be awake at this time I better be either fishing or on my way to fishing. Simply put spending 10/15 mins making coffee is time I could be fishing or sleeping, but that’s just me. I am a bit crazy like that.

Once up, a quick check of my gear, a last check of the tide table and Wind-guru, I am off to start my long slow trudge across the beach to whichever spot I have chosen for the morning. Arriving at my spot, I am filled with excitement and expectation as I make the final checks on my gear. In the low light I can make out the white water rolling over the bank as I stand perched up on the rocky point.
I make a few casts and slowly retrieve my paddle tail just waiting for it to stop dead in its tracks but cast after cast it returns untouched. My mind starts to wonder as I continually retrieve my lure, my eyes are heavy, and I start to drift off and then suddenly in a split second the lure just stops. Bang!! Vas!!! Yes, fish on!!! Wait what? My excitement fades as I realise that I’ve reeled my lure straight into the rockbait covered rocks below. Frustrated, I snap up my line and head back to my bag to tie on another trace. By now it’s got much lighter and soon the sun will rise. My early morning strategy has failed so for now it’s back to the drawing board, and back to the cottage for some breakfast as I plan my next attack! Let’s take a moment to discuss the fish that drives us to these sort of lengths, the tackle used to target them in the surf and off the rocks and also where to target this amazing species.

The Target
Kob is a predatory species found all along our coastline. They are probably the most widely targeted recreational species and can grow to lengths in excess of 1m. Kob are ambush predators and rely on their keen sense of vibration to locate their prey. This is why they can be targeted so successfully at night or in low light, and also in very dirty water with low visibility. What follows is a very basic step-by-step guide to targeting Kob on Dropshot in the Transkei:

Step 1: Reading the water
In my opinion, the most important ingredient for success when targeting Kob on any lure is reading the water. Once you start learning to read the water correctly you will see your success increase tenfold. Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as reading the manual and there you go. Learning to read the water requires not only a basic knowledge of the conditions that Kob feed in, but it requires you to put the time in, paying attention to what the tide, wind and swell are doing, and how they are affecting the conditions in which you are fishing. As in all things, there is no substitute for hard graft.

So, what are the basics?
Regardless of whether you are throwing from the beach or from the bricks, you are looking for structure. Generally, this structure comes in the form of a sandbank on which the waves are breaking and then rolling over into deeper water. You want a constant pulse of swell washing over the bank with rolling white water. Small puffs of sand are also a good sign. The Kob will lie in this deeper hole along the drop-off and wait for the baitfish to be pushed off the sandbank into this working water where they can be ambushed.
This structure can likewise be found in river mouths and rocky points where the rip has created gulley’s and deep holes.

People often ask me what is the best tide or best wind etc to target Kob and my simple answer is: It depends. You see different spots work well on differing tides, and some work better on different swell sizes or different times of year. I have always been a fan of playing what is in front of you. Learning to read the water is essential to your success. For instance, if the water is very clean and calm and there is little working water you may find that you will have more success fishing in the dark. The lack of working water means that the Kob have little cover to use to ambush their prey
and thus, are more likely to feed in the dark.

Step 2: Dropshot
The development of dropshot (paddletail and Jerk minnow) has fast become the most widely spread lure for targeting Kob in the surf. In my opinion, this can be attributed to a number of factors: Firstly, dropshot is more cost effective than hard-bodied lures like Rapala’s and spoons, especially when fishing in areas with scattered reef or ledges that often snag your lure; secondly, with dropshot there is also the option to use weed-less jigheads which doesn’t eliminate getting snagged all together, but certainly cuts down the possibility drastically. Thirdly, you are able to change the weight of the jighead depending on either the setup that you are fishing or the conditions in which you are fishing e.g. a rougher sea would require a heavier jighead. Lastly, the single hook of the jighead causes much less damage to the fish than the trebles usually used on hard-bodied lures like Rapalas. This is vitally important when practising catch and release – which is highly recommended as this species is under huge pressure from recreational fishermen.

As mentioned, jigheads are available in various different weights with various hook sizes. Depending on the area you are fishing, or the setup that you are using, you would need to match the jighead weight accordingly. I generally use a 1.5Oz Mad Mullet Arrow head jighead and then step it up to 2oz if I am fishing a deeper spot or if there is excessive water movement. You want to make sure your lure is able to get down to the bottom. Kob have very big mouths, and you want to make sure that the jighead you are using has at least a 7/0 hook. Another reason I like the Mad Mullet ones is because they come with Mustad thin gauge hooks which are extremely sharp, strong and being thin gauge, they set really quickly, and really well. There are other great jigheads out there, but these are my go to.

With regards to weedless jigheads and rigs there are various ways to go about it. Again, I simply use the premade ones from Mad Mullet as they have brought me much success. I tend to only fish weedless if I absolutely have to which tends to be at night when it is hard to see the rocks. Moving on to the dropshot (paddletail or Jerk minnow) Kob like a big bait so I generally use a 6inch paddletail and a 7inch Jerk minnow. I do sometimes use a smaller 4-inch paddletail but that is generally a last resort. I mostly use McCarthy but there are other great products out there. Mc Carthy have also now brought out their slinky weedless paddletail which is great. When it comes to colour, every angler seems to have his favourite (or go-to) colour. For the most part, I don’t feel that the colour makes too much difference and over the years I have caught fish on literally every colour out there. That being said, the general colour rules are helpful. If the water is clean, I generally use a more natural colour like the Pearl Olive (McCarthy). If the water is murky, I go for the Red or Atomic Mullet (McCarthy) or the Nuclear Chicken (Berkley). In low light, I go for the darker colours like the Baby Elf (McCarthy).

3: Technique
When targeting Kob, you want to cast onto the sandbank and then slowly work the lure off the drop-off into the deeper water. The bite will mostly come as the lure comes off the drop-off.
There are two basic retrieves that can be used with paddletails. You can either use a slow steady retrieve, remembering that Kob feed on the bottom so you want your lure as close to the bottom as possible. The second type of retrieve can be used with both paddletails and Jerk minnows. This consists of small twitches that cause the lure to bounce along the sandy bottom while slowly being
retrieved. The most important part is that you don’t retrieve too quickly as you want to keep your lure in the strike zone for as long as possible.

4: Tackle
There are many great spinning options on the market at the moment to suit a variety of budgets. Personally, I use a 10’6 rod matched with a 5000-sized reel. You need a rod that has a strong backbone but at the same time has some action in the tip. I spool my 5000 reel with 30 or 35lb 8x weave braid. I prefer the 8x weave as it is smoother than the 4x and casts a lot better. I do sometimes use 40lb at night as occasionally you find bigger fish feeding in the dark and it’s a lot harder to see where the reef is, requiring you to have to bully them a bit. When it comes to leader, I use 35-40kg nylon leader. I usually go quite heavy on my leader as it doesn’t really affect the bite, but with a lot of the areas where I fish there is a lot of reef, and the thicker leader gives me a little more protection against the rocks. I join my braid and leader using a FG knot. I cannot stress how important it is to learn this knot; it will completely change your life and, when done correctly, it will never fail you.

5.The Future
With Kob being so widely targeted across our coastline it comes as no surprise that their stocks are under massive pressure. Add to this that they only reach sexual maturity around the 1m mark and it’s easy to see why we should be releasing these beautiful fish. Some reports and studies suggest that the stocks are already critical. I urge everyone not only to “limit your catch and not catch
your limit” but also to practice catch and release.

As always, fish for the future.