Lob for Kob

Recently I have been doing a bit of spearing and I have got so much more respect for this fish. Diving off of Toti recently I shot a decent Cave Bass and almost immediately after pulling the trigger this raw, vibrating, grunt came from somewhere. I couldn’t see where from but it was very intimidating and it vibrated through me like nothing I have ever felt. We dived the same cave and saw two 5 to 10kg Kob sitting, ducking into the safety of a little cove in the cave, every now and then popping their heads out to give us a look. After sitting with Ray for this article I realised just how in tune they are to their environment.

WHERE DO YOU FIND THEM?
Ledges, Sandbank and troughs, Double Sandbanks and River mouths, and in each case you fish for them differently depending on tide and swell direction.

SANDBANK AND TROUGHS
The ideal conditions here are calm weather and seas, a neap tide and you fish a low to pushing tide. When you get a single sand bank with a trough on the beach side of the bank, you want that soft rolling water moving into the trough. Send your bait over onto the bank, and pull it back a bit onto the incline that is created from the trough to the bank. Basically your bait will then be positioned under that soft, rolling white water, exactly where the Kob are feeding.

LEDGES
When fishing a ledge, a high to dropping tide is best. Start fishing maybe 2 hrs after the high tide, and find a ledge where the wave is breaking on to the ledge, or rock. Ideally you want to present the bait on the beach side of the ledge, so basically the water will break onto the ledge and you will have the same soft, rolling water coming over the ledge, and onto the inside of the ledge. This is ideal for dropshots.

DOUBLE SANDBANKS
In this case, where the Kob sit, is very dependent on what the outside current is doing. Regarding the tide, a low tide moving into high is best. The banks themselves should be no longer that 100m and gully between the two should be around 80m in width, the shorter the banks the better for Kob. Let’s say there is a South to North Current moving. On the pushing tide the fish will be patrolling on the bottom right side, up till the middle, of both the South and North bank. Here, the waves will be hitting the bank, and rolling over and into the calmer water, where the Kob will be sitting. This scenario is better for dropshot fishing with paddle-tails. On an outgoing tide (with the same current direction) the opposite applies – see diagram and here fishing with baits is a better option as the scent is pushed out to the Kob.

RIVER MOUTHS
Here you want to fish a dropping tide, so start fishing an hour after the pushing tide. Also dependant on the outside current as this will dictate which way the river will flow out once it hits the sea. You fish the inside, calmer edge of where the current is flowing out. So if the river is flowing to the left with a south to north current you fish on the inside left side of the current. Fishing with a bait and a cone sinker here is ideal because you can throw the bait into the current coming out the river, and it will eventually roll, and find its way into the calmer water which is where the Kob will be sitting, in the dead water.

DEAD-BAITS
First and foremost, fresh bait is imperative with Kob. A Chokka bait is probably the best deadbait you can use to target Kob with. Don’t get put off by a few nibbles from blacktail and smaller fish, because if there are any Kob in the area those fish will be taking chunks of the bait off, and spreading the scent. Kob are ultra-sensitive to smell so this is a good thing, and majority of the time that Kob is in the vicinity of the bait, and all it takes is a little lift of the rod to move the bait a bit, and that Kob will take the bait. The deadbait trace needs to cater to all the Kob’s senses- scent, vibration and sight. So we use a double hook trace, the main hook is a 7/0 Soi ring hook, with a piece of float tied on with cotton, we use a glow sheath over the eye of the hook for sight at night, and we place a rattler into the float for vibration. We cotton this all together and make sure the hook stands proud. On the base of the trace, we run a 2/0 ‘skelm’ chinu hook down the bite trace to meet the float. It is important to get a hook that is light and sharp, so spending a bit more money on a hook is always worth it. You want to use a 1.2 to 1.4m, 60lb Maxima leader with your bite trace being 30 to 40 cm in length.

LIVE BAITS
Live Mackerel is best, with a live Karanteen in second. With live mackerel harder to come by, live Karro as its known, is much easier especially fishing for them on small hook with Sardine around the rocks in the area. The best place to pin a Karanteen is just above the anus using a tooth pick as an anchor point and bring the hook through the spines of the anal fin.

This will ensure the Karro swims upwards once the bait is in the water and it is also hardy so it won’t come out easily when casting. Using the toothpick you will remove one of the scale’s and run the toothpick, under the skin, missing vital organs, in the direction from the tail to the head. Sink the toothpick about 2cm in and break it off so you can’t see it. Run the hook above the toothpick and bring it through and it’s as simple as that. Trace – two by 4/o Soi Ring hooks thread with cotton, back to back on a piece of 30cm, 60lb Fluorocarbon as your bite trace with the hook rigged with a Rapala knot.

RODS AND REELS
Heavy outfit 14ft6 Elite, 5000 Saltiga Dogfight with 30lb braid if you know there are bigger fish around
Standard outfit – 13ft6 rod, 5 to 7oz tip, Saltist 50’s multiplier reel, 10kg Giant Abrasion, 50lb leader.
Dropshot rig – 10ft6 BG rod, Saltist 4000 with 15lb braid and 40lb leader.

Pro Tips
Do not shine your headlight on the water when fishing at night as this will spook the Kob due to their extra sensitivity to light.
If you fishing a live Mackerel, the Kob generally eat it straight away but with a Karro or Blacktail the Kob ‘mouth’ the bait and often you will feel this, when you do, you need to strike and set the hook, don’t wait for him to eat the bait as it normally comes back with pin marks in the bait and leaves you disappointed.

It’s important to note that Kob, or Daga as we call them in KZN are under severe pressure. Fish for the future when targeting these species. The big fish in particular should be looked after as they are breeding stock, and are best put back to fight another day after a good photo. There is nothing more rewarding than watching one of these beauties swim off strongly after giving you the fight of your life. Taking a small Kob for the pot is fine, but then look to put the rest of your catch back and help sustain this species for future generations to enjoy as well.