In our previous article, we shared some of our winter inshore sessions with you. Not much has changed at all and we have been...
10/09/2022
When one thinks about winter, it may not always be happy thoughts, especially from a fishing perspective. Let’s be honest, waking up in those dark, cold mornings does not sound very inviting. Here in the Western Cape, we also have to deal with a very wet climate caused by either rain or fog too, so just the thought of being out in the miserable wet accompanied by the cold can be very off putting.
Winter months are notoriously difficult fishing conditions and trying to figure out what works requires major effort. One thing we know at African Fishing Adventures is that one has to put the time in to figure these things out and you can only do it by being highly adaptable, by literally changing with the seasons and catching what the ocean offers you. We firmly believe in “if you don’t go and make a throw, you won’t know.”
In our instance, because we specialise in saltwater fishing, we are fortunate to fish from the shore, inshore and offshore as the seasons allow it and target the most probable specie/s for the season. This truly opens an entire new world and we get to do what we love throughout the year using the equipment we to our disposal.
Yes, storms tend to be a bigger factor during winter, but once conditions settle a day or two you can fish and put that time in and still get great rewards.
We set out to prove one thing this soon to be passed winter, and that was that you can still go on epic adventures during winter. In fact, the 2021 winter season will be one of our most memorable winters yet in our books for sure. Boy oh boy did we have some serious fun, epic adventures and landed some trophy fish! And to top all of it. All of our fish, with the exception of snoek where caught spinning.
Our spinning setups mainly used were combos of:
- Spro Salty Beast and Berkly Cobra Venom 8-9ft Spinning Rods
- Range between Shimano and Rovex Big Boss 6000-8000 spools size reels
- 40-50lb Winch Grinder Casting Braid
- 0.80mm T-line Pro Leaders
- Major Craft Jip Para’s mostly 60g
It all started during early May when the West Coast had a good snoek run. The West Coast was buzzing and things were going good for the fishing communities. This was abruptly stopped by the 1st storm in the Western Cape that stuck around for a while and pushed the fish out of reach.
June and July was volatile in terms of weather, but still provided the odd fish from the shore and mostly inshore when we had a gap.
Just as we were getting despondent, the heat was turned up and we were in for a major surprise. The Slender Tunas showed up inshore, and in the thousands. We were surrounded by shoals of Slender Tunas for weeks on end having the time of our lives. It was an absolute frenzy, with high whale activity and a variety of bait showing up bring along them a variety of bird life, seals and other marine life. It was truly spectacular to witness and something we will not forget for a long time.
I remember on two occasions where whales came up right next to the boat with mouths wide open eating away, gulping up baitfish and a variety of crustaceans. Too close for comfort, but we are alive and well to share this tale. The best experience for me was fighting a good size fish, observing a bait ball in front of me being devoured by seals and the next moment a whale came up and ate the entire bait ball. All I could do was make a “cow boy” shout, “wooohhhh” whilst I continued my fight.
One day we literally had a 1 hour window period. The swell was up, but more than manageable for a Butt Cat. We ended up landing some of our biggest fish for the season that day, well into the double figures. I recall running back home and coming down the swell which felt more like “climbing down the stairs”. What a time to be alive!
The Skip Jack Tuna soon started showing up adding to the species list. Catching these guys in between the Slender Tunas was a blast. Both these species give you a hard fight from the word get go and their torpedo body shapes will make you quickly realise they are not to be taken lightly and you need to apply your skills to land them successfully. The part that excites me most about these species are when they put their heads down and those hard runs.
On one particular day, we have lost 4 fish and we had no fish on the boat by 14:00 . Whilst running back in toward home, we saw some action on our right. We turned and over the next hour and a half, we caught fish after fish. The mental pictures in our minds will be there for a long time for sure.
As quickly as these abundant Slender and Skip Jack Tunas came, they were gone and numbers were few, hopefully to be seen in the masses again in the near future. I recall talking about upcoming August and what’s to come. After all, after the sessions we had, what could top that right?
Like clockwork, the Yellow Tail pulled in and on 1 August 2021, we caught our first decent Yellow Tail. If I may add, not small ones either. With a few weeks on these fish and we can assure you, fun was had. In fact, as you might be reading this article we are still busy enjoying the last few weeks of what winter has to offer and getting stuck in some fantastic fish. That is until the South Easter starts howling soon.
We believe we certainly proved beyond reasonable doubt, that by adapting, putting the time in and some additional layers of clothes, you can still get results and look back at some memorable adventures in winter. By making the effort, being out there braving the elements, reading the conditions and knowing what the most probable species will be more abundant that season and then figuring out what worked and what did not is what gave us the positive results for sure.
As a rule of thumb, we take note of the following factors when we go fishing, whether from the shore, inshore of offshore; Tides, Wind, Moon, Barometer, Conditions, Temperature & Weather Predications, currents, Water Colour & Temperature to name a few.
All these factors mentioned above also tends to really test your capabilities as an angler in general and most certainly adds to experience. As we know, experience is what pays off over the years, so hang in there, all the practice sessions will pay off one day.
Spring is in full swing and we now look forward to summer and just wearing less clothes in general. Hopefully we will be getting stuck into Kabeljou and some other species from the beach as well as Elf/Shad, Garrick, Stumpnose and Steenbras from the estuary systems along our coastline. This will soon be followed up by the offshore giants as we dwell deeper into summer. Some exiting fishing to look forward to.
At the end of the day, what matters most to us is having fun, being out there and going on epic adventures that create those ever lasting memories. Sharing our passion with fellow anglers and most importantly giving you access to what we have to offer. Winter is not so bad after all.
If you are keen on an adventure of a lifetime, get in touch and come join us on a fishing adventure and let us help you get onto that trophy fish!
Until next time, Tight lines from African Fishing Adventures 🎣
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