A tribute to the River Snapper.

[Tommo]

Hi Willie, I hear you! I often use the trolling motor to hold the boat in position against the current, or to slow the drift down in order to allow me to make more casts at structure. Without it I would drift so quickly I would miss a lot of spots and also only get one cast in at the great spots...
With two hours of battery life you would end up having a very short fishing session if using the sneaker to get to the spots as well.
 
I would happily do a video tutorial, let me check on youtube first though and see if I can find you some links to existing footage.

[WalkersKiller]

Awesome Tommo thanks a lot bud!!!!!!!

[REEFMAN]

Wow! One of the best posts I've ever read on any forum!
Tommo... we are really indebted to you for the piles of quality info you selflessly provide here on UA! Thankyou.
 

[WalkersKiller]

Wow! One of the best posts I've ever read on any forum!
Tommo... we are really indebted to you for the piles of quality info you selflessly provide here on UA! Thankyou.
 

Times 2 sir, Tommo 

[Willie]

Many thanks Tommo you are always willing to help  . With my spinning tackle I am venturing in complete unknown territory.

[Willie]

Wow! One of the best posts I've ever read on any forum!
Tommo... we are really indebted to you for the piles of quality info you selflessly provide here on UA! Thankyou.
 

Times 2 sir, Tommo 

Agree Reefz I have sent him PM's and he always get back with help. A massive asset to UA. And BTW I will be spending time with him on a boat chasing Marlin 

[super_daav]

Tommo amazing post! Your a wealth of info and to take the time to post your knowledge is unbelievably selfless!!!
 
Never tried targeting them but you have given me some food for thought in my little Umdloti river. No idea and have written it off as a fishing destination but maybe it needs a visit!

[Tommo]

These videos are shot in places where the fish are far more plentiful than in our systems, we have to work a lot harder for our fish in SA.
This one shows the casting accuracy, and you can get a bit of an idea of the lure movement,  he is fishing for perch (in Australia) and there are plenty of fish, so he is not doing much retrieving, just dropping the lure on the spot and expecting a hit as the lure lands. It does give a good indication of the casting accuracy required when fishing the mangroves.  The same type of accuracy is required when casting into overhanging trees in the upper reaches of the Eastern Cape river systems.
Poppin the bream 10
This one shows some great river snapper smashes, though they are working the poppers a lot faster and more aggressively than I usually do, alongside mangrove roots, there are obviously a lot of fish there... I prefer to make less splash with my retrieve and have longer pauses between each twitch.
Estuary topwater fishing

[Tommo]

This one is a bass fishing video, showing a guy catching bass in a little creek in Australia. Bass fishing is very similar to fishing for snapper. The way he works his popper is much more like it. And this is a great little video to show how to work a cup faced popper.
bass on poppers (HD)
This one shows the action of the Rapala X-Rap Walk.
Rapala X-Rap Walk Lure

[Tommo]

@  Super_daav I am certain that you will find river snapper in the Umdloti river. I have caught them in the little Nonoti river, just before you get to Zinkwazi. They are mostly along the edges of the reedbeds, but you could also find them under the wild hibiscus trees that hang over the water further up.
If you are battling with lure try and rig a glassy below a float and drift it down the edge of the reedbeds, just to confirm that they are there...

[Toppie]

Thanks Tommo, another brilliant post.
 
I had some questions but you answered most in your second part of the "article".
 
Snappers are great fish to catch and extremely hard fighters. With their hard mouths seen them pull hooks straight like nothing.
 
Am thinking of taking the boat down to Kosi but after Mike and Reefz dismal outing to Kosi hesitant to go to all the trouble and cost. Do you think theyre still there in any reasonable numbers and what would the best time of the year be to target them.
 
Any secret spots at Kosi? - promise only catch and release (Know where to scratch for them at Sodwana).

[Tommo]

Hi Toppie
 
Kosi has been seriously depleted by the fishtraps which have encroached more and more into the channels and have become a one way valve into that system. Fish can enter, but seldom leave the lakes, as they get caught on their way out. Species that need to go to the sea are getting wiped out. For this reason fish such as springer, kingfish and seapike are getting hammered there and the fishing for those species has seriously declined. The perch, which travel down to the mouth area to spawn each year, are also getting decimated.
The river snapper are still in good shape as they spend years in the system with many of them never moving down to the mouth until they mature and are ready to leave and go and live out at sea. There are a number of good fish between 4 and 7kg in the lakes.
I am planning a trip to Kosi to target river snapper in particular towards the end of the year. These fish are resident, but definitely feed more aggressively during the warmer summer months, so I am probably looking at around November. I am going to get Ewan Kyle, the son of the resident marine scientist (Scotty Kyle) to accompany me, so that I can learn from his experience and expertise on his home waters. Ewan and his brother Rob grew up at Kosi Bay and have been fishing the system since they were little snappers themselves...
 
I haven't fished Kosi for many years now, but I think that the best bet would be to target the snapper along the edges of the big reed beds in 3rd lake. I know that some very good fish have come out of that area over the years.
 
 

[super_daav]

Thanks Tommo.

[Toppie]

Thanks Tommo, all makes lots of sense.
 
It's heart breaking what is happening to the Kosi lakes, but yet they still take such a strong and scientific stand about St Lucia.
 
May just maybe see you there in November.

[Tommo]

St Lucia and Kosi systems make up more than 80% of the surface area of estuaries in KZN, with these two systems out of the loop in terms of being fish nursery areas we have less than 20% remaining, and let's be honest the state of those is shocking. I think the only really viable nursery areas are Durban Harbour and Richards Bay harbour. No wonder our fish stocks are so depleted in KZN! 
 
What I find very concerning is that both Kosi and St Lucia have been allowed to fall into their current states right under the watchful eye of our conservation organisations. This shows how little real power the "Parks Board" has when up against the local population, farmers etc.

[REEFMAN]

Wow, really enjoyed that video on the X-Rap walk... excellent footage on how to walk the dog! Very nice. 

[Tommo]

That is a deadly action, like a totally exhausted mullet. If you watch a mullet getting chased by a garrick or kingie you will see that it starts with spectacular jumps from the water. The predator stays locked onto the same mullet and the jumps get shorter, and eventually it is just flopping from side to side in that zig-zag action, and that is usually when it gets nailed.
These X-Walks have to be one of my very favourite topwater lures of all time!