The Lazy Thumb.......and other fishing stories

[Kent]

Awesome again Kent! 

..Pleasure Gareth....thanks for reading...

[Zak-e-Boy]

Great stuff Kent, can't wait to read the next episode !! 

[Kent]

Kent, such passion and dedication.    and    for sharing years of hard earned experience, knowledge and skills with us. Thanks.

A pleasure.....

[Kent]

Great stuff Kent, can't wait to read the next episode !! 

..Only a pleasure....

[Kent]

  Sometimes  one can get bogged down with this pastime of ours we call fishing. On  my journey and quest for perfection in the hunt for kob on spoon ,  Ive come across fisherman on their outings and they look visible  frustrated. NOW...like most things in life one can fall into a, so  called , routine , heaven forbid we call it a rut!!!. Be that as it  may , its at times like these , and this most often happens when one  is NOT catching fish. Well , IF you should ever find yourself falling  into this “trap” , now is not the time to pack away the tackle ,  but , now is the time to start asking why and what is it that  motivates one to fish???....For some its the end result ...a fish on  the end of the line...to others its the outing and get away from the  rat race(the inlanders) For some its the solitude and yet for others  its that social fishing in a group that does it. Well , whatever it  is that makes you want to fish OR that “thing” that gets you  excited to go fish OTHER than the actual fish itself , this then is  the thing to focus on....... 
 
I  can hear and see the question marks on your faces and wondering whats  all this mumbo jumbo got to do with the retrieve when throwing spoon  for kob??...Well Folks , it has EVERYTHING to do with the  retrieve!!!...One must remember , we as beings of this world are part  and parcel of Nature and its bounties , no this is not a bunny hugger  speech , but bear with me,,,,,

 
You  get going on a morning for a two hour session  and looking forward to  a good 2 hours throwing and have had a hard days work with your  stress levels through the roof and you need to relax...Your first  throw is a bunch...your second throw , you throw your spoon off , the  next throw , you are now getting rather frustrated , you take two  turns on the retrieve and your spoon is in the bricks...snap  off!!!...NOW..you are acid and your retrieves become erratic and you  pack up and go home feeling more irritated than when you actually  arrived at the waters edge....

 
Retrieving  with spoon for kob over the bricks requires you to be sharp and aware  of EVERYTHING that is happening around you...The water movement...the  wind strength and direction changes if any.....sidewashes and surges  and VERY aware of your retrieve speed and to KNOW exactly where your  spoon is at all times!!!

 
I  learnt very quickly and smartly that you need to concentrate and have  a good clear mind when practising this application of fishing...IF  NOT...you WILL lose tons of metal...you WILL drop kob IF you get the  hit at all!!!...You will NOT notice changes in the water tide etc  etc.....Imagine youve been retrieving all morning for an hour solid  and nothing...Then you take a few deep breaths and get that retrieve  in the ATTACK SPEED ZONE,,,and BOOM you on!!!...All this time those  kobbies might have been idling just under the surface. You get the  right energy and you are in business!!

 
Now  , lets get onto what to do as your cast is finished and the spoon has  entered the water...Yoiur spoon needs to enter that water with as  least of a splash as possible...ie going in nice and straight , this  ensures your hook has not snagged up against the split and no matter  how deep the water , you nust click over and start your retrieve  straight away...As you get to “feel” the spoon , your rod tip  should be tap tap tapping away lightly and your line should be moving  side to side ever so slightly...This then means youe spoon is  swimming with a GOOD wobble and pushing water. Its of utmost  importance that your spoon pushes water , this “pushing” creates  a vibration which in turn alerts the kob,s VERY sensitive lateral  line and then when he gets near enough he will pick up your shiny  spoon...IF..you do not see your line moving sideways it means your  spoon is spinning in the water...NOT GOOD!!! Over the years Ive found  a steady retrieve throughout the attack zone area is far better than  a push pull erratic style retrieve.

 
When  at your spot , you notice Jonny Dykers diving and fishing you need to  get your spoon in the same area. Should you arrive at a spot and you  see fisherman using livies , well somehow you need to get as close to  that area and throw your spoons. Ideally , you want your spoon to be  operating about a meter beneath the surface supposing the area you  throwing is about 3 meter in depth in the retrieve area. Its not very  often you will find kob in deep water points.  

 
Always  make sure your drag is set on firm but not tight as when that kob  hits your spoon it will be a hard hit!! About 5 years ago we were  down the coast at a spot called Three Sisters just this side of Port  Alfred. On that morning as we arrived at the rock we saw that two  guys had rods out and they were using livies. I immediately started  throwing in that area , three throws later I was on. I later found  out that that evening these two had landed 10 kob in total. ALL on  livies!!

 
Im  telling you , you get your retrieve spot on for your spot and you  will get kob everytime they are there!!! BUT..you need to be in the  right frame of mind and dont go throw for throws sake. Then rather  take a step back and just sit and watch the water for awhile.  

 
When  you are retrieving , one needs to be as still as possible and not  move your feet once the retrieve has started. And remember , when you  feel the kob on , lift and hold and then see how that kob will play  you..

 

 
Well  folks this is all for this week and next time we will cover the  merits of moving spots as the tide shifts OR as the water changes.  This is actual pretty crucial when throwing spoon for kob in the  bricks.

 
Keep  it clean and  

 
Just  Go Fish!!!

 

[colin]

  kent 

[Zak-e-Boy]

Well done Kent, another interesting article. I'll be fishing near your home grounds, Queensberry Point to Cintsa Point, between the 16th and 27th of December. Hopefully the Blue Fish and Silvers will come to the party. I have in the past caught the odd Cob at the Round Boulders at Cintsa. Happy "hunting" over the holidays !![size=78%]   [/size]

[/size][size=78%]  [/size]

[Kent]

kent 

Pleasure Colin....thanks for taking the time to read...

[Kent]

Well done Kent, another interesting article. I'll be fishing near your home grounds, Queensberry Point to Cintsa Point, between the 16th and 27th of December. Hopefully the Blue Fish and Silvers will come to the party. I have in the past caught the odd Cob at the Round Boulders at Cintsa. Happy "hunting" over the holidays !![size=78%]   [/size]

[size=78%]  [/size]

Pleasure...Jip..you spot on for that area for silvers and blues....at the Cintsa tidal pool I often gooi there for kob.....

[Kent]

  Mornings Folks , well as you see on the pic attached , Im now more than ever certain, that I am being drilled by poensies , and possibly large ones…That there is a 6/0 short shank VMC , not a weak hook by a long stroke of the chalk ….fourth throw this AM …..One hard hit and that’s the result!!!...Well, Im afraid its TIME….they wanna play rough Im just gonna put on the BIG GUNS…..The 8/0,s are going on TONIGHT!!!!!!!!!!
[/size]After 6 days of hard spinning , and I am down 3.....NIL...well ITS OVER!!![/color]
[/size][/color]
[/size]This is after 6 days in a row spinning hard for kob and the last two days being drilled HARD!!![/color]

[WalkersKiller]

Very interesting Kent, hope you manage to get some poensies soon!

[Kent]

  >Ive now locked n loaded a BIG GUN 8/0 and tomorrow its game time!!

[Zak-e-Boy]

Looking forward to seeing the results, you don't think that one of those 12kg Silvers has changed it's eating habits?

[WalkersKiller]

 

[Kent]

Looking forward to seeing the results, you don't think that one of those 12kg Silvers has changed it's eating habits?

...Hi Zak.....Ive hooked two poensies before and im of the opinion that its poensie taking my spoons and not silvers...BUT...Im also of the opinion that any fish will grab a spoon given the right conditions at that time....

[Kent]

  ..There are so many  options when throwing spoon for kob in amongst the bricks. By just  throwing a few meters to the right , a few meters to the left or  going short or pushing a long throw. Now , this type of “panning”  for the kob is VERY useful when one has a longish waist OR neck deep  wade out to that magical pinnacle you want to stand on and once you  on it you don’t really want to just have 5 throws and move off to a  whole new spot.  Lets say youve now  gotten onto your pinnacle and its three hours to low and the tide is  steadly moving out and the water is working nicely out front and  right in your attack zone its looking VERY GOOD!!.....What you want  to do is actually have at least an hours throw on this same spot. Yes  yes yes …I hear the protagonists saying …walk n stalk , while I  am also in agreement with this modus operandi , at times when you  find a nice bit of rock to stand on in a nice good looking  gutter/gulley setup then its worth your while to try and work it into  the low as long as posibble. What is the point of this???
Don’t forget you  throwing in an area that is 99% bricks and as the water drains that  terrain changes and as the drainage continuous , the bait fish are  frantic and want to stay shallow coz they know IF they go deep its  tickets for them and NOW the kob have been lounging around in the  crevices and holes waiting and watching. They then time it spot on as  the bait fish are now so much closer to them and they don’t have to  venture too far out of their lekker lounging spots and its breakfast  time!!!....THIS then is where you 1.5oz , S shaped SHINY spoon comes  into play with a 6/0 short shank single attached. Soooo…we assume  the the baro is rising…the water is a lekker 18/19 and its lekker  clean …the bait fish are aplenty and nice working white water all  the way in the attack zone!!!....Im telling by7 the third throw you  would have had an enquiry IF not a good solid on/off. Remember , when  you at a spot like this its 5 throws left , 5 throws right , 5 throws  centre , then vary them short and long. Always rod tip up and the  retrieve speed MUST not vary too much , just need to get that spoon  pushing water and have a very good shine to it….
The only thing you HAVE  to be very aware of is the tide dropping. This then is where you now  have to take your time and be absolute SHARP on every retrieve , coz  Im telling you, you are gonna bump n scrape the bricks BUT if you  stay sharp you will get your spoon out of trouble every time!!!
Ive always maintained ,  that when you’ve found a spot that you really like , more than  likely there is probably at least another three spots within that  spot. Your original spot might be for , say good from three hours to  low to fishable one hour to low and then it gets TOO low …after  that you need to find a spot very near that one that is fishable on  the low and yet another one very near that fishes well on a slight  east and yet another that fishes well in a west and yet another that  fishes well on a full high tide.These then need to be at least in a  100m stretch. NOW…find this kinda area with 4 spots like this for  ANY wind , tide condition …WELL….you will not be hopping and  chasing all over in your car BUT rather concentrating on working out  WHEN its good to be on the fish!!
Now , imagine if you  find this spot/area a stones throw from your home , Id say you are in  PARADISE!!!
What you find will  happen is that you start catching and eventually you start fine  tuning your kit for that exact spot/area. Throwing spoon for kob in  bricky areas like this , one thing , you will have to be prepared to  get wet , A few apparel tips from my years of doing this.  
A wetsuit , even a good  second hand one is a great piece of kit to have especially in the  winter. A nice light weight sweater to pull over the wettie and then  one of those light weight rain suit jackets , they excellent to keep  that chilly wind off your arms  etc.Some decent foot wear and my  choice are Reef booties BUT with the softer sole as opposed to those  rigid ones you get. Although if you prefer fishing boots , just make  sure they drain well otherwise they tend to get heavy. A little  waterproof moon bag type pouch around your waist to keep a few spoons  in and your knife , here I use a fold up knife and a pair of long  nose split ring pliers. I also have a water proof sling bag for my  NON waterproof items such as small coffee flask , cell phone . I also  keep a fold up fish bag a small medical kit with a few plasters …swab  and one or two headache tablets. I also keep a plug in my sling bag  in case for leerie action.
The idea with this  kinda fishing application is to travel/walk as light as possible and  after awhile you will streamline line it kwik kwik. One thing you  might notice I don’t posses a headlamp and don’t not use one at  all. I do though carry a torch for certain spots where the path is  still someways from the waters edge. Other than that its always best  to let your eyes adjust to the pre dawn dark and in this way you in a  better position to throw for the kob.

 
Back to moving to  different spots. Its always important to watch what is happening at  your spot(s) within in your area. Especially the Jonny Dykers and any  other bird activity. Now , if you suddenly notice Jonnies diving at  another spot to the left or right of you , it maybe in your best  interest to move and go throw right there where they are. Jonnies are  EXCELLENT fish finders even better than a Garmin. They have an  uncanny knack to find bait fish holding stations and where these  holding stations are , you will find kob.
In addition to Jonnies  , watch for sterritjie(terns) diving all of a sudden…this too means  that there might be red eyes or anchovies in the water and that too  can attract kob to the area. There is a school of though that if you  spot dolphins coming past that its now a waste of time as they have  scared the fish away , well my theory is that when this happens it  also can make the kob hug the inshore shallows a lot closer and that  in turn puts them in your attack zone. ALL these things could happen  at any given time while you are out on your session and they are VERY  NB things to take note of when throwing spoon for kob. You will need  every bit of intel to gain the edge over these great intelligent fish  as they are very wily and often will tap tap your spoon for an hour  until the water is just RIGHT for their ambush .

 
Well Folks that’s all  for this week and next time we will dwell a bit on TIMING and fishing  the conditions.

 
Keep it clean and
Just  Go Fish

 

[colin]

  I agree , travel light , most guys I know carry too much kit. Eventually even the best protection fails a little and one has rusted hooks and swivels that have never been used.

[Kent]

I agree , travel light , most guys I know carry too much kit. Eventually even the best protection fails a little and one has rusted hooks and swivels that have never been used.

..Pleasure...thanks for reading...

[Kent]

  ..Here you can see what i mean about spots in an area....here are three of my top top spots in approximately a 100m area and for any tide and inbetween....and each one is condition specific....

[WalkersKiller]

Awesome stuff Kent!