Knysna Estuary - information, news, events and reports

[RobinF]

Connor hooked a blaasop beyond the white bridge and I watched as he let it swim around next to the boat. He was wanting to see how they swim and what they do, when another two Blaasops came up and the one bit the one that was hooked from behind...

That photo where Connor is, he hooked 3 Garricks there and around there.

Yesterday was a beautiful morning, but we never caught anything worth reporting. It was our last morning on the water so we were trying to expand the species list by aiming for Cob. Nothing there to report.

Will be back there in 2 months and I am absolutely certain that we will produce some awesome pics.

[arnoldstrachan]

I doubt that the leeries eat blaasops, I have however heard that dolphins as well as dorado's eat them, perhaps even to get high off of the toxins released when ingested. It is hard to believe but a simple google search will clear up the mystery. I read a post about a nice dorado caught in the lagoon in January 2014 on a spoon, who knows maybe a live blaasop will deliver results  . They are quite pesky but nonetheless serve a part in the food chain, use larger baits to avoid them hassling you too much and throw them back if caught, nothing worse than seeing anglers throw them on the shore to die in the hopes that they would bring the population down!

[RobinF]

throw them back if caught, nothing worse than seeing anglers throw them on the shore to die in the hopes that they would bring the population down!

Agreed - stupid mentality (or should I say complete lack of any intellect at all.)

[arnoldstrachan]

Good Morning everyone,


I am back in CT after a great trip in Knysna. Unfortunately we did not manage to get much fishing done between all the skiing and the gekuiery. We did however manage to catch some mullets at the heads but they were all a little too big (20-25cm) we trolled them on 3 occasions but only started getting pick ups on Saturday and Sunday after the fish had recovered from the cold front that passed through on Wednesday and Thursday. Even the Cape Stumpnose and Streepies that we catch in front of our house were affected by the drop in pressure and only started biting again on Saturday and Sunday. Once again we did not have any solid hookups on Garrick as the mullets were too big. We were fishing with mostly inexperienced anglers so we did not even attempt to throw artificials. Having 8 people on the boat with a treble hook or 3 swinging around didn't seem like a good idea.


An interesting thing happened to one of the mullets though. we trolled in the main channel between the SANPARKS jetty and the train bridge and a mullet was picked up, the run was very aggressive and after feeding the fish for probably 20 seconds I tightened up and the line stayed slack, I retrieved the rig to find only the shivering head of the mullet. The rest of the fish was cleanly bitten off. Any ideas on what could have taken it? I assume that it was a shad but I could be wrong, maybe a shark?


All in all a, great trip but unfortunately not much to show in terms of fishing. I will be down again this weekend until January and will post regular updates on what is biting. stywe lyne! [size=78%] [/size]

[RobinF]

We were fishing with mostly inexperienced anglers so we did not even attempt to throw artificials. Having 8 people on the boat with a treble hook or 3 swinging around didn't seem like a good idea.

I assume that it was a shad but I could be wrong, maybe a shark?

 

I would say it was a shark.

Secondly, educate the inexperienced angler....take off the trebles and fit single hooks. Any fishing store can do this for you. Less damage to the fish and if one of these guys hook you, you'll be glad it a single!

[SAfish]

Thanks for the feedback. Like Robin said, it could have been a Shark but sometimes there are big Elf around that could also do that to your Mullet. Fishing with Mullets of that size will not get you a lot of fish but when you get one it will be one to remember. 

[RobinF]

The reason why I said shark is because if I look at the hit rate we have shark vs Elf, it's almost always a shark. (But unless I looked into the water and saw what iot was, it could have been an Elf....hey maybe it was another Dorado! )

By the way Hermann, you were 100% about where the Dorado was caught, I was wrong.

Will you ready to go in late Dec again? Only very early mornings (Like 04h00 until 09h00) and night fishing (16h00 - 23h00). Our Dec routine, sleep in the day and test the reel and rod's strength when the sun is gone. (I must just caution you, Dec is THE most difficult time to catch for us. If you look at our hook up rate in Dec compared to all other times, it's dismal. Although Connor is putting us on the fish regularly now, so that might change this year. (The boat traffic is a joke. I will show you something in Dec, I told you about the guys using us as a channel marker, we will fish the Ashmead one afternoon and watch the chaos as they all hit the sandbank next to us. We are so far from the channel....and then once they hit the bank, they tilt the motor and clap the 250 horses to the max to power further onto the bank. Mud flies so high, it's quite a show. I must quietly  the entertainment)

To all boat user on the Knysna Lagoon, please don't accept that a boat anchored is a boat in the channel. We skim over sandbanks to get deeper water away from the channel. You are welcome to follow us....

[SAfish]

Robin, I will gladly accept your offer to go out with you guys again. 
I was planning to fix my boat during the next couple of weeks but have to go on another business trip and I am off to India for a week or two.   

This time I will have the GoPro settings sorted. 

[SAfish]

If this does not cheer up your Thursday, then nothing will!!

A guy working with my wife just spotted an Elephant in the Knysna forest. How cool it that?? 

[L Hooker]

If this does not cheer up your Thursday, then nothing will!!

A guy working with my wife just spotted an Elephant in the Knysna forest. How cool it that?? 

[Half-Pint]

If this does not cheer up your Thursday, then nothing will!!

A guy working with my wife just spotted an Elephant in the Knysna forest. How cool it that?? 

Wow Hermann! Extremely lucky that .... so what lotto numbers has he picked?

[SAfish]

  I don't know about the lotto numbers but I'll be buying him a Bells the next time I see him.

[Charles]

I don't know about the lotto numbers but I'll be buying him a Bells the next time I see him.

Was it not the Bells that let him see that elusive elephant? 

Jokes aside, this is great news! What happened to the young Kruger elephants released in the Knysna forest some years ago?

[SAfish]

*edit*
Charles, as far as I know they did not last long. I think they had to be relocated as they struggled to adapt in the dense forest and were removed 5 years later.

From Wikipedia:
"In September 2000 a forest guard, Wilfred Oraai, videotaped a young bull from a distance of about thirty metres, immediately raising questions about its provenance. Conservationist Gareth Patterson has collected numerous fresh samples of elephant dung for DNA analysis by geneticist Lori S. Eggert from the University of Missouri in Columbia. In its passage through the digestive system, dung scrapes against the walls of the intestines and as a result has a surface rich in DNA. Analysis suggests at least five females within the population, while Patterson's fieldwork suggests the additional presence of three bulls and two calves.
Despite the DNA evidence, official sources insisted that only one elephant survived, an elusive female known as 'The Matriarch', making the Knysna elephant functionally extinct."

[Half-Pint]

Charles if you can get hold of Gareth Patterson's book The Secret Elephants: The Rediscovery of the World's Most Southerly Elephants you must do so. A very interesting read!

[Charles]

Thanks SAfish and Half-Pint!

I always had some fascination with the Knysna elephants. Will look for the book.

[SAfish]

They removed my favourite road sign years ago and I think they should put it up again. It read: "You are now entering an area where wild Elephants roam free". 

[SAfish]

Check out this link, this must have been an amazing experience.

"Wooden cave in 800-year-old tree."

http://www.knysnaplettherald.com/news/News/General/92336/Wooden-cave-in-800yearold-tree#!prettyPhoto

[SAfish]

My wife's colleague apparently told her the elephant's tracks were on the small side (for an elephant) so it might be a young bull or a female. He has shown her photos of the tracks as well as where it ate and scratched itself. I asked her to get the photos and will post them here if I get them. The animal was on their company's private land which forms part of the Knysna forest. 

[Mal Hannes]

Hello Knysna

Any news any fishing.

What's up.

I just arrived and I am just relaxing to plan for the next few days.