Knysna Estuary - information, news, events and reports

[SAfish]

  Well done, Connor. Thanks again Robin for taking me fishing with you guys. It is now the second time that Connor out fished me. 

[RobinF]

Well done, Connor. Thanks again Robin for taking me fishing with you guys. It is now the second time that Connor out fished me. 

I got blasted afterwards!  Connor asked me what I was thinking when I gave him the rod after I poached his fish from him. He asked me why I never gave you the rod. I was in such trouble!  The idea was to break the ice on our boat for you so that you will start catching. I explained to him that I felt bad for stealing his fish. All I got was "no dad, that's not ok, we told Hermann that he would catch. That should have been Hermann's fish so that he breaks the ice".  Eish....

Just to bring everyone up on this, Connor got a Garrick chasing his lure and I fired my lure about 15m behind his and I got the fish. (Oldest trick in the book) I felt bad so I gave Connor the rod. (I felt like I stole his fish - which I did!)





This is normally a tough time to catch because of the traffic on the lagoon. We did very well. Connor is onto me to come back, so we will be there very soon again and THIS TIME, you will catch your fish from our boat Hermann. As soon as the lagoon quietens down, you'll catch a big boy from the boat.

Pic of the release:

[RobinF]

Some scenery pics while fishing. Yes, that is heavy clouds and rain. Notice no boats? That is right, we were the only one's braving the rain and cold:

[RobinF]

We now officially have a couple of boats that will deliberately follow us when they see us. We also have one particular boat that likes to troll a race course patterns around us. As they pass, I fire my lure out behind their boat in the hope that if anything is approaching their live bait, that the fish might find my lure more interesting....that is how close they troll to us  .

We moved down river deliberately and waited and as sure as can be, not more than 10 minutes later, the one boat pulled up near us. (And I deliberately parked in a rubbish fishing spot to see).  I guess all the pics of fish caught and released at times when no one is catching, all up on the wall at Breezers does not help! 

We still have a great time regardless, so how cares right?

[Mal Hannes]

Well done guys. Awesome photos stories and fish.

Knysna is so beautiful.

When the lagoon is like glass nothing beats it.

[colin]

  looks like I must put Knysna on my bucket list. Hire a houseboat ??Colin.

[RobinF]

looks like I must put Knysna on my bucket list. Hire a houseboat ??Colin.

That is one option, it's quite a popular thing to do. Fishing 24/7!

[SAfish]

  Robin, I would also have given the rod to Connor, it was his fish. I wasted too much time with my tackle and by the time I took your rod most of the action was over. I am secretly holding out for that +10kg Leerie. Next time! 

  I had to laugh at those guys in the rubberduck. They were probably there for a while and we arrive and are almost immediately onto the fish. Leeries smashing on the surface everywhere. Magic.   

[RobinF]

  I had to laugh at those guys in the rubberduck. They were probably there for a while and we arrive and are almost immediately onto the fish. Leeries smashing on the surface everywhere. Magic. 

That's the idea. Let them sit on top of us, we will still catch the fish....right next to them if need be. Watch Connor, he changes his lure after every 10-20 casts. He sends each lure our covering a span of about 270 degrees. If the fish are there, he will atleast get some kind of a look. Once that happens, he focuses on that spot. With he and I firing different lures constantly, it's only a question of time before something happens. We go out there to enjoy ourselves and if some some guys take our spot or get too close, we just carry on catching. It's a big stretch of water with lots of fish. You need to know where to look and when and even if they follow us, they still most likely won't have the same lures or retrieval techniques.

Over and over again, we arrive at a spot with other guys not very far away and they watch us catch and catch and 60min later we move. It must be frustrating for them, but if they watch carefully, they will learn.

When Connor caught his Kob, there were no fewer than 4 boats in the second channel, we moved straight past them and into the shallower waters, and onto the dropoff and Connor's reel went off. All in no more than 20minutes. We knew where to be and when. It was so quiet, every boat must have heard and seen the action.And those boats were no more than 400m away from where we pulled up.

Ofcourse we do sometimes blank, but that is other factors that we cannot control. We seldom hear that guys caught at times when we don't catch. Just persevere and slowly you start to see a pattern.

That afternoon when you were with us Hermann, we should have caught more fish, but I think that even the Garrick got spooked by what was eating those baitfish. I have never seen the fish boil like that.

[SAfish]

Yes, I would love to know what chased them to the surface. I think our lures were too big because those baitfish were tiny. I have a small little spoon, about 3cm long, and it is going to come with next time. 

[RobinF]

Yes, I would love to know what chased them to the surface.

Maybe another 

[SAfish]

Now you're talking. I think it might have been Kob or even Elf but the latter would have smashed them on the surface. 

[RobinF]

I think we all felt it was Kob, we all had bottom lures out. (If we had hooked a big Kob or two, those poor guys on the rubber duck would have screamed!)

[SAfish]

  I agree, they would have gone ape. It is raining again here and now the wind has picked up. I think it is a good day to sit and change all hooks to singles.

[RobinF]

I think it is a good day to sit and change all hooks to singles.

Get the small Sensation split ring tool. Also you may need split rings. You may also need a few plasters...

[SAfish]

I will go to Breezers and will get some, thanks. Plasters I have, had to use one when Roxy and I played a bit rough last night. 

[RobinF]

Hermann, I know that Feb/March will be when the big Leeries enter the lagoon, so might be an idea for me to get the 12yr old fishing machine and you on the boat at that time. You will need to come out more than once with us then. I think if we commit to just that one species, we will be more successful. Rig the rods for that, put Connor on the nose as we move along and you with your 'hawk' eyes, we will have a much higher hit rate. Hopefully, I won't need the anchor, we can just move with the fish all the way. (Also, if you or Connor hits a big fish, which is very likely, we can chase it if need be. 10lb Braid and a 2500 reels don't like big fish and anchors, they like to be able to move)

I'll start putting the plan together. 

[SAfish]

  It sounds like a great plan! Hawk eyes.... We will catch, that is for sure! 

[RobinF]

Hawk eyes....

Don't sell yourself short, for Connor to be bewildered by your ability to see the topwater action as you did, you must know. You have a talent there and if employed correctly in the right environment, you will be massively successful. Connor spots chases when we are at 60K/Hr heading upriver, so he is quite good, but you blew his mind with your ability. If we all settle on not dropping anchor and committing to non-stop searching, we will double our hit rate or better. It's a hard slog to do that because of shallow water, channels, other boats, but in Feb/March, it can be done with great accuracy.

[SAfish]

Polaroid sunglasses is a must. We will get them and they better be BIG! 
I am in the process of changing my hooks to singles, the split-ring pliers makes it so easy!