Cape St Francis - galjoen

[adam]

Hey guys and girls, hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend with friends and family and hopefully a few fishy palls as well.  Weather was a quite awful around here with regards to fishing, but we can never complain when its raining...


Well anyway,  I was sitting at home on Friday, minding my own business, when a friend shows up and tells me to get in the car.  He said we were going to fish for galjoen as conditions were looking good.  Who was I to argue, he was the expert in that department. 


We arrived at our spot with high hopes, water was looking really fishy with lots of bird activity and bait-balls just behind the breakers.  Unfortunately we were only carrying gallie bait, otherwise the kob and shad would made for great sport.  We picked up some dodgy red bait pods and as I was cutting bait, my fishing partner made his first cast.  He hadn't even taken up the slack before the first fish hit him - a decent gallie of around 40cm.  My first cast resulted in a good pick-up, but I missed the fish.  Meanwhile he landed a grunter of around 60cm.


I fished for a tip and he laughed at my little 1/0 hook.  He was using 4/0s.  So on went a 4/0 and a huge piece of red bait.  I dropped the bait about 40m out on a little sandy patch between the reefs and almost immediately went VAS!  A good struggle ensued and after ten minutes or so, I landed my pb gallie of 57cm TL.  Yeah, fiiiinnnaalllly the curse is broken!


Next couple of casts produced fish of between 40 and 45cm with my friend landing one of close to 50.  Each of us had our quota of two, so now we were just having fun. Meanwhile he had rigged up his cracker rod with a crab and it was sitting some way to my left soaking up some iodine while he was fishing a further 100m down.  I rebaited and casted out - the bait was accepted at the speed I was growing accustomed to, but this was no galjoen.  The cracker easily stripped the .35 line from my grandwave 40 and seemed unaware that it was hooked.  At one stage it seemed as if I was gaining some line, but it turned again and cut off my .70 leader as if it was nothing....   Ai tog.


While I was rigging up I noticed my partner into something big, so I walked closer to investigate and saw big splashes just in front of him.  Again I immediately thought cracker.  He expertly maneuvered the fish over the ledge and into the little gully next to the beach - a monster dwarfing any gallie he had ever seen, and he has caught a 6kg fish.  What followed was shocking as the hook pulled and the fish started to swim away in the closed of gully with him chasing after it.  Eventually a wave rolled in and washed the fish away.


Meanwhile his cracker rod went off at pace and I set the hook.  He rushed back, but the hook knot broke (.90) as I was handing him the rod.  Not a good day for him.  He taught me some new language after that.


Unnoticed the weather was building behind us and lightening strikes were coming thick and fast, closer and closer.  The wind also picked up dramatically...   ....and then the fish started biting, but I didn't like the idea of being turned into a living candle so we enjoyed a "Camel moment" while waiting for it to pass. 


After the storm passed we made a couple of more casts, but the wind had changed the conditions dramatically, flattening the swells and the water turned icy cold.  We eventually packed up and headed back home.


on arrival this sight greeted us.



storm is building!











I've said it before that I don't like taking photos of dead fish, but this is a pb for me, so..

[SAfish]

  Wow, that is a very good Gallie!   
Did you get all your Gallies on Red bait and on what bait did your friend get the Grunter?

[adam]

everything on red bait

[smiley6996]

great fish adam i am going to try get mine today i hope

[Kumz]

  :shre:

[PH]

Great report and nice Gallie, Adam.
I would like to fish with you when we come to that area again in December.

[WalkersKiller]

Awesome stuff Adam   

But you have to stop making me jelous 

[LUPO]

Awesome catch there Adam!

 

[rofflign]

Great story and great catches! well done on the pb

[adam]

Thanks guys. 

PH - sure, you better let me know when you guys are down here.

[Lenny]

Great report , nice Fish !

[Prego]

Top fishing there well done to you and your mate

PS is it a pic of your PB gallie or its funeral??    its ok to smile 

[BigG]

Well done Adam, that's a sizer 

[J-Rock]

 :shre: Nice report

[L Hooker]

Well done very nice 

[adam]

Thanks guys.  Gave it another bash in similar conditions, but nothing worthwhile was biting.  Caught some small zebras and tiny crackers.  Couldn't understand it....

Then saw some guys with a bag full of undersize fish.  crackers, blacktail, zebras, galjoen, all about 20cm or less in size.  My blood was boiling to say the least.  Another spot fished to death.

[adam]

The end of my PB galjoen.   After 6 people had their fill, enough is left over for breakfast.  If I am lucky enough to get another one of 50cm+ it will go back, but this fish got a royal farewell.  Beer, dry white wine, homemade garlic bread and good company.  What more can you ask for?