Breede River trip report

[Tommo]

Thanks guys, glad you enjoyed it. I will post on here when the show is coming on air.


Shaun I am really enjoying the Terez rod, it is like a Trevala with good quality fittings.


Marthin, I hope you have good fishing! Give my best to Tim and Hilary. Try and fish that point at around sunrise and sunset!


Lenny, it is great to see the results from tagging in the area. It helps us to understand the fish movements, also wonderful to see that many guys are fishing for the pleasure and handling fish well and releasing them to fight another day!

[E.T.]

Lovely report, thanks for sharing.

[sardinella]

Thanks for the detailed report, those paddle tails are the bomb.
We recently even fooled some nice fish on the 5 and 6 inch orca and crystella

[Zetti]

Good stuff Tommo

Still my favourite fishing destination in SA by a mile. Heading there again in December

[Fishersteve]

Great stuff, enjoyed that. 

[Tommo]

Just a couple of tips for those of you who are thinking of throwing paddle tails for kob for the first time:


Use an outfit that is light yet stiff. You want the rod to have a fast enough action to be able to flick your jig on the retrieve, yet not so heavy as to tire your wrist quickly. Ideal rods for bigger kob in an estuary are the Trevala and Terez ranges. Around seven foot, light and strong. 15 to 20lb braid should be ample and is thin enough to get a decent cast. I like the Sufix 832 braid for this, as it has better abrasion resistant qualities that the others. A good reel that has a quality line lay system is critical, especially when fishing with braid. I would suggest a Shimano Sustain or Stradic in the 5000 size.



Choose jig heads that have a large hook of good quality. Kob shake their heads hard in an effort to get rid of hooks and jigheads with smaller hooks often come out. I like a 3/4 oz jig head for a river like the Breede and would like a hook of 5/0 or bigger. Kob have big mouths and even a small fish will get hooked on big hooks. Mad Mullet brand of jig heads have a good range that are ideal for kob fishing.


Don't only buy paddle tails. It is worth having some jerk minnows as well. Paddle tails have a lot more action in terms of vibration, and can swim well without being twitched or jerked, but they also don't cast as far due to the movement through the air of the tail flapping. If you need more distance, then it can be helpful to change to a jerk minnow type plastic.


Bigger is better for kob. The bigger the lure, the more disturbance it will make in the water. Kob hunt primarily by picking up vibration and movement with their sensitive lateral line organs. A six or seven inch plastic will be found more easily by the fish than a four or five inch. Even a 1kg kob will hit a seven inch plastic. I really like the McCarthy range of plastics. These are made in RSA by guys who understand our fish and conditions. They make great colours for our fish too.


I would take a selection of bright and dull/dark colours. Some very good colours for the Breede area are: Orca, Baby Elf and Red Mullet


When it comes to technique keep varying it up until you find what works for you. It is important to allow the jig to sink right down to the bottom before starting your retrieve. With Paddle tails you can then either just retrieve it slowly, the vibration of the tail will call in fish and stimulate a strike, or you can twitch it to give it extra movement. I prefer to twitch it by lifting the rod tip fairly sharply, then allow it to drop again, retrieving all the while. I find that this causes the lure to dart up off the bottom and then drop down again, the beauty of a paddle tail is that it continues to "swim" as it falls, as the movement of the water over the tail keeps it fluttering. Kob can't seem to leave it alone.


I lift and drop my rod tip in a regular cadence as I retrieve the lure, probably with an interval of around 3 to four seconds between lifts. The main thing is to keep the jig swimming in that zone from bouncing off the bottom to around a metre up.


When a kob hits the lure on the upward twitch, you just go on immediately, setting the hook with the continued lift of the rod developing into a strike. When the kob hits the lure on the drop you often feel a gentle "tap" while the rod tip is dropping and you know that when you lift he will be there, so you give it a good strike when you do so.


Kob can be caught at any time of day, but they definitely feed more aggressively around dawn and dusk, and of course in the dark. If you want to concentrate your effort, then work around these times.


Kob are creatures of habit, they tend to hang around in the same areas, so if you know that there are particular holes and channels that produce kob, then these are the places to work your jigs. Ask around and find where the locals catch their kob on live bait. Deeper holes are usually a good bet. Many 'kob holes' in our rivers have been producing kob for the last hundred years and still do so today.


Enjoy, and please treat the kob with respect, they are too good to only be caught once. Release them and you will make another angler's day sometime!   

[Willie]

Wow great tutorial Tommo thanks for sharing your knowledge with us 

[Tommo]

Thanks Willie!


I also meant to add:


The nice thing with paddle tails is that you can retrieve them with the twitching action over a clean bottom, then change that to a steady retrieve when bringing it over rocks. Once you learn where the rocks are (usually by getting hooked up and losing lures), you can do this.
Kob often hold over sand close to rock structure, so this is a big plus!


The paddle tail will continue to swim enticingly on the straight retrieve, but will lift a bit higher in the water column. If there are kob holding on sand patches between the rocks, they will snatch the lure as it passes over them.


Don't just give up on a spot if you lose a few lures, try and learn and adjust your retrieve accordingly.


If there are fish in a particularly foul area, then you can rig your paddle tail onto a large bass worm hook, weedless style, with a weight in front of it, in order to minimise the chances of snagging. There are some jig heads available that have a clip system where you can use your own hook which is ideal for this. Unfortunately I am not sure of the brand.

[SAfish]

  Tommo, thank you for the valuable information, I will definitely implement it and change my tactics. There is a really steep drop off close to my house that I have fished this summer without success. I know the fish must be hunting in that area as the Mullet gets washed down the banks at the dropping tide. We have a problem with sea lettuce and my paddle tail constantly get snagged on it, even after just a couple of turn on the reel. It is very frustrating and then I give up easily.   

[vismal]

Loved the report, tips and pics Tommo, also great to see the recaptured fish.

[Steenie]

Great report Tommo! I will certainly apply these tips. Besides cob, how well are paddle tails suited for other species in places like Cape Vidal, St Lucia? Thank you for sharing these tips. Kind regards, Riekert.

[John F]

Great info and superb report from the master!

Thanks Tommo! 

[Tommo]

Thanks Guys!

Rieckert paddle tails are good for pretty much all species of gamefish. I do find however that the further north we go the faster the fish seem to prefer the retrieve (in general). I find that the Jerk minnow style soft baits are more productive in the tropics due to their quick darting action, which seems to stimulate the strike from fish in the warmer waters. Paddle tails would probably be a great option in dirty/foamy water and alos low light conditions, due to the extra vibration they give off.
For cleaner water I would still go with the jerk shad in most situations. Having said that, every day is different and I like to have the option to change it up and try different things, so I always carry some paddle tails.

I think that they could be very good for GT's in the surf when cast on a heavy jig head, like a 2 oz and then ripped through the water very fast, in the foamy stuff where the GT's feed. In that cast you would want very good quality hooks on your jig head!

[Steenie]

Thanks Guys!

Rieckert paddle tails are good for pretty much all species of gamefish. I do find however that the further north we go the faster the fish seem to prefer the retrieve (in general). I find that the Jerk minnow style soft baits are more productive in the tropics due to their quick darting action, which seems to stimulate the strike from fish in the warmer waters. Paddle tails would probably be a great option in dirty/foamy water and alos low light conditions, due to the extra vibration they give off.
For cleaner water I would still go with the jerk shad in most situations. Having said that, every day is different and I like to have the option to change it up and try different things, so I always carry some paddle tails.

I think that they could be very good for GT's in the surf when cast on a heavy jig head, like a 2 oz and then ripped through the water very fast, in the foamy stuff where the GT's feed. In that cast you would want very good quality hooks on your jig head!

Thanks again Tommo. I will certainly try the much quicker retrieve when I visit Vidal again soon. So far I have only used a very slow retrieve, like the okes in the Eastern Cape uses, with no success.

[Marthin]

Well im plenty excited, so much so that i think for the first time in my life i might leave the bait at home altogether (prawn pump going with tho).... My last time at breede i had some pretty big swirls and we saw one or 2 big fish follow the lure low down but not comitting, and i had a big springer on for about 3 seconds but it jumped and threw the jig....

[Homie]

Amazing Tommo ! Absolutely amazing !
 

[burgerzd]

Awesome report 

[RobinF]

Great report and advice Tommo. Thank you! 

River fishing is the most relaxed and pleasant fishing one can do. Remembering that it is essentially a nursery and fish should be released is an important part of river fishing. Thanks for the releases, you guys are such a professional and classy bunch of guys.

[Sudden Comfort]

    WELL DONE!!

[demon]

Lekker report, I like the mustad jig heads as they have a thin sharp hook, is that similar to the mad mullet....