So I have written about how catching a fish in the Kowie estuary which got me into fishing in 2019. After realising that there is not much estuary fishing within driving distance from Pietermaritzburg I came across articles about spinning off the rocks in KZN, and in particular, spinning for snoek.
After tons of reading I bought the best set up I could get with my budget. My first outing was in January 2020 whilst on holiday for a few days in Pennington. I soon realised that even my casting was going to take practice. Lots of casts and I managed a small bonnie. I was happy to just get something.
Feb 2020. I got asked to join some freinds in Salt rock. I got up early on the first morning while everyone was asleep and missioned to the nearest point. 5 casts in and I had a wind knot bigger than a bird's nest. That was my fishing done for the weekend.
I decided to purchase some quality Gosen 21lb braid, and got it properly spooled by Pranay at Basil Manning in Ballito. Then lockdown hit. I spent the entire lockdown learning to tie fg's and reading fishing articles.
Once we were allowed to fish again I did about 5 early morning trips from Pietermaritzburg to the North coast, and two weekends down the south coasts. Thousands of casts and many hours of driving and not a single snoek. Just a few shad. I decided to give up for the year.
March 2021. I got invited by the same friends to Salt Rock. On the first morning I was at the nearest point in the dark for my first spinning session of 2021. After an hour of fishing I finally got the bite. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw a rat snoek at my feet. Soon after I lost another one t
rying to get it up the ledge. Such a good feeling after spending so much time learning to catch a particular fish. 
