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EVERY winter at around this time, one does not expect to see too many anglers fishing from the various beaches and reefs, but during the past long weekend there were a number of shore anglers trying their luck along our coastline.

These hardy souls were spread out all along the main beaches in the Strand right down to the Lourens River mouth alongside the old Gant's Pipe.

As mentioned before, the Gant's Pipe has crumbled away and is encrusted with black mussels, mussel worm and seaweed and is always worth a visit.

The few die hards that were fishing here during the past weekend did manage to catch a couple of Galjoen, Dassie and White Steenbras.

There were also a number of shore anglers fishing at Melk Bay Beach plus one or two really hard core guys fishing from the reefs here.

There were also reports of Galjoen caught along the Strandfontein beach and off the tidal swimming pool wall here.

The Harmony Park manne were also rewarded with a few White Stumpnose as well as one or two Galjoen, but they said fishing was slow and tough and there were no real fireworks here.

On Monday I had a good chat to an old friend and legendary Betty's Bay boat angler, Tony Stewart, who told me that the regular Betty's Bay shore anglers caught a number of Galjoen at "Tom se Klip" during the past weekend at high tides.

As far as small boat angling is concerned, this facet of the sport was non-existent during the weekend due to the foul weather.

High Snoek prices
A few Snoek were however caught in Table Bay during the past weekend, but the number of Snoek caught were limited and prices were very high.

The WP Deep Sea Boat angling Competition was also called off due to inclement weather conditions and have been rescheduled for a later date.

There was however one competition which did take place during the past weekend and that was the ESA Pro Series competition which took place at Kleinmond Beach.

Despite the weather, there were 84 entries, but the sea was very strong and very little fish were caught.

Dylan Hatting was the Junior winner and Christo Bester the Senior winner while Wynand Erasmus was the Junior runner-up. Mickey Thurgood was second in the senior division and Rudi Martins third. Marais van Zyl won the Wolverine boots for the longest fish

I have regularly written about the detrimental effect that the large tractor and trailer was having on the beach and I was pleased to note that the authorities have finally taken note of this and decided to do something about it.

The tractor was supposed to comb the upper layer of sand away by whipping up the surface and picking up the plastic and other litter on the beach. The problem was that the bottles were being broken under the tyres of the tractor and seaweed, which is necessary for the breeding of insects etc, was also being picked up and discarded and the was being crushed into finer particles.

Some of the seaweed is washed back into the sea and the insects in the seaweed then in turn provide food for the small fish, which attract the bigger fish.

The seaweed also forms a natural mat over the sand, preventing it from blowing away.

The authorities finally seem to have realised that sea sand is made up of tiny particles of shell, rocks and coral and by crushing it daily with the tractor and trailer, it breaks up into smaller particles which forms a finer dust which is blown away by the wind and deposited all over the roads, cars cars and forms a fine muddy solution when it lands up in sewage pipes and drains.

The authorities have said that the manual picking up of glass and plastic and non biodegradable debris from the beaches will be a better way of picking up the waste. This will also provide more people with employment.

Speaking about rubble, many anglers, including myself, have noticed a concerted effort among anglers and other beach users to not leave any rubbish such as plastic bags, cooldrink tins and bottles behind them on the beach.

Another good thing I have also noticed is that there seems to be less and less signs of people drinking on the beach.

Many Strand and Helderberg people agree with me that the barren, less used section of the Strand beach from Melk Bay to the old AECI fence should be opened for people to walk their dogs on a leash.

This will make this area a lot more active and safe and criminals will feel less inclined to attack innocent people when more people and dogs are around.

Local and visiting anglers wanting to buy good quality bait and tackle and get some good advice on hot winter fishing spots, should take some time out and visit the ESA Tackle Shop at Somerset Business Park next to CTM tiles.

There is currently a remarkable tackle display of one fishing nut's private collection on show and it is really worth a look.

Remember to call me on (021) 854-3831 for all your reel repairs and reel services or for advice on what tackle to use locally.

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© Tel. (021) 853-0211 Fax. (021) 853-0234 2003 Somerset Press (Pty) Ltd on all information and photographs.