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After the past weekend which featured mostly northerly winter weather it appears that the gale force north wind is picking up and winter in the Cape has finally arrived.

We have really had some topsy-turvy weather of late, but this seems to have ended now.

Many anglers, including myself, were surprised by the amount of so called summer fish that were caught right up until this past weekend from our reefs and shores.

The medium size Geelbek that were caught from Melk Bay and Blake's Beach and from our reefs has really been a big surprise to many anglers this season because in past seasons only the occasional Geelbek was caught among the Kob.

This was also very late in the year that so many anglers regularly caught Geelbek while fishing at night and using really good quality baits such as Pike laced with fresh chokka or very fresh pilchard.

It must be said that these anglers fishing in the evenings and at night are really dedicated fishermen who fish night after night to catch their quotas. These anglers are often plagued by the small bait fish that attract the Kob and Geelbek.

These small fish easily strip off the bait before the passing shoals of Kob or Geelbek can even get to it, keeping the anglers busy all the time.

It is the energetic manne who are prepared to pump prawn and bloodworm, which they use to target Belman, which have been present in our area for the past few weeks, and other species who have been catching the fish.

A number of these anglers have told me that they have been pleasantly surprised with the numbers of many other species of fish, such as White Steenbras, Dassie, Galjoen, White Stumpnose and even a few larger Cape Stumpnose they have caught while targeting Belman.

Dedicated anglers
Among the number of successful dedicated shore anglers who caught their quotas of these fish was well-known Strand angler Steve Reynolds.

Steve says he has been fishing regularly while on leave and said he had some excellent catches from Blake?s Beach during the day and at night.

Ali Freedman was another angler who was successful with the occasional Geelbek from this area while fishing at night. His best fish here weighed around 5 kg.

The most notable Kob that was caught on Melk Bay reefs during the long weekend was an 8,5 kg fish caught by Pieter Vermeulen who also caught a couple of Geelbek and straggler Elf while fishing from this popular reef with a number of other regular reef anglers.

Somerset West angler, Rupert McNaught who just returned from a brief holiday in Jongensfontein where he said on the last day of his leave there was a fairly good run of Elf and he managed to catch his quota on a spinner.

Rupert said he was surprised to see that some of the anglers he was fishing with had never seen anyone catch Elf with a spinner before.

There were still a number of local manne fishing from small craft and kayaks just past the reefs and most of them reported catching their quotas of Kob and Geelbek as well as a number of bank fish.

The scheduled Gordon's Bay Boat Angling Club Deep Sea Classic which was scheduled to take place last weekend was cancelled due to the inclement weather.

Larger skiboats did however keep themselves occupied catching some Yellowtail that were present right in Fish Hoek Bay.

Most boats going after these fish did report catching between 4 and 12 decent size fish per boat. Keith Finkelstein and his crew on his boat Finkie said they caught 12 medium size fish from this area.

This is the time of the year for shore anglers to really concentrate on catching winter bank fish such as Galjoen, Wildeperd and White Stumpnose.

The best baits for these fish are prawn, kreef, red bait, mussel, wonder worm and moonshine worm. (the last two baits are exceptional, but not easy to procure unless one is prepared to work hard for them).

White Stumpnose
I saw a few nice size White Stump-nose landed in the Strand during the weekend by some local manne who know their stuff.

These are really fish worth working for as they are hard fighting fish on light tackle and great eating as well.

With the cold currents that flow into False Bay during April and May these Stump are frequently caught all along our coastline.

Simonstown and Kalk Bay harbour are excellent venues for catching these fish as large shoals of them are often seen there this time of year. These shoals move up all along Muizenberg, Strandfontein and Macassar Beach where they are unfortunately often wiped out by trek netters who operate there.

Along our beaches one may also find these fish in cooler clear water using fairly light tackle and fresh mussel or red bait , but they are particularly fond of prawn and kreef and sometimes even take a neat strip of chokka or pilchard or other fresh fish baits.

They are also fond of crushed octopus leg, but since the last heavy red tide octopus have been very scarce.

The best size hooks to use when fishing for them are 1 or 2/0 hooks or even smaller, but strong hooks as these fish have very bony type mouth's (like small pebbles similar to a Musselcracker). Remember when striking to strike fairly firmly to penetrate the hard jaw.

These fish are often caught on sandy prawn beds or in between sandy gullies.

Anyone wanting to find out more about fishing along our shores (singles or parties) and accompany an experienced provincial angler on a fishing trip may contact Robbie Janse on 082 789 2259 or check out his website extremeafrica.net.

Remember to contact me at (021) 854 3831 for reel repairs and hot spots to fish during winter and with all your fishing news, stories and club results.