Angling Report – 20 January 2017

North easterly winds pumped for much of last week and these create very bumpy sea conditions and the surf becomes unpredictable and mushy. At this time of the year most of the fishing action is out at sea where the offshore anglers target the various species of game fish, so these are not the conditions that the anglers favour.
Throughout the years of living on the coast I have seen and experienced some hairy moments when launching into the surf from the beach, especially after there has been a north-easterly blowing. When looking at the sea from just off the beach before launching, the surf may look okay, but once at the water’s edge one has a different perspective and things don’t seem all that simple. Timing the push into the water is all important, especially if there is a strong shore dump because a mistimed entry into the water could prove expensive and painful. Negotiating a strong and mushy surf is always difficult, and sometimes nerve wracking but one thing is guaranteed, everyone on the boat will get wet. One may suddenly see that the water is not clean but has a dirty green tinge to it, something else that looked completely different from the beach. When anglers see dirty water they realize that the chances of catching game such as couta may be slim and targeting other species close inshore is the only option.
Other anglers may decide to forego game fishing and opt to travel out to fish on the deep reefs. This could also be a problem because although the weather may seem calm just beyond the waves, it could be a far different story once out beyond the shelter of the land. This is something that I have also experienced in the past and was a lesson not to be forgotten.
I was fishing with the late Ronnie Taljaard and we decided to launch early one morning from Westbrook beach. The easterly wind had been blowing for two days but the weather report for the day was a wind of 10 knots, so we decided to launch. It was a typical surf after an easterly blow but Ronnie was greatly experienced so there was confidence in the launch. Once in the surf there were a few anxious moments but we managed to reach the open water without too much trouble, excepting for a very dry mouth that needed a few mouthfuls of water.
It was still not quite light but we could see that the water was not clean so Ronnie decided to opt for bottom fishing out deep. Once we set off the sea was a bit bumpy but not too bad, after travelling for a while this all changed. It was now light enough to see that the further out to sea we travelled, the larger the swell, and there was a wind on the water creating whitecaps. By now we were out of the protection of the land and it became quite hectic, with water breaking over the bow of the boat as we rode over the swell and the boat threatening to broach as we went down the other side.
I could see that the conditions were becoming impossible but Ronnie, being a hard­-headed guy sometimes, continued to press on. It was difficult to hang on and stay aboard the boat and eventually we reached our destination at 36 fathoms where Ronnie wanted to anchor. Straight away we could see that it would be almost impossible to anchor and even Ronnie was now having doubts, as riding over the swell was like riding over steep hills and we were being battered around. The trick now was to turn around in the rough sea without flipping the boat in the large swells that were close together. After a few attempts and taking on a considerable amount of water, Ronnie managed to turn the boat around and head back to the shore. It was another wild ride heading back until we reached the protection of the land where the water was calmer. By then, any thoughts of doing any fishing were out of the window and it was just beach the boat and calm the nerves. Lesson well learned.
Sealice

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