Herald Fishing: Cracking catches for deep sea anglers
Game fish have been very quiet but bottom fishing has been good.
There have been some exciting catches out in the deep, with two big musselcrackers being caught.
Kobus Kruger boated a 15kg cracker on Mighty, skippered by Dawie Redelinghys.
ALSO READ : Herald Fishing: Mixed bag as cold front whips through
All told, it was a great day for them, with other bottom fish including Scotsman, Englishman, pink salmon, rock cod and big slingers also being caught.
Graham Fabricius, who has taken a break from his usual golf to run the family charter, reeled in a 26.4kg cracker.
He also boated whole lot of other fish, dubbing himself the ‘fish finder’, jokingly of course.
At the time of writing (Wednesday) he was preparing to sit his skipper’s exam today (17th).
Graham reckons a nice, slow current is best when targeting these huge fish.
For bottom fishing, you also want it to be slow.
“If it’s too strong and fast it makes keeping the bait at the bottom that much more difficult,” he says.
“Even keeping the fish that’s taken the bait on the hook can be difficult, but in some ways it can make the challenge all that more interesting and exciting.”
He said it’s been breezy for the most part, with the swell above average, but choppy, and the water a dirty green colour.
Game fish have been very quiet but bottom fishing has been good.
However, as is often the case, they’re hard to find and when they are biting the sharks arrive to ‘tax’ the fisherman.
In other news, summer fish are starting to come on the bite, including diamond skates and grey sharks.
Shad have still been around in various places, while some garrick have been caught at Margate pier.
This should continue to pick up as the weather gets warmer.
HAVE YOUR SAY
Like the South Coast Herald’s Facebook page, follow us on Twitter and Instagram
