Catching Couta Part 2 - Written by Brad Arthur

The couta is the most commonly targeted fish along our coastline and thus has ensured

that anglers are always evolving new techniques to catch them. In years gone by, your

great grandfather used to catch them with feathers, bottle tops, spoons (as in cutlery) and

all sorts of other weird and wonderful things. Those days are long, long gone and now the

couta has become a much tougher adversary to tempt. Due to the decline in numbers of

all our fish stocks, competition for food isn’t what it used to be and make a couta take

your bait requires a lot more effort.

The first step to successfully targeting couta begins with making the trace. Choosing

wire, hooks, dusters, swivels and leaders all play a role in the eventual outcome. When

selecting wire, remember the lighter the wire, the more bites you’re likely to get. I don’t

suggest going less than #4 (40lb) though and a handy tip is to look for the darkest pack of

wire. A pack of #6 wire that’s just about black is far less visible than shiny #3 wire. If

you can’t find wire that’s dark enough, you’ll just have to sit and colour in your traces

with a permanent marker. I generally use #5 on the lead wire and #6 or #7 to the hooks.

Titanium wire such as Malin Boa and Terminator Titanium is black and although

frightfully expensive, it is the best wire available for toothy critters. The best feature

though is that it doesn’t kink like normal wire and you could theoretically fish with the

same trace for the whole season.

The “great hook debate” is highly subjective, but I’ll give my views on the different

hooks and when or why I’d use them. The use of treble hooks is most certainly the most

common practice among kayakers and thus I’ll begin with them. Firstly, small trebles get

more bites than large ones. Small trebles can bend easier, so be certain to use strong ones.

VMC, Gamakatsu and Owner all make really strong as well as really weak hook models,

so be sure you buy the right model. High carbon steel trebles such as Gamakatsu are

generally extremely sharp and are a black nickel colour. They are the least visible and

probably best treble to use, provided you pay attention to a couple of things. They rust

very quickly and can’t be used more than a couple of times unless you enjoy losing fish

to tackle failure. They don’t open under pressure, they rather snap. So provided you make

new traces often, they are the way to go. VMC also make really good black trebles (VMC

9626BN), they’re not quite as sharp as “Gammies”, but last better and cost a lot less.

Both make perfect competition weapons!

“Silver” or “perma-steel” coated hooks are a lot more resilient to rust, but are more

visible. For social fishing, I use them as I don’t feel I miss out on too many fish due to

their color and I use my traces for a good few trips on the trot. My general hook of choice

is VMC 8527PS; it is a 6x-strong treble and even in a size 4 is almost impossible to bend.

Owner make a fantastic treble, unfortunately they come with a stiff price tag, but are

worth it when big fish are around and you want to fish with trebles. It can hurt when you

lose your trace to a shark though. Single hooks are ideal when targeting big couta. When

the shoal fish are around you will miss when using singles. They won’t tear out easily or

open and once you hook up, the fish normally ends up in the boat. Your dead baits also

swim much better when rigged with singles. My single of choice is a Daiichi 3111 in a

4/0 or 6/0; it’s a strong, black hook that’s made for catching big fish. The rust factor is

just as prevalent in singles as it is in trebles and although the Daiichi won’t snap like a

treble, the point does go dull.

Dusters and skirts are there to attract attention to your bait. Couta love pink and it’s

usually my go-to colour. Lately I’ve been using Gladiator Twisters; these are duster/skirt

hybrids which give me the best of both worlds. Keep a couple of traces in a variety of

colours in your box and when you find what’s working; use that colour on both your

rods. You’ll drastically increase your chances of multiple hook-ups. Quality components

can’t be over emphasized and the brands I’ve mentioned take great pride in their quality.

Make sure you select good swivels too; it’s no use skimping on them just because they’re

small. They are vital in keeping you connected to the fish. Buy Centro or Power swivels

and be done with it.

Although not part of the trace as such, another part of your setup that is important is your

leader. Flourocarbon is one of the greatest inventions in the fishing tackle industry. It is

almost invisible in water and can make the difference between getting a bite and getting a

follow. I normally use a 40lb to 50lb flourocarbon leader that is between 3m and 6m

long. Flouro is also harder than normal line and thus makes it more abrasive resistant.

Make sure that when you tie your knots with flourocabon that you seat the knot properly

by pulling it really tight.

So next time you want to go out to sea, start by making sure you have the right

components for your traces. If you’d rather be catching than fishing or worse; just

paddling, remember a successful angling trip starts at home.