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Another winter has passed and the spring winds are beginning to settle. The water is
warming up and it’s getting light earlier and earlier. The drive that makes you want to go
fishing is waking up after its winter hibernation. You’re hearing rumors of some couta
and dorado getting caught just north of our border and they’re making their way south.
It’s time to dust off that ski and get ready for the new season.
The first thing you need to do is get your reels serviced and change your line. The salt
build up will make your drag sticky and chances are that your line won’t be looking too
good either. The guides on your rod need a quick inspection; make sure there’s no rust
build up and the ceramic inserts are still in good condition. Remember that early season
couta are normally decent size fish (10kg - 15kg) and it’s the back-end of the sailfish
season, so you’ve got a good chance of hooking some really good fish. Another part of
your kit that requires a quick check is your rudder cable on your ski. The moist
environment can corrode the copper sleeves that keep your cable attached to the rudder.
Better to sort it out before you even plan to go to sea instead of missing out on a good day
because you can’t steer your kayak.
Dorado are usually amongst the first fish to arrive as the warm current pushes closer in
shore. Keep an eye out for colour and current lines as they’re sure clues that the dorado
aren’t too far away. While you may be fully focused on the coming couta and dorado,
don’t forget the fish that are already here. I’m talking about big queen mackerel as well
as plenty of shoaling yellowfin tuna. You’ll probably be a little unfit and a little rounder
in the mid section, but there’s nothing better than going for a “training” paddle with a
handful of lures and returning to the beach with a couple of snoek and a yellowfin all
before breakfast. This is also a great time to get re-acquainted with your spinning outfit.
Tuna and snoek will often show themselves by jumping clear out of the water. A spoon
presented in the path of a marauding shoal of tuna or snoek is almost a guaranteed hookup.
So keep a small spoon handy and you’ll enjoy some fantastic sport.
Pulling baits in November can be a very frustrating exercise as there are plenty of
juvenile hammerhead sharks that will make quick work of all your “hard-caught”
mackerel as well as your new traces. The greenish water that you’ll find yourself fishing
in can be a bit disconcerting at times. You know that there’s blue water out there
somewhere, but it never seems to be where you’re launching and fishing. The blue water
patches seem to come and go very quickly and being in that clean water is often the key
factor to success. This “patchy” water can often be very difficult to find for a number of
reasons.
Firstly, you can have green water on the surface and cleaner, warmer water below it.
When the conditions are like this you’ll see fish getting caught on heavily downrigged
baits. The clean water also tends to stay further out to sea in the early season. The other
problem you may encounter is you’ll find the clean water, but when you bring in your
line it’s covered in snotty, stinging jelly substance that normally doesn’t bode well for
your fishing. What happens is the clean water you’ve found in only on the top 2 meters or
so and below is cold, green water and that’s where your baits are. The fish are in the
clean water so make sure that’s where your baits are too!
The other small things you’ll notice if you pay attention to the anglers around you, is the
normally productive duster colours don’t produce as much as normal. The couta tend to
favour blues or greens. I don’t know if it has to do with the water temperatures or water
colour, but I’ve seen it happen season after season. You also seem to catch them deep
down, swimming right on the bottom, so pull your baits s-l-o-w-l-y. The cooler
temperatures make them less active and they often aren’t keen to chase down speedy
prey. They also take the baits slower; not hitting it in their normal freight-train manner.
But once they’re hooked they’ll tear off plenty of line and remind you why you love
fishing for them so much.
Another early season visitor is the Giant Kingfish. These brawlers gather in large shoals
over the offshore reefs in spring to spawn. The shoals tend to stick around until early
December before they all disperse and go back to their solitary ways. GT’s are extremely
powerful and will tow your kayak all over the place; however they literally tend to fight
themselves to death. Many anglers are releasing GT’s nowadays; just make sure you
revive them enough so that they don’t become shark food as you release them.
While we’re on sharks; watch out for the many Blackfins and Zambezi’s on the reefs as
they also tend to congregate there in the early summer. They will certainly make short
work of your hooked fish, so just be aware and don’t mess around with your catch next to
the side of your ski. Getting a fish eaten off the gaff is truly a terrifying experience. If
there are only kayaks on the water, very few fish, if any will get taken by the taxman, but
if there are boats close by your chances of being taxed will increase by about a thousand
percent.
So there you have it, dust those cobwebs off your tackle and ski. Have a few paddling
sessions before the season really kicks into gear, just so that by the time it turns on
properly, you’re back in the groove and ready to enjoy another great season on your
kayak…
