Fishing Strand Reefs (Part 2)

In this article, I will go into some of the details needed to get into it. The focus will be primarily on edibles.

FISHING STRAND REEFS
In this article, I will be going into the winter species that you can target on our reefs. The gear is pretty much the same for the summer fish with one or two exceptions in trying to keep warm. Read Fishing Strand Reefs Part 1 here

SPECIES TO TARGET
There are a fair few different species to target throughout the year. During the winter months, the main target species will be bank fish (bankvis) and it is my opinion that all bankvis are dirty fighters especially on the reefs.

BAIT

• Red bait: Fresh or vrot, vrot being the best

• Worms: There are a variety of worms e.g. bloodworm, moonshine worm, wonder worm & muscle worm, you can use fresh or pickled.

• White mussel

• Sand prawn

• Crayfish

Bait preferences will vary from person to person as will the desired trace length, hook size etc.

Galjoen

A variety of baits work for this species, this species has some interesting colours to them, some can be very dark and some almost silver depending on the area they are feeding in. The flesh of this species is very unique and has a unique taste. A proper Galjoen will give a good account of itself and will try to get you hung up in the bricks.

Das (Blacktail)

A variety of baits can be used to target this species, this species is also often caught while targeting Galjoen, so the baits used for Galjoen also work for the Das. This is one of my favourite winter species to target as here in False Bay they can grow to some massive sizes, we have personally caught them up to 45cm and at that size fight very hard and are exceptionally dirty fighters, looking for all ways to get away.

Wilderperd (Zebra)

As the name suggests, this species has solid black stripes that run vertically along with the fish, they also have an almost silver gold colour to them. This species for some reason has a very prominent iron smell when you take them out of the water. A variety of baits work for this species as with the other species.

Witstomp (White Stumpnose)

Here too, a variety of baits will work the same as the previous species, the only exception that we have found with this species is that they are found in more cleaner and calmer water than the Galjoen or Das.

BAIT

• Red bait: Fresh or vrot, vrot being the best

• Worms: There are a variety of worms e.g. bloodworm, moonshine worm, wonder worm & muscle worm, you can use fresh or pickled.

• White mussel

• Sand prawn

• Crayfish

Bait preferences will vary from person to person as will the desired trace length, hook size etc.

Galjoen

Das (Blacktail)

Wilderperd (Zebra)

Witstomp (White Stumpnose)

WEATHER
Galjoen and Das prefer working white water and for this in False Bay, we need a few good cold fronts to come through, to open the holes and break off the red bait that we can pick up. Ideally, you would need a biggish sea, with that comes only certain times to fish and you would not be able to stand on the reefs for as long as you would when fishing for the summer species when the sea is a lot calmer. As you would be fishing in rougher conditions with bigger seas, I would not recommend reef fishing for bankvis if you are a first-timer to the reefs, serious injury could occur if you do not know what to look for, and take chances standing longer than you need to on the reefs. A sea of 2-4 meters is good, look for the deeper holes around the reefs where white working water washes into these holes. Or look for a shallow reef where waves break over it into a deeper hole. Always cast into these white water spots as that is where the Galjoen, Das & wildeperd (Zebra) will be feeding.