Fishing for Kob in False Bay

It’s that time of the year again when the False Bay summer angler’s dust off their rods and get ready for the up-and-coming Kob season.

One of the tell-tale signs of the change of season is when the Kob start to enter the bay is the blossoming of the Lilly’s. The first few Lilly’s starts to blossom as early as august already after the heavy rainfalls. This can be a bit early to target the Kob, but the guys who started to change over to summer baits like live mullet, octopus and choka managed to land some of the Kob which have made there way into the bay already. Come mid-September and the Lilly’s are out in full, getting most anglers excited as this is a clear sign that the winter period is coming to its end and that spring is here. October also known to many of the anglers as “Kobtober” is when the Kob fishing is in full swing setting the tone for the rest of the season. 

Another factor is the South Easterly wind which also starts blowing constantly. This bringing warmer water from the East Coast and fills False Bay with life with loads bait fish and your bigger predator species like the bronze whaler sharks. The South Easter also brings that desirable ginger beer or pea soup colour into the bay where the cob loves to feed in. There is however a fine line between this colour and the thick brown colour which can also follow a few consecutive days of pumping Southeast winds.

 This is cause by the continuous churning of the water which digs into the sand banks and causing the water to be turbid. Even though its not ideal conditions to fish in, there are perks to this. New holes opening which in turn washes loose crustations for bait fish and bigger fish to feed on. It is best to wait until the wind has subsided and have at least have two turning tides which will allow this water to settle and change into that desirable pea soup or ginger beer colour.

Best times to fish for Kob 

Kob can be targeted at any time of the day, however there are those golden periods when it is best to go out to target them. 

Sunrise and sunset are the best periods to target Kob as they are known to thrive at these periods. The ideal scenario is if the sunrise and sunset coincide with the hi tide. For sunrise its best to start off while its still dark and have the high tide an hour or two after first light. For the sunset it is best if hightide is close to dark or after the sun goes down. It is still highly likely to get Kob at any other hour of the day and not catches during the above-mentioned periods. If the tides do not coincide with either sunrise or sunset, then three hours before the high tide and three hours after the high tide is a good time to fish. When fishing mid-day high tides, its best to find water that has some colour in it which is where the Kob will hang out. 

There are two things to look for when scouting for good colour. You want to find that pea soup or ginger beer colour and with that you need to find water that has some yellow foam on the surface, which is a form of algae which the mullet feeds on and the cob will be lurking at the bottom waiting for that moment when a mullet comes past to ambush it.

This is also a very good area to net some live mullet as they will be on the surface feeding on the algae. Live mullet is one of the best baits that can be used to target Kob, but using various baits is always a good idea. On the day the Kob might not be interested in the live bait and would prefer smaller baits such as choka, octopus, fish bait fillets, worms and on some occasion’s mussel too. Its also a good idea to mix your fish baits with your white baits like choka and octopus leg to create that extra scent in the wat, but there’s absolutely nothing wrong with using either bait on its own.

These are some of the tips I have been taught by many anglers I have met along the coast and are gained by years of spending time on the beach and has brought me many successful fishing outings. That being said, there are no guarantees that any of these tips will work out for you every time you go out, 

but it’s some of the things I use when going out fishing, whether its social or with clients. The best thing to do is to take what you think will work for you on your fishing trips and build your own methods which works for you. 

Every fisherman has their own methods and ways that works for them based on past successes and failures. Try not to go out fishing and do the same thing over and over and expect different results especially if you are having a low success rate. If someone is fishing a spot next to you and is on the fish and you are blanking, try to figure out what bait he is using, what’s the trace setup, how far he is casting, is the structure different to where you are fishing etc. Don’t just copy what your fellow angler is doing and hope to get the same results or even try to beat him to that spot the following day. Chances are that you will not catch anything there the following day and will end up being frustrated. Figure out your various parameters which effects fishing. Wind, tides, water temp, moon phases, barometer readings, water colour, swells etc. Once you have figured out this pattern, you will have more successful days on the coast and less days of blanking.

Tight lines and happy fishing.

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