 A FIGHTER TO THE END — Catching daga the Cape south coast way — by Johan Smal
IN the September/October 2008 issue of SKI-BOAT we ran a “Back to Basics” article on fishing for daga, aka kob or kabeljou. In this issue Johan Smal details specific tactics for catching daga in the Cape Agulhas/Arniston area. Many daga were caught in this area in the last decade, especially before the new legal restrictions came into force in 2004, stipulating that anglers could only catch one kabeljou bigger than 1.1m per day.
One can only sit and dream of the many big “rietbulle” — as daga are referred to by some local anglers — that were caught in the Breede River in years gone by. Although there are no records of specific size ranges caught in the Cape Agulhas area from ski-boats, local sport- and commercial fishermen boated many thousands of this highly sought-after species over the last decade or so.
Without getting sentimental about it, we must admit that kabeljou numbers, like many other species, have dwindled dramatically in recent years. The reasons for this unprecedented decline have been widely researched and debated with no apparent single cause. The main logical factors, however, seem to be overfishing, aggravated by the over-exploitation of baitfish, destruction of marine habitats in general, global warming and pollution.
Whatever the causes, red lights are staring us in the face and we need to heed the warning if we want our grandchildren to experience the thrill of catching a really big daga.
In the Cape Agulhas area kob are mostly caught in very shallow water between two and 20 fathoms and seem to prefer specific reefs and spots when feeding. Regular visits are made to these popular spots to ascertain if the kob are around and feeding, obviously with varying results. Some days you strike the jackpot, other times you don’t, but unless you try you won’t get results. Fortunately, one decent size daga normally makes up for all those disappointing days of burning lots of fuel with no fish. Sportfisherman very seldom target kabeljou at night and most catches are made during the daytime, with October to May being our high season.
Something of interest is that one 15kg fish that I caught during January 2008 had been tagged in the De Hoop Marine Reserve (only 42km up the coast) 799 days earlier. This is an indication that the fish could have stayed in the area for more than two years.
December to March seems to represent the best kob fishing months, and catches are made throughout the day with south-easterly and south-westerly winds producing the best results. Tide and moon status does not seem to have any noticeable effect on fishing results and, as indicated by the stats below, best catches were made in water temperature varying between 18 and 22°C.
Read the full story in the November/December 2008 issue of SKI-BOAT.
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