Garden Route Update

[anton]

Good Morning Gents

Just thought that I would post some information on the state of some of the rivers/estuaries in this area following the rain that we have had.

I have fished a few of them over the past week or so and the ones that I have fished have recovered well.

I fished the Sedgefield lagoon yesterday and there is a very healthy tidal exchange. I was there until 8:00 last night and wit hit being close to low tide i expected that the water would really get dirty. The good news is that even at spring low it was very fishable. I caught two average leeries on plug 450 and 490 FL respectively but there were quite a few people fishing and all caught something, primarily grunter but also some cob. On the opposite of the lagoon near the mouth there is a nice bank with some good drop-offs. Perfect place to look for fish. One could get leerie, grunter or cob from there. Definitely worth a fish. Good place to fish in season. Should not be too many boats buzzing you.

The mouth at Goukama has not opened quite like I thought it would. To be fair I have yet to be there on a full tide to see what it would look like then. I caught two nice leeries there on Sunday last week on the sea side of the mouth through small plugs with a spinning outfit. 690 and 720 FL respectively. The fish are there and if there is enough water moving in on the high tide one will get good fish here over the spring tides. Good news is that no boat will ever be there. Again definitely worth a fish but only on a good high tide. A rough sea will help to have more water moving into the river.

Knysna Lagoon has recovered well. There has been a major clean-up to remove logs and branches. Friends of mine fished there yesterday on ski's. Had some good follows from leeires. Connected twice but pulled the hooks twice. Caught a few small steenbras and also some grunter. Have heard that some nice cob have also been caught.This time of year it is often best to concentrate on the bottom section of the lagoon when looking for leeries. They seem to move into the Ashmead channel now instead of going up-river.

I have not yet had the chance to explore Plett but I was at the mouth on Sunday last week on my way back from PE and it has moved right against the rocks at Look Out. It will take good fishing time to work out the effect that this will have on the movement of the fish. I was there towards the end of a dropping tide so i am not to sure how the water is moving into the river. I am sure that much has settled with this spring tide.My initial feeling is that more water will be moving in and out of the mouth and that the fishing here may be better as a result. One could probably target elf here especially if the water in the sea turns cold quickly as it did this weekend.

For all thos planning a fishing holiday here over Christmas, i think that there will be some good fish caught. One just needs to fish hard at the right times and you will be rewarded.

Anton

[Philip]

Thanks Anton, they should pay for these gems of info.
Will hopefully bump into you there during the holidays.

Cheers