Snoek on fly

[deewy]

wouldn't a flashy be a to complicated fly for snoek, as they are gonna chomp it stukkend one time. I would say clouser or a simple baitfish patern should do the job better. and its not dificult to ty new ones

[Kevin James]

Lads,

In my humble opinion, the best way we have found to catch these critters is a fast sinking line or even a shooting head to get the fly down.

When you have located them, it's usaully no problem in getting them to take a fly. My flies consist of a synthetic fish-hair body with lots of flash.
This particular fly in the jaws was all white with flash and a red chenille collar.
I never fish wire.......usually just a shock tippet of 40 lbs. You are unlucky if you do get bitten off. I have found you can stick them as soon as you feel the bite, and this results in a hook firmly in the corner or through the top.

Clouser flies work very well, but try in the larger sizes.
Synthetic material lasts longer rather than the natural bucktail and the like.

Most of my hook sizes are 3/0 and bigger.
I like the 34007's.........make sure they are sticky sharp!!!! A good file does the job into a cutting edge.

I just noticed one of the posts reckoning the blokes shoot at you on the water.......WTF is this about. Surely the commercial blokes are not above the law! If you reported them to the police what would happen.......or are they part of the 'protected species clan?'

It's just amazing this .......excuse my ignorance as I'm struggling to get my head around this. At any rate, hope this post is helpful.

[damage]

Dewwy my flashys are supreme hair,flash and epoxy pretty tough.
if I could only get one fish per fly id still be stoked !!

dogtooth ,

the comercials are not above the law here
you just have to know how to deal with them
as long as you dont chase there fish away and give them enough room
they are ok

one last thing for dealing with commercials is not to take there grief or be intimidated by them .
they enjoy there "pirate like" status and enjoy heckling,mocking and verbaly abusing the pleasure boaters
all you need to do is pull some fish and show that you are not going to be there sport for the day and they will leave you alone


/d

[swsmith]

welcome to africa..... .......i would love to join you guys if there is a spot available..... .......and if things get abit rough,we can always shoot back....

[windknot]

I must agree with Dogtooth as I cut my fishing teeth on a commercial boat and the views expressed here sounds like prime BS. No one is above the law and as sailors, I fail to see how fishermen commercial or otherwise would potentially willingly endanger the life of someone else at sea. I do not doubt that there have been tense situations out there but to suggest that there is a roaming mob out there A la Gauteng ripping potoons, ramming boats and shooting out engines sounds like just another good old RSA story. PLease report the facts like where, when and what was done, where it was reported and action taken by the authorities. Anything other than this is scare mongering and we can do with a lot less of that. BTW taking care around a commercial fishing fleet is common sense as I would get PI$$$ed enough to start shooting if I was losing up to 80% of my livelyhood to seals and when some pretty boy in his pretty boat adds to my frustration at feeding my family, he could expect a misdirected working line with an 8 ounce lead weight. I do not promote lawlessness but common sense should always prevail.

[Kevin James]

.......and if things get abit rough,we can always shoot back....

My guns bigger than yours......


Thanks for the explanation Damage.
Yeah, I guess living in Africa has its "excitement factor"

Good luck guys.

[deewy]

thanx dogtooth

very informative reply, these are realy awsome fish.

so in hind sight a pretty simple fly with lots of flash should do the job. I also don't like whire to much and was also thinking about the shocktippet.

do these fish hook themselves when they eat the fly or is stripstrike the way to go?

[damage]

I think some of the comercials exploits have become urban legend !!
and some serious embishment on the facts has taken place

As windknot says if you are earning R100 a day risking your life and a yuppie in a R100 000 boat chases your fish away
you could understand the frustration

Swsmith : You are welcome to join us

dewwy : A snoek only knows one way to eat a fly an that is to smash it !!

To be honest I just strip the fly back and bang he is on or you miss him
there isnt that much tecnique yet !! maybee when we get to 20 or fifty fish we can refine it

[Kevin James]

Deewy, best habit you can get into is strip striking in salt water.

We have found when fishing for wahoo, they are so super quick and if you miss the strike first time round, just leave the fly slowly sinking and they race back and nail it second time.

With the snoek, if you strip strike and miss, the fly is still in the vicinity as opposed to lifting and striking and possibly getting the whole line out the water. In having said that, a fast sinking line keeps the fly in the area though.

Yeah mate, lots of flash is a key. Don't fish the fly too fast either......half meter strip......pause....strip

Seriously though, ditch the wire.
More drama than it's worth. Nice piece of hard mono is the way to go.

[Andre]

ja it was me who raised the alarm about the commecials.
Look, I don't think it is any more dangerous than driving down Main Road, and having to deal with taxis. If you become arrogant, they will make life difficult.
The commercial guys are less considerate than they should perhaps be, and this is more evident at the municipal or public slipways, when the snoek are running. There have been instances where recreational boats have been shot at, but the incident i reffered to happenned years ago, and I can assume the victim was as loud and abusive as the perpetrator.
I think if you are aware, and are prepared to concede water, you will probably be able to fish happilly even when the commercials are around. the worst you can expect will more than likely be loud references to your mothers.....well you know what happens in the cape ....
The seals were mentioned, and yes these guys shoot the seals. Thats why they carry guns.