Leeries - so what have we learnt?

[Chris Shelton]

Following the recent good and bad days that I have experienced at Sandvlei, I have been trying to piece together all the bits and pieces in the hope of being more consistant in catching the leeries.

From my brief observations so far, I have deducted the following.

1) Don't flog one spot for too long. Most of the leeries have been taken from one spot on the first or second cast.

2) Be continuously on the look out for swirls and get to them quickly. You have one chance, so don't fluff it up! Rather take a moment to gather your line and get a decent cast in than attempt to reach the fish after a 30 metre sprint with your line trailing behind you as I did this morning!

3) Find a quiet spot, at least 50 metres from the next closest angler, and be quiet for a moment. There is a good chance that the other guys will drive the bait fish into your spot....and this is what will bring the leeries in. As soon as you see chasing activity, be ready to target! ( I have noticed that the bait fish are very spooky and they will disperse after your first cast. I stuck my head over the foot bridge to see what was there yesterday, only to see baby mullet scattering all over the show. They are incredibly spooky!) To back this point up from my own observations, I have a few times now been fishing a particular spot and after 10 casts or so have moved away from the spot, only to see a swirl exactly where I have just come from. Think about it!

There is already quite a bit to digest here, so I will leave it at this for the time being. Please feel free to add your own observations.

One final thought.....think trout! A stealthy approach and well executed accurate casts are what pays off in the end

[KevinC]

Following the recent good and bad days that I have experienced at Sandvlei, I have been trying to piece together all the bits and pieces in the hope of being more consistant in catching the leeries.

From my brief observations so far, I have deducted the following.

1) Don't flog one spot for too long. Most of the leeries have been taken from one spot on the first or second cast.

2) Be continuously on the look out for swirls and get to them quickly. You have one chance, so don't fluff it up! Rather take a moment to gather your line and get a decent cast in than attempt to reach the fish after a 30 metre sprint with your line trailing behind you as I did this morning!

3) Find a quiet spot, at least 50 metres from the next closest angler, and be quiet for a moment. There is a good chance that the other guys will drive the bait fish into your spot....and this is what will bring the leeries in. As soon as you see chasing activity, be ready to target! ( I have noticed that the bait fish are very spooky and they will disperse after your first cast. I stuck my head over the foot bridge to see what was there yesterday, only to see baby mullet scattering all over the show. They are incredibly spooky!) To back this point up from my own observations, I have a few times now been fishing a particular spot and after 10 casts or so have moved away from the spot, only to see a swirl exactly where I have just come from. Think about it!

There is already quite a bit to digest here, so I will leave it at this for the time being. Please feel free to add your own observations.

One final thought.....think trout! A stealthy approach and well executed accurate casts are what pays off in the end

Next thing you are going to be hooking the fish for people and letting them land the fish!

Eish man- Sandvlei and her secrets have been raped over the past few weeks! Not that I can complain of course, I would not have got my leerie had it not been for the info gained! But seriously, one must wonder if all the sudden pressure will have a negative effect on the vlei- it is after all not really the guys on the site who we have to worry about, but rather word of mouth and next thing every Tom, Dick and Harry will be fishing for them, albeit with fly, spinning gear or live bait- and it is only a matter of time before the unscrupulous guys start removing these precious precious fish from the vlei.

OK my venting is over! Not that it is a vent, I just hope we have not compromised a fishery here. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for controlled sharing of information, but when does it go too far? This should possibly be on a thread of its own.

Hopefully you guys are not going to all read this and think that Im a sour p03s- comments and personal attacks are welcome!

[ShaunF]

Kevin, I happen to agree with you. Sometimes I think it is only the lack of information on how to catch certain fish that protects them from being pillaged. Careful guys !

[Chris Shelton]

Next thing you are going to be hooking the fish for people and letting them land the fish!

Eish man- Sandvlei and her secrets have been raped over the past few weeks! Not that I can complain of course, I would not have got my leerie had it not been for the info gained! But seriously, one must wonder if all the sudden pressure will have a negative effect on the vlei- it is after all not really the guys on the site who we have to worry about, but rather word of mouth and next thing every Tom, Dick and Harry will be fishing for them, albeit with fly, spinning gear or live bait- and it is only a matter of time before the unscrupulous guys start removing these precious precious fish from the vlei.

OK my venting is over! Not that it is a vent, I just hope we have not compromised a fishery here. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for controlled sharing of information, but when does it go too far? This should possibly be on a thread of its own.

Hopefully you guys are not going to all read this and think that Im a sour p03s- comments and personal attacks are welcome!

hehe, I know where you are coming from Kevin, but I do feel that certain secrets should be revealed, because if the guys adhere to some of these on the busy days, we will all stand a better chance. It is pointless me knowing all the secrets and being fishless at the end of the day because others are not following suite. If we give everyone enough berth, there is no reason why we cant all be successful on the day.

[nkula_nkula]

Following the recent good and bad days that I have experienced at Sandvlei, I have been trying to piece together all the bits and pieces in the hope of being more consistant in catching the leeries.

From my brief observations so far, I have deducted the following.

1) Don't flog one spot for too long. Most of the leeries have been taken from one spot on the first or second cast.

2) Be continuously on the look out for swirls and get to them quickly. You have one chance, so don't fluff it up! Rather take a moment to gather your line and get a decent cast in than attempt to reach the fish after a 30 metre sprint with your line trailing behind you as I did this morning!

3) Find a quiet spot, at least 50 metres from the next closest angler, and be quiet for a moment. There is a good chance that the other guys will drive the bait fish into your spot....and this is what will bring the leeries in. As soon as you see chasing activity, be ready to target! ( I have noticed that the bait fish are very spooky and they will disperse after your first cast. I stuck my head over the foot bridge to see what was there yesterday, only to see baby mullet scattering all over the show. They are incredibly spooky!) To back this point up from my own observations, I have a few times now been fishing a particular spot and after 10 casts or so have moved away from the spot, only to see a swirl exactly where I have just come from. Think about it!

There is already quite a bit to digest here, so I will leave it at this for the time being. Please feel free to add your own observations.

One final thought.....think trout! A stealthy approach and well executed accurate casts are what pays off in the end

Nice Chris

I like it

[KevinC]

Chris,

I'm looking at the bigger picture here- face it, it's not going to be long before every single oke and his dog is at Sandvlei spinning for leeries- and it's only a matter of time before we start seeing pictures of dead leeries being held up outside an okes garage with a caption about Sandvlei in the one more popular recreational fishing magazines. We protect little streams with all our life, deeming them to be fragile fisheries... what makes Sandvlei different?

[swsmith]

there are and have been reports of fisherman fishing with live bait and taking out the fish they catch.this has been going on for years and will remain a problem in the future.ive seen them as well.

the marina is big enough for all of us to fish.we just need to diplay the proper etiquitte(spelling???)and return all fish that are caught.

[KevinC]

there are and have been reports of fisherman fishing with live bait and taking out the fish they catch.this has been going on for years and will remain a problem in the future.ive seen them as well.

the marina is big enough for all of us to fish.we just need to diplay the proper etiquitte(spelling???)and return all fish that are caught.

Agreed- However, it takes one shop assistant at a general fishing shop (read: "never flywaters of course! )to inform everyone that walks in that the leeries are going bos at Sandvlei and the floodgates will open...

Chaps, dont get me wrong- Im playing Devil's Advocate here, but I believe that it is worth discussing...? I for one am already thinking about whether I'll post another tale of a leerie caught from Sandvlei on the forum... that's if I am ever lucky enough to catch another one!

(*waits for the mob to start screaming witch!*)

[Chris Shelton]

I'll happily remove my posting if you prefer Kevin. Only a few have seen it so far.

[dlampert]

I chatted to a guy at the vlei on Sunday. He was paddling around and found a 9kg leerie floating dead in the middle of the vlei. He also advised that he had seen several bait fisherman removing and killing large fish.