A trip into the wilds of Namibia

[Jeri]

Hi Ron,

Appreciate now the fact that I put 'braii' in the text, been down here too long, starting to use the local terminology as second nature!!!!!!! That's the thing about language, even though we all speak the same on this forum – English, there are so many variants and local terms that it is sometimes difficult to understand each other. What is that saying about the Americans and English – both united and divided by a common language???


Hi Capefisher,

There are Kob (for those that are not familiar with Kob, it is a fish like the European Bass, Striped Bass or Croaker, Cavasana, Meagre or Drum species – all basically the same family). Poor fish have so many names I'm surprised that they aren't suffering from a mental problem! Feel sure that they have a similar species down on the eastern coast of South America, ven hre in our waters we have three or four different species, that are exceedingly difficult to tell apart, unless you are really looking.

The Kob run down to the area during the late summer months (February, March and April), when the water warms up a little, as well as Bronzies (Copper sharks). Different fishing methods to normal bait fishing, wading to the middle sand bar, then casting artificial into the wider other gully – spoons and plastics. Hyperthermia is a problem though, so wet suits are essential.

We are looking to do a trip down there in the summer, just to sample some of the alternative fishing, as there are also big Stenbras down there at that time – up to 15kgs. We just need to get some wisdom on the big tides, as the access during the spring tides is very tricky, as the sea washes over the back of the beach and into the salt pans – we had enough problems with the salt pans on this past trip, don't want to deal with that again – it really did take a lot of time getting just one swamped vehicle out – almost needed floats for the rescue vehicles, or 200m long tow ropes!!!

However, the fishing is supposed to be awesome, 20 Kob per angler per tide, so not too bad, except that after a couple of days it might just get a little boring???


Cheers from sunny Africa

Jeri

[Ron Jones]

Jeri,
Way back when yellow and spot fin croaker would get that thick in Oceanside harbor and I would fish them until my arms fell off. Never can remember it getting boring. If it stops becoming challenging switch to lighter tackle!
Ron

[Jeri]

Hi Ron,

The issue of tackle and what we actually took was one of the discussions we had after the trip, being the very first time we had gone down there, we appreciated that we had taken tackle that was just a little too heavy, next trip will see a whole different arrangement of gear. There will still be occasions when we have to cast big distances with baits, so the 'long rods' will still have a place, but the option gear will be smaller and lighter 9' spinning grade tackle with small fixed spools loaded with braid. We have a lovely 9' long 3 piece spinning rod that we make, and ideal candidate for down there, especially with 2oz lures – will have to start making some lures again, just to play about with big fish.

What we learned on that first trip will make all subsequent trips a lot easier, and we will certainly look to lighten the load in the vehicle – makes for easier travelling though the dunes, as well as less gear to clean at the end of the trip – everything gets full of sand.

Cheers from sunny Africa

Jeri