Overberg Angling

Hello mense.

I have recently been to Wilderness on honeymoon and were in a position for some relaxed fishing from one of the rivers/ lagoons/ estuaries. i ran to the closest tackle shop in George and bought new equipment for 'Drop shots'. Here the problem starts - I know nothing! I currently have a Blue Marlin 16' with a Shimano & Penn reel. I have a tackle box which weighs omtrent 10kg for all the stuff it contains for a nice day on the rocks or surf. Now, I have a 10' "slap stokkie" with a koffie-grinder with little floaters, rubber worms and so on.

Can someone please tell me more about this as I have discovered it can actually be quite efficient in landing 4 nice grunters?

Can I use it for the surf, sand or rocks? What conditions? Rigging? Lure types, etc. I have no information in this and want to find out whether I have just wasted my money. I am in Cape Town and don't even know what species can be targeted and good locations. We will be going to Melkbos this weekend and don't know if the area is suitable for drop shots.

Help asseblief!

Supafly...

My personal opinion...

Cape Town / West Coast is not as good a drop shot area as i.e. the Kwa-Zulu Natal coast line, where drop shop is a big thing.

I believe the reason for this is that we do not have the big variety of smaller species roaming our southern cape waters.

This does not mean that drop shot does not work in the Cape. You just need to work much harder here to be successful on Dropshot.

Dropshot is very much a light tackle affair targeting smaller reef fish.

If I had to choose where the best spots in Cape Town area would be, then I would think the following.

Melkbos and Strand

Look for structure in the water like rocks / reefs etc. Probable you best bet to get any bites.

I would not personally cast between the kelp, as the drop shot baits and jigs are quite expensive

In Cape Town, drop shot is mainly used as an alternative for the boating guys and they have all had good catches from the boats. They love to target Snoek, Gurnard, Stumpies, cob etc. but I cannot say if drop shot is more successful than the conventional methods either.

Just my $10 Zim worth of thoughts

There are a host of articles on this subject, the best series probably written by NeilG.

Do a search for Dropshot on the site and see what comes up....

Here are a few links to help so long:

Light Tackle Fishing Part 1

another one

www.overbergangling.co.za/rock-and-surf-...ficial-baits-part-2-

and another one

www.overbergangling.co.za/rock-and-surf-...ificial-baits-part-3

Thanks for the info.

Lures are very expensive - R120 for a small thing that bobs in and out of the water ??? My guess is that fish as an ever evolving specie, are getting arrogant and their taste more expensive. Ek mis die ou dae van 'n wurmpie of brood met brake-fluid!

How about fresh water species then such as bass en sulke goed? For me driving to KZN to fish seems like an expensive exercise. There must be some way I can justify the money just spent?

Dropshot evolved from bass fishing - artificial lure fishing for saltwater fish.

In my humble opinion the manufacturers was looking for new markets to push their products, and once established a "new" sport, started to develop new lures and tackle.

Light tackle fishing is super fun (I currently fish bottom fish with either 4kg or 10 kg outfits), but I have seen no improvements in catch ratios using dropshot lures over conventional bait.

You can fish bass and most freshwater species with the lures and tackle you have bought, and have loads of fun doing just that...