Big Couta season 2019 is underway

Big Couta season 2019 is underway

It’s a fantastic time to be on the warmer East Coast of Southern Africa right now. The weather calms right down. The offshores start. The water warms right up. If only the rain would stay away!

But these are the exact conditions that bring the big couta to our waters!

From the Transkei all the way north, this is the time the really big fish, the “crocodile couta”, come alive.

And there are a handful of reefs, scattered along the backline, that regularly produce these big fish. Year after year, these fish come back to the same spots. And each year a handful of lucky anglers get their trophy couta.

Not that these fish are easy to catch.

Far from it. The reason only a handful come out each year,is because you need a really good bait, in really good water, at the exact right time – for it all to come together.

But that first Tesla speed run, rips the line of your reel. And the ratchet screams like you never though it could. This is the time to back off your drag, down to a kilogram or so, as the line peeling off into the water and bending with resistance, increases the pressure at the hooks by a large factor. Then when that fish stops, push the drag back to two or three kilos at the max, and get that line back.

As soon as you get him close, and he sees the boat – after a good rest, he will tear off again. And once more usually.

This is not the time to relax however, as the fish’s distress signals and erratic behaviour would have called sharks from all over the place by now.

Couta are difficult fish to release easily, but if you can get him by the tail or put a lip gaff in the right place (being so careful of the flailing hooks), get that tag in, measurement done and photograph taken. Chuck the guy back as you would a torpedo to give him some momentum as he re-enters the realm of the shark. If your fish is not in prime condition, rather don’t tag and release.

Enjoy a gallery of crocodile sized couta all caught within the last few big season s…

Coming up soon: an article by Mydo Fishing on all the different ways to target big couta like these.