JP Bartholomew at The Gamtoos

JP Bartholomew at The Gamtoos

Last year I wanted to see if I could catch myself a Gaint kob on drop shot. Since I’ve heard so much about the Gamtoos River, thats where I headed.

Stories of the Kob and Garrick that roam the estuary influenced me so that I and two mates decided to make the 12 hour trip down to the Eastern Cape, hauling my mates boat.

The next few days would be perfect. My mate Mervyn , Gene and I launched the boat and headed to a spot called Granse’s – the deepest part of the estuary. We anchored and set up our equiment to start drop shotting on the pushing in tide which wasthe perfect time to target these magnificent Game fish.I was using my 7ft Shimano Crucial Medium Heavy fitted witha Shimano  Susutian 3000,with 15lb Gosen Braid and using a 3/4oz Nitro Lead Jig Head fitted with a 5′ Berkley Sardine. I tossed my presentation overboard and allowed it to sink to the bottom before starting my retrieve – a slight tweak, lift up and dropping the lure onto the bottom again, tweak again and drop it to the bottom with a slow retrieve which is the best way to catch thee attention of a Kob.

Going through the motions fishing for my first Kob I think I was on my 20th cast into the depths of Granse’s I got smashed and my Sustain 3000 began screaming Shimano music. As I watched the braid peeling off I slowly tightened my drag slowly to slow him down, being careful not to over tighten it as it would snap the braid and you would land up loosing your fish. This beautiful Kob fought me for a good 20 -30 minutes before we could see that magnificent Golden/Silvery coloured  Giant Kob making its way from the depths of the Granse’s. With the help of my mate Mervyn on the gaff and Gene behing the wheel of the boat my mate finally managed to gaffed him just under the bottom lip –  which is the safest place to getting the fish onto the boat with out hurting your fish.

There wasn’t much time to waste eventually having this Gaint Kob onboard we wighted it at 37 kilo’s measured it and my mate tagged it this was my biggest Kob yet and hopefully not my last.We had made great time in doing what we had to do and finally we got our first Kob over the side safely my mate Mervyn held it by the tail for a while allowing the water to flow through its gill’s to resusitate it and getting him to start gaining its strength back before releasing it back safely the moment as Mervyn released the tail and watched him swim slowly back down to the depths of Granse’s for hopefully someone else to enjoy catchingthere first Gaint Kob.

The next morning myself and my two mates were out early again keepingwith our same equiment I changed from a Berkley Sardine to a 5′ Mullet. A few casts intothe morning my mate Mervyn got stuck in to one not as big but still always exciting on light tackle weighing in at 7 kilo’s we tagged and released it back to fight another day.Bang as we released my mates Kob Gene our other mate got drilled it was turning out to be a fantastic morning’s fishing weighing in at 4.8 kilo’s we tagged it and released it back. We got a total of nine Kob inthe 7 days we were thereit was tough also been in June mid winter and some days the water was just too cold too. We had a great trip to the Gamtoos River and said we would defaintly make another trip some day preferbly Febuary – March we heard from the locals is also a great time of the year to visit the Gamtoos River.

If you want to do some exciting Kob fishing ,take a trip down to the Eastern Cape with the family or friends and experience the thrashingand smashing of these Gaint Kob on drop shot. Our country has some beautiful estuaries, and if you  do a little research and the right tackle you’re bound to have a great time. Remember to practice catch and release – let go let grow and let your fish roam free to fight another day.

Good Luck

Cheers JP.