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Early Winter Trip to Port St Johns – Day 2
The day started of slower than we planned, the cold seemed to be more biting than the fish and we only managed to get down to the beach at around 6:30am. We needed live bait so first up on the days agenda was scratching around for any and all live bait. Sadly only a few Blacktails fell prey to our bait mission and we decided that they will have to suffice.
We proceeded to slide out the Blacktails in the hope of catching a Garrick or Kob. Once our live baits were out we decided to get out our scratching setups, and while doing this one of the guys that still had his live bait rig on went tight with a decent sized Bronze Bream, which proved too much for the tiny hooks. The rest of us hooked up our scratching tackle and quickly got to work trying for the monster Bronze Breams that this stretch of coastline always produces. Amongst us we managed to land some decent Bronze Breams, Silver Breams, Wave Garrick and to my surprise a pretty decent sized Rockod. We did manage a few Zebra Fish (Wilderperd) as well.
While baiting up a prawn bait during this session I noticed my Live Bait Rod Tip bend and then go slack. I quickly wound up the slack and set the hooks. After a rather quick fight made possible by my Live Bait Setup, I landed a pretty decent Shad which fell prey to my live Blacktail.
After the Shad, things quietened down somewhat and we decided to have some brunch. A lovely Sausage Chutney proved to hit the spot and as most anglers know the moment you choose to relax and take off those rock boots, something always happens and just like that, my newly slid live bait takes off. Bit of a funny moment as we all looked at each other and having just eaten none of us were willing to get our tired butts off the rock and get to the rod. Finally one of my friends volunteered but he was too late as the fish had escaped.
After brunch had settled a little we continued with the scratching but it was still rather quiet with very few fish coming out and nothing worth mentioning really. Suddenly my friend’s rod took off, and his reel started screaming. He got to his rod and set the hooks. After a considerable tussle he managed to turn the fish and eventually managed to get it closer but the fish had us guessing as we could see the fish shadow and the trace, but we couldn’t see the leader. Our first thoughts were that it was a Garrick which was possibly foul hooked or the slide was not all the way down to the sinker. With some patience and careful attention we finally identified the fish as a Giant Trevally (GT) and we managed to ascertain that the slide was tangled around the leader just below the leader knot. After a very long tussle with us nursing the fish to ensure we didn’t get a burn off, my friend landed a proper sized GT. The catch of the day.
Very little action followed that fabulous catch and even though we fished right into the dark in the hope of getting a Kob or two, we had no luck and finally called it a day and headed back to the resort for some drinks to warm us up.
Day 3 proved to be a very sad morning as we awoke to a buster of a South Westerly that completely messed up the water. All attempts for any action proved unsuccessful so the tale of the Early Winter PSJ Trip ends here.
It was a truly memorable trip for us, with some unreal catches and great fun. PSJ never disappoints and we will be back very soon to enjoy this wonderful coastline again.
Well done Jerome. Nice report and top catches there!
Tops Jerome
