Saltwater Fishing Basics

By: Christo


Full blown winter now. The fishing is not good now. I"M BORED!!!
All I can do now is explain it bit more about the tactics and fishing tackle I use.

For edibles like cob,spotted grunter, white steenbra’s and shad a nylon line with a diameter of around 0.40mm will be sufficient. That’s for fishing from the beach on sandy areas. Of course for shad you will want to add a small piece of steel cable/piano wire just above the hook to stop them from biting off your hook with their razor like teeth.

Going for galjoen, white musselcracker or blacktail around rocky areas you will have to use a thicker line that is also more abrasion resistant. Musselcracker is a very strong and dirty fighter so a strong reel will be a good idea.

For most sharks around here it will be best to use a line of 0.55mm. And a reel with a big line capacity. I use a custom build 14ft 400/3 graphite fishing rod with a Daiwa Saltist reel. On the reel I have 300m braided line as backing with about 400m of 0.55mm on top off that. That’s in most cases enough to stop and turn a beast from the shore.

To get a big bait (1-5kg) out deep I use a non return sliding clip. I attach a 1mm leader of about 8meters to my main line by means of a bemini twist knot and then a cat’s paw or figure 8 knot. Then you tie on a stop ring with power swivel and a short sinker/lead trace. For sliding you must use a big grapnel sinker to make sure you your sinker stays firmly stuck while you slide your bait out.

Next step is to cast out the sinker alone as deep as possible. On rocky areas is normally easier but from the beach/sand you will have to wade/swim out to cast out behind the drop-off.

When you are sure your sinker is not going to move you can clip on your slide with two hooks and at least a 150pound breaking strain stainless steel cable. Now you just pull your line tight and rock your rod forwards and backwards. That causes your slide to slide out into the water. Doing that for at least 5 minutes and your slide will be at or very near to the stop ring and sinker.

Now use patience till your line goes tight and the fight begins. Remember your fighting buckle otherwise your back won’t be lasting to long.

Happy fishing till next time


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