Recreational Angling

When we were still allowed to drive on the beach to our favourite fishing spot,  the beach between Dwarskersbos and Eland's Bay was one of my most-liked. With my friend Gerrit Visser, we would spent many days (and nights) searching (fishing!) galjoen, white steenbras and cod. The two hours before and after high tide were prime times. White mussel, prawns and  shingleworm (wonder worm) were best used for bait on the beach and grubbing-bait for fishing on the rocks.  If the water is the colour of pea-soup, it is cod water, and galjoen likes water with a kick - preferably three breaks and a lot of foam. That one you'll catch tight here in front of you - 1/0 or 2/0 hooks.  All this I learned from met friend Gerrit. He grew up around here and he knew the sea, to me he was the ultimate fisherman.

I sometimes still long for the days when we pulled up Gerrit's bakkie at the high tide line, toasted each catch and started on a mussel-pot late into the night, making our bed on the mattress in the back of the bakkie, just to sleep with the sound of the sea in our ears. A passing 4x4 would wake us in the odd hours of the night, driving those people needing the cover of the night to do their deeds, away from the prying eyes of Nature Conservation - the smugglers or poachers.

Gerrit talked a lot about the days his dad was school principal in Velddrif, they would each catch up to 90 galjoen – tin baths full!  Ninety per person!  Those days are long gone…  Twenty years ago when I started fishing, the bag limit was five galjoen, and you were lucky to catch even two or three...

At least 2200 fish species live in or migrate through South African waters. About 200 of these are targeted by recreational anglers.  On the West Coast our national fish, Galjoen (Dichistius cepensis), is king. The name probably derives from the Dutch word for galleon, and refers to the fish`s legendary fighting ability when hooked.  Galjoen love the turbulent surf zone, particularly at the interfaces of rock and sand.  Due to its highly energetic lifestyle, the flesh of galjoen is packed with blood vessels. These fish frequently use the surf to get close to the beach to reach the food on the exposed rocks.

You'll know when you have a galjoen on the hook - it doesn't play with the bait. It bites and more or less catches itself! But when it bites, you'll have to know your story! This was one of the first lessons Gerrit taught me, keep your line tight, otherwise it will just spin itself off the hook. I remember my first galjoen. Luckily nobody else was there, just Gerrit. The galjoen bit and I just took my rod and ran up the dunes - all I could think of was that I should keep my line tight, I didn't think of or had time to pull in my line... the galjoen skidded on the water surface all the way to the beach.

Galjoen are known to feed on a wide variety of small invertebrates and seaweed that live on rocks.  Red bait, small black mussels and crustaceans are amongst their most common prey.  They feed by removing organisms from rock surfaces and their powerful incisors are admirably suited to this purpose.  The teeth in the gullet are well adapted for crushing shellfish.

Galjoen are serial spawners which means that they spawn several times in a season.  Their breeding extends from October to March, peaking in December.  This is the reason why galjoen season opens on the first of March and closes on the 15th of October.  Galjoen numbers have dwindled drastically the last four decades and different measures to assure the survival of galjoen, have been implemented - one of them an actual galjoen fishing season! Other steps include the banning of catching galjoen with fishing nets and the instruction to catch only galjoen bigger than 35cm.  Today anglers with a recreational permit may take a maximum of two fish per day.  There is no commercial fishery for galjoen and they may never be sold.

These days the number of recreational anglers is on 750 000 and it looks if the number increases by 6% annually, which means in effect that the number of fishermen doubles every 11 years.  Fisheries managers are alarmed by these statistics, because the imbalance between the number of fish and the number of anglers is driving our once abundant resources to a state of collapse.

The following regulations are in effect to protect our fishing resources:
• Anglers are legally obliged to buy a recreational fishing permit.  The funds generated by permit sales enable fisheries reserves to better manage stocks.
• Each angling species is regulated by a minimum size limit, according to the size at which a fish species is known to be sexually mature.
• Each angling species is regulated by a bag limit.
• There is an overall bag limit of 10 fish per person per day, no matter what species they are
• Some angling species, such as galjoen and elf (shad) are protected by closed fishing seasons.
• Some species are protected by law and may not be targeted or caught like Great White Shark, Brindle Bass, Potato Bass, Seventy Four, Natal Wrasse, Red (Copper) Steenbras, etc.
• Marine reserves prevent anglers from fishing at certain points along the coast.  These areas protect spawning fish and supplement catches in adjacent areas when fish move out.
• Recreational anglers are banned from selling their catches.

The anglers serious about their hobby, about protecting our natural resources and who are children of the living God trying to be responsible stewards, will keep to these regulations and will  reprimand those who do not. It is important to remember that the bag limit is just a guideline of the maximum you may take home... as children of the mighty Creator, we know that we have to care for and protect the earth and our environment, so we will just take what we need and release the rest. This way creation will sing His praise everywhere - as it was intended from the beginning.

Catch and release methods should be practiced as much as possible... It is so rewarding to see that 'fish of a lifetime' swim free after a long fight!