A dusky kob that I tagged at Struisbaai on the 16th of December 2014 has been recaptured. Sadly the fish was not released for a second time.
dusky kob on a silicone mullet
The fish was free for 112 days, grew from 66 to 74 cm (8cm of growth) and was recaptured 10km due east on Struisbaai plaat.
I caught the kob using a silicone mullet, intermediate line and 9wt outfit fishing the rocky surf zone of Struisbaai coastline and it was captured on conventional gear, presumably bait in the sandy surf zone of Struisbaai plaat
.
Sad to see that the fish didn’t make it back.
Yes, it’s a pity. Kob hardly ever gets released due to being rated as a table fish. It’s a mentality that will have to change.
Fantastic! (Except the fact that it didn’t survive.)
Conrad,I am very keen on trying for Cob when next I visit our holiday home at Cape st Francis as I believe there are a few spots this can be done do you fish mostly with an intermediate and short leader in the surf and is your favorite color still olive over white?
Hi Marius
I mostly fish with an intermediate line, especially when fishing off the rocks. When fishing the surf from the beach (no rocks) I often swith to a sinking line to get the fly down, especially if there is a current running.
I prefer olive over white, but also use a range of other natural colours such as tan, grey and brown. Colour is not that important, I recommend you fish a colour that you have confidence in.
Interesting info. And with my basic calculations – if the tag return details were correct – is that the fish can grow about 30cm per year(given that it was still a young fish) and also that it remained in the same area it was tagged in. So it seems that Kob are relatively fast growing, contrarily to what I thought… But not at the rate of dorado at 100cm pa…
Pity it did not swim away again though. Tight lines!